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Mountain biking in Australia

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Mountain Biking Australia Limited
SportMountain Biking
CategoryLifestyle activity
JurisdictionAustralia
AbbreviationMTBA
HeadquartersVarsity Lakes, Queensland
CEOShane Coppin
Official website
www.mtba.org.au
Australia
The start of the men's under 23 cross-country event at the 2009 UCI World Mountain Bike Championships in Canberra.

Mountain biking in Australia is a mix of dedicated mountain bike parks, ski resorts with mountain bike facilities, and other parks that have become popular with mountain bikers despite lacking dedicated facilities. The peak body for the sport is Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA).[1]

Facilities

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Australian Capital Territory

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Mount Stromlo's downhill track, during the 2009 UCI World Mountain Bike Championships.

Mount Stromlo Forest Park has international standard tracks including a downhill track, 60 kilometres of cross-country, four-cross track, and a dedicated mountain bike trials course. There is also a testing track known as "the playground" for training and testing demonstration bikes.[2]

  • Sparrow Hill, part of Kowen Pine Forest, 11 km from Queanbeyan on the Kings Highway, and 25 minutes from Canberra CBD, has 50 km of world-class cross-country tracks renowned for being fast and flowing, popular with beginner and elite alike. All tracks are named and maintained, and clear signage offers numerous routes of varying length.[3]

New South Wales

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Tasmania

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Tasmania has a strong mountain biking culture[6] with a large network of tracks around the state including the world class Blue Derby[7] which hosted the Enduro World Series [de] in 2017.[8][9] Hollybank, Wellington Park and Trevallyn are other popular mountain biking areas.[10][11][12]

Victoria

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Since the early 2000s, investment in mountain biking facilities has produced a number of areas of high quality trails. The 2006 Commonwealth Games in particular caused the creation of the Lysterfield Park mountain bike network, including the 6.4 kilometre race circuit. Nearly 60 mountain biking clubs are registered with Mountain Bike Australia. The trail network at Mount Buller is one of only three "IMBA Ride Centers" outside the US designated by the International Mountain Biking Association.[13][14]

Parks Victoria and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) have assisted with the creation of trail networks in recent years, such as at Forrest and Lysterfield Park. In 2012, Parks supported the creation of a downhill trail in Kinglake National Park, the first mountain bike trail in a Victorian national park. The trail, Shepherds, follows an existing powerline easement to minimise environmental damage.[15]

From the mid-2000s, a large number of tracks began to be constructed, with support from government agencies, local councils and tourism bodies. Reasons for the growth included the need to replace shrinking or displaced industries (as with the timber industry at Forrest), the need to supplement short ski seasons (as at all the ski resorts except Mount Hotham), the desire to attract more visitors to the national parks (as with Kinglake) and the need for facilities to support a growing sport (as with Lysterfield Park).

Formal trail networks:

Location XC trails (number) XC trails (km) Downhill trails Lift services
Lysterfield Park[16] 14 21 2 -
You Yangs[17] 15 37.6 2 -
Mount Baw Baw 10[18] 10 1[19] Shuttle (specific dates)
Mount Buller[20] 16 50+ 7 1 lift, 1 shuttle (seasonal)
Falls Creek[21] 4 67.4 (under construction) 1 (specific dates)
Big Hill (Mount Beauty)[22] 14[23] 40-50 2 -
Mount Hotham[24] ? ? - -
Lake Mountain[25] 8 15 - -
Forrest[26] 16 50+ - -
Beechworth[27] 9 19.2 1 DH, 1 jumps -
Wombat State Forest[28] 1 23 - -
Nowa Nowa[29] 7 27.4 - -
Kinglake[30] - - 1[30] (2 under construction) -
Erica[31] ? 30 - -
Colquoun State Forest[32] ? ? - -

Other important mountain biking areas include:

Great Dividing Trail
This 280 km hiking trail has several sections which are popular with mountain bikers, especially between Daylesford and Castlemaine.
Wombat State Forest
Site of the annual 100 kilometre endurance event, the Wombat 100.
Dandenong Ranges
Avoca
Site of the annual Marathon Challenge.[33]
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Competitions

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Major races and other competitions include:

Athletes

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Downhill mountain biker Jared Rando.

Successful Australian mountain bikers include:

References

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  1. ^ "AusCycling | Home Page".
  2. ^ "Home". 3 November 2021.
  3. ^ Sparrow Hill website [dead link‍]
  4. ^ "The Northern Beaches Mountain Biking Group". Northern Beaches MTB.
  5. ^ "Thredbo boasts Australia's longest downhill mountain bike trail". Canberra Times. 14 April 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  6. ^ Gibson, Sallese (11 April 2016). "Tasmanian mountain bike course praised after hosting national championships". ABC News.
  7. ^ Ogilvie, Felicity (26 December 2017). "What happens when a rural town becomes the mountain bike capital of Australia?". ABC News.
  8. ^ Bhole, Aneeta (8 April 2017). "Mountain bikers flock to Tasmania's 'super sick' Blue Derby trail". ABC News.
  9. ^ "Enduro World Series | 2017 Event Calendar". www.enduroworldseries.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Mountain Biking in Hollybank and Derby Tasmania - Mountain Biking Australia magazine". www.mtbiking.com.au.
  11. ^ "Bike riding". Wellington Park, Hobart Tasmania.
  12. ^ "Parks & Wildlife Service - Tracks and Trails". www.parks.tas.gov.au. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Mt Buller".
  14. ^ "Current Ride Centers | International Mountain Bicycling Association". Archived from the original on 14 December 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  15. ^ "Parks Victoria - Bowden Spur Mountain Bike Area". parkweb.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013.
  16. ^ "Lysterfield MTB / Lysterfield District Trail Riders". Lysterfield MTB / Lysterfield District Trail Riders.
  17. ^ "You Yangs Mountain Bike Inc. Trail Maps". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  18. ^ "Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Mt Buller – Mountain Biking". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Mountain Biking - Official Home of Falls Creek Alpine Resort". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  22. ^ "Ride High Country | Mountain Bike | Rail Trails | Road Rides | Cycle Holiday".
  23. ^ "Map of Mount Beauty mountain bike tracks on Mt Beauty" (PDF). kiewaview.com. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Mount Hotham – Cycling". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Mountain Biking". Lake Mountain Alpine Resort. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Homepage". Ride Forrest. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  27. ^ The Beechworth Mountain Bike Park
  28. ^ Woodend mountain biking Melbourne's singtrack alternative rideguideblog.co 23 October 2012 [dead link‍]
  29. ^ "DELWP" (PDF). 10 November 2020.
  30. ^ a b "Downhill Mountain Bike Trail opens in Kinglake | Outer Edge Magazine". www.outeredgemag.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012.
  31. ^ "Bancoora | Victorian Mountain Bike Rides | Erica MTB Park". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  32. ^ "Where to Ride - Maps". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  33. ^ "2013 Marathon Challenge - Mountain Bike Event Avoca, Victoria, Australia 2013". Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  34. ^ "Mountain Bike Orienteering | Orienteering Victoria". www.vicorienteering.asn.au. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  35. ^ "Granite Grind 24 Feb 2013 - Murrindindi Cycle Club". sites.google.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013.
  36. ^ "Welcome to Rapid Ascent".
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