NERINA, Ballarat

NERINA – Ballarat – April 05. || by Derek Yates

I’d kept hearing good things about Nerina. There had been some race stories, pictures and a good vibe from riders in the Ballarat area. Then some of the guys from work decided to venture out there. Good reports were an understatement apparently, Nerina was awesome.er

So we packed up the car on a 30 degree day and headed into the unknown. The only thing I really knew about the place was that there were a bunch of really fun DH trails with lots of jumps and some big gaps. So we drove for almost two hours in the heat and strong northerly winds and finally got to Ballarat. Following some hastily relayed mobile directions to the MTB area we headed up onto a dirt road.

Before we even stopped the car I could see sections of trails and some crazy terrain all around us. We had arrived. The bush looked like a lot of other placed we have visited over the years but with XC bikes. Soil is pretty hard clay with small to medium sized rocks covered in some areas with a loose layer of dirt and dust. Now on an entire hill side, under the shade of the reasonably sparse eucalypt trees, we had found a freeriders paradise.ates

We hooked up with our crew Andrew (AJ) and Tim who had been playing at the park since earlier in the morning. One of the first things I noticed was the number of other people with a heap of other riders who were checking out and ripping up the park. The guys from Otway MTB Adventures had a massive crew of young riders, aged somewhere between 7-14, and were showing them the ropes of DH trails. This was pretty encouraging since I was unsure if my skills would be up to the trails here. Ballarat has bred some pretty awesome riders and these trails were likely to reflect the locals skills as riders and builders.

So we push/pedalled to the top of the highest point of the surrounding area. This is the starting hill and trails seem to peel off in every direction from here. Everyone headed off down the first trial and after a few berms, small jumps and a nice section of flowing trail we got to a massive bombhole. Many of the surrounding trails converged here and there were some smallish kickers, set back from the edge, leading into the hole. AJ pushed back up the hill, cranked down the trail and hit the kicker. He effortlessly sailed about 30ft from the takeoff to landing, sucking up the smooth landing with plenty of suspension travel. Carrying heaps of momentum his DH bike boosted up and out the other side of the crater and down the landing of the outside. Damn, that’s a big gap. The rest of us just spent some time playing rolling into and out of the bomb hole, 30ft gaps a little far for most of our jumping skills.
After a few more runs and some styling jumps later we moved back up the hill to see what else we could see.

We headed off down another side of the hill on a slightly tighter trail with some small kickers and berms. This lead to another open area with maybe five or six different trail options leading off the fire trail. This is where we saw the big gaps! These were pretty massive commitment lines over old mine shafts with good size drops to the bottom. There were about 3 options on how you could hit the gaps if you were up for it. AJ took one of the smaller gaps and cleared it clean and smooth followed by another big mine gap a little further down the hill. I checked out some of the other trails nearby and the more I looked the more lines I could see. This place was awesome. I started trying to hit some of the lines and quickly realised that these trails were built for and by people with a few more bike skills that I have. There were a few other crews of riders that turned up and the skill level of the riders was unbelievable. It seemed like most of the guys were hitting either the medium or big gaps with no worries at all. There were some super smooth gap lines pulled and lots of air time logged. Mr Gus Anderson was riding with a big crew of guys that we’d bumped into and was busting some big lines with his usual smooth flowing style. Mark my words this is a rider going places.

After getting sick of people doing cool stuff I couldn’t dream of, I hit some of the B-lines and easier trails and had some good short runs. This is maybe one of the slight downsides of the area. Unless you are hitting the big lines, the trails are pretty short and sweet. Most are only two minutes or so long but with a short 5-10 minute push back up. If you are keen you could easily pedal back up on a dual chainring bike from the bottom of most trails. Seeing as temperatures were in the 30’s and we had full body armour/full face gear, pushing was a more enjoyable option. If you are expecting epic trails or some nice smooth runs then this isn’t for you. This is high sugar, high caffeine riding for short attention spans. If jumping and gaping is your bag along with picking some sweet lines, wall rides, bermed corners and lots of fun DH trails this is the place to go. Bring your brass gonads for attempting the big stuff. The Freeriding potential here is huge with terrain that invites creative line choices, multiple lines on the trails and plenty of places to test your skills. I would not suggest visiting these trails on your own and I would highly recommend plenty of body armour if it’s your first trip. The trails are very smooth, but you don’t want to mess up the jumps. As far as bike recommendations goes you could just about ride anything. I saw anything from little dirt jump hardtails, to mid travel duallys, right up to massive gap eating DH rigs. The good guys were roosting all the trails on pretty much anything. Just remember you have to push whatever you take down back up.

The trails and surrounding dirt is pretty dusty too so I’d say it’d get pretty muddy out there in the wet months. I’m sure the Ballarat crew rule this place all year round tho.

I was super stoked to see the all young guys ripping it up and having a go at some of the smaller gaps, sometimes casing, sometimes clearing, sometimes crashing but always getting back on for more. These kids were having a great time and the Otways guys seemed to be giving them a great day out and some good advice. These little buggers will be beating you at a DH race shortly. More kids in MTB is how this sport will stay healthy in the long run. We’ll have new generations of people ripping it up and putting us old buggers to shame. Bring it on!

At the end of the day I was a little bummed that I couldn’t ride more of the trails here. There are so many trail options on offer here and the rewards for the rider are huge. If you can ride the trails you will leave very happy. The rider skill level required isn’t huge but the ability to hit small, medium and large gapped double jumps and land on the transitions is essential to enjoying the area. We left the trails inspired to practice our jumping and vowing to return after working on our skills. Next time we won’t just be watching people hit the big stuff (or maybe the time after that…).

The Ballarat riders are a lucky bunch to have this awesome trail area just a short ride from town. Nerina is not for everyone but if you are into that style of riding and have your jumping skills dialled, your really can’t NOT go check it out. And here’s to the young crew giving riding a go!

©SoulRidersImages: ^RIDER: Helen. PHOTO: Derek Yates. >RIDER: Gus Anderson [Team Norco] PHOTO: Derek Yates