Rides around Halls Gap

[hamishm]

Can anyone suggest some rides around Halls Gap? Looking for 30-50km sort of rides rather than all day epics.

Maybe Mt William if time permits.... http://theclimbingcyclist.com/climbs/mt-william/

[Hildalgo]

I found the Grampians one of the best places to ride, but sadly if you're only able to do 30-50km you'll have to back-track & possibly only look at doing the one climb & a small amount of riding around Halls Gap if time permits. Here's some articles I did on the Grampians if it helps? Near Mount William you will notice a road that looks a good loop up Silverband Road, but sadly this is a one way road that goes the other way. If you're only doing a short ride possibly combine Boroka & Reeds in the one ride. The views at the top are incredible, and there's quite a bit of challenging climbing & the descent down is quite fun:

http://www.thedandenongranges.com/artic ... grampians/
http://www.thedandenongranges.com/gramp ... mb-review/
http://www.thedandenongranges.com/gramp ... mb-review/
http://www.thedandenongranges.com/gramp ... mb-review/

[hamishm]

Thanks Hildago. It's a nice weekend away with my partner rather than a cycling weekend, so 2-3 hours early in the morning is enough. Thanks for the Mt William and Boroka climb reviews, I read about them on the Cycling Cyclist page too.

Could possibly push it to 60km if it was undulating hills rather than a mountain, if you/anyone has ideas along those lines.

[Hildalgo]

If you're heading up to Mount William, its a gentle climb up to the base of the climb & works out at about 48km return. You can turn left up Silverband Road on the way back, but there's only a couple of k's of climbing before it turns into a one way road, but could bring your ride up to what you've got planned.
From Halls Gap, there aren't that many options & whichever direction you choose will probably be only be able to do that one direction. I would probably lean more towards Mount William than Boroka & Reeds, as a bit less traffic but no matter which one you do you will wish you had time to do the other.
Would highly recommend that if you go through Ararat to at least drive up to the One Tree Hill lookout. Quite an amazing view up the top

[hamishm]

The drive up One Tree Hill was great. Looks pretty steep on the bike! I'm hoping to have two mornings for the bike, weather permitting, so Mt William and the lookouts. Thanks for the info.

[Hildalgo]

When my wife told me that her brother was getting married in Halls Gap & had booked accommodation for us for the weekend I was pinching myself. Hope you have a great trip up there

[Hildalgo]

When my wife told me that her brother was getting married in Halls Gap & had booked accommodation for us for the weekend I was pinching myself. Hope you have a great trip up there

[hamishm]

Got out for two rides (plus a couple of good hikes). Weather on Saturday was good but then it was cold and/or windy the rest of the weekend.

First ride was up to Reids and Boroka Lookouts. Great views, some nice steep pinches on the Boroka section too.

Second ride was to the Mt William carpark. By that stage it was -1.3 degrees and I didn't really feel like tackling the 20% pinches to the summit! I think I saw a few flakes of snow coming down too. We'd walked up there the day before and the wind was howling. I did see some other riders coming up and one of them said he saw snow at the top.

Quite a bit of the Mt William climb isn't very scenic so I'd say the Lookouts ride was more enjoyable overall.

I think also Mt Victory Rd / Silverband Rd (one way only) / back down to Grampians Rd would be a nice ride but I didn't get a chance. Also further along Mt Victory Rd to Zumsteins, we did drive up to Mackenzie Falls and it was very nice.

[Hildalgo]

Shame about the cold. Mount William I got up at 5:00am and hit it just as the sun was rising & was a magnificent scene. I accidentally brought the wrong wheel without the compact on it and got a mechanical shortly up the steep bit at the top & had to turn back. Agree that the lookouts up the top around Boroka were amazing, and make the climbs really worth it. Silverband I rode really early on in the morning & rode down the one-way road out to Boroka lookout. Shame its one-way as a really good climb up there. You can hear for miles around you & can easily pull over but a number of blind corners so safer not to recommend it. The Zumsteins are definitely on my wish list

[Bazza]

For anyone wanting some flat in between climbing, the Lake Fyans loop is a nice 35 km from HG and Fyans Creek road is a quiet out and back with nice scenery.