Preview: Forrest Festival

The Forrest Festival kicks off with a 15K cross country race at 9am starting in the main street of Forrest. After a stretch of mostly bitumen, riders will hit some of the Otways’ finest single track with trails such as “Follow the Dog” and “Roller Coaster”. After heading towards Barwon Dam and riding the “Forrest Loop” trail, riders will come down from the dam and end the first stage with a fast and straight 1K sprint to the finish.

At midday, lunch will be served in the form of a 5km hill climb time trail that will take riders from the “Red Carpet” to the top of Balidjaru Hill. For those who want to use this stage to gain a few places in the overall standings, be aware that you will only have about 15 minutes after finishing before your starting slot of stage three.

Stage three is the Red Carpet Super D, a 5km trail that has become an icon of Australian Mountain Biking. In 30 second interval and in the finishing order of the Hill Climb TT, riders will be sent of down the Red Carpet trail and into one of its newly rebuilt section that locals affectionately call “Tiger Snake Alley”. Why that name? Well, just don’t go slow if it’s hot weather…

Last stage of day one is named Caspers Revenge, a timed sprint where riders will be let off in pairs. It’s gonna be a fast and furious stage on mostly flat or downhill trails over a distance of 5km.

Sunday the 1st of December

The final stage of the Forrest Festival is a 50km marathon stage with over 30km of single track intersected with some fire road and dirt road sections. The first and last kilometres will take riders along the Forrest Tiger Rail Trail, a perfect finishing straight for a sprint finish in front of an excited crowd!

With only a few entries available, be quick to jump onto the Forrest Festival website and be part of an amazing event in the Greatest Place on Eart to Ride Your Bike!