The situation is an ongoing one we deal with regularly. Riders regularly come across 4WD and motorbikes in the park and chase them out or pass on details to the Committee. Sadly it took an impending world cup for the media to take any interest as we have asked for stories before but never made the front page of the Weekend Post in Cairns. That said at least we got some air time this time. Damage is normally 4WD tracks on the green trails which is concerning as that is where the families ride. It is particularly bad just after we have had some rain. We have had some odd situations where some knob in a small wheelbase 4WD, we suspect a suzuki type one has driven up some of the trails themselves to see how far they can get. Hopefully we can get some attention now and that may help reduce it.
Cairns World Cup!!
- Thread starter indica
- Start date
indica
Serial flasher
I was riding with my wife there years ago on the third finger, had a laugh as just before we got to the Dh access track there was a guy there looking at his car. His brother in a fit of stupidity had driven the wrong way down single track and then slipped off the side and bolted.
Some people just leave you shaking your head.
Some people just leave you shaking your head.
Jeffgre_6163
Likes Dirt
Yes they are near Trinity Beach, a couple of minutes by car, 20 minutes walk.
The Smithfield MTB park is behind the JCU campus on McGregor Road.
Google map JCU or AJ Hackett Bungy and you will see them. : )
P.S. do not forget to bring your bike or you will regret it forever!!!
shhhteve
Likes Dirt
im flying up and didnt plan on bringing the bike....
really think its worth it?
was just going to hang out and watch all the races
Jeffgre_6163
Likes Dirt
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tasty.dirt74
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Can it happen?
Rumours of a Australian whitewash.. DH with Mick Hannah, XCO with Dan McConnell and XCE with Paul van der Ploeg..
nah. no rumour yet, but it is entirely possible..:gossip:
Rumours of a Australian whitewash.. DH with Mick Hannah, XCO with Dan McConnell and XCE with Paul van der Ploeg..
nah. no rumour yet, but it is entirely possible..:gossip:
Jeffgre_6163
Likes Dirt
Bringing your bike to the WC & want to ride Atherton but dont think you can get here?
If you are bringing your bike to Cairns for the WC and want to ride the trails at Atherton but don't want the hassle/expense of a hire car than this may be your answer!
For the record I am NOT affiliated to the bus company, in fact I don't know them from a bar of soap, I just figured it was a good idea reasonably priced
I am a Atherton [well Yungaburra actually, look it up: )] local, the more riders on our trails the better:
If you are bringing your bike to Cairns for the WC and want to ride the trails at Atherton but don't want the hassle/expense of a hire car than this may be your answer!
For the record I am NOT affiliated to the bus company, in fact I don't know them from a bar of soap, I just figured it was a good idea reasonably priced
I am a Atherton [well Yungaburra actually, look it up: )] local, the more riders on our trails the better:
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Ridenparadise
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Any thoughts on what could happen to the WC tracks if Cairns cops the peripheral winds and rain. I heard a prediction of 170k winds in Cairns today. Massive tree fall and torrents on trails is possible. How will it be possible to get the tracks ready in less than 2 weeks - MTB will not be a priority if towns are destroyed and Cairns floods. It's a potential catastrophe. Where could it go - maybe Thredbo. ps, mongrel question mark key has failed
Jeffgre_6163
Likes Dirt
Yep, not good at all.
As a local on the Tablelands we are battening down the hatches and hoping for the best.
Knowing Smithies pretty well I think the trails will be able to be made serviceable even if we get 300mm of rain, that sort of rain is fairly common at least a couple of times a wet season. Fallen trees can always be chopped away with an army of volunteers.
What is of concern, as you point out, is if the region gets smashed then running a world cup will become a low priority next to other peoples misery.
I have seen what Larry and Yasi did first hand, pretty scary shit.
If I was a betting man I would think the realistic chances are only 50-50 of the event going ahead
4dabush
Likes Dirt
We fix the trails every year...and we have to be onto the maintenance year round. We get as many trees fall over from over soaked ground as we do with a blow... She'll be right with a bit of chainsaw work- after we clean up at home!!! But yeah, if there is lots of damage, loss of accommodation etc that might have more of an impact. Not an ideal prep...but we'll be pulling out all stops to make sure it's a great event
Ridenparadise
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Oh, that's not encouraging. I rode Mogo in NSW after storms dropped thousands of trees. Trails were not even visible without leaving your bike, climbing over multiple monster trees and bush bashing around for a while. Over and over. Sadly, 300mm of rain sounds like a conservative estimate for ITA.
Be safe.
While it is pure conjecture at the moment until we really know what Ita does, as part of the Event Management Team, I can assure you that everything will be done to ensure the event goes ahead. At this point I would say there is less than 5% chance of any sort of cancellation. There is a whole team flying in on Monday, the National Parks team are ready to go in and audit and start the clean up as soon as it is safe, and contingencies have been made for infrastructure and resources that may get pulled into the recovery effort such as generators and skilled labour.
On top of all that, whilst we want to be ready to go by Easter we still have two weeks before any racing so, in that regard we are lucky this did not happen a week later. With Significant state govt investment in this event we will be looking to get the message out that FNQ is open for business.
Good luck to all those in the firing line over the next 48 hours or so.
Thredbo would be awesome it should be there anyway much better track.
That said I think they would cancel it, from what I understand thredbo doesn't have the ideas tire in place that the wc requires. I think there are specific guides for things like hospitals and other things that need to be meet to make it a viable place?
Anyone know more about this?
I think more likely would be a dropped round from the series than a full move to new location. In such a short turn around.
Dene Dweller
Likes Dirt
Take the race back to Canberra.......
Please no.