Story

Calmed by the satisfying sun of a long December evening in 2013, Tara and Steve (BDPR’s Directors) sat contemplating the world, and their place in it. They’d just spent the past hours ‘chewing the fat’ over a delicious meal of fish and chips in Northern Tasmania; there home.

‘Why is it that so many of us resign ourselves to a life of underwhelming routine in jobs that don’t make us tick?’ seemed to be the theme of the evening.

We all seem to know that extraordinary amount of our lives are spent at work, thinking about work, or preparing for work. Was there a way of breaking the monotony that wraps us all so tightly to what we’ve come to know?

As if the warm setting of the night had suddenly become a movie set, right on the cue of a break in conversation, a successful local couple that we’d known for years came strolling around the corner from which we were seated. These two people, who we respect and admire, sensed thought in our expressions, and asked ‘What are you two cooking up here?’

In keeping with the frank and open mood of the night, Tara and Steve ‘spilt the beans’ on their plan for a fulfilling life. After the couple had moved on, Tara and Steve shot each other a glance and they both knew that now they’d shared their plan aloud to a couple for whom they have great respect, the idea was going to become a reality.

So what exactly was decided on that December eve? In essence, ‘fun’ is what guides us as children to try new adventures or try activities that relax and inspire us. As most of us get older, we all too easily lose contact with things that make us feel playful, free and at peace. Tara and Steve knew that; for Tara, a life in large corporate organisations wasn’t what ‘made her tick’, and for Steve, ‘ladder climbing’ in his industry meant climbing further away from his passions.

Tara and Steve excitedly discussed what had kept popping up in their thoughts over the past few years – the trends in tourism data, distilling Tasmania’s competitive advantage, and the prospective of an offering that tapped into what they knew was a sure-fire way to ‘reset’ their own minds from the monotony of the daily grind.

Glen Jacobs, founder of World Trail nails it when he says ‘you know what it’s like, you get people on a bike and all their problems go away… More and more people want to follow that dirt ribbon, and see where it goes.’

Tara and Steve are intimately familiar with ‘flow’ and the effect that it can have on people. It’s fun, it’s being close to nature, and it stimulates focus, which when combined can achieve clarity like no other. It’s where moments of realisation are born.

‘Flow’ and its flow-on benefits aren’t something reserved for serious mountain bikers. One of the most pertinent revelations of that sunny December evening, and the one that got Tara and Steve most invigorated was the acknowledgement that through luxury-adventure, they could bring flow and opportunity of great moments of realisation to almost anyone willing to allow themselves to experience it.

Officially launched in 2017, Blue Derby Pods Ride is the culmination of years of captivating and perspective altering experiences in the Tasmanian landscape. We like to call these moments of realisation.

Tasmania is well known for its expansive areas of temperate rainforest, which are among the last left in our modern world. Tasmania’s North East presents an especially intriguing case, where awe-inspiring Myrtle forest is mixed with evidence of one of the world’s richest tin mining operations at the time, and more recently, a plethora of world-class mountain bike trails. Tasmania is often recognised for its endemic flora and fauna, but it’s these stories found nowhere else that add another layer of intrigue to this special part of the state.

The Blue Derby Pods Ride experience is designed to immerse, challenge and captivate you in the brutal beauty of North East Tasmania.

Blue Derby Pods Ride… experience the flow.