You are hereManly Dam update for 24 Oct
Manly Dam update for 24 Oct
The whole fire trail has now been graded with a fair bit of tree lopping as well. This means it is quite loose and sandy all the way to Allambie. There's a high chance of getting sticks in your spokes. Still rideable but be alert.
BTW I spoke with the team doing the tree lopping - they said they've been copping a bit of flack from mtbers - please remember it's a fire trail and these folk are just doing their job.
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The council have totally destroyed the entire de- and ascent to/from the creek. Such a shame. Trees are butchered, track is flattened with any rock poking out ground down... Beyond recognition. Massive erosion due to their deep excavations.
There are very little warning signs so take care. A lot of loose sandy soil on the surface.
On their website they call it improvements, but it just looks like another shitty councilperson's excuse for making a flat fire trail... Why would they try to call it improvements...They must think we are stupid.
Pleas make yourself heard at their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Warringah
fire truck and emergency vehicle access along the fire trail which only ever really matters when they need to get in or out quickly which is exactly why the trail is there in the first place.
It's wrecked
fire trail load of crap.
What exactly in the dam do they need emergency access to ? The threat would be the homes on the perimeter which all have road access. This is vollunteer fire fighters pushing there wait around and nothing else.
By the time a bushfire gets to the back fence where it can be reached from the road, it's too late in high fire danger conditions.
Forward defence is essential as embers and burning material can get blown significant distances in high fire danger conditions.
So we have emergency access from the Middle of no were (the parkway) leading to further middle of no were the creek at the bottom of the downhill.
Take a look at Red hill. They do the same work each year clear it all cause havoc with a dozer, to give so called better emergency access. They then later place very large boulders in the middle of the emergency access fire trails to stop the Motos. So if these emergency access routes are so vital. Why are they placing very large boulders smack
In the middle of the fire trails at red hill..
to enable access and be put back after the situation is over.
However, once a fire is underway the situation can change and escalate within minutes and if a fire tender gets bogged or stuck when the firies have to get out fast then it can easily result in deaths. Sometimes their truck cabin is the only thing between them and a nasty situation and getting out of the cab to put a winch cable around a rock or tree to get the truck out is not an option.
I'm guessing you've never been close to an out-of-control bushfire.
This kind of thing with grading goes on at Cascades and Terrey Hills periodically too. While it's inconvenient for a short while it settles in relatively quickly, a line forms, and you'll wonder what the drama was all about.
It's also a management trail for Council vehicles. They need to be able to get their utes up and down the trail as well.
in my view was the one by the ranger not to endorse a descending singletrack being put in in next to the fire trail.
Done well, it could have made the dam world class with minimal impact.
The bizarre rationale was that riders would continue to descend the fire trail so there wouldn't be any point ... despite all the available evidence that riders will almost always follow the singletrack to descend.
However, there is a "plan B" option afoot that will mean the fire trail descent will be surpassed as a desirable route to ride.
Common sense is lost on the all about me generation.
http://youtu.be/OBY8TTJXgl0
Good on you if you don't feel like stupid by the council calling it "Improvements".
If they need to widen the fire trail then announce that... Don't treat us like we are stupid. This is my main problem with the way they have handled this matter...
Did the Long Track at Terrey Hills instead today and it was SOOOO good...
Breathe in.... breathe out. Breathe in.... breathe out.
I feel better already.
They do these work periodically and everyone has a whinge.
It has to be done so, be grateful, be patient, we don't own the land. It'll be back to normal in no time.
There's plenty of other places to ride. I rode for 5hrs today starting in Mosman via the Dam and never went near the firetrail mentioned once.
I thought Mtb'ers were meant to be a relaxed bunch?
As I said on the other moan about this, it all sounds too familiar:
Just wait a while and it'll be back how it was. If you want more challenging terrain go to Red Hill
I did a couple of laps of the dam yesterday and had a great time. I don't see what the fuss about the firetrail is. It's different to how it was a few months ago and it will be different again in a few months. Every time I ride the dam I appreciate being able to ride such a great track without having to venture out of Sydney.
Well said Dave!
ATM I'm restricted to walking the Damn Dam trail .. IMO they have killed off most of the fun bits of the fire trail descent but not addressed the worst bit of the trail .. the little kicker at the bottom of the big rock slab and the subsequent water bar with the big rut in the middle.
What I am looking forward to however is the possibility that I might be able to climb the hill out from the creek for the first time.
Also .. with the backburn off to the side of the Firetrail .. its just asking for a single track to be raked out. Sigh!
It's still a work in progress so I guess it's wait and see for now. They do seem to be doing a fair bit of drainage work along the side of the track so will be nice if they can keep some of those perma-seeps off the trail.
Any one know if there is any plan to actually improve the trail for MTB purposes, or are they just flattening it for the RFS access? Be nice if they could build a few berms on some of those corners rather than just letting rocky ruts develop again. Would probably make the trail a bit more sustainable too...
I'm 99% positive that any fire trail work is exactly that and has no thought of any fun that we might have.
I'm actually quite looking forward to it bedding down and running a few hot laps. STRAVA!!!!!!!