Well, it took a long time- 12 months to be precise, but finally we were able to run our maiden trip of our ‘Lofty Descents’ tour.
OK, so that photo isn’t from the first trip- the view was a little bit more cloudy, plus Deb managed a slightly out of focus photo of the group at the summit…. 🙁
The guinea pigs were Annetay, Chris, Ori, Kay, Dave, Haley and Nick. Waxy came along to shot a little video film too. Luckliy we made it through the first challenge of the day- picking everyone up in Adelaide, and transporting them safely to the summit of Mt Lofty. From here it is 660m drop in Altitude, and 18km of downhill riding back to Adelaide.
After a stop for photos and a little safety briefing, it was a relatively short 20 minute ride to the first stop of the day, at Cleland Wildlife Park. Here we had an hour to wander around, feeding Kangaroos and Emus, seeing Dingos and Tasmanian Devils, and meeting a Koala up close.
Then it was time for the most important bit of the day- Morning tea, and a chance to test out Deborah’s famous brownies. After that it was then time to head off on the longest part of the ride- 8km of riding though Cleland Conservation Park, through to Chambers Gully. This riding is excellent, passing through native bush on 4wd trails which offer a few challenges in places, but are rideable for almost all. Our total MTB novices faired well along the tracks, proving the ride is not just suitable for experienced riders! There was always the option to walk the short technical sections if you desired.
We even managed to spot 4 Koalas in the wild, and narrowly miss hitting 2 kangaroos along the trail, proving the wildlife was not just confined to the wildlife park!
After about 40 minutes, we finally popped out into Chambers Gully, and then made it to civilisation. From here it was a cruisy ride along Waterfall Gully rd, and then through some quiet sideroads until we ended up riding though Victoria Racecourse and back into Adelaide.
All up it was an excellent day, and we greatly apprecitated the assistance from our willing crash test dummies.
More photos can be found here……
and here is the promo video…. 😉
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKfatRarEZY&hl=en_GB&fs=1&]