Heyfield Area after the bushfires

[muleboy79]

Just thought I'd fill you in on a recent ride in the Heyfield area. Myself, my brother Stewy and 2 mates, Matt and Steve, decided to head out for a ride in the Heyfield area just over a week ago. I had never riden Heyfield before, much less an area that has been destroyed by bushfire so I was keen as mustard to get out there and have a crack. Heyfield is around 2.5 to 3hrs from home so I was up and ready to go by 6:30. Unfortunately Matt and Steve weren't this organised and we had to wait a further half hour for them to load their bikes up and get there gear together.

None of us had eaten breakfast so we stopped at the Maccas in Moe to fill the "reserve tanks" and grab some complimentary toilet paper (napkins) just in case. The weather forcast was good. The area had recieved a little rain over night, just enough we hoped to keep the dust down, but no more was forecast. This pleased me to no end because the tread on my trusty '99 XR250 was virtually non existent.

I couldn't believe the damage I saw from the fire on the way there. The ground was scorched black with no leaves on most of the trees. Most of the properties had been saved but we did pass a few burnt down houses. On one property the house had burnt down but the shed was saved!

When we reached the road to Licola there was a sign right across the middle of the road the said the road was closed. We were a little upset about this and were about to turn around and find somewhere else to ride when we watch a 4WD just drive around the sign without even slowing down. Since the turn off to our starting point was literally 450 metres past the sigh we made an executive decision that we too would bypass the sign.

I couldn't believe what I saw when we got there. There was absolutely no scrub whatsoever. The ground was completely bare. And there were no leaves on the trees either. This proved to be a saving grace later in the day and also meant you could look through the trees and to a certain extent see what was around the next corner.

We took of on a small loop and instantly a knew I shouldn't have been cheap and not bought new tyres. The rain we had did keep the dust down, but because no one had used the tracks since the fires it was also as slippery as a greased up piglet. My back end was sliding all over the place, which for the most part was fun but it did make for more than a few heart in throat moments. After a while though I got used to it and it wasn't too bad.

Now I don't know if it is always like this in Heyfield but the washouts were huge and great fun. They were seriously about 4 to 5 feet high. You just wrapped on the power and away you went. After the intial loop we headed of in another direction and hit some really steep hill climbs. The fact that I had no tread didn't help and at one stage I was tank slapping so badly that I pushed Stewy off into the trees as he tried to pass me.

We then proceeded down hill on a track that was covered in burnt fallen down trees. It was at this stage that I started to get a little nervous. We had to pick our way between the trees off the track to get around them and my bike was slipping and sliding all over the place and the front end was continually washing out. If it was like this going down it was certainly going to be interesting going back up.

We reached the bottom of the hill, crossed a small creek and started another hill climb. This was by far the steepest hairiest hill of the day. It was covered in small trees, rocks and ruts. After about 2-3 minutes heading upwards I looked up and could see Steve trying to lift something just over the top of a massive washout and thought that Matt had come off and was trapped under the bike. When I got over the top of the washout however I saw what was actually happening.

There right in the middle of the track, with no way around it was a huge tree! And here is Matt and Steve actually trying to lift there bikes over it. Haha. It was about this time I started to notice the weather closing in on us. It was getting very dark and cloudy very quickly. I said to them flat out there was no way that they were going to get the bike over in the first place and even if they did manage it I wasn't following. If it started to rain I was going to struggle to get out wit my tyres the way they were.

It was just as I said this the wind picked up. "Here it comes" said Stewy with a little bit of a concerned look on his face. Within 8 seconds I was soaked to the bone. It bucketed down. We turned the bikes around determined to get back to the utes. It was no longer like riding up and down hills. Because of the lack of scrub to slow the flow of water, it was like riding up a waterfall. In some sections you couldn't even see the track there was that much water flowing down it.

I went first and surprisingly didn't have to much trouble. The rain only lasted 15 or 20 minutes but it was heavy enough to really make things sloppy. It was about 45 minutes or so later that the 4 of us realised the problem that this presented. About 3km from the utes was a long wide hill. The problem though was that because of the fire, the fences on the neighboring farms had burnt down and cattle had chopped the track up so that after a large down pour it was covered in about half a foot of thick, slippery mud.

Steve went first and just managed to make it to the top. He did however manage to chop the track up even more. Matt went next and made it to the top with on the second attempt but needed a push and chopped it up even more. I went next and only made it past the first wash out when my bike stopped going forwards and started going backwards despite the fact I had the throttle wide open. Stewy had a shot but by this stage the track wash slush and on his light, touchy YZ250 only manged to chew up the track some more.

Matt came down and helped us push while Steve the slacker went back to the car to stay dry because it had started to rain again. It took 3 attempts and about 30mins to get Stewies bike up this friggin hill and by the end of it we were all covered in about 6inches of mud from head to toe. Matt walked back down the hill to give us a hand with my bike and slipped half way sliding from one washout to the next. Stewy and I had a good laugh at his expense.

My bike was another story. With no tread and 2 inches of mud covering both wheels there was no way we were going to be able to ride it up the hill. even with all of us pushing. The fact was that we couldnt even get footing to push from. We tried anyways and just ended up covered in more mud. We went back to the bottom of the hill and decided the only way out was not on the track at all but between the trees. With Stewy and I pushing and Matt riding it still took us 45mins to get my bike out.

When we got back to the utes steves bike was nice and clean and ours were caked in mud. He thought this was pretty funny. I have now invested in some new tyres. Overall it was a great day with heaps of varied terrain and a new experience for me having never riden in fire damaged forrest.

[Munchkin]

Sounds like you had a great day!

I have been involved in 1 of those days also, amazing how much it takes out of you.

My mates clutched died in the bottom of a valley in the Otways. It took 26 guys 2hrs to get the bike to the top!!! We then got the 4wd bogged trying to get out with the bike on the trailer. Winch died, had to manually dig the car out. Overall on the day 10kms in 6 hrs!!!!

[muleboy79]

Its funny that you mention getting bogged with the trailer on beacuse that happened to us on the way out. Luckily it was a dodgy XF that got bogged. The other car was a Hilux and had little problem dragging our sorry arses out.

[damo03]

Originally Posted by muleboy79

Its funny that you mention getting bogged with the trailer on beacuse that happened to us on the way out. Luckily it was a dodgy XF that got bogged. The other car was a Hilux and had little problem dragging our sorry arses out.

Did your XF have a LSD? It was the first thing I put on my ute when I bought it, otherwise I'd get bogged in all sorts of mud!

Sounds like a fantastic adventure but I'll bet you'll make the bike with the least tread go first now so he doesnt have 2 put up with the churned up mud!

[muleboy79]

No LSD in the XF but the ute is only worth about 2k at most. I just keep praying that someone will steal it coz its worth more to me in insurance. Haha.

[PWC]

Do you know any of the track names, I ride Heyfield a lot but have not gone since the fires.

[muleboy79]

Not sure of the specific track names as Iwas there with mates but had never riden there before. But we entered via Chesterfield Rd which is on the left hand side as you are heading towards Licola.