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Mitchells Pass Riders BEWARE DANGER!!!
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
All,
I just went for a lap of Mitchells Pass to discover that the two big boulders have been moved to the side of the road, but just pass them (~20m) where the road opens up at Garry Payne corner, steel gates have been placed across the road. Although there was only one gate being cemented in today it wont be long before the second appears.
Spread the word as this is a dangerous issue for riders coming down the hill at speed, especially at night time. We dont want a second death on this road.
We can say good bye to PB's up the hill also.
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So it looks like all the whinging from certain groups *cough* RFS *cough* has paid off. I think they wanted access to Mitchells and it was too hard for the poor things to go over the 4wd tracks in their tankers. They need road access.
That is a shit corner to put up obstacles. Idiots.
Recently I bore witness to the lower blockade being breached by 4WD vehicles I imagine this is off the back of that situation.
This gate must be wide, hopefully someone gets a photo up soon, would have thought a bit of public consultation would have been appropriate however in saying that if this slips under the radar then the naysayers that never wanted the road closed are now dead in the water.
I think the only effective way to absolutely exclude illegal 4wD access will be the inclusion of wire rope as per knapsack, motorbikes you will never eliminate they can get in anywhere
I reckon this could work in our favour for cycling n the area, we may need to expand our horizons a little in the future if it pans out that the road is in fact closed permenantly.
I rode up yesterday and the gate is just after Gary Payne's corner heading up, obviously just before it heading down, but it is in a woeful spot if you don't realise it's there and come down full pelt. I'm usually on about 70 km/hr by that stage.
It looks like the gates will meet in the middle and lock together, as I can't imagine a post being sunk in the middle of the road. It's a bog standard gate that you would find at any sporting ground, entrance to national park etc. Like Munijitsu said, only one side is up but it looks like the gates will span from the guard rail almost all the way to the rock wall, so not really ped or bike friendly.
Pics in the next couple of days.
Nothing on the BMCC site, but I wonder if they're getting ready to do some work wrt to re-opening the pass for traffic?
That would explain why the gates are down the hill from the rockfall...It's BMCC responsibility, and they'll need access from the top end?
I am told that there was a write up in the Blue Mountains Gazette a few weeks ago, wherebye the firies/emergency services were having a "go" because they could not get access. Its just an accident waiting to happen.
Maybe someone with BMCC contacts could ask the question why? Im sure they dont want a law suite on their hands when the next person comes to grief.
It was an unamed source from the Rural Fire Service that complained.
Two new gates on Mitchells Pass. The second one went in today from what I was told by another rider.
At the Council meeting last Dec when our mtb plans were delayed, there was a motion re the re-opening of Mitchells Pass and in that motion I think there was something about building a fence and gates. When they fixed up the wooden railing on Lennox Bridge I thought they must have decided to just leave it at that.
I am trying to get a motion passed to request Council to investigate the feasibility of adding an uphill bike lane to the road when it is re-opened. But not having much luck.
And 6min won't last. I've hit 6 on a (roadie) ride up there but was hoping to better it before I posted it. And a bloke I often ride with was out of sight in front of me. But Tim's time still impresses me: I couldn't imagine slogging up there on a mtb.
i think youll find its already at 4:30 something...
and why does the RFS need access? If there is a fire in there...what can they possibly save?
4:30. Wow.
They need to save all the dumped shit and ganja plantations!
An uphill bike lane would be excellent. Petition time?
I'd never ride up after it was reopened even if there was a bike lane. Did under 7 minutes on the old MTB, and I stopped to take the photos.
Also did a which way dance with a Roadie heading down.
Not sure how many here have driven a RFS 14 ton cat 1 tanker.Yes they may be big and 4WD but 4wd trails are not a place to put them unless a life is in danger.Its councils duty of care to have the road open for emergency vehicles as the road would also be used as a fire brake.The road has some of my dna in it the rocks and the rails have claimed mirrors and paint off many of my mechines.I vote it get reopened.
Went for a lap on the tandem tonight, both bottom gates are now in and there is a set at the top behind the bollards. My friend road there today and had a chat with the guys installing the gates. They said they were being put in to fix the road.
I'm not sure that I would be comfortable using a bike lane going against the traffic on Mitchells Pass. Too narrow, too many corners & too many hoon P platers. Not a good combination.
I'm with you Rowan, no way would I go up there with only a line on the ground as a buffer :-0 scary concept, sounds like the road is going to be repaired and then opened up periodically as a contra flow stop gap measure when OBR is shut, only guessing though.
I would have thought the RFS trucks could drag the concrete blocks out of the way in an emergency?
http://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/news/loca...
What if there were cable barriers (similar to the fence along the M4) that separated the bike and road lanes. Would you ride up it then? The alternative is back to the Highway and the trucks that sit right on the white line - no room for error.
Did 6:40 on the tandem cruiser going up last night.
Wire rope barriers like we have on freeways aren't suitable as they are designed to flex. See this video or others on the web. The concrete barriers might be better. The alternative is to ride up via Lapstone.
I don't think Mitchells Pass is wide enough to allow for a physically separated cycle lane. Not in the councils eyes anyway.
The only cycle lane I'd use up Mitchell's would be a gaurded and seperate one.
The 4wd drive tracks I talked about are loosely described as such. I could get my car over them. As far as using the road as a fire break, if there ever is a fire roaring up the steep gully below the road, the only purpose the road would serve would be to give you a viewing platform before the blaze turned you into a candle. It wouldn't stop or even slow a fire down. As far as the whole rocks and railings claming paint and mirrors off machines, doesn't that mean you just need to keep in the middle of the road?
Once Mitchell's is reopened cyclists and pedestrians can say goodbye ever walking or riding up it again (unless another rock fall happens).
I don't look forward to taking my life in my hands once more either up the highway or Old Bathurst!
Maybe we should lobby council to keep it closed. This way its safer for cyclists and walkers. Emergency services will still have access through locked gates.
if it does reopen, couldn't a commuter route with some good council help
be put in using the old zigzag, some kind of new path being put in east of the RAAF base so as to avoid steps and make it paved and then cross over under the highway at the top? A few little bits of link at the bottom... sorry not that familiar with how this stuff all connects up... would that be worth lobbying for at some stage? just out of safety's sake?
Would also be part of the vague idea that has been thrown around in previous years in council of a bike path across the mountains, so its not completely off the planet.
I suppose the RFS could always just run in to the barriers to move them...
http://static.lifeislocal.com.au/multimedia/imag...
Yes they could, but the fines the cops dish out would get expensive!
ganja plantations?
Mitchells pass is the safest route at the moment. But in the case of it being reopened to traffic an alternative cycle path could be through Glenbrook tunnel (Mushroom farm).
The old Glenbrook tunnel is a bad idea. To much money to repair and maintain. The old zig zag could be easily fixed for roadies and then you can use the underpass at the RAAF base and you're back on the highway. Or replace the dirt track between the RAAF base and the mushroom farm and then you can ride the back roads to Springwood and avoid most of the traffic.
Isn't the.mushroom farm still a.commercial operation.
I remember hearing somewhere up at a council meeting that the lease is not going to be renewed but I didn't hear it officially, this tunnel would never fly as a route for bikes it is to dark, the one tunnel I lnow of that runs under the free way down behind Leonay oval is massively grafittied and there would be an odds on bet that idiots would abuse the mushroom tunnel.
Would be great but I can't see how they could make it work, but I would support it!
Kingy do you know what they are doing with the stp site?
The STP is in interim status at the moment while council works out what they can do with it.
We have planted the seed that we are intrested to do something with it like a pump track or a skills course, but there is really no avenue for us to follow up yet, in time I anticipate that council will call for expressions if interest. If this site is zoned industrial or even commercial use than realistically I can't see council saying no to the potential revenue setting up a commercial operation might realise for their moth laden coffers.
Realising that your motivation might be stemming from a desire to get something going with a trials playground or obstacle course that lends itself to Munis and bikes, I have had an informal chat with Soren about the jumps at Olivet St, these jumps are recognised as a designated jump site, I asked if we would be able to do some work on the jumps to make the site more user friendly, Soren was amicable to the idea but stipulated that what ever we do needs to be coordinated with original trail builders.
Being that I have been riding there as long anyone and have groomed them over time I can vouch for change, but I also need to contact a few of the BMX crew who also had a fair bit to do with the original build.
Historically we used to ride the dumpedclean fill that some dump truck put in there back in the early 90's, the jumps emegered over time once the first few doubles went in the jumps evolve
I have 2 blokes I need to get in touch with and once I have their consent we should be able to get in and sort the site a bit better making it a heap more user friendly than it is at the moment.
The holes that are in the site need to be back filled this will involve a bobcat and plenty of fill, we will need to tame the jumps down a bit but there is a trade off between making them to easy ie table tops and then exposing the trails to abuse from more novice riders.
I think we should be able to have the 2 lines running West to East like the current configuration with the left line featuring some more user friendly stuff for little rackets and the right line being more for skillful riders, I can also picture some type of trials obstacles interspersed between the mounds that would give good challenges to Munis and trials orientated riders that would have minimal impact on the jump course bar the giveway scenarios that you might experience at a skate park
food for thought.
I think the current completely ignored state of those jumps points to the fact that they are inappropriate for what is required in the area. They need to redesigned to fill an actual requirement so they can be actively used and maintained. Those teenage BMXers I spoke to at the BBQ expressed that clearly... those are too big to learn and practice on so they just stay at the skate park.
Correct me if I am wrong but it seems the original builders and users have moved on (ie got older, different responsibilities), so the batton should be passed on to the new potential users to be appropriate for them.
The area that is allowed to be used needs to be clearly defined as there are supposed to be signs deliniating the permitted area, however these seem to have been either removed or never installed. So we don't really know just how big the area is. If it is large enough for jumps and a pump track that would be great.
Yeah that would be a good thing
Beware the gates are now closed!