March 20, 2008 -

Any listing of routes for this region has to include the Black Spur. Unfortunately a combination of heavy traffic and occasional police blitzesmean that personally I only rate this road as average. But get it on a good day and it can be a blast. From Healesville the route winds through forestry, initially with fairly open sweepers and good road surface. About 5 km in you begin the serious climb up a series of twisties surrounded by tall gum trees. If the road is in good condition and the traffic is light this can be an absolute blast. After about 5 of 6 Km you crest the ridge and start your way down the other side. This is even tighter until you hit the bottom of the range when it opens out quickly into farmland. Note that the weather can be completely different on either side of the ridge. Another hazzard in winter is the habit of this particular gum tree to drop bark on the road which combined with damp conditions can get pretty slippery.