The Blue Tier Mountain Bike Trail in North East Tasmania is breathing fresh life into remote townships in Break O’ Day Council.
Starting with the adrenaline rush of winding through spectacular scenery and ending with the a well-deserved cold ‘frothy’ at the Weldborough Hotel, the new Blue Tier Mountain Bike Trail in North East Tasmania is without a doubt a mountain biking experience with a difference.
Situated in Weldborough, a remote town in Tasmania’s North East, the Blue Tier trail was opened in early October and is proving to be the jewel in the crown of the Blue Derby Mountain Bike Trail Network.
“It’s the enormity of the landscape that makes the Blue Tier Trail so special,” he said World Trail director Glen Jacobs.
“From a trail designer perspective, the variety of spectacular terrains riders experience, including moss coated boulder streams, massive tree lines, beech myrtle forests and huge green valleys.
“Because of the diverse terrain, our designers and builders had the pick of the best features the Blue Tier had to offer, like the small but amazing Emerald Creek, which is surrounded by fluoro green moss boulders and babbling waterfalls all wrapped and surrounded with tree ferns forests.
“The Blue Derby Trail Network, is like nothing else in the world and will be a major global destination for all adventure seeking mountain bikers.”
Olympian Bowden agreed as he rolled in fresh off the trail: “The Blue Tier trail is an adventure trail, the changing scenery throughout from top to bottom beginning with an alpine environment, creek crossings, the Myrtle Forest and finally popping out just below the Weldborough Pub is really a unique experience and something that sets it apart from many other mountain bike destinations.
“There is a nice balance of climbing and descending and it can be enjoyed on most types of mountain bikes.
“At around 20km and a point to point trail, the adventure nature of it being in an otherwise inaccessible area is special and the perfect way to experience North East Tasmania at its best.”
The Blue Derby Network is rapidly gaining an international following and it has been announced the network will host Round two of the World Enduro in April 2017, a considerable achievement for what was, up until a year ago, a couple of remote townships on the verge of economic destruction.
Both the township of Derby and now Weldborough have a new lease on life, which has seen a complete fiscal turn around with investment increasing and a shift from reliance on the dying forestry industry to the new buzz about town, tourism.
With an epic Stage two on the cards, which will see the construction of a trail from Blue Tier to the infamous Bay Of Fires (an ambitiously thrilling 46km descent) to a network of stacked loops south of St Helens, the appeal and economic drive of the network will continue to inspire riders as well as the local communities.
So grab your helmets, book your flights and enjoy the Tasmanian wilderness… and, of course, finish up with a native coldie at the Weldborough pub.
