Anthony Seiver looks at why regulating mountain bike riding in national parks is necessary and ultimately in the best interests of the sport.

The regulation of mountain biking riding in national parks triggers condemnation from some riders and acceptance from others. Those who condemn the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) feel that there should be no or few controls on mountain biking in national parks because it is public space and they believe that it has no impacts. More reasonable riders accept that NPWS has to regulate mountain biking to find the balance between conservation, public safety and our right to enjoy our sport. The Royal National Park to the south of Sydney provides examples of good and bad regulation. I have closely observed mountain bike regulation in the Royal and my attitude has changed from condemning NPWS' heavy-handed imposition of mountain bike regulation in 2001 to an acceptance of its need. This article outlines the reasons for my shift in attitude by identifying why and how mountain bike riding in national parks should be regulated.

The good folk over at NSWMTB are getting organised. They are trying to co-ordinate advocacy actions at state level and to this end setup a Wiki a while back, and now a mailing list.

I believe the plan is that the mailing list will be low volume for announcements and organising action when it needs to be taken. If you don't want to miss a chance to help advocacy campaigns it's probably a good plan to join this list.

There's a link to the list top of their Wiki, here:

http://wiki.nswmtb.asn.au/

As with most races, the last couple of days before the actual event is almost as draining as race day...
From having organised transport, date/time of departure by Wednesday, I came to the realisation that Killingworth was not just over an hour way. This threw a spanner in the works as the idea of travelling through on Sunday morning suddenly lost its appeal. This also resulted in me changing the departure date of the Midnight Express (That's Midnight Black not Blue Rob ) to Saturday but unfortunately leaving Gazza in the lurch. Apologies again mate!

So Whisper; Supagav and myself met up at the track on Saturday arvo for a couple of practise laps as we were all Killingworth newbies. After the first lap we were all grinning from ear to ear for despite the fact that there were a few damp spots on the course, it was one of the most 'flow-ie' courses I've ridden in while. With most of the course consisting of single track, a few gentle climbs, bridges (wooden and mesh) and a bit of techie stuff, this course was going to produce some quick times... Top marks to the course setter(s)! I think the only reason we stopped on Saturday afternoon was because we were running out of light.