My favourite one day trail destination near Melbourne

Cascades Trail at Lake Mountain is my favourite one day trail destination near Melbourne for MTB.
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Long and Winding is all about my journey as a mountain biker here in Victoria Australia. From riding jumps to racing enduro, I'll be sharing my tails from the trails every step of the way.
My camera gear:
Sony a7iii
DJI Ronin SC
GoPro Hero 9
GoPro Hero 4
GoPro Karma Grip
Stuntman chest harness
2021 Cannondale Scalpel SE Carbon 1

[@Froff]

My daughter and I loved watching this one. Smooth drone shots too. Nice one Hamish.

[@longandwinding]

Good to hear!

[@timloader]

I did Cascades for the first time a few months ago, there was a lot more climbing than I expected! It was also super wet and slippery, meaning I had to be cautious and stacked it on the steep berms section multiple times (tyres got caked with mud) and crushed my thumb (which I’m still feeling). I’lol get back there sometime when it’s drier, and skip a few sections next time around.

[@lman22]

Happy extremely belated Birthday Hamish!

[@mogwai888]

Cracking weather. Will be closed soon for winter. This makes me want yo go hit it before its over.

[@longandwinding]

Do it!

[@andytlr]

Great vid; great trail. Keen to do it again when the snow melts.

[@longandwinding]

Let me know when you go!

[@thefloydtube]

Cascades rocks. The new section work below ‘the Kitchen’ was shaping up super nice before the closure for tree clearing in the lower section for a while.

[@longandwinding]

Love this trail!

[@DMMTB]

Happy birthday young fella …. Another great vid but nearly turned bad with that 🚗

[@longandwinding]

Thank buddy!

[@vidmeelabs9688]

Amazing shots! Belated happy birthday!

[@longandwinding]

Thanks!

[@Groosome128]

I dropped a little torch somewhere between about 8:00 and 8:30 a month or 2 before this, did you find it? ;)

[@longandwinding]

If you watch frame by frame and look at the screen super close I’m sure you’ll see it

[@outerislandsurfing8755]

Dam - I have missed you videos

[@longandwinding]

Good to be back!

[@leebowers3210]

Hey mate. Another great video. Keep it up 👍 Just a question for you. Would you know of any trails around the Tallrook ranges at all. Cheer Lee.

[@longandwinding]

Thanks Lee. Seems like there are some trails on trailforks but haven’t ridden there before

[@leebowers3210]

@@longandwinding ah no probs. If you ever decide to head out there i'd be keen to join you as i live near by in Broadford. Cheers.

[@imMetallicOSM]

Always a fresh edit ;)

[@nickwooden2103]

Nice Hamish! Good to see ya back on the phat tyres. Was that the American that went to the right of the car at the end?

[@longandwinding]

Haha yep!

[@k-dog495]

For sure, it's the best. We travel to Buller every december to do shuttles and the epic, but after doing Lake Mountain half a dozen times now, we've all decided that the effort vs reward of the Alpine epic is not worth it. Cascades has way more fun during it's length than Buller by far.

[@longandwinding]

Agree, Cascades is great bang for your buck in terms of logistics

[@ryanschoenbaum3597]

The solidarity, no pedal, follow cam section was epic!

[@longandwinding]

So epic!

[@lucamtb__]

Nice happy 40th hamish!

[@longandwinding]

Cheers!

[@MrWhitmen1981]

Can it be done with a hard tail?

[@JDman1]

Yes though it has to be a very beefy enduro hardtail, I tried with my xc hardtail and just couldn't do it.

[@MrWhitmen1981]

@@JDman1 I’m definitely keen to try it out over the summer. I can’t afford full suspension yet and I need to learn the good habits with line choice in my crappy hardtail.

[@TheFatSteez]

Your vids have been super useful for me getting back into riding over the last year mate. Just a question - I currently ride all the usual Melbourne spots on my hardtail and love it. Thinking of getting a FS bike for here, red hill, Buller etc. What sort of travel bike do you recommend? I like the thought of these downcountry bikes coming off a hardtail, something light and easy to pedal. I’ll hit most of the jumps on the trail though, is jumping ever an issue on bikes like these on trails like this?

[@Groosome128]

I ride all those trails with a 140/150 27.5 bike. I think a lot of those bikes are 120 or maybe 130 rear with 29s so kinda similar. I did the 1st half of Cascades up to the ticket gate before the lower half with the lunch room and all the berms etc was built and had fun but the 140 (2018 model) is way more capable.

[@longandwinding]

Sorry I missed this comment. It depends what your skill level is handling a bike. If you want something light and versatile that pedals well I think a downcountry bike is perfect. It’s the jumps stuff that only you can answer. Any bigger than 120mm overkill for most trail centres near Melb

[@mtb_3930]

Hi mate. I have some trails to show you. How do I contact you?

[@longandwinding]

Instagram works. Otherwise my email is on my about tab

[@mtb_3930]

@@longandwinding hi. Can't see your email in the about section

[@DN-iz4qh]

Happy belated birth day mate.

[@longandwinding]

Thank you!!

[@stephenharrington667]

Love Cascades... but those uphills kill me!

[@longandwinding]

Yeh it’s not all down hill. That’s kinda what makes it special though

[@lucamtb__]

I live where dan lives btw