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Manly Dam bike trail CLOSED due to wet weather
The mountain bike trail at Manly Dam is CLOSED due to the recent rain and extremely wet track conditions. We'll send out a note when the track has dried sufficiently to be reopened. Please spread the word to others.Anyone wishing to be added to the mailing list can email us at: [email protected]
Thanks for your cooperation .
Manly Dam Rangers
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Although i think most nobmobbers are responsible trail users who don't ride manly dam when it is closed, there are still plenty of other riders who do not respect these rules. I think the rangers should give on the spot fines for riding on the trail when it is closed. The poeple who ride when it is closed are ruining it for everyone else who is resposnsible and only damages our case for getting better facilities built around Sydney.
You have to hit people where it hurts - their wallets!
Sure i'd love to drive 100km/h in a 70km/h zone, but the risk of fines prevents me doing so. Hopefully this same tactic can be applied to illegally riding on closed trails.
Only a moron would have thought that the Dam would be rideable on Sunday so I don't buy the into the "they only cycle when it's closed as they have driven a long way" idea. There is also plenty of signage so no excuses there. There's a relatively small group of dickheads that continue to ride when the dam is closed and it's just a pity that it reflects badly on all mountain bikers (as you can see from the note looking to the mountain biking community in general to fix this). It's not a problem that the mountain biking community can fix. These same people will now go and piss off some other people with their selfish actions - it just happens that when they are on their mountain bikes they are easily identifiable as mountain bikers, the rest of the time they just blend in.
It is disappointing that people still break the rules but another thing to ask is why the trail is still so susceptible to wet weather?
Maybe it is time to reevaluate the maintenance program.
It seems that a lot of recent maintenance has been accused of dumbing down the trail to make it less "dangerous" maybe the focus should be on ways to make it more wet weather sustainable while still giving riders a challenge.
If they can do it in the boggs and peats of Wales and Scotland surely they can do it here.
And before people accuse me of sitting back and critising without putting in effort myself I have helped design, build and maintain several trails including down hill trails that have had to cope with 250 riders at a state races on big heavy bikes with aggresive tyres doing multiple runs (upto 10 each over the weekend) in the pouring rain as well as XC trails that have had to cope with hundreds of riders lapping for 8hr in the rain.
To those who did ride the dam while it was closed, You are morons who are ruining it for the rest of us
I remember riding in the wet in the lovely unmissable UK and yes it screwed up the paths. Difference being as there are not that many rides we can go on here on this small island with patches of park to play in.
Do the LBS ans suppliers have a say to any of the local authorities as I do not see them sponsering much in the North Shore. I know that now where I used to ride in the South East of England at Leith Hill and Holmbury Hill, they have set up a club and raise money for the upkeep of the tracks which seperates the walking paths for our pedestrian friends. Saw in the news last night about the record sales of bicycles being sold in Aus and trying to promote riding to work. But thats another issue
The authorities that be (both council and NPWS) don't want sponsorship for signs or anything else. They don't want to be seen as owing anything to any particular user group.
Then they complain about lack of funding for things like informative signs that would explain why riding in the wet is bad[1]. Go figure
[1] Yes, yes - I know we should just do what we're told, but if one explains the motives behind the rules the result would probably be more compliance.
I really think we are all starting to get a bit precious about those riding in the wet and "The growing level on non-compliance with trail closures". We are talking about a dirt track around a dam, not pristine wilderness! Half of it is fire trail, some bitumen, some boardwalk, some rock and a nice bit of sniggle. Most of it doesn't get damaged at all. I really think some in authority are using this as a cover for their desire to ban mountain biking from as many places as possible, especially national parks.
As for "... we need some impetus from the mountain bike community to turn this attitude around." This is one of the great cop outs of all time. Authorities and the media love to tar everyone with the same brush and claim the niche comunity must do something about radicals and rogues. Again, this is just a cover to demonise the entire community and implement some draconian rules.
I think it's about time the authorities get over themselves, accept there is a level of non compliance in any community, mountain biking actually causes very little damage and regular trail maintenance can fix damage. Many members of the mtb comunity are more than willing to assist with maintenance and I think we're willing to work on a "if you break it, you fix it" basis.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT ride the dam when it's closed. I did ride Terry Hills on Saturday. Wet and fun!
People riding when it is closed is going to happen no matter what unfortunately.
As I said not so long ago. I was parked up at the entrance of the golf club. And in the few minutes I was there i saw three riders coming out of the dirt track that has a sign post at it's entrace saying "This track is closed for maintainance. Please use Manning st". They had to ride around the clearly marked sign.
Now if people blatently do that, how the hell are we going to get them to comply to a sign in wet weather....
It's a real shame, that disrespecting and irresponsible people can blatently disregard a simple request. And unfotunately it is to the detriment of the MtB community as a whole.
We can name and shame all we want, but the fact remains. If they don't give a shit about a sign, they are too self absorbed to give a shit what anyone else is going to say.