Where To Bike MelbourneMountainBiking

Cycling legend Cadel Evans referred to the author’s first mountain bike guidebook as “the perfect ride companion”. In this edition we also include a couple of training routes ridden with Cadel when he was a teenager.

Where to Ride Melbourne Mountain Biking completes the third in a series by Keiran Ryan, commenced in 1998. It has double the number of rides in previous editions, more detailed information to guide you on your way, and first class mapping. There are rides for every taste, mountain bike ability and fitness level, all within two hours of Melbourne. Supplemented with gorgeous photos of forests, trails and vistas to inform and inspire you.

• Fun rides
• Challenging adventures
• Scenery, pristine environments and a huge range to choose from
• Comprehensive rating system, accurate mapping
• Concise directions, elevation profiles
• QR codes for smart phones that link to the trailheads, and an iPhone app makes navigation even easier.

Keiran Ryan’s expertise in mountain biking is well recognised. He established Off Road Cycling Adventures, provided a wide range of innovative MTB programs, coached many competitive riders at various levels, taught MTB leadership courses at Victoria University, negotiated access issues for MTB’s with government departments, researched and selected MTB sites for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Author's Note

Because of my vintage I didn’t muck around on a BMX or mountain bike because they weren’t invented. So my MTB skills have always been a bit dodgy! I came to mountain biking by a different route.

Cycling has been a passion since I learnt to ride at the late age of 12, which opened up a new world to me. My folks never owned a car, so the opportunity for independent travel on a bicycle was exhilarating for me. I rode to nearby hilltops and gazed into the distance, wondering what was out there. By 15 I had drifted into road racing and showed quite a lot of promise. Soon, my training rides became more adventurous and more fulfilling than racing and I spent weekends exploring rough mountain roads, then a couple of interstate trips, carrying simple camping gear in a backpack. My work career eventually focused on community health, then recreation planning. Recreation planning has a lot to do with understanding the experiences we want when we play or compete, so when I discovered mountain biking, I was able to combine my interests in community health and cycling.

This eventually led to the publication of MTB guidebooks, which I have been writing since 1998.

Today’s mountain bikes are wonderfully efficient and capable of comfortably traversing almost any terrain, but this book is not about bikes. Its real purpose is to provide a resource that will enable you to have a wide range of life enhancing experiences.

Ride these trails with others and it feels good to be alive. You double the fun, connect, and experience mutual support. Ride as a family, group or club and know what it is to belong. Ride alone and experience freedom and the perfect antidote to the stresses of city life. You will experience the natural environment as never before. You can cover great distances while seeing, feeling and smelling the changes around you. Somehow the effort of riding enhances your senses, leaving a long lasting imprint of your experience. You will grow in fitness, skill and self-confidence. This is not an elitist activity and it can be as simple as bushwalking on a bike or as adrenalin-filled as any adventure can be.

One of my own particular delights is to simply explore, climb a mountain track up to the clouds and see the birth of streams, then follow them down to the valley below.

Whatever your taste or riding passion, I hope this book helps you find it.

Keiran Ryan