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Manly Dam Ranger
I attended a meeting with conservationists this week in Hornsby Shire. Conservationists expressed their feelings and mtbers provided some answers. It was nothing amazing but it was some good honest communication. However, some rangers from Manly Dam came along and appeared to be trying to derail the process. I don't understand why. Wouldnt they welcome another shire building a facility to help release the growing pressure on Manly Dam????? Maybe they want Manly Dam numbers to keep growing and growing?? Were they sent there by someone else as I do not see any benefit for them in derailing other projects in Sydney.
And what they said suggests a lack of understanding of the issues we and they face at Manly. Unfortunately they left after they said their bit and we did not get a chance to respond.
1. Gareth said single track is just as fast as firetrail and therefore is just as dangerous or more dangerous.
2. Legal single track does not stop illegal activity
3. We might say we have lots of volunteers but in his experience we don't stick around and will not really help.
I didn't realise the rangers at Manly Dam were so out of touch and do not seem to see the bigger picture here.
Hopefully they read this. Maybe they will realise that if other facilities get up and running then their job will be a lot easier, if single track was designed for riders using proper designers then it will slow people down, do they realise that Manly Dam is limited in terms of skill level and as such riders seek other places to ride with more challenge resulting in unofficial trails (have they heard of grade reversals, chokes, filters, did they attend any of the recent workshops for land managers) ?
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Thanks for sharing this information. It is pretty sad, as you say, that the rangers in charge of the only legal single track on the Northern Beaches seem not to understand the issues. I'm sure there is more to say, but a few quick notes on those points above...
1. Gareth said single track is just as fast as firetrail and therefore is just as dangerous or more dangerous.
For a start, define 'fast' and 'dangerous'. The two do not go hand in hand. Personally, I have never had an accident at Manly Dam on the DH firetrail from Wakehurst Parkway to the creek even though this is the fastest section of the track. I have had plenty of other falls elsewhere on the circuit when going really rather slowly.
I saw Glen Jacobs give a very impressive presentation end of last year in which he stated that if a land manager wants to limit speed, a properly designed trail can be built in such a way it will be impossible for riders to exceed that speed. Eg, you make the trail twist and turn, put in technical obstacles, climbs, etc. to prevent speed building up.
2. Legal single track does not stop illegal activity
If you build a good network of single track then 99% of riders will not bother to look for the opportunity to build something else illegal. Yes, there's always some idiot that will want to break the rules, but don't use them as a reason to punish everyone else. A good analogy is that you don't ban everyone from driving just because a few hoons cannot obey road rules.
Again, from Glen's presentation: riders are like sheep, you give them sweet single track and they will follow it wherever you want them to go.
3. We might say we have lots of volunteers but in his experience we don't stick around and will not really help
Sorry, but that is complete and utter BS. Show us a well publicised day when rangers said they were doing track maintenance at Manly Dam and they couldn't get volunteers to come along.
from Manly Dam I know then he harks back to a time when the golf course sniggle was closed for an extended period for "renovation" This is going back 4 or 5 years now. My understanding is he only works there on a part time basis. Not long after it reopenned they held monthly trail days which didn't last very long as people didn't show up. Apart from Gareth and the hired contractor, I was the only there for a couple of months in a row and then they stopped.
This is clearly a different experience though to the last incarnation of the volunteer days where to my knowledge, each and every one of them was over subscribed.
Even when they were doing the volunteers days didn't they limit the numbers of people they'd accept and were knocking back volunteers?
This explains a lot about the recent inactivity and passive resistance we have been getting from WSC.
* Were the these stick-in-the-muds invited?
* I hope they were slapped down with a "Well, in my experience that is more reflective of an inabiity to effectively publicise trail maintenance days and work cooperatively with volunteers. When these deficiencies are addressed, it has been my experience that trail maintenance days are oversubscribed."
Yes, that's correct - the maintenance days were limited to about 12 people only on each occasion, the result being that many who were keen to assist were turned away. Further, in recent times Council has been unwilling to even enter into open dialogue with riders regarding the maintenance of the track which has been the point of most frustration.
It does seem strange that Warringah Council staff would turn up at another Council's meeting to preach a pre-determined agenda based on unfounded assumptions - certainly looks like someone at Hornsby who opposes bike trail development may have specifically invited them to assist their cause....
Ha! my thoughts exactly.
Some obvious questions - was this bloke there on behalf of, and authorised to speak on behalf of the council?
Is his position that of the council? Or was he there speaking his own opinion? Do the elected councillors know about this?
On the question of speed on singletrack v firetrail, he is dead wrong. The GPS logs don't lie.
My GPS logs are pretty clear for any given gradient, the speed on singletrack is around half that of firetrail, and rarely exceeds 15-20kph. A top cross country runner can do this speed.
The other thing that gets me, is that the anti MTB folks pitch themselves as "conservationists", thereby suggesting that we are somehow the opposite.
From an environmental standpoint, in my experience, Mountain Bikers have a far greater appreciation of the natural environment than most others in the community. Our sport is reliant on the continued existence and appreciation of undeveloped bushland.
Many riders including myself take a camera on rides to photograph natural flora, fauna and landscapes.
We make excellent custodians of the tracks, given an opportunity. This is evidenced via the volunteer program in the Royal National Park, and
further afield at the excellent Mt Stromlo trails in Canberra and the trails in Rotorua NZ, which are almost entirely maintained by the MTB
community.
We are also the responsible eyes and ears of the community on the more remote bush trails, which the rangers rarely see (since they don't
like to get out of their landcruisers!)
We had a poll on that very topic:
http://nobmob.com/node/10934
Overwhelmingly people showed an interest in their natural surroundings.
Would it be worth providing as a question or query to councillors, as far as this ranger(s) representing Warringah Council's views, or their own?
Recent Facts:
The turn out at council meetings for MTB'ers has been huge
The replies and comments on Manly Daily articles has been huge
Councillors and State MP's have provided real responsive DIRECTIVES to facilitate the community requests of Mountain bikers
Councillors should be made aware of this commentary, especially if it's with Council authority. If the rangers have valid concerns they need to be communicated. Someone needs to close the loop on communication here... Sunlight is the best disinfectant for any misunderstandings.
All decision makers are keen on progress and directives have clearly been given.