Homebush MTB track

[camzh]

^ Yes.
Sydney BMX club drive a 4x4 and trailer across the start ramp of the 4X track when they are racing / training.

And they have the nerve to complain about RC cars....

the below pic was from before the track was resurfaced, and shows how well respected the track is.
Numb nuts i can understand, but still get me angry, but BMX racers??? WTFBBQSTUFFS !! ?? :yell::mad2:

 

[VW NUT]

Hope to visit this track whilst in Sydney for New Year celebrations.

 

[stinky1138]

3 of us have just spent the last couple hours cleaning up the track. it's never going to be better if anyone would like to take advantage.

 

[Anthony B]

I just started riding 4x & a slopestyle bike this is local to my work, thanks for the effort put in cleaning up the track. I've got a rake, broom, & shovel in my car now so I can help with the upkeep

 

[CN001]

3 of us have just spent the last couple hours cleaning up the track. it's never going to be better if anyone would like to take advantage.

The track is looking good. Thanks for your efforts.

 

[camzh]

went via the track yesterday to see how its looking.

time for more emails to Sydney Olympic Park

 

[Anthony B]

Gronk in the bmx club drove across it today I wanted to slap him, I've fixed that same section 4 times in the past week :/

The only plus it's relatively smooth at the first roller & the rest of the track after is pretty smooth

 

[CN001]

It looks like the bigger issue is people riding it when wet. Car tracks across the track don't make it unrideable (particularly there just below the start hill) but grooves in the same direction as the track do make it unrideable.

 

[stinky1138]

it took months of writing to Olympic Park and complaining to even see any kind of work get done there--damn, it's actually almost a year ago that we started emailing and pestering! O.O
So to have Sydney BMX just callously drive across the track--even if it's only one section--is just frustrating as fuck. I've literally sat there and spoken to the guy who does it about track work, track maintainance, how they get ridden and in what conditions, and various other topics related to the tracks. Then watched him as he drives his 4x4 and massive trailer across the 4X side without even thinking he's doing something wrong. It's a respect issue more than anything to me. For Olympic Park it's a safety issue, those ruts throw small wheels and riders so easily. I loathe children, but I take the time whenever we're there to explain to the parents what we're doing and WHY. Letting them know that the work we do is to make it safe and enjoyable for everyone there. The new surface has greatly reduced (now that it's been swept and packed) the damage done from riding in the wet. The start ramp there was not resurfaced so it doesn't hold up to the wet at all. People will always ride it when wet, it's a public track


The only reason I put in any time there is beause this track is about 5 minutes from home for me. It's just too convenient to let it go to shit and become unridable because some people are douche bags.

 

[Anthony B]

I'm going to stack more of the big sandstone rocks up near the edges of the track it's deterred the guy in the ute now he drives across on an angle. When the weather is less Sahara desert ill take a shovel down & clean out the rutted spots & mix in some of the pea gravel stuff with the clay to actually build some hard packed surface.

It's a 5min drive from work for me & I enjoy the track as a break away after work, so when I ride it I try out in at least 30mins worth of digging/ raking & sweaping

 

[camzh]

It looks like the bigger issue is people riding it when wet. Car tracks across the track don't make it unrideable (particularly there just below the start hill) but grooves in the same direction as the track do make it unrideable.

You're right that the car/4x4/ride on mower tracks don't make it unrideable.
It's more about how these tracks got there that makes me mad, and the total lack of respect that is given by the race BMX community.

The track is open to the public, and there is plenty of people who will ride this track when its wet, as you can see from the bike ruts.
Fortunately this is pretty much the only place on the track that has such ruts, and there is a nice smooth section in the middle.
The recent work that was done to the track does seem to make it handle the rain much better, but this start section will always suffer.

Appreciate your efforts Anthony B.
I might end up down there this arvo.

 

[camzh]

Passed these pictures on to the Sydney Olympic Park and they say they are looking into ways to prevent it happening in future.

When I was there on Saturday they had smoothed out the majority of them with a 4x4 by the looks of it.
Ghetto, but better than nothing.

 

[Anthony B]

They clean them up & then today while they are soaking wet bmx kids are riding it & it's back to bad, every corner & jump has deep tyre grooves on them now :/

Once my sprained ankle is better ill be there

 

[camzh]

 

[camzh]

Got an email back from the Olympic park today:
"SOPA will install six timber bollards in the turf about 1 metre off the track on the Haslam’s Creek side of the track.



Hopefully that will solve the problem. If not, SOPA can also install additional bollards on the car park side of the track later on."

w00t !

 

[tubby74]

I'm not a dj or bmx rider but do like to take my mtb and my son down both of these tracks. Thanks to the efforts of local residents to endangers cyclists I've taken a place on one of the Newington precinct committees and on the auburn councils traffic and community consultation groups. This after talking to one of the council traffic engineers about safety issues and being told " don't think bicycles should be on the road" like that was the end of the issues. Auburn council has gone to some lengths to avoid reports incidents that they have caused.

SOPA sits in on these meetings so if you guys want issues raised pm me afro email and I will make sure the issue is raised. On the major plus side, bicycles NSWis base in bicentennial park and work well with SOPA and have managed to fix in 2 days issues with bike lanes that council have ignored their responsibility to fix for many months

 

[camzh]

So the bollard have been removed:

Following receipt of complaints about the bollards installed recently at the Mountain X track, a safety inspection was carried out by the SOPA Risk Manager.

Sydney Olympic Park Authority also contacted the Western Sydney Mountain Bike Club and the Sydney BMX Club about the bollards. Both organisations stated that they considered them a safety risk and an impediment to the set-up of their club days at the site.

As a result, the bollards will be removed as it appears that they pose a greater safety risk than the situation that existed before their installation.

As it turns out that the wheel ruts in the track that sparked your original concerns were caused by representatives from one or both of these clubs, and not maintenance vehicles as I had assumed, both clubs have agreed to refrain from crossing the track on the ‘dirt’ section.

Sydney Olympic Park Authority will also erect suitable signage near the vehicle entrance to the facility as a reminder not to drive across either track.

 

[Ultra Lord]

Aside from the install of removal of bollards next to the start hill has the track undergone any layout changes recently? I'll always miss the big step up on the start straight. Rollers aren't the same.

 

[stinky1138]

Aside from the install of removal of bollards next to the start hill has the track undergone any layout changes recently? I'll always miss the big step up on the start straight. Rollers aren't the same.

yeah, minor changes when they resurfaced the track, which has since washed away as they used rocks not dirt... Nothing someone would notice if they don't go there frequently. It's not likely to ever change from what it is now as so far as I can tell, a few of us are the only ones who actually maintain the place.