Plenty Gorge MTB

14/10/2026

Its not rocket science 🤷‍♂️ - see how busy the Manningham Council jumps lines at Candlebark (Fitzsimmons Reserve) - build it & they will come...

The Selwyn District Council turned a vandalism problem into a DIY jump park pilot, and it's already expanding.

14/10/2026

😁

Logical!

14/10/2026

Just a little bit of the TNR Plenty Gorge MTB

14/10/2026

Ride report: TNR 13/10/2026

I found myself drawing up a complicated route in Trailforks, covering most of the south side trails, for last night's TNR. With many navigation risks and a spaghetti of trails there was only 12km in the route. Abandoning this idea, I started over - we would head directly for 'The Plank', straight up to 'The Tank', over the river and back down the western side. This way we would get the usual 20km done.

A freezing southerly greeted us at Queens Gardens, where most of the usual crew gathered at 6:45pm. Nobody had really looked at the planned route, and it really didn't matter much.

Starting down 'Old DH' Fabian slid out on a loose corner, just for a laugh. Having ridden from home this didn't seem to bother him. We tackled a really rocky descent to 'The Plank', where I pulled aside and watched as some rode over, others almost rode over, and some of us walked. It was fine, but I was glad not to get a wet foot.

Up 'Betty Bell' I was powering away. It's nice to do climbs when you're not exhausted. We paused for breath at 'The Triangle' and made a beeline up to 'The Tank', where there was a small amount of faffing, then down 'No Bones' and 'Rocky Raccoon' - where we were pulled up by shouts from mid-pack. Fearing the worst, it was only Andy's tool pack that had rattled loose and fallen off. Fab kindly picked it up and we continued down and over 'Welcome Back'.

I've decided that the nicest way to climb the western escarpment is the way we went: 'Up!', 'Old Top link', 'Morning Glory', and 'Afternoon Delight'. Again, fresh legs made it a pleasant ascent. We discussed options for a less intensive route, as not all of us were feeling so strong, and we are happy to oblige! I also explained that we would be veering down 'Octolink' and this was entirely optional, with splitters able to stay up high while we battled it.

'Kangaroo Ridge' came next - first the rocky, flat section, then the rock garden descent, then some more rocks but with trees, a rocky creek crossing, and somewhat unintuitively a lovely flowing section of dirt. This ended with - you may be surprised - another rock garden called 'Octolink'. I almost cleaned it... almost. Back at the top we rejoined Tony & Dave, then took the lower half of 'Golden Slumbers' where this week my chain did not explode. We powered on - another rocky crossing and then the trail opens up. The group was spreading out, and Dave had to stop and mount his bike in a tree for some urgent repairs. I found out about this after the second (or third) gully crossing, where we pulled up and Sam took a lovely pic with the Plenty Valley behind us.

A battery failure meant Brett had insufficient light to continue, so he and Dave took a relaxed ride on local streets to get back, while the rest of us continued down 'Bungalow Bill' and 'West World'. The last section is getting quite overgrown, and we'll try to arrange some working bees around the Gorge very soon. Then into 'Janefield Link' (where I fluffed another crossing).

The route probably looked pretty regular to the group at this point, as we rolled down the lower section of 'In The Dog'. Even the left turn down towards FKA 'Serendipity' didn't seem too out of the ordinary. It's pretty overgrown (there was a whole lot of ducking and branches in the face), but still fun. Climbing up the super-eroded old fire road, the comments started when I took a hard right back into the upper part of 'In The Dog'. This old section really needs some love, but it's really technical and it was hilarious. I didn't attempt the rock step-down, but others managed it nicely.

More querulous noises as we headed west again, and it was all going well until I missed a turn and we did some bush-bashing across the open paddock to get back on a fire road ("I know it's here somewhere!"). Once on the concrete path we found Dave again. He was given some keys and enabled to rest back at the car in warmth. "There is another small loop I want to do" - and the plan kinda fell apart a bit - 'Over The Top', yes, as intended, then left into 'Rockin Up round The Tree' and back via the 'RAAF Track' fire road. Pretty sure we missed a bit there, as we were supposed to do 'Up Outta The River', 'River High Line' and then 'Rockin' - but we were done, it was 8:50pm and time to wrap it up.

20.6km, 460m vertical, 1.5hrs ride time, great post-ride chat and we're out.

See you at The Tank this Sunday for a working bee at 8:30am, and then next Tuesday to enjoy the fruits of our labour, right?

Cheers,
Emerson

08/10/2026

🥰

07/10/2026

Ride report: TNR, 06/10/2026

The weather was glorious. Afternoon showers had cleared and we were nicely sheltered from the cold breeze as we gathered at the lower carpark on Gorge Rd. In daylight and everything.

There were two possible plans, depending on whether the 'Opuntia' bridge was passable.
Of course, we never found out for certain...

'Burn the Witch' still needs a haircut, it's looking like an unkempt hippy afro. There's a tree trunk overhanging at the climb up to Vigano, but you can get through easily enough. The same tree has taken a bit of the trail out with its roots upended, so exercise care through there.

Even with around a dozen of us, we didn't really stop until the 'dirt church' at Nioka bush camp.

We paused at the top of 'Schism' and I decided we would keep going north, as battling through the tall grass to find the bridge out would have been disappointing, and the time we'd have spent putting it back into place would cut heavily into our ride time (which, it turned out, we needed). And nobody likes wet shoes, right?

'Gnarnia' took us up to 'Mons en Pevele', great fun on the lower line, especially for those who hadn't ridden it before.

We stopped as usual at the end of Wilton Vale Rd, realising that Dave and Guy were missing. A message from the sweep alerted us to a broken chain that was quickly fixed.

'Wholelottarosie' and 'Thylacine' followed. I managed to impale my drivetrain with an enormous stick - no harm done thankfully. We stopped again as a pair of echidnas ambled off the trail. First time we've seen a pair of them, but it is that time of the year. Shortly after this I stalled atop the log roll-over and fell into the trailside grass - and whatever debris it hid. Luckily not hurt, on we went.

The ride plan was for us to continue up the western bank, but I was really indecisive and we crossed 'Komorebi' bridge instead. Hearing a splash from the back of the group, we thought someone had taken a swim. No, it was just Chris clearing some rocks from the trail.

Once again the technical climb out was too hard for me, and I was having lots of trouble staying upright on 'Rocky'. It's getting quite overgrown and very tricky at the moment.

Stopping again at the normal halfway point, I decided we'd keep going north after all. On the darkness I ended up taking us into the closed 'Redneck'. It's become just about impassable with spiky shrubs, and I turned us around to go up over the top.

'Powermax 2.0' was a hilarious mix of fun flow, tight turns, and low branches, but we got through. One of the many wombats sighted engaged the diff locks to scramble up the hillside off the trail.

Time for some more sedate fire roads and navigation by feel through the upper grassland before returning to the river's edge on 'Insomniac'. Fully expecting that we'd have to abandon this trail, it was a pleasant surprise to find out was rideable. Well, mostly, kind of. A highlight of the ride, this trail had me off the bike a few times, pushing through weeds, sliding over mossy stones and weaving between garden stakes planted right on the trailside. Rock steps, hidden obstacles, we spread out a lot.

At the footbridge by Bridge Inn Rd, Dave inflated his tyre (again) and at 8:40pm we rolled down the official Plenty River Trail - a gravel road - to Carome Homestead, and then I led us merrily across the grassy fields back down to 'Thylacine'. The flow was sweet but we diverged away from 'Wholelottarosie' taking a direct route into Morang Wetlands, bringing us out quickly to Gordon's Rd - after passing a million kangaroos. Stagecoach Bvd was going to take us to the top of 'Bending Hectic' but we missed the turn and took the quick (flat) way over to Gorge Rd.

Finishing with a blast down 'Black Snake' was a brilliant way to finish. Chris was out front and I stood no chance of catching him - until we rolled into the carpark at 9:30pm.

So it was a late finish, and we had ridden over 25km (debate continues about the exact distance).

I'd really like to thank the while crew for their patience with me as the route evolved and my skills varied at the front. It was an excellent ride with a great crew!

See you next week at Queen's Gardens?

Cheers,
Emerson

01/10/2026

30/09/2026

Ride report: PGMTB TNR, 29/09/2026

Having had a bit of spare time, I'd made a 22.4km ride plan, and thought it was pretty good. 18 others turned up at the Tank for the scheduled 6:45pm start, including at least one newcomer (Campbell, who just happened to be an actual champion rider).

The route started us down 'No Bones' into 'Strawberry Link'. Maybe it was a sign that I took a wrong turn that early on... but we ended up doing that bit anyway, just in the opposite direction. All good, right? I'd made it clear that we would not be going down the chute to 'Welcome Back' bridge, instead turning right into 'Gorgeous George' for some standard wrong-way hilarity. This went well, aside from me stalling on the very first pinch, but then cleaning the rest of the technical climb without issue.
Word came to us that there had been a mechanical issue at the rear, and Guy performed some excellent bodging with cable ties to make a loose shifter operational. Good job there, zip ties are one of the most useful trail tools you can carry.
We headed UP 'Ozymandias' and 'Long & Winding', and I was stoked to make the whole climb without a dab - only the first or second time ever for me. It's a DH trail, so if you're gonna climb it, do it at night so any oncoming riders can see your lights well in advance! There were none to worry about, and we all eventually regrouped at the top, for a decent breath break and recovery.

'Myxomatosis' was next on the roster: the full length heading north to Gorge Rd. It was brutal as ever, and I don't know how many riders actually cleaned the 'pyramid rock' step. I certainly didn't. From there on there was really no suitable place to stop until we reached the end. Some of the attached pics show the tail of the group on the last section of the trail as we waited for them at the lookout.
Heading back down 'Scatterbrain', we got some relief from the technical climbing with a pretty flat track - just watch the trailside shrubs as they grab at your bars. Someone got hooked up with a tree apparently, but no harm done. 'Jambi' next, pausing at its end - the last half of which is absolutely flowing beautifully. 'Morning Glory' took us down at pace. Tristan made close acquaintance with a wombat at the head of the group, somehow not getting dismounted, but the fast-charging riders on his tail were giving him hell as I came through in mid-pack down 'Also Up'.

We split the group here, as Jason had to get home earlier and Dave was not keen on climbing up the western escarpment again. They headed over the bridge with Chris to take the last part of the route.
The rest of us began the climb up 'Octopuses Garden'. Again, I missed an early turn but we got most of the trail in, and again I was super happy to make the entire climb without getting off. Once back together we set off on 'Golden Slumbers' - which maybe I should have avoided after all. Climbing out from the skinny bridge I snapped my chain at the front of the group. Campbell got around but Tristan ended up almost in the gully, pulling up backwards just before falling in. My chain was in two pieces and the repair was not quick. Thanks again to Guy for his mechanic skills and Andy T for tools that work - I do not rate the OneUp chain breaker that comes inside the pump, which I will extract the bits of from my pack soon. Finally we headed off on 'Kangaroo Ridge' and the pace picked up. We joined 'the old top link' before descending on 'Up' and crossing 'Welcome Back' bridge, through the long grass and up 'Navara Climb' and 'the Old Fire Trail Rut' - which Campbell did most of on his back wheel. By this time it was about 9pm so I abandoned the final loop ('Goat Track', 'Am I Lost', 'Pumping the Udders' and 'White Cow'), and instead we ground up 'No Bones' back to the Tank.

Thankfully Chris and Dave had not been there long and we enjoyed a cold drink on a very warm night before heading our separate ways. Both groups ended up covering just over 17km, coincidentally.

Fantastic crew, brilliant weather, great trails.
Thanks for your company, your patience and good humour. Love riding with you all!
Cheers,
Emerson