Food, mountain bike riding, pampering. Can any girl think of a better way to spend a weekend? Eight girls joined us in Daylesford in July to try it out.

Tasma House was our base for the weekend. I was running late having misplaced my MTB shoes. So instead of cooking a relaxed dinner, we sat down to hastily prepared pasta, salad and vino – and all relaxed anyway.

Day 1 – Hepburn Springs circuit, Cidery, massage, Indian

After breakfast we rode from home base to the course in Hepburn Springs. The country side is truly spectacular and we had the optimum conditions of sunny, crisp days and no wind. A five-hour ride of undulations and some technical aspects brought us to lunch which was waiting at a picnic table beside the river ready for us to inhale.

Enough riding for day one. Off we went to the Cidery for a quick tour and explanation of producing cider – and taste test of course. A massage back at Tasma House and we were ready for dinner.

Chauffeur Steve took us to the spectacular Dhaba At the Mill  http://www.dhabaatthemill.com/ in Kyneton. They don’t usually take bookings, but Steve the magician waved his wand and a fantastic table was ready for the 11 of us when we arrived. For $25 each, we were treated to everything on the menu. Ravenous as we were, I still came home with four tubs of leftovers and ate Indian for the rest of the week!

Back home, some of the camp continued the riding theme and sat up watching MTB DVDs.

Day 2 – Skills training, chocolate and facials

Next day riders, van and trailer headed to Jubberland, a private property near Castlemaine. On an 8 km loop Jake from Castlemaine Cycles and Steve from Body Torque Bike Shop hosted a skills training session.

Back in the van and off to the chocolate factory. Mmm – hot choclolate with chilli and selected chocs from the display cabinet. Back to Tasma House for facial before having to return to normal life in Melbourne.

Getting dirty again

Having now tested the theory, we can confidently say a girls dirty weekend is a lot of fun. If you’d like to try it, let m. We’ll be running more weekends in the future and will advise dates once they’re organised.