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.