A tract of bushland on the western border of Mudgee will be the town’s first designated mountain bike park, catering to the growing group of local riders and cycling tourists.
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The area known as the Mudgee Common, at the end of Common Road, currently has a small network of unofficial trails used by mountain bike riders, offering both flat and hilly riding close to town.
Russell Conchie, mountain bike coordinator for Mudgee Cycling Club, approached council to have the area classed as an official mountain bike park.
He said such a facility could attract cycling tourists and allow the region to host mountain biking events, while preserving the bushland from trampling and erosion by keeping users on planned and marked paths.
“Cycling tourism is very big,” Mr Conchie said. “If they know there’s a mountain bike trail, they’ll bring the bikes and they’ll come for a ride.”
Mr Conchie said the area was used by a number of enthusiastic young riders, and he wanted to harness and guide their enthusiasm to develop the property.
“We’re really happy that the council’s got behind it,” he said. “They were 100 per cent behind it.”
Council last week invited the Mudgee Cycle Club to lodge a development application to undertake mountain bike riding in the area, on the condition that the group has insurance and develops a plan to ensure the bushland state of the Common is preserved and the area’s long-term management is considered.
Mr Conchie said a lot of excited young people and parents had called him following council’s support for the project.
He hoped the existence of a mountain bike park would encourage more residents to take up the sport, improving the community’s fitness.
Initially, he said, the site would need very little development, and he only hoped to install signs making visitors aware of the area’s use by cyclists, and making cyclists aware of other users.
“We wouldn’t be looking to make significant changes,” he said.
Eventually, as the Mudgee Cycling Club raised the necessary funds, he hoped to invite professional trail makers to outline the best possible network of paths for users and the surrounding environment, and to run workshops on building and maintaining trails.
He also hopes to develop sections for downhill riders and dirt jumpers.
Mr Conchie said the existing trail network crossed into the neighbouring national park, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service was keen to see a body such as the Cycling Club manage the trails to facilitate communication with users.
