Going back in time. Lal Lal iron ore furnace circa 1870

[riles]

2t4me pulled another rabbit out of his hat today. He did the same at Neerim a few weeks ago. At Lal Lal Lal today we had just the right mix of exploring, technical, hill climbs and distance. A good crew and overcast mild conditions was the icing on the cake.

After an hour or so of excellent tight tracks we found ourselves in the big gully - going past the goldmine shaft (that Gypsy used to stop and tell a story at) then onto a few big climbs.

We ventured further over East and decided the creek crossings were just too full for comfort - so we backtracked and explored some more. Some of the long trails of off camber riding were challenging. A bit of gangnham along a ridge covered in grass trees ( black stumps with long grass growing out the top) I can tell you first hand that these black plants are more solid than you think .

One of the interesting lessons of the day came from Dann who told us of the iron ore furnace near the car park. Sure enough the last trail we did for the day was to the old blast furnace remains.

Some pics from me - including some info about the blast furnace

[riles]

Lal Lal

[Dann]

This was my first ride at Lal Lal, what a great little riding spot it is. I found it to be very similar to Chewton with the rocks, the type of soil and and the way it felt a little extra tiring to most other places.
So many good tracks in there and hills everywhere from mild to wild. Such a really good place with something for everyone and will definitely have to spend a bit more time out there.
I'm glad you posted this up Dusty, it was a good day had by all, thank you!

[_Chris]

Thanks for post up the ride Dusty. Really enjoyed it. Thanks to riles and dann for sweeping. Look forward to the next time out at Lal Lal.

[2t4me]

Thanks for coming along guys - the place definitely has some awesome tracks but bloody hell is it hard work!

Was a weekend that I was really looking forward to - my partner a few weeks back suggested that we go to my parents for the weekend and she then suggested that I take the bike along - WINNING!
Unfortunately the weekend had a shaky start when we were about to leave early Saturday morning and I noticed a text my son had sent on his way home from work at 2am that his car was running rough - he was heading off Saturday arvo for his first camping and 4 wheeling weekend at dissa - so I used the extent of tuning ability and chucked a set of plugs and leads on it... After a bit of f'ing around (and a bit of wrong lead on wrong plug mishap!) It was running and driving better than ever!

The ride was great but the whole time I was thinking of Ned and his mates and wondering how they were getting on - and what broken bits I was going to need to replace during the week!

We finished the ride, had a chat in the car park then I got into the car and saw a few phone messages and missed calls - Ned had had a prang and couldn't drive his car.. so it was then a rush back to my parents, pick up L and my dog, race home and then race to Dissa...
Today was spent with L and Ned in hospital - thankfully after tests and scans etc there's no fractures or internal injuries etc, he's just gonna be stiff and sore - and I had the recovery task...

He's one lucky boy and I feel like one hell of a lucky parent to still have him...

Not how I expected the weekend to go that's for sure

[hoff300]

Wow Dusty, he's one lucky man!

[fab]

First ride at Lal Lal and I didn't know what to expect. As Dann says it was very Chewton but with much sandier soil in places you wish it wasn't.
Some nice tracks were found by Dusty with some so good we did them twice It was good though as you got the make the same mistakes again.
Thanks to Dann and Riles for sweeping.

Dusty, great to hear Ned is ok. When you left shouting "he has totalled his car" we were not sure what the next news would be.

[cobraone]

glad you enjoyed the black boy stump track.made that a few years ago.not been there for a long time and have heard its progressed ha ha.