Melbourne to Derby in a Day: Can You Ride Tasmania’s Best MTB Trails in One Day?

Could we fly from Melbourne to Tasmania early in the morning, hire a budget-friendly small car to reach the trails, ride shuttles all day, and still make it back to Melbourne that night—all for under $400? That was the challenge we set ourselves.

FULL VIDEO PREMIERING SUNDAY 6 APRIL, 8PM.

The Idea

It had been a couple of years since we last rode Maydena or Blue Derby, and we were eager to get back to Tasmania’s epic trails. Typically, planning a Tassie trip involves a multi-day stay, navigating accommodation options, juggling travel logistics—do we fly and hire a car, take the ferry and self-drive, or both when traveling with a group?—and coordinating time off work.

Throw a larger group into the mix, and scheduling conflicts become inevitable, along with different riding preferences. What should be a simple getaway turns into a logistical nightmare, with costs ballooning despite best efforts to split expenses efficiently.

Dan had just returned from Tasmania, where he’d enjoyed sightseeing with family and soaking in the action of his second Maydena Red Bull Hardline. Unlike his first Hardline trip, this visit didn’t include any riding. That alone was enough to leave him itching for a return mission.

While searching for cheap flights, Dan spotted one-way tickets to Hobart for under $60. Fresh off his Hardline trip, he also knew that affordable car hire was possible. That’s when the idea struck—why not attempt a one-day Derby ride on a budget? And so, the plan was born.

Planning the Trip

Flights and bikes

Dan found cheap Jetstar flights for $104 return but, as we discovered when we were first considering flying to Hobart, the longer you wait the more expensive it is to book. So the trick is to book about four weeks in advance to lock in the cheapest flights. That means taking a gamble on the weather but that applies to booking anything in advance, you’re always going to be at the mercy of the gods.

Our next decision was, ‘Do we take our own bikes, or hire some in Derby?’ We chose the harder option and brought our own bikes which meant packing them in bike bags before our flight. It also meant assembling and repacking them at the trails, but with a bit of practice it only took between 15-20 minutes.

We were lucky that Trailhead Riders Chris and Dave offered to lend us their bike bags. The alternative was to box the bikes, making them larger and less protected. From a cost perspective it didn’t make a big difference but a BYO bike adds another $140 on to your flight costs. You can hire an insured full suspension bike for around the same price (excl. helmets). Upgrade it to an ebike and you could probably forgo the need to shuttle, but hey! We’re only here for a day so who wants to pedal uphill? Not us!

Why Pedal When You Can Shuttle?

As those familiar with my channel will know, a lot of my content revolves around top-to-bottom runs of mountain bike trails. Recently, I’ve shifted focus towards documenting enduro and downhill racing, and a trip like this would make for great content. So, I suggested to Dan that we should document the day, and, being the camera-friendly guy he is, he agreed.

I wanted to strike while the iron (and the weather) was hot and suggested we should go sooner rather than later. Time wasn’t the issue, but our savings were. So, for the first time ever, we decided to see if anyone would be interested in helping out with some sponsorship through a collaboration.

We pivoted our focus to Derby as flights and shuttles were slightly cheaper than Hobart. We decided to approach Up Down Around (UDA) Shuttles for a potential collaboration. We’d used UDA on several previous trips, so we were already familiar with their top-tier service.

Non-stop shuttles with no set schedules, all day!

Josh from UDA offered to cover our shuttle passes and throw in some merch. While we were grateful for the sponsorship, we still factored the full shuttle cost into our breakdown. At $75 for a full day, we found UDA to offer fantastic value. It’s tough to find a better deal than that in Victoria!

Budget-Friendly Car Hire

Transporting mountain bikes typically requires a large SUV, but with our bikes packed in travel bags, we were able to opt for a much smaller compact car. According to Chris, with the seats down, a small compact should be able to fit both bags in the back without issue.

Instead of renting an SUV, which would have cost us between $140–$180, we managed to secure a small compact car for around $80 plus insurance. However, what we didn’t expect was that we’d booked a mystery car through Alamo. When we arrived to pick up our hire car, we were pleasantly surprised to be handed the keys to a Kia Carnival.

We also reached out to Alamo to see if they could assist us in any way. They graciously offered an additional 15% off our already affordable booking. Thanks, Alamo!

As with the shuttles, we’ve included the full price of the car hire and insurance in our total costs.

The Budget Breakdown – Did We Stick to $400?

Turns out sticking to our budget wasn’t as easy as we first thought. Early on, things seemed to be going smoothly, and we were well within our budget. But when it came time to add it all up, we just scraped in. Below is a breakdown of our expenses. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are shared costs, so half of the full price is reflected.

* shared costs

Itinerary & Expectations

With a packed schedule and a tight timeline, our day trip to Derby was a whirlwind of travel, riding, and a bit of adventure. Here’s how we planned our day, step-by-step, as we tried to squeeze the most out of our one-day adventure in Tasmania:

• 04:00 AM – Head for the airport, check baggage
• 06:15 AM – Flight from Melbourne
• 07:20 AM – Land in Launceston
• 07:45 AM – Picked up Alamo hire car
• 09:30 AM – Arrive in Derby and assemble bikes
• 10:00 AM – Meet and greet with Up Down Around and ride Black Stump
• 04:00 PM – Shuttles finish
• 04:30 PM – Lake swim, repack bike bags, dinner
• 07:00 PM – Return to the airport
• 09:35 PM – Flight back to Melbourne

The Reality

Despite our meticulous planning, things didn’t quite go as expected – a reminder that no matter how much you plan, life has a funny way of throwing in a few curveballs.

I’m an overthinker, so despite turning in early the night before, I struggled to sleep. It wasn’t until 12:30am that I finally managed to drift off. My alarm was set for 3:30am, with a backup at 3:45am, but I didn’t need them. I was already awake at 3am, caught up in nervous excitement.

After missing a flight in the past due to poor baggage check-in timing, I messaged Dan the night before, suggesting we get to the airport earlier. I was waiting outside his house at 4am, but Dan was only just leaving. Luckily, traffic was light, and he arrived soon after.

Dan had booked value parking, which required a bus transfer to Terminal 4. We had plenty of time to check in, but the clock was ticking, and we needed to check in oversized luggage 45 minutes before departure. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, and we made it through security, grabbed a coffee, and walked to the gate. That’s when we hit our first hurdle – Launceston fog caused a flight delay. We eventually left Melbourne an hour later than scheduled, landing in Launceston at 8:20am.

From there, things went a little off-script. We messed up the car hire pickup, even though Alamo had sent clear instructions. I was supposed to grab the bike bags while Dan handled the car, but Dan walked outside the terminal and discovered that the booking desk was actually inside, near the baggage carousel. If we’d followed the instructions, we wouldn’t have ended up waiting behind five other people in line. It was a slow process, and by the time we left the airport, it was already 9:30am – an hour and a half behind schedule.

When we finally arrived in Derby, the excitement of being on the trails quickly made up for the earlier mishaps. We parked right next to Eli, who runs a food trailer with a slow cooker. Eli is also one of UDA’s drivers, so we hit it off instantly. We promised to return for a burger after a few laps. While we didn’t include food in our expenses, there are plenty of local food options around Derby, and Eli’s burgers come highly recommended.

It was now 11:30am, and we jumped on the bus. The shuttle drivers seemed to know we were coming, and we met Dougal first, who quickly got us on the next shuttle. He also mentioned that the Blue Derby MTB Club was hosting a race down Flickity Sticks that day. We managed a quick warm-up lap down Flickity before the race started, which had us wondering, ‘Should we sign up for the race?’

Race and Riding Highlights

Next, we met Nick from UDA and his 12-year-old son, Zac. Dan asked Zac to lead us down Air-Ya-Garn for the next lap. I failed at the new log ride, so I filmed Dan’s successful attempt, getting some great footage. From there, we made our way to the trailhead, and I went ahead to film the boys on the first jump on Air-Ya-Garn. This is what we came for – big air and stoke.

As we reached the road crossing, Dan took the lead but unfortunately suffered a major crash just a few turns in. After some quick triage, rest, and recovery, we finished the trail, but Dan decided to sit out the next lap and look for medication in town. I honestly thought that was the end of the day for him.

My third lap was much more chilled. I cruised down the top half of Hazy Days before finishing up on Air-Ya-Garn and checking back in with Dan.

At this point, the guys from UDA generously gave us a jersey and a cap each. Maybe it was the painkillers or maybe just the new jersey, but Dan was ready to get back on the bike. I suggested we do a full run down Hazy Days to see how he felt. Turns out, that did the trick, and Dan was keen for at least one race run down Flickity Sticks.

We signed up and headed to the top for our one and only attempt. Given Dan’s injuries, he gave it his all and finished with a respectable 5:43.04, earning him fourth place in the Veterans class. I, on the other hand, raced in the Masters class (40+), finishing sixth with a time of 5:56.50. Considering I’m 54, I was pretty happy with that.

Zac also did great, finishing third in his race with a time of 6:12.39. His older brother Lennox took the win with a blistering 5:46.65. Two young shredders with a bright future ahead!

UDA offers shuttles after-hours, and we took advantage of that to make up for some missed runs earlier. Dan and I did one more lap of Kumma-Gutza and then another lap of Air-Ya-Garn. Unfortunately, I ran out of GoPro battery for that last run, but it was our best of the day – we hit every jump!

After that, we took a quick dip in the lake to soothe Dan’s injuries. By the time we got back to the car and repacked our bikes, it was 7pm. We grabbed a spicy takeaway pizza from The Hub on the way out and hit the road.

We made it to the airport on time, but another slight flight delay meant we landed back in Melbourne later but before midnight. Even with the bumps along the way, it was an unforgettable trip.

Final Thoughts

Was it worth it? Would we do it again?

Hell yes, to both! For the price and the experiences you get, it’s hard to find a better deal. If you’re passionate about mountain biking like we are, why not attempt Derby in a Day? Sure, it’s a long day with an early start and a late finish, but we’re tougher than that. Plan it for a Saturday, and you’ll have Sunday to relax and recover.

Key Takeaways for Other Riders Wanting to Attempt Derby in a Day

• Best Value Shuttles: For the most bang for your buck, you can’t beat Up Down Around. Ride more often and for longer!
• Bike Bags: If you don’t have a bike bag or can’t get one, head to a bike shop and ask for an old bike box. Some places will even pack your bike for you. Alternatively, try hiring a bike in Derby. Head to the Blue Derby website to find a list of places where you can rent one.
• Travel in a Group: While we traveled as a pair, there’s no reason this trip can’t be scaled up to a group of four or five. Upgrade to a larger SUV to fit your bikes, and split the cost – it’s still a cost-effective option.
• Car Hire Tip: Don’t make the same mistake we did – head straight to the car hire desk when you land!
• Bad Weather and Delays: Things like bad weather, flight delays, or cancellations can’t be helped, so be prepared to think on your feet. Live a little! If it’s too wet to ride, explore the area – visit a brewery, winery, or cheesemaker. And if things don’t go to plan, UDA is happy to offer refunds or a raincheck.

Watch the full video of our Derby in a Day adventure, drop a comment with your thoughts, and don’t forget to subscribe for more epic MTB content!