The Old Beechy Rail Trail
On the 13th March 2011 I rode from Colac to Beech Forest along the old rail trail, a 46km ride. You can read about it at
Beechy Rail Trail - Tours departing Summer 2011
Old Beechy Rail Trail
Near Wimba Train Stop GC5Q9VT
The Old Beechy Trail
A long and difficult bike ride along the Old Beechy Rail Trail from Colac to Beech Forest and back again.
Geoff Out and About- Riding the Great Victorian Rail Trail. Victoria Australia
The Great Victorian Rail Trail is the longest in Australia and takes you through the grazing lands of central eastern Victoria to the foothills of the ski resorts.
First day of LADA: Colac and the Old Beechy Rail Trail
Life After DeviantArt.
It began for me in the early hours of Friday 30th November. Much of this day was spent in Colac, and on the Old Beechy Rail Trail.
I rode my bike on sections the Old Beechy Rail Trail from Colac to Gellibrand and back. The trail follows sections of the former narrow gauge rail line in the Otways which closed in 1962.
Back in Colac, I film V/Line trains heading in both directions. Before I saw the freight train go by, I took photos of level crossings in Colac.
Outro audio: V/Line advertisement 1996.
The Old Beechy Trail
This rail trail from Colac to Beech Forest and return was ridden before in November of 2012 and it was so exhausting that I nearly didn't make it back. But this time it was started from the Barongarook tennis courts, shortening the ride by 20 km down to 71 km avoiding the streets of Colac and the country roads. Even so, it's an extremely gruelling ride through the long steep hills which are relentless and tiring, but very exhilarating on the downhill runs.
The Gellibrand Cafe at the halfway point is run by a nice chatty woman called Maria. She's ridden the trail many times, knows the trail conditions and who's been to and fro that day. It's essential to stop there and say, Hello, and to have a morning tea and also afternoon tea on the way back.
I won't do the full ride again, it's just too demanding, but would do the downhill runs either from Barongarook to Gellibrand or Beech Forest to Gellibrand. Gellibrand is the low point of the ride and rests in a nice valley. But that needs someone waiting for me at Gellibrand with a car.
I met no other rider the entire trip. It's a lonely ride with no mobile phone reception which makes it all the more challenging. The ride took 9 hours. The hills, the hills...
Beechy trail ride 2015 ( Victoria)
Oh i rode the whole distance includin an unopen section
Beechy line 1956 - 1962
This 16mm footage was compiled over many years and transferred to VHS tape in the late 1980s.
REMEMBERING THE BEECHY DVD Priview
Channel 5 Productions present a tribute to the Colac - Beech Forest - Crowes narrow gauge line in Victoria's Otway ranges.
Utilising footage predominantly shot by the late Keith Atkinson, we see day to day operations of goods trains and specials on the line before it closed in 1962.
The DVD can be purchased through good hobby outlets or directly from channel5productions.
The Great Victorian Rail Trail, Yea - Molesworth, Cheviot Tunnel 2016 HD
Otways 2018 Longer Version
The longer version vid of a 2 day ride in the Otway Ranges in Victoria, Australia. Seven riders - 4 Beemers (2 x GS1200 Adventures - a GS800 and a GS1200 Rallye, a Triumph, a Honda and a Ducati Multistrada Enduro 1200.
Music credit: bensound.com
Timboon
Naroghid to Timboon for lunch
Tallarook to Alexandra
The Tallarook to Alexandra Rail Trail
Koetong Trestle Bridge
Went for an afternoon drive out to the old Koetong trestle bridge to get some photos and videos of this great structure.
This bridge was used from 1921 to 1981 as a part of the Cudgewa railway line, connecting Wodonga to Cudgewa. Only a few of these bridges are left standing and are very easy to get to.
Thanks to my friend Greg for taking me out there and for getting those great drone shots.
Music:
Division and Ice Demon - Kevin MacLeod on incompetech.com
26.08.18
Instagram: JulianCrisp
Gaming YT Channel: The LAN Group
Riding the Rail Trail.
Timelapsed vid of the Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail in Victoria, Australia.
Part of my Music Vids series - cycling videos set to some of my favourite music tracks. :-)
Footage captured with: Toshiba Camileo X-Sports -
Time-lapsed using: Microsoft's Hyperlapse Pro -
Edited with: (some combination of the following)
Microsoft Movie Maker -
Garmin VIRB Edit - - Allows editing of videos recorded on many non-Garmin devices.
Wondershare Video Editor - (Now called Filmora)
Cyberlink PowerDirector 14 -
MICROSOFT HYPERLAPSE PRO SETTINGS
CAMERA OPTIONS
Camera Model: GoPro HERO 4 Black (Note: This setting seems to work fine even though I use a Toshiba Camileo X-Sports, not a GoPro.)
Shooting Mode: Narrow
SPEED CONTROL
Speed Up Factor: Mostly 25x
SMOOTHING
Advanced
OUTPUT
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Framerate: 29.97fps
Merton to Mansfield
This 78km ride from Merton to Mansfield and back is the fourth and last leg of the Goulburn River High Country Rail Trail.
It's been an enjoyable and challenging ride in the four manageable sections spread over the last two months.
The Western Ring Road Trail
Hi,
This ride along the Western Ring Road Trail covered a distance of 135.61 km took 12.10 hrs to complete, setting a new distance record. The trail begins 11 km from home and then doing a sharp right turn off the Federation Trail just before that long dark tunnel.
Brief research led me to believe it would be an easy flat ride but it was not. Four long sections of the trail were closed due to road works and the detours around them were so badly marked and confusing that I got lost six times which made the day much longer than expected. Some of the busiest intersections and roads in Australia, Camp Road, Sydney Road, The Hume Freeway, and the Ring Road itself, had to be crossed at road level, the Ring Road several times. It was harrowing and dangerous.
I was already exhausted at the 76 km point and after being confronted with a very long and steep hill climb which my body and brain refused to climb, decided to turn back for the daunting ride home and kept asking myself aloud, Why am I doing this?, as well as calling myself some things I cannot repeat here. I still managed to get lost at the same parts on the return, and some extra ones.
At one such point I was overcome with a feeling of panic wandering through the backstreets of a suburb trying to pick up the trail again imagining riding around aimlessly being caught by the setting sun and worried how I would get back home and then with a wonderful feeling of relief and joy when I stumbled on the trail again, either by luck or intuition, or both. It's not always easy to remember where you've been on the return of a long ride as you have a new 180 degree view and you tend to forget some things.
While crossing one big highway I nearly collided with a speeding black car and jammed my brakes on so hard that my rear wheel lifted two feet off the ground nearly throwing me over the handlebars and sprawled onto the bitumen in a crumpled mess. Severe exhaustion can cause lack of concentration and is something to be careful of in future. I did some small damage to the left brake lever and nearly broke a few fingers as I crashed into the handrail of a pedestrian overpass and closer to home nearly got tangled up with a huge tiger snake as it energetically slithered just in front of my front wheel.
After a big dinner I fell asleep on the soft chair waking at 10.30 pm in a state of confusion and disorientation, then went to bed but couldn't get to sleep until 2.30 am because the tape of the ride kept playing in my head, some sections and incidents replaying many, many times over.
Even if all the closed sections were open again I will probably never do this ride again much preferring the loneliness of the country trails and the rail trails with a clear and enjoyable destination where I can sit down for a nice lunch.
See the details and the Google map of the trip here
It's easy to see the detours and the aimless tracks of getting lost.
A long and exhausting ride like this can mess with the body and mind a bit. The next 3 days will be spent recovering and doing some self-debriefing, and then it will be Christmas.
I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Carl.
DON'T BE A HERO BEECHWORTH
This video is about dont be a hero Beechworth
Mine history in Wonthaggi