Help out a Canadian moving to Melbourne area!

[BCrida]

Hi everyone, I'm moving here from Victoria BC and looking for places to ride. I'
ll be living here from jan 20th 06- july 06. I'm going to be working at a boarding school in Mt. Eliza, Victoria...approx 1 hour out of melbourne from what iv've been told?
I have a few questions:
Should I bring my downhill bike?
dirt jump bike?
I only have room for one bike. I really like dirt jumping and I'm pretty good at it, I'm willing to get good at skatepark, how territorial are the bmxers over here?
I also wont have a car so I will have to rely on public transportation.
I also ride for Dangerboy/Tsg so anyone who wants to help me out showing me thier trails id be stoked to hook you up with some cheap parts/ pads.
Thanks for any help, my msn is bikeman_mark@hotmail.com if anyone wants to add me :)
I'll bump this thead when it comes closer to the date I'm arriving.
**sorry if this is in the wrong section of the forum**

[dazz]

Ha, your going half way round the world to get nowhere... (Victoria to Victoria) sorry.
Unless you can hook up with some downhillers from that area to help you out with transport, which shouldn't be too hard, your options for DH would be limited.
I'm not sure what the DJ scene is like down that neck of the woods either. Someone help me out here...
You should post up on the http://www.melbourneriders.com forums if you have no luck on here.

Good luck.

[crabapple hitz]

Watch out for drop bears.

[Derek Yates]

Hi everyone, I'm moving here from Victoria BC and looking for places to ride. I'
ll be living here from jan 20th 06- july 06. I'm going to be working at a boarding school in Mt. Eliza, Victoria...approx 1 hour out of melbourne from what iv've been told?
I have a few questions:
Should I bring my downhill bike?
dirt jump bike?
I only have room for one bike. I really like dirt jumping and I'm pretty good at it, I'm willing to get good at skatepark, how territorial are the bmxers over here?
I also wont have a car so I will have to rely on public transportation.
I also ride for Dangerboy/Tsg so anyone who wants to help me out showing me thier trails id be stoked to hook you up with some cheap parts/ pads.
Thanks for any help, my msn is bikeman_mark@hotmail.com if anyone wants to add me :)
I'll bump this thead when it comes closer to the date I'm arriving.
**sorry if this is in the wrong section of the forum**

Bikes are a bad idea in Australia as our Ozone Layer has been so badly depleated that sunburn is the major killer of cyclists. If you leave your bike in the sun for any length of time the rubber will melt and bright coloured paint just fades to white. You have to pick your days to ride carefully. Thankfully you are moving to Melbourne so you won't have to worry about the sun.

You WILL have to worry about BMX'ers tho. They have become a real problem down here. They roam about the suburbs and randomly attack people walking on the street. In worse areas they have been known to attack drivers on back streets. Often armed with Oversize chains, Pegs and Attitudes those guys are not to be messed with. Remember THEY INVENTED dirt jumping and style on a bike and if you are seen on thier turf without baggy jeans and an emo haircut watch out. DO NOT ever ride a mountain bike in a BMX area. People have been killed and worse.

But seriously... Either would be good. The DH season will last until about March and then the weather starts looking like BC (wet and shitty). I have no idea about Dirt jumping around that area but there is a fair few parks/jups in the SE suburbs that you can play on (nothing very big or bike specific tho).
DH is about a 2-4 hour drive for the most part so you'll need to hook up with a crew to get up to the hills. Us Norco.Au crew are mostly based around Mentone, not too far from Mt Eliza so give us a PM or email if your interested in a hookup for DH trips or whatever.
Tough choice if you can only get 1 bike tho.... I'd go the DH, you might be able to get a DJ'er cheap for a few months ride but DH bikes are always $$ unless they are flogged. Then again you can al least hook up some street sessions, park and DJ on your jumper and you don't have a car.... what a bastard. Good luck.

Cheers,

Derek @ Norco.Au

[riden_4life]

if you bring your downhiller then Mt Buller would be lright... im pretty sure you can catch the bus up their if your relying on public transport... only thing is im not sure if thats only during snow season?

if you bring your djumper then their are plenty of random skate parks around! Also you could maybe head into the city if your that kind of rider?

[jab]

I would bring the dj if i were you, only because i like djing more than dh. but if you want to go to Mount Bulla, its 4-6 hours drive from Mt Eliza so you can catch coaches from melbourne to mansfield every day during ski season, not sure about summer . From mansfield there are buses that go up the mountain really early, but like i said, only sure about ski season.

To go skiing i've caught the bus from Melburne to Mansfield, gone up on bus, gone down on bus, then back to Melbourne the next day.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the riding:)

[BCrida]

thanks derek and others...
I'm leaning towards bring my dj bike just because I can probably find some close dirt jumps or skatepark. I dont mind taking hte bu, train. wtc. into melborne after work or on weekends either. I'm kinda into street riding but I suck at it haha. thanks so far everyone I will look at that melbourneriders site.