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Oxford Falls closed sections: where is this heading?
I went for a ride at Oxford Falls (Morgan Road) yesterday, in the rain, very early. I haven't been there for 5 years so I was a tad uncertain about where all the tracks are and how they'd look, although I used to ride there pretty regularly so I did know my way about in a general sense.
So I got to the start of the Cross Country track and found a pretty impressive and permanent looking steel gate/fence structure blocking my way (I'm starting to notice more and more closed tracks - what is going on?) and being a good person I just headed back and did the single tracks over on the southern side, joined up with the Power Lines track and then was coming back near the dam when I saw the Cross Country Connector track so I pedaled up that track to the Roads To Wherever tracks and noodled about up there for a few hours, before finally heading home via the traditional route which brought me to the other side of that steel fence (oops - I forgot that was there!). Rather than ride back on an apparently "closed" track I climbed over the fence and went on my way.
O.K. so some observations:
1. I think the tracks at Oxford Falls are generally as I remember them. I had expected they'd be noticeably widened, damaged and eroded after 5 years of additional use by others, but they looked and felt pretty much as per my memory, possibly more overgrown. The exception being a few more deeply eroded clay gullies - they were always pretty eroded - which are obviously the result of the track being a watercourse rather than being caused by riding: hey NPWS! some track drainage work wouldn't go astray (and would probably use a similar amount of NPWS resources as a steel fence but get a better outcome for the environment).
2. I used to consider Oxford Falls a smoothish track and would often suggest it to people who found Manly Dam too technical. But nowadays, after all the widening, "maintenance" and etc. which has gone on at Manly Dam, I see that the Dam is now the smooth easy track and Oxford Falls is definitely more gnarly.
After last week finding the Bantry Bay loop track similarly closed I've begun pondering where exactly I can ride these days and why tracks that I've been riding freely for ten years are now being closed. While wandering around Oxford Falls in the rain I was thinking about all this.
Now, here are my questions:
1. Why is the Oxford Falls Cross Country track closed off? What is the problem they are trying to solve? What is the point of closing it from one end and not the other?
2. Those gates looked pretty substantial: are the tracks closed to everyone or is it just an anti-MTB thing?
I'm hoping you can suggest some answers to help me understand why these tracks get closed.
3. Also, is there any upside to this? There is obviously a downside - if more and more people riding on fewer and fewer tracks causes problems on the remaining tracks then those tracks will be closed too - it just looks to me like a downward spiral. I don't see any new tracks being "opened" so the apparent net result is fewer tracks for the same (actually, a greater) number of riders. Please tell me I'm wrong.
Please, I'd really like you to convince me that is this not just part of some plan to squeeze all the mountain bikes into one smooth loop around Manly Dam, and then to close that track every time the weather looks inclement.
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There is a heap of discussion on the site relating to this topic. Do some searches. Check the latest threads.
Most recently (the last week or so) a representitive group submitted a paper on possible future MTB use of the area. Worth a read.
The moderator will ammend with some links I am sure (thanks!)
Cheers
Craig
did you know that the cross country course which is closed to bike riders is open to horse riders? however! with that new fence horses can't get around but people who are determined with bikes can.. go figure the logic!
Craig, I am new to NoBMoB.
I read the Oxford Falls submission you mention and was very impressed; it was the reason I joined this site.
It also kick started the thought process which lead to this post.
I've spent a week looking through the forums and I've searched on "Oxford Falls" but didn't find anything that specifically covers my questions. Happy if you can give me a few links to check out.
There is no logic involved Christine.... we're talking bureaucracy here.
But wouldn't it be more likely that that fence was put up to stop MTX' riders, rather than MTB? After all, everyone knows you can lift a pushbike over pretty much anything, but as for a MTX.....
You hit the nail on the head with this one,
As far as I can see there is no real reason why the XC loop should be closed. It runs very close to the model aero club which has a much greater environmental impact than a 1m wide single track does. I haven't been there for years myself but it was badly eroded at one point, but this is nothing a bit of TLC and proper drainage planning can prevent. If only we would be given the chance to prove this.
In fact, I am constantly telling NPWS that if they truly cared about the state of their parks and the trails within they would let us help maintain them and not lock riders out. We can but hope this message gets through to them at some point.
That aside, if you read my letter to the Minster (here) I asked the very same question and argued that
And you can see from the potted reply this question wasn't answered. I spoke to Mr Solomon about this and had some positive news but since then (February) have left a zillion messages which have gone unanswered. Which is a shame as there is much riders can do to help NPWS if given a chance. Yes, just keep repeating the message...
Rob, maybe try sendiing him a fax. It has a bit mroe legal force, as you have proof of receipt. They can't say they didn't get it, which applies a bit more pressure for them to answer you by removing deniability. Also makes them wonder what you're up to, since you evidently feel the need to remove deniability.
That's an excellent letter Rob.
My feeling is that erosion prevention can't be the reason because at Oxford Falls (as I mentioned above) there is no erosion that I noticed after a 5 year absence, in fact the bush looks more overgrown. You can't prevent something that hasn't happened. Personally I also think the "protecting aboriginal carvings" excuse they gave you for Bantry Bay is bogus because the track they closed doesn't go near any such carvings (and the carvings themselves are not protected).
The two gates/fences I've seen recently look designed to keep *everybody* out. There really isn't any way to walk around them without bashing the bush, and climbing over gets even more difficult when you have additional equipment to carry (in order of weight: boots, bicycles, motorcycles, horses, camels, elephants, & etc).
There are no notices posted so my legalistic mind assumes it is closed "no exceptions". But for the NPWS to close tracks to walkers is pretty unlikely - and wouldn't they kick up a stink if it did happen!
And then they go and leave the other end of each track open so you could do the entire out and back loop and legitimately say you didn't see or cross any closing gate/fence structures. Which clearly makes a trespass unenforceable.
So really, I don't think the tracks are closed.
I think it is someone in the NPWS who doesn't like bicycles making up or randomly enforcing rules as they go along.
What my post is asking is for someone (ideally the head of NPWS or the Minister) to explain here how and why I am wrong.
It is just so bloody wrong that The National Parks that we pay for, not private property , but paid for by the taxpayer, yes us, who are being given fewer places to ride because of erosion or something that they clearly do not have much knowledge about mountain biking and how popular it really is. All they have to check out is the amount of cars on the weekend that have bikes attached to them
What gets me is that there are hardly any places to ride and even the places we are not meant to ride like Bantry Bay ($300 please), where are the walkers?
Many riders have a great passion with the tracks that they ride and for so called officials that just take it away from us is taking any freedom we have where we can ride.
That is all for now as I have to start banging my head on this wall......."OW ow ow ow ow"
Email and fax also carry the same weight. Have sent a mail and got no reply from that either.
At least I'm on first name terms with his secretary now
Last time we spoke I asked her to pass on my details to another staff member that reports to the A/Director as he was clearly too busy. Perhaps need to follow that up again, it's been a couple more weeks
I agree, I have been riding the Bantry Bay loop several days a week, at random times during the day, on and off since 2002, and have only ever seen one group of walkers.
They were 3 pedestrians at the lookout on a Tuesday morning a few months ago and they asked lots of questions about our bikes, seeming genuinely interested. There was no animosity. We were comparing forms of exercise - hiking verses biking - and I got the impression they might be considering having a go on mountain bikes.
And now that I think about it, I've never seen a ranger there either but they must exist or the track wouldn't now be blocked.
Rob, your commitment to this cause is very impressive. If it helps, I used to work very closely with Town Planners and Councils and these days they seem to overwhelming powers to reinforce community concerns and this clearly is one.
You can add some weight to your application to the local Councils where each track is located.
Representation as a Residential lobbyist group these days seem to carry a lot more weight, as Councils electorates tries to shore up votes. Perhaps raise it as a Council issue first, have a Council Officer follow up on it and badger them constantly.
Submissions/Petitions would certainly help the cause as well and if it means stopping every biker at the Dam to sign and register before they ride the trails, so be it !!
Sadly, the only thing to seems to motivate these guys is financial implications and local business economics is important to them as you mentioned in your POM. There is a lot of merit to that section and going into more detail on that would certainly help.
Good luck mate!
Excellent letter. Did you receive a reply?
You notice the potted reply in the comments of original post
And they wonder why there's continued illegal use of the tracks. Lack of respect breeds the same. As you would probably know in the UK they are doing a lot of work on preventative healthcare by the NHS. The problem of obesity in Australia has been proved a major problem yet the governments are opening large tracts of (tax payer funded) land and shutting all sports but tramping out. And from an outdated Plan of Management. In NZ there's dedicated mountain bike parks in many cities which are run by the mountain bikers themselves. Even look as far as Canberra. NSW parks and their attitude is truly disappointing - no matter how you look at it. Especially now the resources are being spent on putting in gates rather than trail management. Who owns these parks anyway?
I was just talking with a friend about Oxford Falls.
He said he went exploring there a few weeks ago and he saw horses, motorcycles and model airplanes, but no other mountain bikes.
Are we the only turkeys playing by the rules? Or are the rules intended to exclude only us?
The model aero club is not inside the National Park. The Slippery Dip trail only enters National Park after the turnoff to the aero club, so if you saw MX and horses before then they were not breaking the law.
AFAIK horses are allowed on any firetrail inside a park. MX bikes are not though.
The rules are made to exclude us though. Walkers clearly have better access rights even though there is no evidence to suggest mountain bike riders have any more impact on the environment.
Actually, good point - I believe this is against the National Parks policy which states that no user group should be favoured over any other. Prickly subject mind, do you want MX riders using the same argument?
Although a few hundred kilos of motor driven bike obviously has a greater impact and should be excluded because of that. That and they are noisy, polluting things that carry large amounts of flammable liquid (fuel) and hot parts (exhaust and engine) into bushland which obviously poses a fire risk.
Hey Guys
I am actually enjoying reading this thread, lot of good points said by all. Would it be possible for someone to sumarise this thread so that when we rememebr this thread and find it again we don't have to read through alll the comments we can just skip towards the end and get the summary?
At what point do you just say fuggit..i'm riding my bike and that's that...i'm not condonging that attitude here of course, but it does remind me of another tale far far away...
We had the same shit in Johannesburg where some group of tree hugging bored houswifes managed to get a trail closed to cycling that was initially built and maintained by the MTb community ,for all the same reasons as NSW, save the lesser spotted tree slug or something, meanwhile the real reason was that MTB'ers were seen as hooligans...no really!
After going down all the right channels and yawn months after yawn months of submissions and community pleadings etc etc, nothing changed. So one day whilst out riding some dude came across this totally unofficial sign put up by the bored bitches club...that said NO MTB!!! so he ripped it down and tossed it away...just then...WENDY (now infamous) came around and let him have it....he got on his bike and almost rode her over...she was never seen again....all this in a city where people are shot for their mobiles, and vagrants live on the trail, and wash in the river...no action against them, because they are violent...the fella on the MTB may have seen the trend, got tired of being the easy target...and just got to that point...
It's dam depessing, and dealing with the beaurocracy is just mind numbing,
serious hat's off to the chaps who compiled that report/submission
Same thing in NZ. They are very good at promoting mountain biking outside National Parks. However possibly one of the best rides in NZ - the Heaphy Track, is still sort of closed to mountain biking. They have been lobbying for 10 odd years now to open it and it is "in the process" of review. Problem is if you haven't said "fuggit" and ridden it the likleihood of being too old and unfit to ride it is rapidly approaching.