New Structures at Oxford Falls

[downhiller_1]

unitec you have very valid points... when me and my mates build jumps we alsways make a little jump for the little kids to do so they dont trash our jumps... building stunts is perfectly fine with me aslong as they are rideable by the average rider and have safety precausions(sp?)... building what i think is a massive jump to landing is not accetable... now im not a rider to whinge of crap built on a trail i would rather leave it for others and the builders... its almost too hard to get legal tracks goin so illegal is the only way...

 

[TheExecutiveBoff]

Do you really think that the NPWS & other authorities talk to trail advocates because of there good looks & skilful negotiating skills?? They only talk to us because they want to stop unauthorised trail building & riding.

Well duh...Thats exactly what they want to do. Are you trying to say building illegal trails in this way helps trail advocacy?? are you insane?? Yes many current legal trails originally were one illegal trails, at the same time, many were not. In order to gain access to rails we need viewed by the park and council as a legitimate and responsible sport. The work that was done at Oxey was the opposite. And I’m not saying don’t ride there because its illegal, after all, nearly all great trails are illegal and I ride there all the time. But keep it low key. Don’t go to extremes. Don’t cut down trees and build large structures. I mean, the thing is even painted bright colors and is even visible from the road!

Building structures is bad for the environment

I never said don’t build because it was bad for the environment. Hell, Mountain biking is bad for the environment. This is not about the environment. This is about gaining the respect of the locals and the government. By building these structures we have basically spat in the face of the people who had the previous structures torn down.

3) Building stunts will cause a loss of access to Oxford falls

I’m not even going to try and argue this point because I don't need to. Most people who read this will know that you are wrong. Thats why theres already two pages of posts backing up what I have said.

I realize it’s a tricky issue because NONE of us are supposed to be in there in the first place. We all are doing something illegal by riding there. However if we play our cards right we can all have our fun. I and the other “Farkin Nazis” feel that building trails in this way could be detrimental to the goals some of us are trying to achieve.

I could see your point if the area in concern was, say, British Colombia. Face it, it's not. Its a tiny area of land in the middle of suburban jungle. We here in sydney do not have the ability to build the trails you watch on Seasons or NWD 8. The space is not there, and the legal protection is not there. (Yet) There are areas further from the city where it is being done and it should be encouraged. But, please, not at Oxford Falls. I have actually been somewhere within an hours drive from Oxford Falls with these type of stunts. Lots of them. They are very well build and lots of fun to ride. They are also located on a HUGE plot of land and rather difficult to find. This is how it should be done. Go there to build. Leave Oxey as it is.

After all, only like 5% of the people who ride in there will even have the ability and the balls to even think about attempting the stupid thing. Is it really worth risking it for everybody if only a small percentage will ever get to use it?

 

[Chuckie]

simple...if you dont like it dont ride it...

The land is scheduled for development anyway..so soon you wont have anything to complain or argue about. You will get more woodwork and metal than you bargained for with a brand new housing estate!!

TheExecutiveBoff, next time you are are at oxy come introduce yourself ...we would love to know where and when was the last time you picked up a shovel cause we know who has been maintaining and building what at Oxy

Everyone says build out of dirt, but yet not everyone wants to help maintain these tracks. Not to mention those dirt pits just keep getting bigger and bigger. why complain about resurrecting something that was already there anyway? In fact credit to the builder because this actually looks better built than the previous rotting wood structure

The last thing the builders and maintainers at Oxy need is you coming on here telling everyone about the trail

as per Cuthberts post, action has already been taken to address the residents concerns. At this stage the constructions dont seem to be one of them

as for cutting a LIVE tree down, agreed that shouldnt happen

 

[Sean]

The last thing the builders and maintainers at Oxy need is you coming on here telling everyone about the trail

Hasn't their been two seperate articles in the latest issues of Revolution talking about Oxy falls anyway? That's not exactly going to help keep it on the low down.

I'm completely against people who come into "politically delicate" trails like this and build massive stuff, because they're the reason that tracks like this bulldozed. I'm sure there are members here on Farkin who were the ones who created the gigantic monstrosety (sp), so why don't they just own up and take responsibility for their actions eh?

 

[Jeff193]

Interesting to see this posted.

I was in there today and thought to myself the new lander/takeoff was a bit over the top and was certainly not impressed with the cutting down of existing tree. Maybe if it was made a bit safer. At the moment I see somebody axing themselves pretty badly if they are not going the exact speed.

 

[mr ufo]

All Trail builders ... join an established bike club and lend your skills and hard labour to a good cause . MTB Clubs need people like you who are keen
to build and maintain tracks for the benefit of all ..


..and stop building all that shit at oxford falls for fucks sake

 

[Oliver.]

All Trail builders ... join an established bike club and lend your skills and hard labour to a good cause . MTB Clubs need people like you who are keen
to build and maintain tracks for the benefit of all ..


..and stop building all that shit at oxford falls for fucks sake

Only problem is, established clubs don't have established places to ride either.
Nobody who rides at oxford falls would rather move to the dam circuit, nor would they want to maintain places like Ourimbah which for them are too far away. Oxford Falls is there now, and it's the closest thing Sydney has to a DH trail by a long shot

 

[taibo]

i saw that steel structure in there a few weeks ago...one word for it ..."GANGSTER!"
its nothing like that wooden stuff that has gone in there previously, it aint gonna go anywhere anytime soon...to the person that suggested ripping it out...id pay to see you try!

 

[dave m]

i saw that steel structure in there a few weeks ago...one word for it ..."GANGSTER!"
its nothing like that wooden stuff that has gone in there previously, it aint gonna go anywhere anytime soon...to the person that suggested ripping it out...id pay to see you try!

maybe they should make the whole track gangster.

 

[Dan.]

maybe they should make the whole track gangster.

Hahah what is that supposed to mean. Put twenny fo's on dat kicker fo sho fo sho fo sho. Haha.

 

[Jordo_c]

yes well said dude, everyone loves all the freeride stuff for a bit of funn but as we all know, the wooden stuff has been taken down in the past so who ever built this should consider taking it down or moving it elsewhere, i havent seen it myself as i usualy ride only one of the tracks there which no one else does for some reason, i dont know why because its the most downhill style track there but yea i soon hope to see this construction,

 

[dave m]

Hahah what is that supposed to mean. Put twenny fo's on dat kicker fo sho fo sho fo sho. Haha.

Yes Dan, exactly. It could bust a cap in the arse of any mofo who dissed it. Westside. Well, nothing more needs to be said, thread closed.

 

[Lleyt0n]

you could try and do wat the boys that build at menai do make your jumps out of sand bags and put dirt over it. Its so easy to kick or tear down something wooden but is someone really gonna move sand bags one by one think about it

 

[bikesarefun]

I am continually amazed at how so many of my fellow mountain bikers are unable to think for themselves and continue to repeat the lies & miss-information dished out my the Farkin Nazis that seem to swarm over anyone who puts the effort into building trails for there fellow riders. For those who are capable of questioning what they are being told please let me offer the follow food for thought.
Building & riding unauthorized illegal trails hurts trail advocacy efforts
Seriously……Do you really think that the NPWS & other authorities talk to trail advocates because of there good looks & skilful negotiating skills?? They only talk to us because they want to stop unauthorised trail building & riding. Hence if there were no illegal trails & riders the authorities wouldn’t even consider talking to us. Why do the people claiming to represent riders tells us not to build illegal but don’t tell us not to ride illegal trails? (do I need to spell it out?) because everyone rides illegal trails but only a few hard working soles build.
There is no way we are ever going to get a legal track with stunts if there are no people that ride stunts because there are no trails with stunts. Just as all existing legal trails have been formed, illegal trails provide the foundation for any legal trails.
Building structures is bad for the environmentAny half witted greeny looking for trouble can walk up a track, see some north shore and say that they have found environmental damage however they couldn’t be further from the truth.
Ask yourself. What do the authorities do when they want human access to environmentally sensitive areas….They build north shore (a board walk) (am I getting you thinking for yourself yet?) North shore actually protects the environment by protecting the top soil from erosion and avoiding the need for digging dirt that eventually ends up being washed down to the bottom of the hill.
Take a look at Oxford falls on Google Earth and you will see that the only real environmental damage after the 50 years of wear & tare to the area is the major loss of top soil.
Agree that the {half) tree that was removed was wrong but would say to the executiveboff that if you have in fact done some digging at oxford falls you may have done more environmental damage than the north shore you are complaining about.
Building stunts will cause a loss of access to Oxford falls
A few facts…Oxy is an illegal track so we never had access in the first place…It is going to be redeveloped and will be lost anyway…..This is not a new line and is simply a re-establishment of a old one that was previously removed.....None of the residents have complained about structures yet and we shouldn’t be selling ourselves short by going to the meeting thinking what we are doing is wrong.
If you don't like what others have built for you at least show some respect and by not riding them and keep your complaints to yourself.

Thank christ. Somebody else gets it.

 

[bikesarefun]

Only problem is, established clubs don't have established places to ride either.
Nobody who rides at oxford falls would rather move to the dam circuit, nor would they want to maintain places like Ourimbah which for them are too far away. Oxford Falls is there now, and it's the closest thing Sydney has to a DH trail by a long shot

Yeah. We'd all start taking the whole "established club" thing more seriously in these parts if the number of trails opening wasn't so overwhelmed by the number of trails closing. I can think of at least four areas on the north side that have been closed down in recent times. I can't think of anything "legitimate" being opened to balance things out.

Obviously we need to be more organised - just look at how they do it in Vancouver, with heaps of riders turning up to local council meetings and so on. If anyone is trying to get somthing like that happening, just tell us where to be and when.

 

[dcrofty]

Obviously we need to be more organised - just look at how they do it in Vancouver, with heaps of riders turning up to local council meetings and so on. If anyone is trying to get somthing like that happening, just tell us where to be and when.

True. I went to the last meeting in North Van and it was awesome to see the turnout that occurred and the way the entire council sat up and took notice.

However, over here structures were torn down all the time by land managers for years until the NSMBA got organised and started building quality stuff and getting approval from land managers.

Now if someone new comes in and builds something badly, or its obvious from a road or out of place it gets torn down by local trail builders often before land managers even become aware of it as its understood here that the the wrong thing in the wrong place fucks things up for riders in the long term. Continued trail access on the Shore and other areas is far from guaranteed despite what NWD movies might make it look like and something silly that's going to affect improved trail access here isn't tolerated very well.

Illegal trails and stunts served a purpose during the development phase of the sport when it was small, isolated and out of sight. There comes a point though when the sport grows enough to have to come out of the shadows and once that happens we need to start getting legal trails and talking to land managers if we want to be able to get good quality lasting trails.

 

[Gruntled]

So, do we need to form a new group for this, guys? Is there any advocacy group which provides help to DH/FR cyclists in NSW?

The exact issues faced at Oxford Falls are also relevant in the Illawarra region, and many other places around Australia.

 

[bethextrem1]

Has anyone even seen somebody hit the thing yet?

The penalty for failure is HUGE. Not only that but with the amount of vertical and the height in the takeoff, its going to be like shooting a basketball through a hoop. Your speed has to be dead on or your going to come up short or over clear it.

Somebody's going to get seriously injured if they aren't careful.

Yes, I've seen it done. twice!

I think that it's big enough to keep the beginers off!

And the drop before it is to die for, awsome fun, double thumbs up!!!!!

 

[Mojo]

all talk and no pictures. im disgusted. as for this thread, should we just make a sticky about building illegal trails. it seems to be more common than breathing these days????

 

[bethextrem1]

all talk and no pictures.

Yes, I'm afraid so.

There were four of us there and none of us took a photo, not even with a phone.

Very bad form, I know.