“Ol’ Dirty” is a yearly event organized by Andy Van Bergen of the Hells 500 crew – part of their blurb reads – “It all started with a bunch of guys who liked riding in the hills. Too much. We liked the fact that as hill riders we were on the fringe, so rather than race – we would set ourselves goals that no one else was doing. The pre-requisite for any challenge that we set was that it had to be tough.”
In a nutshell, any Hells 500 ride is going to be hard, no matter the distance. This ride just happens to include a wee bit of gravel.
My previous ride was held in Bendigo, Victoria, which is not exactly close to Warburton, but the scenery in this region of Australia is pretty spectacular. Thus, I made the drive to ride the route from the 2014 edition of Ol’ Dirty, approximately 72 kilometres / 47 miles in length. There is a good amount of climbing on the route, but it isn’t out of control ridiculous… at least on paper anyway 
Onto the video!
Thanks for watching!
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Great job, JOM. Lucky for locals to have a remote ride experience so close to a major city (Melbourne). The ride looked OK when you did it, but Ol’ Dirty is held in August which is winter in Australia – so it is usually wet and muddy which would add to the challenge factor, particularly for roadies.
I picked up a discounted handlebar camera over Christmas. I was reasonably happy with it till I saw your videos – now I have a serious case of follow-me drone envy!
I read a ride report about Ol’ Dirty which is why I’m glad I rode it last week 🙂 There is no way I’d appear on a road bike… the big chunky rock descent must be a nightmare on 700c x 25mm tyes.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t use the drone too much in this area – tree cover is far too heavy which is bad for drones. But, I’ve got several more videos in the works from rides over the past few days where the terrain was more open.