THE INDIGO EPIC: PART ONE
Epic in name, epic in nature, we take in a third? a quarter? PART of the newly minted Indigo Epic Trail.
While the Indigo Epic Trail has only been officially been open for the last few months, we were lucky (subjectively) to test out the section from Stanley down to Yackandandah over the Christmas break. Subjectively because while it was a stunning bit of trail, it was on a typically baking morning where the mercury was already tipping the 30’s by late morning, so conditions could have been significantly more ideal.
Fast forward a few months to the Easter break and the entire trail network has been officially opened. The temperatures have dropped, but the anticipation is as hot as ever. Such was the anticipation that Ali – fresh off adding a new Trek mountain bike to his stable, drove up that morning just to press send.
Maybe it was sensing we were on his turf, or just his Indigo Epic Veteran senses, but just as we were about to head off Benno emerged from his driveway like a Pokemon trainer chasing you down in the Viridian Forest, atop a new bike since we saw him last - a new Santa Cruz tank.
As we had over the Christmas break, we would be taking in nothing but the flow trail from Stanley to Yackandandah. Why? Because we considered time, fitness levels and trail preferences, duh.
Of course this meant that we needed a bit of logistical organisation as there are no official shuttles. So if you want to lay it all out on the trail as we are about to do over the next 5 chapters, you’ll want to do as we do: meet in Yackandandah separately. Pack bikes into Car A. Then drive Car A around 20 minutes to Stanley, park up, ride down, have an immense amount of fun, pig out for lunch, then drive Car B back up to Stanley where Car A is. Done. Still with us?
ROUTE: INDIGO EPIC TRAIL (STANLEY > YACKANDANDAH)
Distance: 23.8km / Elevation Gain: +442m / Elevation Loss: -891m
I: TRANSFER
Not that you really need to put in any major lung busting efforts on this part of the Indigo epic, the initial ride from Stanley through to the trailhead in a pleasant one. Initially you’ll have the cricket ground to one side, dense bushland on the other. That will then switch to all bushland, then apple orchards, before eventually becoming pine plantations at various stages of growth. All the while you’ve got some smooth gravel roads which will give you a good chance to gauge tyre pressures by the amount of vibration you hear coming off the tarmac.
Along the transfer you’ve got two options, either to take gravel laneways the entire way, or turn off for a minor detour via Lake Kerferd, and the last part of the Indigo Epic trail to get built - the Jersey Boardwalk section of the trail if you will, with a beautiful collection of bridges that skirt along the edge of the lake and through the adjacent bushland. As you pop out of that bushland you’re just a few hundred metres from the bit of trail we are focusing on in Indigo Epic: Part One, dense pine plantation to your right, an idyllic bald hill to your left. Bush, a vernacular carpark and 25-odd kilometres of trail-based fun ahead.
II: CLIMBING IN
After you roll through the carpark, there’s one last gravel road before you gradually start to head skyward. Fortunately it’s an up trail that doesn’t leave your lungs heaving, meaning that the distant echoes of motorbikes ripping through the Stanley Wilderness, and maybe some birdlife will be your soundtrack for the 5 or so minutes it takes to traverse.
Because the trail is so new and beautifully thought out, there isn’t too much to think about as you’re winding your way around the hill. There might be a loose rock here and there, a downed branch every now and then, but this is essentially gravel bike terrain. If, while riding the trail you closed your eyes and started to imagine the sounds of Cypress Hill - Hits From The Bong playing on a speaker hanging delicately from a tree, you’d almost think you were at a revamped Ol’ Dirty.
For the better part of things, that is most of the climbing done in one hit. You’ll come to a road crossing, probably meet some other riders on gravel bikes revelling in the Hit From The Bong section of trail they just LOVED, but are now left wondering if what they are about to undertake is a good idea, and then the fun can begin - starting things off with a nice bit of Air Tree Stump in the first 20 metres.
III: MAJOR GROOVE
Once you pass that first little bit of air, the trail immediately welcomes you in, surrounding you in the perfect display of Australian bushland and all its forms - the scrubbier stuff; the typical-non-rainforesty-rainforest type stuff, a mix of both, pine trees, EVERYTHING.
While there is epic in the name, and the trail certainly is, in a literal, extreme sporting sense, it’s got something for everyone. If a trail was to be “as hard and hectic as you want it to be” this would be that. The corners are smooth, the surface is what Mystic Park wishes it was at times, and there are mini A-Lines all over the place. The B lines are still super fun, and if you want to go Double Black Diamond mode, well there’s plenty of gully’s that you can easily and intentionally send it off.
What started off as a patchy, mostly cloudy morning started to clear, and the sun beckoned as we started to weave our way down the trail towards Yackandandah. Every now and then you would be thrust into the depths of a foresty gully, and this is where most of the technical stuff – even if still pretty fun and easy to navigate, lies. There’s not really going to be any teeth rattling rock gardens, just the occasional feature with a bit of a pain in the ass pinch climbing up out of it and around the next corner. Fear not, the fun always resumes shortly after.
IV: X-GAMES MODE
Ben must be a dolphin the way he is always coming up for air.
It was during the second half of the trail that, as most trail-based instances, Benno turned what could even be a subdued morning on the trails into an absolute send-fest, most of the time off the most innocuous features. A single rock? Air. A tree stump? Send it. Atmosphere? Also air, such are his bending ways. If for whatever reason his presence didn’t convince you of his veteran trail status, and his Official Launch Video starboy pedigree, a few minutes on this trail will lead your real eyes to realise there have been no real lies.
Despite being a flow trail, it’s not all that difficult to push your bike back up the hill if you come past a section you feel like session-ing. Because of the location of the trail, the length of it, and perhaps also our timing, trail traffic is at an absolute minimum (almost non-existent), so you can be at your most selfish for the best part.
These last moments of the freshly crafted Indigo Epic Trail are the perfect playground for flexing those creative extreme sports muscles, whether you’re an accomplished Matt Hoffman Pro BMX’er, or novice tech-deck-er. A lot of the more X-Games mode features along the entire trail allow you to warm into things as you ride, and rarely ask you to face the consequences of your actions (accidentally biting off more than you might chew a la Kip on Flowtown). It might take you a second trip on the trail to get fully dialled in, but if you pass through a section and want to re-do it, we DEFINITELY encourage you to do so.
V: THROWBACK TRAILS
Because if you don’t, the moment will soon pass as the trail morphs into the classic, hand-cut, old school type trail that Yackandandah is known for. From the smoother, wider, open flow you pop out onto the existing Yack trail network, which is a crunchy peanut butter rather than something silky smooth. It’s just as enjoyable though, the vibes will stay on, but the camber will switch to predominantly “OFF”.
You’ll end up at the Yack Trail Head, a gravel access road splitting you and the carpark. Cross that gravel road and you’ll end up on a twisty half-XC-half-flow trail that will take you out of the park proper, and onto a series of bridges, granite flat crossings and bike paths on the way back into town.
Having spent the best part of the previous hour concentrating, it’s a beautiful ending to the ride down to Yack. You’ll follow the creek, pass a distillery, cut a lap of the local cricket ground, and end up only a block from the Main Street of Yackandandah.
And when you’ve wrapped up for the morning you’ll want to finish with lunch. Depending on the time of year, and the weather, things might be getting a little hectic on Yack’s main drag by lunch time. If possible, take a seat at the Top Pub for a mad BBQ, sometimes a little harder in practice as it’s a real luncheon epicentre. Fortunately the wonderful people at the O.G Gum Tree Pies have recently just moved over the street to a bigger premises, meaning that like us, you can grab a savoury pastry, a sweet one, and a drink. We’re left waiting for the Kiewa Milk contract to come through though.
If you’re going to be riding back up to Stanley or Beechworth, you might want to stock back up on any spares or bike specific nutrition (things that won’t inherently melt in your pockets) from the Yack outpost of Washington Cyclisme, straight across the street from Gumtree Pies. Otherwise, like us, you’ll begin your self-shuttle back via car, all your fun wrapped up within a morning.
