Ben's Blog - May 2016 - MTB Season Wrap!

9 May 2016

If you thought I was about to get all RUN DMC on you, apologies, but what follows is a quick summary from the trails as we snuff the candle out on MTB season 2015/16.

It started way back…..

My, my, time flies when you’re having fun. We reached our official season end, last Saturday May 1^st, by this date the Mt Buller Bike Park had officially been opened to riders for a day or two short of exactly six months. Factor in some of the trail network opening in November 2015 and you have a bike season at Mt Buller that extended for over half the year.

In a season where no new trails were broken, riders still flocked to Mt Buller to climb switchbacks, do some skids, rail berms, smash laps on the pump track and generally have a good time on two wheels. We’ve recorded some fantastic visitation stats this season, and off the back of the launch of the Australian Alpine Epic trail last season we are again pretty chuffed with just how many riders came to play in our hills.

Hey Ladies!

One of the highlights this past season would be the addition of our 1^st all-female MTB event The Dirt Maidens Challenge, held mid-February. The 2016 event was thrown into our Summer event calendar, and delivered by two very passionate riders Claire McDonnell and Vanessa Knee from the Jindabyne Riders. The NSW event has been running for three years, an Mt Buller was very proud to be the Victorian host for this event.

Girl Power was also a factor to be reckoned with during the Victorian Enduro Series round, held a month earlier mid-January. The event delivered by Benny Watkins from Alpine Gravity was once again a massive hit, and there was a posse of female riders in the mix who seemed to be having THE best time on a bike. That particular group of eight or so girls rode the entire course, hung out, had some laughs, had a few spills, and at the end of the day looked like they had had more fun than anyone else!

So girls stay tuned for news of our women’s MTB events for season 2016/17, we have more noise to bring!

Pump, Pump, Pump, Pump it up!

Hang on a minute, let’s go way, way back, back to mid-August of 2015 for a minute!

I almost have to pinch myself that this was the date we had our modular pump track shipped to Melbourne for the CX National Championships, then following this moved the track to a warehouse space at Essendon Fields and began our pre-season promotions with great attendance at our indoor Pump Track Sessions.

Reinstated here at Mt Buller, the track was laid out in a new format for 2015/16, and proved to be a little harder to master, with a new left/right or right/left combo (depending on your direction of travel) thrown into the layout. Many, many laps have again been cut, and a few ribs broken this summer on the pump track, and again during the Bike Buller Festival the Pump Track Pursuit was a highlight of the three day event.

2016/17 we will introduce a new electronic timing system into the pump track setup, yep you heard it here 1^st! Now I can’t tell you too much more, other than you will be able to battle it out on a live timing board with all your mates, and we will see who will be The King of Pump here at Mt Buller next summer.

For now the track is packed away, and about to hibernate for winter, unless, of course someone knows of a free warehouse space in Melbourne we could have? (wink, wink, know what I’m sayin’!)

All my Homies!

So what was the real highlight of the season just gone?

All the riders! That’s right all you out there who took the time to come and ride the Mt Buller Bike Park trail network.

Simple really, without treads on trails, season 2015/16 would not have been what it was. Riders from all corners of Australia and the World made the past six months (and more) another huge success. And as always the spirit in which you engaged with us makes our work and life here at Mt Buller a joy.

From the elite athletes here during the Bike Buller Festival, and all the other events, so stoked to be competing on our legendary trails, to the weekend warriors I shared many stories with on a shuttle ride up from Mirimbah Store. It is you the riders who matter the most.

So I hope you had a blast, I hope you had a massive grin when you rode past the “Enjoy Log”, I hope you shared a high 5 after nailing Mark’s Madness on International for the 1^st time, I hope you enjoyed a sunset from the summit of Mt Buller and I hope we see you again in 2016/17.

So for now Winter awaits, for me it’s time to dust off the skis and the snowboard. Make sure to stay in touch with the Mt Buller Bike Park via our Facebook and Instagram page, as we will continue to feed you some random and not so random cycle related banter via these channels over the colder months.

Oh, and I nearly forgot!

Come ride bikes at Mt Buller this winter, as we go full steam ahead with our Fat Bike trial over at Telephone Box Junction on Mt Stirling. Full details soon on both of the following websites www.mtstirling.com.au.

Thanks for the Ride!

Benny