Kep Track and the Easter Bunny
I was thinking of doing a longer ride on Saturday 22nd March along the Kep Track( www.keptrack.com.au ).
?? Has anyone ridden this track ??
The trail length is 75 kilometers and should take 5 hrs at a brisk pace. I will be parking at Mundaring and cycling via the road to Northam, which should take 4hrs.
If you are interested in this ride, or have any suggestions ie. start time, route variations etc, please reply to this post.
If you don't like the road, and can arrange transport to Northam, it will be easy to meet you there.
Cheers, Pete.
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Kep Track
I have done the Kep Track in both directions.
A small group of us did it middle of last year on a Sunday from Mt Helena Tavern to Northam and return, a total of about 125km. We didn't do the bit Mundaring to Mt Helena / return as we had all done that trail many times.
From what the people at Northam Tourist Bureau told us, we were the first to do it.
All up it took us roughly about 7.5hrs riding time for the return trip as we had a bloke with us who bravely rode a mtb for the first time and chafed badly in his shorts. A couple of us reckon we could do the return trip in about 5.25hrs at a hard pace.
We stopped at Bakers Hill Bakery in both directions for morno's and arvos - deluxe!!!
We had lunch in the park by the river (Avon Start Line) in Northam and grabbed rolls from Subway etc. A couple of the group who only wanted to to 63km organised for partners to drive up to Northam and pick them up.
The track was in pretty good condition all the way along. It is a lot hillier from Clackline to Northam, but not hard hills, and it includes a small bit of riding on bitumen. The track is just gravel, like riding the Heritage Trail. It got a bit boring on the return trip.
You would already have the brochure map I presume? Just follow that.
I did it from Mundaring to
I did it from Mundaring to Clackline last year around summer and its was OK if you are OK with fireroad style riding (don't expect singletrack). Only prob was that there were a few sections that were totally boggy sand that were really annoying and on the return were metally tough as you knew you were up for a hard boring slog. Strongly recommend doing it in winter once it has rained a bit.
MMMmmmm Boggy sand
Thanks for the feedback guys. I am really doing this ride to find my endurance again, so I don't mind boring hills or mentally tough boggy sand. Anyone else having trouble with their endurance mojo ?
losing it
well you know what they say.... if you've lost your mojo, try riding a different bike for a bit. can't do any harm...
Two thumbs up for the Kep Track
For safety, I decided to ride the trail in both directions and keep off the road on a public holliday. The track is in great shape and there is no boggy sand, just a small section of churned up gravel to contend with. The signs are generally good, but a few turns aren't marked and had to rely on the map to get me through. My legs started to burn with lactic acid on the way back, but after replenishing water at Chidlow and stretching out I found my second wind.
Time including all stops/ breaks.
Mundaring Weir to Northam = 4 hours
Return = 4.5 hours
P.S. 2ks out from Northam there are lots of Double Gee Prickles, Stans is the best product in the world by just sealing those puncture holes up immediately.
what is stans?
what is stans?
Stans no tubes
Stans is a tubeless tyre sealant system, renowned as possibly the best. A wise investment for WA conditions. See here for more info: http://www.notubes.com/