About The BMORC

Why the Blue Mountains Off Road Cyclists?

After the closure of Old Bathurst Rd Downhill track by the Blue Mountains City Council (BMCC) in March 2010 it became obvious that there needed to be some way for the vast number of Blue Mountains mountain bikers to come together and have a unified voice.

What happened with Old Bathurst Rd was really a golden opportunity lost. The reason it was lost was because the residents who objected had a much stronger and more unified voice than the very few mountain bikers who wrote letters/emails to lobby the councillors and then presented at the meeting. Politically we were fairly beaten despite it being in reality a unsatisfactory decision for all parties.

The report created by the BMCC staff had recommended the formalising of a downhill track at Old Bathurst Rd but the decision unfortunately was not up to them. Sadly the lobby campaign that was attempted wasn't able to create any semblance of a unified or sizeable voice that could sway the political decision the councillors were going to make. So at the end of the day instead of having a legal downhill track in the mountains and a precedent for mountain biking trails in the mountains, we instead have a precedent of "council closes all downhill mountain bike tracks on the eastern escarpment and adjoining ridges."

After seeing what had happened a month earlier over the closure of sections at Manly Dam where a large number of local and non-local riders had successfully lobbied council to reopen the trails, it was a clear demonstration that what is needed is a large number of unified voices in the mountains to deal with our trails.

So after 3 months and building up a strong core member base we presented at council in June and received permission to work with council on XC and Downhill tracks in Knapsack Reserve. We currently have good support from all the councillors and a very large task at hand in a tight time frame.

So at the moment the BMORC's aim is to try and be a face for the riders in the Blue Mountains that can work with council and try and to obtain the best possible outcomes when any issues arise. Further we would like to create a friendly community of riders in the mountains that can improve ones riding experiences. BMORC is not a club, it is really just a way of getting riders to have better communication channels.

So who are the people presuming to speak up for all riders in the mountains you may ask? We are a mixed bunch of riders of different disciplines, ages, capabilities and locations who would probably all prefer to be out riding than doing this.

Most importantly any help, ideas, criticisms or feedback is more than welcome and appreciated. Join the forums or email us and present your opinions!