Mt Gravatt

[toodles]

Hey, has anyone ridden Rockdog in the past few weeks? Last time I went up there the track was covered with logs and blocks of concrete. Is it closed for good?

[Aldo]

i went out there about a month ago,and the ranger said they where working in co-operation with the police to put a stop to it.

[toodles]

well that blows. It's not like we're killing peple or something... Sigh.

[big dan]

yep it seems like rock dog is over for now...stupid council

[toodles]

are there any other practise tracks on the southside?

[Scott]

man, rockdog was cool. 20+ runs an arvo.... it will be sadly missed :(

[toodles]

sh!t yeah. I remember doing push runs after work and still getting in 5 an hour. With a driver it was like a 6 minute top-to-top. But noo... some pensioner or someone went and complained that young folks were having fun and bothering them. I swear I'm gonna buy a rifle...

[josh]

Maybe it was the ridiculous speed u come out at onto the road heehe. Sucks to hear, rockdog was a pleasure to ride!

[toodles]

Yeah RIP rockdog. We'll need to start night-time guerrila DH runs to avoid the authorities. Mind after the back and neck snapping f*ckup I had there once I'm probably safer because they closed it..

[DOM]

Damm i never got to ride Rockdog.
that blows.

I love how councils and land managers jump at the oppurtunity to close these tracks ..

But hey the glue sniffers .. they get to hang out in the city .. but we cannot ride in the bush.

but of course .. we were destroying things.

[Oppy]

Is it just me or was building an illegal Downhill trail to do high speed training runs on a high use highly visible area F*CKING STUPID to start with and you guys bitching about what was always going to happen a bit pointless. I said this would happen when the track was first built.
It is not only that the trail was illegal but the fact it was a high walker use area and with a very active preservation group of local residents. It may be a bummer that you have to drive a bit further to do shuttles but if shit like this continues to happen you may not even be able to ride Xc in Toohey or Mt Gravatt or anywhere else. These are public areas not Downhill training grounds for racers.

<how funny is hind sight>

[DOM]

Ive never been to rockdog.
never knew it was like that. :oops:

[toodles]

Oppy - I understand your point dude but it still sucks that we can't ride there. Obviously yeah it's not the brightest place to put a track but if we as a user group are going to be forced to restrict our riding to land that no other group has a use for then we're gonna end up riding in the Simpson desert or something. I know you're not supposed to be young and having fun in the bush but I still think that if we were allowed one single DH trail within 40 minutes of where we live it might be a bit fairer. Don't get narky, I'm admitting you're right - just don't want us to end up needing a three day weekend to get to a riding spot.

[Oppy]

Yeah I think I had a bit much caffeine. Legitimising MTB for use in public land is an essential part of getting designated mountain bike trails. We have to be prepared to play by the rules to get some credibility.

[Cruz]

Have to agree Oppy, and all this was predicted ages ago.
When will riders start to understand that mtb riders are a very small user group who do not have rights to ride where or how they want, it is a privelige to be able to ride anywhere.
And anywhere is getting smaller all the time due to small minded riders only looking out for themselves.
Oops, better go and have another coffee.

[toodles]

Nah i understand the stuff about being responsible and earning our share of the bush. I just get narky cos all I ever see is "bicycles prohibited" signs and never "bicycles only - walkers prohibited". And c'mon, really - how big a problem were we causing riding at Mt Gravatt? Anyone who reckons we damaged the environment should check out the ultra-natural slabs of concrete they use to block the trail. And we can't have affected the serenity of residents half as much as the car clubs that gather there every weekend. Uh oh - I can sense a full blown rant coming over me. Better call it quits before I turn all Hulk and stuff...

[Oppy]

toodles the HULK! it has a certain ring to it Green guy :mrgreen:

[Hiney]

i guess the most legitimate way to be heard or get the mtb communities point across is to start a email/letter campaign, well actually bombard the local rags, letters to the editor, BCC......why, i'm not doing much of this myself but if you've caught the local rags of late you would have seen many a letter in response to a Mr Wayne Cameron, greenie extraordinaire, who all but stopped short of basically accusing mtbikers of environmental vandalism - Mt Grav. in particular

I was also a user of RockDogg and have been riding Mt Gravatt since back in the day and am also thooughly disappointed to see it go but thems the breaks......think it really needs a concerted effort if we are ever to see DH or XC trails at the Mt.Gee again

or get in contact with Gillian from gap creek trail alliance......she's in the know, down with the BCC etc etc......I think she has good knowledge of the goings on with Mt Grav.

Rock dogg was o.k.......Tomacs was the bomb......complete with roadgap.......I guess the writing was on the wall

[toodles]

Personally I'm leaning more towards the idea of lynching this Wayne Cameron dude... but I guess that would be counter-productive for our image...

[Aldo]

surely bcc must realise that by shutting down one track , that it wil force us to make another illegel track elsewhere.
i know that i want another track that is as close to home as rock dog was!