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Executive OfficerAllan Birrell

EditorMaggie Twomey

Design & LayoutNoah @ Joomstore

Board MembersRon Colman - Chairperson

Peter Versluis - Vice ChairpersonNeil Brodie - Treasurer

John Hughes - SecretaryMike Wood - Board MemberAlan Lofts - Board Member

Murray Wynne - Board MemberRichard Beazley - Board Member

Denis Sawyer - Board MemberStephen Reynolds - Board Member

Chris Mawson - Board MemberJim Sharp - DPaW Representative

Munda Biddi Trail Foundation IncPO Box 7445 Cloisters Square

Perth WA 6850(08) 9481 2483

http://mundabiddi.org.au

epic year for munda biddi

say what?

perth’s autumn festival

spotlight: cycle friendly business

on the trail

sponsors & supporters

contents

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26 Trailblazers took part in a celebration of the opening of the Munda Biddi back in April 2013. Cycling from Albany to Perth, rid-ers engaged in fantastic commu-nity celebrations along the way and finished their journey at the Festival of Cycling in Mundaring.

Much has happened in the year that followed – positive devel-opments for the most part such as the opening of the Mundaring Trail Hub and the recruitment of new and dynamic board members and sponsors Trility, Giant and Worsley. There were also some darker moments for the foundation, with the sudden and tragic passing of Epic rider and Munda Biddi board member Nathan White.

With April fast approaching it is time again for the next Epic ride. Unlike the previous year, which given the nature of it’s purpose – celebrating the opening of the trail – was always going to be a

unique event, the 2014 Epic and beyond will go back to basics. The ride will focus on giving a much smaller number a solid supported ride on the Munda Biddi. After all, what could possi-bly trump the simplicity of cycling this beautiful trail (especially when you don’t have to carry all your gear!)?

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on the progress of the riders on Facebook and look forward to recalling all their experiences and sharing photos in the next edition of Trailblazer.

Congratulations also to our three winners in the Munda Biddi Raffle which was drawn in December. Feeling festive and very much like Santa, we were delighted to make the draw and call the winners with the good news just in time for Christmas. First place winner James said “I was blown away when I got the call to say that I had won the raffle. The

more I looked into the reviews of the Giant Anthem 27.5, the more excited I became. It’s an awesome bike, so light and easy to ride, and although I haven’t had a chance to explore much of the trail so far this year, I will be again riding the 3 day Can Teen Off-Road from Collie to Nannup in October. I have been lucky enough to already ride the first 500km to Nannup on my old bike, so I will be tempted to just keep going after that!! The plan is to complete the last 500 either this year or next – but then again I may just have to start from Mundaring and go to the end! I loved staying in the cabins and thought that they have been re-ally well positioned and set out”.

We hope to run the raffle again later in 2014 so keep your eyes and ears open for news.

epic yearfor munda biddi

it’s hard to believe a year has passed since the inaugural Epic ride.

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TWITTER@MundaBiddiTrail:“About 1000km longest in the universe apparently! Did a bit last week. Hopefully next year,will keep u posted”

@Bensouthall:“would make a great world

record attempt then…on some form of weird and wacky bike.

Maybe a Penny Farthing?”

@richkeam:“Ha ha I reckon a TANDEM penny farthing.”

8:08 AM - 19 Dec 2013

FACEBOOK“Congratulations to Bicycling Western Australia member Nino M who took home a $2,500 Mountain Designs voucher in The Munda Biddi Trail Foundation RAFFLE for 2013.” - Bicycling Western Australia

“Great meeting/ride with the Ka-lamunda Mountain Bike Collec-tive representatives yesterday. Their passion and vision for the Kalamunda trails is very moti-vating. They will do a great job maintaining and improving these Munda Biddi trail sections.” – Neil Brodie

say what?

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A nice blog for anyone interested in riding the Munda Biddi with family: http://fb.me/2P4EzPfvA

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Perth’s Autumn FestivalThe Munda Biddi Trail Foundation will once again be holding an event as part of Perth’s Autumn Festival.

The festival season kicked off on March 14th with a weekend of events celebrating 180 years of winemaking in the Swan Valley. A must for any food or wine lovers, these events included traditional long table lunches, sundown-ers, breakfasts and decadent dinners with yet-to-be released or limited release wines. There will also be a vintage market, art exhibitions and auctions, a classic car display, vintage high teas

and concerts – what more could you want? Well maybe a little exercise on the Munda Biddi trail after all that decadence…

MBTF’s event looks to deviate from the traditional guided ride event format by offering Munda Biddi users the chance to expand on their usual trail experience and learn how to get the most from photography on the trail. Most people, even those unskilled or disinterested in photography, will use some form of digital photography in their day to day life – be it a simple snap taken on a camera phone or a considered shot on a high tech digital camera. We will be running a masterclass aimed

at those who like the idea of photographing their time on the trail, but perhaps have never had instruction or guidance on how best to do it. Hopefully as a re-sult, participants will begin to see the trail in a new light and from a new perspective.

After the ‘Photography Mas-terclass’, participants will be encouraged to take a self-guid-ed ride at a time that suits them and put their newly learned skills to the test. They can also submit their efforts to MBTF as part of a future online exhibition of trail images and our favourite snaps will be exhibited at the Munda Biddi Trail Hub in Mundaring.

Places are very limited for this Masterclass which takes place on Sunday, 27 April so book early by contacting the Foundation office.

Perth’s Autumn Festival will run to the 4th May and there are many other interesting events to attend. Visit http://perthtourism.com.au for more information, or keep in touch using the following:#PerthsAutumnFestival on twit-ter or Instagram, or by visiting http://Facebook.com/PerthsAutumnFestival

For those who don’t remem-ber, the ‘Tastemaster’ role was won by Rich as part of a Tourism Australia and Tourism WA global cam-paign to fill the ‘Best Jobs in the World’. The Tastemaster role involved six months of travelling the length and breadth of WA sampling and blogging about the fin-

est food and drinks that the state has to offer – a tough job but someone had to do it! Toni, from our Cycle Friendly Business, Pemberton Dis-covery Tours, recaps Rich’s trip to Pemberton.

Rich Keam the “Tastemaster” visiting Pemberton! Yes this happened last December thanks to Tourism WA & Australia’ South

West. Pemberton is located in the food bowl of the south-west and visitors enjoy the taste of what is fresh and in season with its amazing products which can be tried on any number of activities, tours and restaurants in the town. Rich was introduced to ‘Holy Smoke’. For the uninitiated, ‘Holy Smoke’ is a tradition here in Pemberton for cyclists, walkers and everyone in between pro-

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In the December edition of Trailblazer, we announced that the WA ‘Tastemaster’ Rich Keam would be including a ride on the Munda Biddi as part of his trip down to Pemberton in December.

Spotlight: Cycle Friendly Business

ducing a range of pates, smoked delicacies and other delights. They have recently relocated next to the Fine Woodcraft Gallery in Dickenson Street, just around the corner from Pem-berton Discovery Tour’s new premises in Brockman Road.After a gourmet luncheon, Rich joined us on-board the ‘Bush Limo’. This ‘Beach & Forest Eco Adventure’ is the ‘MUST DO’ tour with Pemberton Discovery Tours

and takes visitors on a memo-rable journey through old growth forests to the land locked Yea-garup Dunes and on to Yeagarup Beach and mouth of the Warren River. Rich joined the afternoon tour which included an appealing home-made afternoon tea!Rich was then treated to a gour-mets surprise with dinner thanks to Sophie at Foragers. Foragers gives visitors the opportunity to taste the Southern Forests slow food style utilising local products in amazing dishes and is open most Friday and Saturday nights although bookings are essential.The following day, Rich joined us once again for a ride through a segment of the Munda Biddi trail in Pemberton, followed by an ex-hilarating challenging ride through the Pemberton Mountain Bike Park at Forest Park.

A stop at the Lavender Berry Farm for a cuppa completed his morning - the Berry Farm is a short detour off the Munda Biddi Trail (before heading to Pemberton if you are coming from the North) and they are famous for their ber-ry pancakes (with hot berry sauce and ice-cream).

The amazing views and support offered to Rich from Peter from the Pemberton Bicycle Company and Mark from the Pemberton Vis-itors Centre showed the pride and collaboration available in the town (ensuring Rich enjoyed a sample of

what the great track had to offer.)If you are inspired and want to visit some of the fantastic Cycle Friendly Businesses that Rich visited, you can find out more at:Pemberton Discovery Tours: http://pembertondiscoverytours.com.auForagers: http://foragers.com.au Lavender Berry Farm: http://lavenderandberryfarm.com.au or check out the Cycle Friendly Business Directory on the Munda Biddi website.

Pemberton is an awesome place to stop on the trail, but there are others of equal beauty with fantastic facilities to mix up your trail ride. Louise Stokes, from Cycle Friendly Business ‘Holberry House’ tells us why half-way point Nannup is an ideal place to visit.

Autumn riding reinvigorates the soul with the smell of fresh rain in the forest, the sight of new growth in the bush, the lush colour of vibrant autumn colour in the valley and visions of misty mornings with the sun peeking through. Nannup offers each of these experiences with a net-work of cycle trails and the Mun-da Biddi passing straight through town. For those ‘end to enders’ Nannup is a great half way stop

with all the essential ingredients of good coffee, masseuse and Laundromat available or you can enjoy short rides from your ac-commodation place if away for a short break. A range of accommodation is available to suit each traveller and budget, including Holberry House, located in town on 4 acres of landscaped gardens with ensuite and spa rooms. Breakfast is included in the tariff http://holberryhouse.com.au . Loose Goose Chalets is located near the Timberline Trail a short distance from town and offer a range of self-contained chalets with DVD, bath and log fire or the Goose Shed, for group bookings and functions http://loosegoose.com.au . The Blue House offers a selection of ensuite or share bathroom rooms and includes breakfast. The property over-looks the Blackwood River and is a short walk into the townsite. Sitting on the verandah you can watch the world pass by http://bluehousenannup.com.au .

If you are travelling down south on a short break and looking to experience the Munda Biddi Trail, bike hire is now available in town at the Nannup Community Resource Centre, through Gecko Bike Hire. All bikes are brand new and equipped with helmets and can be hired by contacting 97563022.

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Spotlight: Cycle Friendly Business Continued from previous page

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Nannup is renowned for hosting wonderful events that show-cases the great community spirit that lives in our town. The fortnightly markets in the main street provide an opportunity to buy local fruit and veg, preserves and support local artists. Up-coming events include the Quit Forest Rally 5-7 April. We welcome you to visit the Blackwood Valley region and enjoy the many attractions and activities of Nannup. As it gets cooler, appreciate the first rains of the season, and relax in the evenings with a glass of wine in front of a log fire at the ac-commodation property of your choice.

While the trail towns are the obvious place to stop and refuel while out on the trail, there are many points of interest worth being aware of outside the towns. Watermark Kilns is a prime example, and owner Trevor Hulcup tells us why.

Watermark Kilns is about 14km to the north of Northcliffe. The Munda Biddi runs past our door. But why should a rider stop with Northcliffe so close?

Well, the Munda Biddi is about the journey, as much as the destination and Watermark Kilns is a way point on the journey that reveals significant episodes in the state’s history that should

not be ridden past.

To begin with, the property was settled as part of the Group Settlement Scheme. This was a more-or-less doomed project to settle the Karri Forest. It got underway after World War 1 and was sold to returned British soldiers as their big chance to become lords of a 100-acre estate. It started in 1924, but was far from the idyll imagined. By 1929 the great depression hit and those who had any money walked off their land and headed home to England. The only fam-ilies who stayed were those who had no money and no options. So they lived off the land and struggled to survive.

After World War II the govern-ment decided that abandoned Group Settlement properties should not be allowed to contin-ue their slide back into forest and sponsored another returned sol-dier scheme – this time for Aus-tralian soldiers, and this time for tobacco. This scheme was much better resourced and supported and it did well for about 10 years. In 1960 it collapsed when WD & HO Wills cornered the market and refused to buy leaf at the annual auctions in Roe St, Perth. That was it for tobacco. The fall-out was as severe for Northcliffe as the depression had been.

Cyclone Alby in 1978 blew a lot of kilns down; others collapsed in subsequent storms. Watermark

Kilns survived. In 2000 Jeanette and I started the serious busi-ness of stabilising the structure of these decaying buildings. All had been attacked by dry rot and termites. We went to a lot of trouble to retain the appearance of the original buildings. Corru-gated asbestos was replaced by corrugated colour bond; ventilation flaps were retained, but re-engineered for internal control. What remains are the original buildings that made up a 1950s tobacco farm. The result is an A class Heritage precinct and a comfortable stay for riders and walkers.

One of the best features of the Kilns, from a rider’s perspective is the UV sterilised rain water – no chlorine taint and mineralised hardness. Meals are available, mostly from ingredients sourced from the garden, with marron a specialty. Self-catering ingredi-ents can be ordered in advance. Another attraction is one of the state’s top artists, Tony Windberg, who lives on site and uses the processing shed as his studio.

There are other tracks to explore in the vicinity and a great swim-ming dam at Schafer Hut. More information about Watermark Kilns can be found on our web-site http://watermarkkilns.com.au . For more information about the property and the history of tobacco and Group Settlement you’ll need to stay for a chat.

Spotlight: Cycle Friendly Business Continued from previous page

Watermark Kilnshttp://watermarkkilns.com

Some time ago a cycling friend of mine, Ron, suggested he would like to do a ‘credit card ride’ on the Munda Biddi between Albany and Collie. Having done the upper portion some years ago the construction of the southern portion of the track meant that Ron had unfinished business. I agreed that I would accompany him and eventually a date was agreed to start. Ron had only 8 days available whereas I could go longer if need be.

Being ‘roadies’ we were a little naive for what was to come. Ron’s preparation was to hammer out long kilometers

on his MTB bike, a state of the art Scott carbon soft tail. My preparation was to ride my road bike as usual and the weekend before the trip ride from Perth to Mandurah with 15kgs of ballast in makeshift pannier bags on my $385 Giant Rock.

Once the trip commenced from Albany we soon realised that we had undertaken a de-manding exercise. By 10am on Day 1 it started raining and we pulled into Denmark looking like drowned rats. While trying to warm ourselves up I bumped into an astonished roadie mate of mine, Dave, who commented

“I didn’t know you were into trail bikes”. Maybe I was on the wrong mission.

Lesson 1: Use the same seat that you train on. My road bike has a 130mm wide seat which I find very comfortable and ridden on for several years. My MTB, which never gets ridden, has a 150mm wide seat. Riding all day in the wet doesn’t help either and by Day 6 and suffering from now unbearable pain from saddle sores I had to do something different or drop out.

Lesson 2: Fixomull is great from healing blisters. With the strate-

on the trailIt’s been a busy season so far on the Munda Biddi Trail, and as always we love to hear about people’s experiences and pass on their advice and tips. Dianne Bowman discusses her end-to-end ride and lessons learned (the hard way!).

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gic application of Fixomull I was able to continue with increased comfort and my raw bum fully healed by the end of the 12 day trip even when continuing to ride.

Lesson 3: Take a spare Derail-leur lug and make sure it fits. Day 4 found us 60kms or so east of Northcliffe with a broken derailleur lug on the flash Scott. “Don’t worry”, says Ron, “my bike shop gave me a spare”. As I went about grabbing a snack I became aware that Ron’s bike repair was making him anxious. With a grim face Ron turns to me saying “it doesn’t fit”. While Ron was rehearsing what he was going to

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say to his man in the bike shop I pulled out my spare derailleur lug and compared it to the broken Scott one, perfect match. We dodged a bullet that day.

Lesson 4: Have a nutrition plan and stick to it. Being long course triathletes we both understood the importance of fuelling the body. As we were targeting 8 to 10 hours riding each day to get to Collie in 8 days we carried out our riding in 2 hour blocks with an energy bar on the hour in be-tween. Our day was to rise and ride 2 hours, have breakfast, ride 2 more hours and have morning tea, two more hours and have lunch with the remaining hours in the day to get us to our desti-nation. This strategy along with allowing for a bottle of fluid every hour kept us in good shape for the next day.

Lesson 5: Travel light. By Day 7,with my riding comfort again bearable I broadcast to Ron that I was going for ‘end to end’. My plan was to offload anything that I hadn’t used in Collie, where Ron was to finish, and travel lighter. My plan included shedding my sleeping bag which meant that the remaining nights would have to be spent in paid accommoda-tion. This was easy to organise around my planned average 100kms per day. By shedding around 6kgs from my panniers uphill riding and pushing over logs became much easier. The com-bination of the lighter load and solo travelling was getting me to my destination each day ahead of schedule.

Lesson 6: Strengthen your hands. By Day 8 I had lost strength in my thumbs making gear changing difficult. Even now, a day after finishing the ride, my fingers will not touch together when I stretch out my palm. Years of sitting at a desk have weakened my hands. If you do not do manual labour then I recommend you purchase a hand exerciser and strengthen your grip before you go. This will make for a more enjoyable and safer trip.

Ron achieved his goal of riding from Albany to Collie to com-plete his Munda Biddi ride and I achieved end to end (up hill). Why do we do these things? I love the ‘afterglow’ and the feel-ing of accomplishment that tells me that I can do anything when I set my mind to it.

Well done to the Munda Biddi organisation and DPaW for cre-ating this iconic track.

More and more people are taking on the end-to-end challenge, including MBTF Trail Maintenance Volunteer, Rob Howe who explains:“...Having watched the last section of the trail between Northcliffe and Denmark be completed earlier this year, I vol-unteered to maintain a section in North Walpole which passes close to our property.So it seemed like a good idea to ride the complete trail from Mundaring. A day after my 62nd

birthday in September I set off overloaded, unfit but with plenty of enthusiasm which quickly di-minished as the rain set in. In the first 12 days only two were sunny and without rain!!Getting to Albany was an achievement, but the real expe-rience was the trail itself, its chal-lenges with the highs and lows, but that’s all part of the Munda Biddi - you love it and hate it all in one. Everyone travels to their own timetable but remember it’s the journey not the destination, so slow down and appreciate all that the trail has to offer and the great diversity of the south west.Who knows I may even do the reverse trip from Albany in a couple of years for my 65th”

Congratualtions to Dianne, Robb and everyone else who completed a ride on the Munda Biddi recently. MBTF want to hear your tales from trail. Email us [foundation@mundabiddi.org.au] with your stories and photos at any point and we will include our favou-rites in future editions of Trailblazer.

on the trail Continued from previous page

sponsors & supportersthank you for your support

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Trailblazerapril 2014

Munda Biddi Trail Foundation IncPO Box 7445 Cloisters Square

Perth WA 6850(08) 9481 2483

www.mundabiddi.org.au

Trailblazerapril 2014

Munda Biddi Trail Foundation IncPO Box 7445 Cloisters Square

Perth WA 6850(08) 9481 2483

www.mundabiddi.org.au

trailblazer Munda Biddi Trail Foundation Inc PO Box 7445 Cloisters Square Perth WA 6850 (08) 9481 2483 www.mundabiddi.org.au