End of an era? Has Warby suffered the fate of a Nanny MTB State?

[the drizzle]

I was out with one of the main Warby builders the weekend before last at Buxton and he was saying that he intends to get involved in the building of the new park. He has also been logging hours spend on his latest creation. He didn't mention anything about tracks being shut down but did say some of the people whose property's backed onto some of the trails were starting to give him some trouble. Here's hoping he succeeds and has a vocal role in all new developments.

 

[ForkinGreat]

I wouldn't say every to an extent but a large number suffer this problem. Hardly anything in VIC gets me excited after riding trails interstate and overseas. I think its a combination of legality, lack of planning, the whole flow trail 'smooth' fad and erosion control. Just my opinion and I know many share the same.

I did ride Warby last weekend saw all the signs scattered around the roads. It is shame with all the work that has gone into it by the dedicated crew. They know who they are! Lets just hope us gravity riders get some allocation for some tracks that have great potential with the terrain out there.

To get decent DH tracks ok'd, I think it has to be framed up and the case for building or retaining existing ones put in an appropriate way. If the appropriate caution signage is there, then that should cover the local shire legally.

Any new DH tracks need to be presented as a sports training facility for downhill and regular comps run on them, IMO. eg state or national championship DH run there = $$$ from competitors and spectators, and exposure for Warburton and surrounding area.

I can't say that I have the answer to this issue, but there must be a way to allow for decent DH rather than nerf trails. The you yangs seem to manage it, maybe Youies MTB club trail builders would be the ones to talk to, about how they work with Parks Victoria(??).

I have to deal with regulatory authorities a fair bit, heading a sporting club (not MTB) whose grounds are on both council and local water utility land.

These folks are generally good to deal with and surprisingly helpful if you approach them in the right way. try to build relationships with the council people and state govt officers from the Department of Environment and Primary Industries charged with looking after state forests etc

If you can convince the relevant people that the interests of DH/FR MTB riders are aligned with theirs, then that will help significantly, IMO.

 

[Wisey]

It is true, some restrictions from DEPI have been implemented on both the tracks at Warby. The top track will remain open for riding thru winter but there has been a strict no building msg to the people concerned. In regards to LaLa, it will be officially closed as of this weekend for the foreseeable future. This trail is usually closed on QBD weekend any year anyway so at this point, not much has changed. The track will not be destroyed as has been suggested previously in this thread, just closed.

In the long run, things are looking great for the area, Im privy to some recent information and things are about to start happening on a larger scale. There will be more trails built in the area and hopefully if things work out, the existing trails will be reworked into this infrastructure of trail network. Whilst LaLa has been a labour of love for Timbot, Intense Dave, J Beare, myself and many others for some 10 years now, its not perfect and has a few problems that need to change if its ever to get the absolute legal tick, right now the big question is can we ever get those changes approved and constructed. Time will tell. We sure dont wana see that trail disappear and all the work that has been done just to be claimed by the bush.

Im sure you may see others chime in and comment but now, thats about it. Please respect the closures out there and stay away from LaLa as the signage go up.

 

[ajay]

Thanks for clarifying, Wisey :thumb:

 

[Ideate]

:thumb:

Why is it called Chinese whisper anyway? Because of the language barrier and lost translation between Chinese and English?

Edit : I looked it up and it seems so.

 

[McFlurry]

That's a pretty bold and disrespectful statement unless you haven't ridden many trails in VIC.

I meant no disrespect, I was just being honest. You ride a track, you feel a certain way about it when you're done, and I haven't felt excited really. Some parts of some tracks are real fun, but there's often open expanses of boring trail linking those good bits. I am trying to get my wife into riding too, and I've taken her out places and she's been disappointed. She's seen videos online and from mates of tracks in B.C, there's nothing I've seen here come close to that. Sure there's some big jumps or drops on OS tracks but they're made so well, all you need to do is carry some speed and point the bike in the right direction. It shows us up when you compare trails here to other states like NSW (where I'm from) but certainly to those in Canada and the US.

If I'm wrong, please tell me where these local tracks are because I want to ride them!

I wouldn't say every to an extent but a large number suffer this problem. Hardly anything in VIC gets me excited after riding trails interstate and overseas. I think its a combination of legality, lack of planning, the whole flow trail 'smooth' fad and erosion control. Just my opinion and I know many share the same.

I did ride Warby last weekend saw all the signs scattered around the roads. It is shame with all the work that has gone into it by the dedicated crew. They know who they are! Lets just hope us gravity riders get some allocation for some tracks that have great potential with the terrain out there.

That's right. They can almost seem like walking tracks with few obstacles, very few decently built jumps or drops, and certainly nothing I've seen that creates a real wow factor to a trail. I had high hopes for lysty and you yangs when I moved to VIC but after I went and saw the reality of those legal tracks, I found it real hard to muster the motivation to go back. I've never ridden Warby, as I said above I'd have liked to if it was more like you see when you ride OS. Hopefully it changes in the future!

 

[cruxpitch]

Thanks Wisey. Greatly appreciate an answer from the horses mouth !

 

[caad9]

I meant no disrespect, I was just being honest. You ride a track, you feel a certain way about it when you're done, and I haven't felt excited really. Some parts of some tracks are real fun, but there's often open expanses of boring trail linking those good bits. I am trying to get my wife into riding too, and I've taken her out places and she's been disappointed. She's seen videos online and from mates of tracks in B.C, there's nothing I've seen here come close to that. Sure there's some big jumps or drops on OS tracks but they're made so well, all you need to do is carry some speed and point the bike in the right direction. It shows us up when you compare trails here to other states like NSW (where I'm from) but certainly to those in Canada and the US.

I'm sure everyone dreams of having Canadian style tracks in their hometown, but there I doubt there's many places within Australia that have the terrain for it?
Luckily for us Victorians, I think Warby and surrounding areas have the potential to be something quite incredible, we just need the right people in charge.

The good tracks, no matter where you go, are the ones off the beaten path. Usually made by passionate and skilled locals.
I'd wager it's the same everywhere in the world.

 

[McFlurry]

I was watching more BC-esque videos and thinking about this last night and you're absolutely right. The terrain at lysterfield and you yangs is dry and scrubby. I don't like dry and scrubby terrain so I don't like those trails. Warby on the other hand is lush forested areas with terrain and environment reminiscent of BC or New Zealand. I'm sure there are some really choice trails up there!

 

[Wisey]

I was watching more BC-esque videos and thinking about this last night and you're absolutely right. The terrain at lysterfield and you yangs is dry and scrubby. I don't like dry and scrubby terrain so I don't like those trails. Warby on the other hand is lush forested areas with terrain and environment reminiscent of BC or New Zealand. I'm sure there are some really choice trails up there!

Are you talking downhill or trail riding? If you're talking downhill you're doing it wrong.

Lysty has about 100m vert and is XC only, some may argue there are some more aggressive trails there but not really. You Yangs, whilst has some downhills that are relatively flatish, pedally and huckish (150m vert) its strength is in trail riding, some of the best in the state and yes, can be dry and loose. Warby on the other hand has over 500m vert, is very lush and is custom made for downhill riding or at least the existing trails are anyway.

Bad comparison.

 

[latheboy]

I went to the Yarra valley mtb meeting last Friday and the ranger said, la la is closed because of complaints from locals about shuttle drivers driving like crazy .. my wife almost got put of the road running shuttles for me a couple of weeks ago..
Some of the guys who ride there need to respect the locals..

An issue I have with a trail building company going in and digging is, who will do the maintenance?
Eg 1 coms track lysty... Ldtr do all the work 6 months after someone got paid a bucket load
Eg 2 copperhead .. it's stuffed 1 year after being built for a bucket load

I really hope that doesn't happen to Warby

 

[latheboy]

Also... There was talk of big things happening in the area, I didn't agree with them all but you get that.. I'm still looking forward to it

 

[Kirua]

It's sad to see La La closed but the complaints are justified ! Some people doing shuttles up and down don't care about anything else than themselves and drive in the middle of the road, don't slow down in corners, etc.
I'm always really cautious when driving there because if I don't brake and pull on the side then no one will !

 

[Minlak]

I went to the Yarra valley mtb meeting last Friday and the ranger said, la la is closed because of complaints from locals about shuttle drivers driving like crazy .. my wife almost got put of the road running shuttles for me a couple of weeks ago..
Some of the guys who ride there need to respect the locals..

An issue I have with a trail building company going in and digging is, who will do the maintenance?
Eg 1 coms track lysty... Ldtr do all the work 6 months after someone got paid a bucket load
Eg 2 copperhead .. it's stuffed 1 year after being built for a bucket load

I really hope that doesn't happen to Warby

This is purely an observation and I know the majority of riders on these forums are probably not the culprits however. Nearly all these threads have a common theme of of the oppressors National Parks or Councils being utter bastards and closing this or that and the Nanny State will destroy our fun. Then a few pages in its revealed it was bikers fucking themselves over on tracks that were never approved. Now don't go getting all defensive I'm sure it was a minority in comparison to the whole but people (Outsiders) tend to focus on the negative. It's like every second douche out here buys a half acre of land and sure as eggs within a week of moving in thier kids are on trail bikes riding the half acre all day. Now one kid does it so what 5 kids do it and suddenly all fucking day all you hear is motorbikes revving thier tits off in a residential estate. That's what the locals had to deal with regarding the shuttles a small percentage fucking it up for everyone again. What we really need to address is the euthanasia of the troublesome individuals is classed as a crime. Dropped your gel packet I'm sorry you have to go to sleep now. Speeding recklessly up the shuttle roads I'm sorry you have to go to sleep now. Etc

 

[caad9]

I must admit, I had a similar reaction. There's always two sides to the story and of course some reckless individuals have ruined it for many.
I'd be pissed off if some idiots treated my families road like a race track.

I'm sure all the guys that spend countless hours on these kind of projects would be real thrilled that their craftsmanship is being destroyed because a few people couldn't act accordingly

 

[rednightmare]

Have to agree with some others on here, don't think it's about 'the Nanny MTB state' but more down to people not respecting the local residents and driving like dickheads on the shuttle road (my gf had several close calls). Also what happened to not posting things about unofficial tracks on public forums. It's all academic now, I guess, but had seen a few threads on here openly discussing La La - facepalm...

 

[Ezkaton]

I must admit I'm a bit terrified of driving down that shuttle road because of other drivers barrelling up it at stupid speeds.
Especially those blind corners.

I end up just coasting down at 20-30km/h, hitting the bottom only a few mins before the bikes.

I understand wanting to get in as many runs as you can in a day, but damn son...

 

[Ridenparadise]

Good luck with all this. Unfortunately our experience is that too many riders don't give a flying fuck about anyone but themselves and have little to no respect for the trail or builders' efforts. Neighbours don't even enter their mind. When you see places like The Outlook marked for destruction because the land manager does not see the features as safe (council says it is not the size of jumps, but the risk of injury due to being impaled if you fall etc) and then add in annoyed neighbours and riders willing to ride when and where they shouldn't, things are really skewed against MTB and toward everyone who objects or has trouble managing the site. An all too common theme is that the people who whine about the nanny state approach to trail development are the ones most willing to prejudice an area and never help sort out the problems. All the best to the dedicated builders and here's hoping you become supported volunteers.

 

[Woffa]

delete post

 

[McFlurry]

Sounds like now the full story is out it makes more sense. Can I ask are there any good tracks out that way (flowy, drops, not dry or shale covered) still open and able to be ridden?