Recreational Facilities for Mountain Bike & BMX Strategy

This project will: 1. Outline the strategic basis for the location and standard for recreational BMX and mountain bike facilities 2. Provide guidance on the day-to-day management of facilities 3. Detail a community education plan for different audiences/groups 4. Dovetail with the Shire’s Sports Capacity Plan Volume 3, which addresses the future sporting requirements for (including and BMX). Outcomes of the Strategy will include:

• A set of principles to guide the planning, distribution and development of recreational mountain bike and BMX facilities

• A defined type, hierarchy and standard of facilities to be provided, and level of maintenance required

• An implementation plan and indicative cost

• A community education/communication plan

• A skills development and support/mentoring program for young people to be involved.

What facilities are addressed in this Strategy?

The facilities addressed in this Strategy are dirt jumps, skills parks and pump tracks. Cross country trails, facilities and off-road facilities requiring hard stand or concrete parks such as bike polo, BMX freestyle or flatland, are not included. The Shire’s Sports Capacity Plan 2019 addresses facilities for competition and road-based cycle sports including criterium racing, as well as off-road facilities for cyclocross, and BMX racing.

What are dirt jumps, pump tracks and bike skills areas?

Dirt jumps typically consist of one or more rows of jumps made from hard-packed soil in the shape of a ramp enabling riders to launch their bikes in the air over the jump. These jumps vary in height and typically are either a tabletop form, where the launch and landing jump are combined or two separate jumps with space in between.

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Pump tracks consist of a series of roller style jumps and berms designed in a loop and ridden by pumping rather than pedalling. These are constructed in dirt, asphalt, precast concrete or modular timber laminate.

Images: Left @leisure. Right Tamara Payne

Bike skill areas are typically a combination of dirt jumps and tracks and timber features in runs or loops accommodating riders of a range of proficiencies. These provide graded challenges and encourage skill development and progression to more challenging mountain bike and BMX facilities. Bike skill areas may also feature elements for trials riding.

Image; Red Hill Riders The design and construction of these facilities have evolved overtime and draw from the design of BMX racing tracks and skateboard facilities as well as obstacles found in mountain bike trails. Dirt jumps, pump tracks and bike skill areas tend to be used by both mountain bike and BMX riders and a range of styles of bike.

2 Why is this Strategy needed?

Young people have enjoyed building dirt jumps since off- became popular in the 1980s. However, jumps have been built by riders in unsuitable locations due to environmental impact and public safety concerns. A previous strategy addressed this in 2014. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, there was significant growth in demand for cycling and facilities such as dirt jumps. Between July and November 2020, the community reported 34 jumps and trails to the Shire.

3 What bike park facilities does the Shire currently provide?

• Dromana - Hillview Reserve, Boundary Road • Red Hill Mountain Bike Skills Park, Red Hill Stations Ground • Harold Reid Reserve BMX Track, Baxter • Westpark Reserve BMX Track, Hastings

Proposed facilities

A pump track is proposed at Emil Madsen Reserve in Mount Eliza (as shown in the Emil Madsen Reserve Master Plan). Somers Bike Park is to be constructed at R W Stone Recreation Reserve in Somers.

What are the benefits of bike park facilities to users?

• fun for many age groups

• connect with nature and spend time outdoors

• exercise and socialise

• to develop an interest in and stewardship of the natural environment

• to develop life skills, as well as a stepping stone to competition sports, and careers

• provide sense of achievement and reward from building and riding facilities they created.

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