You are here
BMORC News
"New Lower Mountains Bike Track Open" - Blue Mountains Gazette
http://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/179...
After more than three years of closure, the Lower Blue Mountains has a dedicated downhill mountain bike track again after the opening of a new $52,000 course at Knapsack Reserve on September 21.
Tracks used for mountain biking in East Blaxland and Mt Riverview were made off-limits due to concerns about their effects on environmental sustainability including soil erosion.
The new, fully accredited track is 1150 metres long, is designed for experienced mountain bikers and involves a new volunteer group called Track-care to foster sustainable trail maintenance, rehabilitation and the installation of signs.
The project surfaced during consultations between the mountain biking community and Blue Mountains City Council during completion of the Knapsack Reserve Moun-tain Bike Plan in 2010 and is funded by the council and the NSW Government.
Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill said the track would be "an important recreational facility for the Blue Mountains and greater Western Sydney region".
"After a lot of careful planning and hard work, we can be proud of developing an environmentally friendly, low impact walking track and bike trail network in a bushland setting of national significance," he said.
Official Opening of Knapsack DH This Saturday 21st September
This Saturday the 21st at 9:30am Blue Mountains Council will be doing the official opening ceremony of the Knapsack DH track. This should include some councillors and BMCC officials and staff that have been involved or interested in the project.
Meet at the gate on Barnett St of Lovers Walk.
BMCC will also be sending a professional photographer to take photos of the official stuff but also to get some photos of riders using the track. They will providing us with copies so come along and ride and try and be snapped doing something cool.
We have to check how viable a BBQ is so we will be looking into that.. hopefully we can get a cook-up going as well. Slightly short notice so lets see what can be done before then.
Please pass this info on to anyone else you know who might be interested as well.
Knapsack Downhill Open for Riders!
If you have been following the BMORC Facebook page, you would probably have guessed that the Knapsack Downhill Track has been given the all clear by the Blue Mountains Council to be ridden!
The required signage has been installed and can be seen here if you want to see what they look like before visiting.
BMCC have done a final walk with Dirt Art and with IMBA today looking at the last details that need to be ticked off. They are also working on a forward action plan for maintenance issues to be handled on volunteer days.
Further there is a tentative plan for an official opening of the trail on the Saturday 21st September. This is yet to be confirmed and I know Kingy wants to do a good ceremonial BBQ that day as well! Hopefully we can show some of the councillors in person what this project has all been about.
Enjoy an Oaks Guided Tour with NPWS Ranger
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service's off-road cycling campaign this September.
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/cycling
On September the 15th one of our rides, the Oaks Trail, offers a rare chance for riders familiar with this route, to discover more about their surroundings and what makes this trail so special from environmental, geological and cultural point of view. For anyone new to the Oaks Trail, it's an opportunity to get out and try something new with a knowledgeable guide to show the way.
Nielsen races to podium finish
Springwood’s Blake Nielsen has taken Elite Men’s silver at the second round of the NSW Downhill series at Del Rio, near Wiseman’s Ferry.
Barely a second behind Woodberry (NSW) rider Graeme Mudd, Nielsen was in great form all weekend, despite a change in conditions on race day which left the track muddy and slick.
The wet weather didn’t deter Nielsen, who said: “I just ride the same lines I practised and commit, there’s nothing more fun than being on the edge of control on my bike”.
Downhill Opening Still a While Away.
Currently the DH is still closed because there are some issues to work through. At this stage we are not sure how long this will take to get done, so all we an ask is to be patient a little longer and don't ride the trail.
In a nutshell, there are some concerns from BMCC, BMORC and other stakeholders in whether some of the features will hold up well enough and be in fact "sustainable". For those of you who have walked the track will probably have noticed these sections where the dry and poor soil of the area hasn't bedded in well enough to form certain features. From a purely rider based perspective we fear that they could fall apart resulting in people diverting and in the end compromising the trail such that rider uptake of it becomes poor. A bad outcome, so we would like it robust from the start.
Have your Say on the Planning of the Blue Mountains the next 4 to 10 years
Blue Mountains have your say
Have Your Say on the proposed action plans for the future of our City of Blue Mountains.
Our City, Our Future Sustainable Blue Mountains - Planning for the next 4 to 10 years
The Council has prepared a number of draft plans for the future of our City, and wishes to invite the views of the community on these plans.
The draft plans are on public exhibition from 26 April to 23 May 2013 and are available for viewing
Looking to Have the DH Trail Open by next week - or soon after!?
Speaking to council there are just a few more assessments and sign-offs that need to be done to be sure the DH trail meets all Commonwealth stipulations. They are desperately working at getting that done as soon as possible and expect it to be done by the end of this week or early next week.
BMCC will be keeping us in the loop because they are more than aware of the excitement and eagerness of riders to start riding the trail. So please hold off for just a few more days until this can all be done officially.
So watch this space or the facebook page.
It's (was) On! Dirt Art Build Day - Sun April 14th 9am
See the calendar entry for more details, but this has now been confirmed as being on.
This would be some more work on the DH including cutting in an extra switchback reroute that was approved by the commonwealth and various grooming and tweaks of the DH trail in preparation of it being opened.
I will add any more details as I get them.
Once again for the late notice but we have only just had it confirmed by council.
2nd Annual Easter Trail Hosting days
As part of our active involvement with the staff in the Blue Mountains National Parks, we will again be holding 2 trail hosting sessions on the Oaks Trail from Woodford to Glenbrook, over the Easter long weekend.
If you recall last year, Wes and the Evil Alan David were setup at the woodford trail head on Sunday. With Michael and Rory setup on the Monday at the start of the single track at Glenbrook.