The Northern Rivers Times UKI MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK Feature

By Sarah Waters

It is estimated more than 4000 people have used the park since it opened just under six weeks ago on August 19.

Tweed Council’s manager of parks and active communities Murray Smith said on the weekend, about 100 riders are on the track at any time.

“So far we know biking enthusiasts from as far afeld as Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast have travelled to the park and we expect it to continue to attract visitors from outside the area,” Mr Smith said.

“We are excited by the enthusiasm and excellent feedback we have received from the mountain bike community and local residents so far with business understood to be booming in the nearby village of Uki,” he said.

Final preparations are underway for the offcial opening of Uki Mountain Bike Park, on Saturday, October 7, with new trail markers, park maps and a water fll station being installed.

The event is a sell-out with the 120 available tickets snapped up within hours.

It will mark Tweed’s

frst offcial mountain bike park and pump track, which has been 10 years in the making.

The Tweed Valley Mountain Bike Riders club played a signifcant role in the park’s establishment.

Members of the club helped to source funding with a $430,000 grant awarded through the NSW Offce of Sport.

They also helped with tree planting and rehabilitation of the site.

Club president Hugh Flower said the new park was a fantastic asset to mountain bikers and the wider community.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be part of this project and see it come to fruition,” Mr Flower said.

“This will be a huge drawcard for local mountain bike enthusiasts, as well as visitors to the region.

“The facility will be a great outdoor space for everyone to get involved and for new riders to try the sport, providing more opportunities for kids in the Tweed to get outside and get active,” he said.

Tweed Shire Council, in partnership with Tweed Valley Mountain Bike Riders, engaged outdoor trail design and construction specialists

Trailworx to build the mountain bike trails on council-owned land next to the Uki Wastewater Treatment Plant at Uki.

The park features 6.4kms of track across eight mountain bike trails including one climbing and seven descending trails.

The tracks are made up of four green trails (beginner), three blue trails (more diffcult) and one black diamond trail (very diffcult).

A pump track has also been designed to suit children aged 5 - 12 years old.

Uki Mountain Bike Park is open to mountain bikers of all

ages and abilities. It is located at 165 Smiths Creek Road, near Uki.

Entry to the park is free. It is open from 6am to 6pm daily.

Users of the park are advised it may close at any time due to weather conditions (rain, wet or muddy tracks, high winds, fre danger).

Future concept plans for the site include shade structures, seating and tables, landscaping, pathways, and permanent toilet facilities. Find out more at tweed.nsw.gov.au/ mountain-biking.

Offering six comfortable en-suite, air-conditioned rooms to suit any budget, tropical gardens and an elevated communal verandah with sweeping views of Lillian Rock and the Border ranges.

By Sarah Waters

The Uki Mountain Bike Park has generated its own host of publicity since it unofficially opened its gates on August 19.

Apart from a large eastern brown snake which was recently found on the track by former pro surfer Joel Parkinson, the new park has received high praise.

Mountain bike enthusiast

and YouTuber JohnnyThe_G has given the track a big thumbs up stating it was the best mountain bike jumps trail he’d ridden.

Taking viewers on his ride through the black (advanced) trail he commented on the size of the jumps.

“It’s time to hit these huge jumps on the black trail … let’s try and get a full run down the whole trail,” he said.

“After these top four

(jumps) I haven’t seen what’s further down, I assume the jumps get smaller, but as you’ll see they definitely don’t.

“Although the hill isn’t huge, they have done an incredible job keeping this place as flowy as it is, it works so well, the jumps are all amazing.

“Seeing all the riders flying down the hill across all the trails is just so sick – this open area is just so different

to what we’re all used to seeing.

“The dirt is just perfect also - you can really rip into all the corners and trust your tyres.

“This place is basically just a big, downhill pump track and I couldn’t recommend riding here anymore.”

Fellow mountain bikers have shared their experiences of the park via Facebook and echoed the same

thoughts.

With riders commenting ‘this new bike park is so good’ and ‘it’s so good to see so many out there enjoying it.’

Another Facebook user said it was ‘a great asset to a hugely underrated and underutilised part of NSW. It Looks amazing and well done on creating a healthy and fun outlet for the community and adding value for tourism’.

Demo Day Uki MTB Trail opening

Saturday 7 October - 9:30am

Join us for the Specialized Australia and MURWILLUMBAH CYCLES Demo Day at the official opening of the Uki MTB Trails and test ride your dream bike! The Specialized Levo, Tero and Stumpjumper will be available to test ride as well as the Specialized Levo 24" Kids E-Bike for the little Shredders.

Our local Specialized Ambassador Dane Folpp, recently crowned QLD Slopestyle State Champion, will be present throughout the day to answer any questions and share tips and tricks about Slopestyle. Come and learn more about what Slopestyle is all about from the expert himself and celebrate with us.

More info on our Facebook page or via Webchat.

By Sarah Waters

It’s been more than 10 years in the making, but Tweed Valley Mountain Bike Riders (TVMTBR) can now fnally enjoy riding on a specially built bike track without having to travel out of the region.

The TVMTBR club was established in 2012 to advocate for a legal mountain bike riding area in the Tweed region.

It has taken countless hours of negotiations and planning over the years, but on October 7, they can celebrate with the offcial opening of the Uki Mountain Bike Park. President of the TVMTBR Hugh Flower said the primary objective was to always have publicly accessible trails for the community.

“Initially the club was just going to have a small, single-loop trail that was going to be club built and used by about

40 people a week,” Mr Flower said.

“Council approved the DA but said it could only be used by club members, so anyone who wasn’t a club member, couldn’t ride there.

“It went against what the club wanted, which was a free, open to the public facility,” he said.

After two years of negotiations with council, eventually an agreement was reached to allow the facility - next to the Uki Wastewater Treatment Plant - to be used by all members of the public.

In 2020 the TVMTBR and Tweed Shire Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment and management of the proposed track.

Council contracted Dirt Art to design a masterplan for the facility and realised the full potential for the site.

The masterplan assisted with the approvals

process and a signifcant fund to the tune of $430,000 was secured through the NSW Offce of Sport - Regional Sports Facility Fund 2021-22.

The funds allowed professional trail designers, Trailworx, to build eight varied mountain bike trails (one climbing and seven descending) over 6.4kms of track.

It included the much hoped for black diamond trail for advanced riders, which includes large jumps, for users who want to push themselves to the limits.

A pump track/skills park for all ages, but specifcally designed for kids aged 5 - 12 years, was also included.

Mr Flower rode the track many times during its development to ensure the trails fowed well and contained a good number of jumps.

He said since the Uki Mountain Bike Park

was unoffcially opened on August 19 it has exceeded expectations.

“We’re averaging about 60 cars per day and on the weekend, we’re getting up to 180 cars.

“It’s mainly because people are coming from up to two hours away and typically stay for two-three hours, so there is a good turn over of traffc.

“We’ve got a lap counter on the riding trail and 21,000 laps have gone past that, which means we’re averaging about 160 people per day and that’ll be 60,000 people per annum riding up the trail.

“That’s more than the population of Tweed riders, so the majority of people are coming from outside the Tweed.

“It’s very good from an economic standpoint.

“It takes a while to get these things throughlike the Northern Rivers Rail Trail - but once they’re there people can

realise the advantage of them,” he said.

The absence of a proper mountain bike track in the Tweed, has made it diffcult for local people to get involved in the sport.

Prior to the Uki Mountain Bike Park being built, mountain bikers in the Tweed had to travel out of the region to access a track to ride on.

Privately-run trails were once used by mountain bike club members, but insurance was required as well as a change in land use, which made the trails too hard to legalise.

Mr Flower said the MVMTBR club has grown signifcantly in membership since the Uki Mountain Bike Park was opened.

“At the start of the year we only had fve members, but now it’s built we have 160 members.

“That was always the

aim - once we have a place where people can ride, they’ll be able to get involved in the mountain biking community.

“The facility is designed as a rider development network, with an emphasis on green and blue trails where riders can progress their skills to gradually more diffcult features.

“Once locals can ride everything here, they are well prepared for anything.

“What’s more remarkable is we are pulling riders from as far away as the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.

“It’s a great facility for all riders, from within and outside the region, as well as young people in Tweed wanting to get involved it the sport,” he said.