Thanks to a local tour by Lach last week we've just finished mapping out trails around North Turramurra.

Overlooked for a long time, this area is actually pretty large and goes into number three spot in the Northern Beaches - areas by trail distance. Sadly the vast majority of this is firetrail of the out and back variety but it has some small pockets of single track (yes, outside of NPWS managed lands!) that add a little interest. It's a good destination for training though - some rather brutal climbs in there!

Apparently this has been made possible by some new firetrail created recently by the local council, so if steep hills are your thing, go check it out.

As some of you will know, there are a number of riders in our midst that enjoy riding on the road. A while back we created the tongue-in-cheek named 'scummers' group to cater for these people but this was little known and hard to find if you didn't know about it.

Enter road.nobmob.com. This is a public site for all the road related content and as such should be easier to find. On the plus side for some poor misguided souls who only like to ride on the road, use of this site only shows road related stuff in much the same way use of nobmob.com only shows MTB related stuff.

That is... unless one edits their profile and selects to see content from one place when actually using another. Eg. if you select to always see content from road.nobmob.com you don't actually ever have to login there to see what's going on - that content will show up for you on nobmob.com. This is akin the the way the 'scummers' group worked and I've set that option for everyone in that group so you really shouldn't see any difference at all.

So... long story short... loads of work for apparently no change. I'm sure there was a good reason for doing this though... watch this space

Hi all, please give your support ...

I am currently involved, along with a few other locals, in transforming the BMX dirt jump track to a "Pump" track.
At present the track is in a state of disrepair & neglect due to lack of maintenance, therefore not completely safe or practical for general use, especially for younger children.

There is already a Dirt Jump track at Castle Cove, nearby.

We have had a meeting with the "Parks & Reserves Co ordinator" from Willoughby Council to discuss converting this space to a "Pump" track which will cater for the local community to provide a safe, practical working bike track for people of all ages, skill & ability.

The "Parks & Reserves Co ordinator" has asked us to drum up as much support as possible by sending him an email, outlining benefits of a Pump track.

If you value riding Manly Dam and would like to see more council initiatives for MTB then please don't forget to comment on Warringah Council Draft Recreation Strategy 2009. The document can be downloaded here:

http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/comment/documents/DraftRecreationStrateg...

According to Warringah Council Public Comment:

Comments on the Draft Recreation Strategy must be in writing and must be received by 5pm Friday October 23, marked 'Submission – Draft Recreation Strategy' and addressed to the General Manager, Warringah Council, 725 Pittwater Road, Dee Why 2099 or emailed to council@warringah.nsw.gov.au. For more information call Council's Strategy and Policy team on 9942 2716.

Personally, while I commend the council for operating Manly Dam it is clear that a massive user base exists and Manly Dam is under pressure with these rider numbers and the current, rather lacking management policies there. I'm of the opinion the council should properly recognised the importance of Manly Dam to the riding community, give more resources to MTB management at Manly Dam and make finding a second (or maybe more) riding venue in it's jurisdiction a priority.

If you'd like to see more riding and better planning for MTB then simply write into the council (at the address above) and state your case. You don't have to be a Warringah resident to do this - the council are well aware that their facilities are a draw card for riders from many other areas (and indeed they should be proud of this and the economic benefits it brings to their community).