THE PROPOSAL INTRODUCTION The Mountain Biking Explosion The exponential growth of recreational and sporting off road mountain bike riding is worldwide. Both cross country and Downhill Mountain Biking are established as Olympic events; the demand will con- tinue to increase. Locally The Hong Kong Magazine for August carried an article on mountain biking in Hong Kong, which only further fuels demand. Companies recruiting expatriates cite mountain biking and refer candidates to the HKMBA website as evidence that Hong Kong is a “cool” city to live. And in the latest Action Asia magazine there are three separate articles about mountain biking. Mountain Biking is a growing sport across the world, the bicycle industry in 2008 in the USA is a $6 billion industry, includ- ing the retail value of bicycles, related parts, and accessories according to research funded by the USA National Sporting Goods Association. Ironically the majority of bicycles, components and accessories are manufactured in China, and in Taiwan and Japan. Hong Kong’s bike shops are amongst the best in the world, when a new bike or component is manufac- tured it is usual to find it in a Hong Kong bike shop ahead of anywhere else. This is because most bikes and components are manufactured within the region and the Hong Kong bicycle enthusiast is one of the most discerning. Bicycle shops in other countries tend to carry minimum stock and will custom order Unfortunately for mountain biking cycling in the country parks falls under the authority of the AFCD. depending on requests by individual customers; recently online retailers overseas have filled this void by Whilst AFCD is no doubt qualified to fulfil their other responsibilities in the area of recreational use of offering huge catalogues and overnight delivery. The most famous and most well equipped of Hong Kong the country parks and providing a viable mountain biking network AFCD are not qualified and have fallen bike shops is Flying Ball. From their large premises in Cheung Sha Wan they sell over 500-600 bikes short of the standards set by other government departments. per annum at about HK$15,000 average price with the top-end selling at over HK$60,000. Flying Ball’s Mr Lee reports that approximately 10% are purchased by overseas visitors. There are at least 10 other The concerns of the Hong Kong’s mountain biking community are that AFCD fail to grasp the opportu- substantial bicycle shops throughout Hong Kong with at least another 20 smaller retailers. It is estimated nity presented by mountain biking to expand recreational use of the country parks. AFCD appear to see that each of the second tier bike shops sells half of the bikes as Flying Ball and the smaller shops selling their role through their own filters despite decades of lobbying and volunteer work by mountain bikers, perhaps 100 bikes each at the same average. That could make the total bicycle sales for Hong Kong at AFCD give the impression of doing the minimum and hoping that mountain biking will go away. over HK$60 million per annum. When AFCD do undertake a project they do it in their own vacuum of inexperience and create a wholly When AFCD opened the current mountain bike trail network in 2002 there were half a dozen retail shops supplying unworkable solution. Their recent work on the Ho Poi downhill course created a new section of the exist- mountain bikes and components; today we have 34 in Hong Kong, plus several more in Shenzhen and Macau. (see ing trail. The route of the new trail is far too steep and apart from the erosion this will facilitate the trail the list later) is dangerously fast and slippery. To combat this AFCD used nylon netting on the trail. This made the surface even more treacherous and resulted in several serious injuries, numerous complaints have been made. We understand they now intend to build a Beginners Course at the top of Route Twisk. AFCD are The Current Situation doing this in isolation, without consultation and have not taken advice from the HKMBA, who have quali- To meet this demand it is critical to expand the existing mountain bike trail network. The current des- fied cycle instructors who run classes for children amongst their officers. ignated mountain bike trails are insufficient and inadequate. They consist of old trails originally used by villages and animal tracks, which have been opened up in 2002 by the AFCD to meet the demand at the AFCD’s constant complaint is that hikers complain about Mountain Bikers, HKMBA would like to in- time for mountain biking trails. Since then the mountain biking community has grown from around clude these complaints in the education program we run with members; however AFCD refuse to provide 2,000 to over 12,000. Trails are overcrowded on weekend peak days, in places trails are too steep and details or numbers of complaints despite numerous requests from the HKMBA. consequently erode easily and are subject to frequent landslips, plus they are poorly maintained. In some cases they are extremely dangerous for beginners. With more and more riders hitting the trails each Another concern AFCD express is that mountain biking damages the country side. On existing trails, weekend there are increasing cases of riders going off on their own into the parks and creating new trails which are not purpose built and too steep, this is true. However the damage created by biking is negli- as they find innovative ways to have their sport. gible compared to the damage inflicted by the heavy handed concreting of our country parks. Concrete steps and railings, dumb-down the hiking trails and sanitise and urbanise Hong Kong’s unique natural environment. There have been hundreds of complaints about this directly to AFCD and in the press from hikers and other park users and yet still the concreting continues. In other parts of the world mountain resorts cope maintain parks without using concrete. Many of these parks have to cope with massive water flows from the spring snow melting runoff. Correctly constructed trails using natural materials are re-built with topsoil that has washed down which is re-cycled from lower down where it runs off, to back up the mountain. AFCD’s reliance on concrete actually exacerbates the soil erosion by channelling the water flow past the concrete like a river past bridge columns the running water is driven unnaturally along existing trails carving out the disturbed soil and leaving the concrete exposed and more prominent which in turn then channels the water runoff even more forcibly. This is particularly apparent A CROSS-COUNTRY on the Macelhose Trail near Eagles Nest, where the concrete steps stand a foot and half proud of the trail and the soil on each side is carved into huge gullies. Prior to the concreting this ancient trail existed for hundreds of years without the need for concrete. MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAIL Though Hongkongers are not renowned for their adventurous spirit or for seeking extreme sports, the lo- cal mountain biking community is made up of a segment of the population who are attracted to the sport by its very nature of adventure and freedom. They are adventurous, risk seeking and not constrained by convention. This growing population of young adrenaline fuelled riders are justifiably frustrated by what NETWORK PROPOSAL FOR they see as apathy by AFCD and a general lack of support from the government. They are flouting the existing regulations and riding all over the parks on unauthorised trails and carving out new trails on their own initiative. The Country Parks Authority responsible for enforcing the regulations are not equipped to police the parks, nor do they have the training not inclination to meet the demand. The AFCD war- TAI MO SHAN dens will occasionally respond to a senior directive to enforce the regulations in one specific area; and will place wardens on the trails in order to apprehend the mountain bikers. The AFCD wardens are the very antithesis of mountain bikers; they are civil servants, risk adverse, and conditioned to follow the rules. When confronted by AFCD wardens many riders will simply ignore the wardens and ride past them. There have been some confrontations, and these likely leave the AFCD wardens frustrated and probably traumatised. The wardens are not trained to handle such encounters and they are completely out of their depth. However, this serves as merely a momentary inconvenience for the mountain bikers and for some a source of much amusement. Increased patrols would only see the mountain bikers alerting each other by SMS and moving their riding that day to elsewhere in the huge parks. The parks authorities simply do PROJECT AimS - PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS not have the resources to maintain an effective enforcement of existing regulations. Evidence is seen in the recent illegal agricultural cultivation of several acres of forest in the Tai Lam Country Park adjacent to the Macelhose Trail. This incident has been well reported and although the site of this illegal activity on in THE NEED FOR MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAILS a well patrolled concrete road, only a few kilometres from the AFCD centre, AFCD have failed to prevent this massive vandalism of the country park. It is no wonder they have even less impact on isolated groups TRAIL NETWORK DESIGN FRAMEWORK of nimble mountain bikers riding on remote single track trails. Hong Kong’s Unique Opportunity INTENDED PURPOSES FOR TRAIL NETWORK USE Hong Kong has the opportunity to promote and foster this cool outdoor activity and position Hong Kong with a competitive advantage that its neighbouring cities cannot match.