Lardners/Turtons Loop

This loop starts with the familiar climb up Roadknight Creek road, but this time you drop down quickly into a gully on your left. Phone signal ends here. After crossing the Gellibrand River, Lardners track is a fairly constant climb of around 3-5%. Turtons track is a common tourist route which winds through lush rainforest. Cars are limited to 40kmph due to the lack of vision around corners but you can hear them coming so it's generally ok. Turtons intersects with the Forrest-Apollo Bay road which brings you back up to town on the seal. There are some nice views to be had on this road.

Stats

The route is 54.5km long and has 1111 vert metres. My time of 3:31 hours was ridden at an average speed of 15.5kmph.

Course Terrain

After a short section on seal, you hit gravel at Roadknight Creek Rd. All of the gravel is well maintained, but take care descending down Bridge Track. The gradient ranges between 8-15% and it's easy to gather a lot of speed!

Course Route

• Leave Forrest via Turner Drive, next to the Brewery and ride for 1.3km.
• Turn left when it intersects the Colac-Forrest Rd and ride 1.5km.
• Turn left at Roadknight Creek Rd, ride this for 5.8km.
• Take Ridge Road for 750m.
• Turn right down onto Bridge Track which eventually becomes Sayers Track after you cross the river, totalling 3.4km.
• Take a left onto Lardners Track. Continue on Lardners for 10.7km.
• Turn left onto Turtons Track and follow for 12.3km.
• Turn left onto Forrest-Apollo Bay and ride back to town, 17.7km.

Tips

Take plenty of water and snacks. The amount of climbing is significant. There's no phone signal for a large percentage of the route. There's very few residences nearby if you get into trouble so please take all your spares and make sure you let someone know where you're going, and when you should be back by.