PGMTB Spring Newsletter

It’s spring time, and time to dust the cobwebs off your warm weather riding kit. The trails have had a bit of rain over the last couple of weeks but we’ll be seeing the return of dust and flies in no time. Here’s a recap of what we’ve been up to over the last couple months.

AGM News

Our AGM was hosted on the 28^th of August at the Greensborough Hockey Club, as it was last year, we thank the members of the hockey club for letting us use the facilities again. The meeting covered a few topics starting with the committee nominations. Positions of President and Secretary were retained by Emerson and Guy respectively, with no opposition. The position of Vice-President was elected to Sean, and the positions of Treasurer and General Committee Member were received by Nathan and Adrian, respectively. We send our thanks to Brendan and Simon for their service with the club over the last two years. 

Other topics discussed included: 

• Club yearly Financials
• The current status of the trail proposal submission to Parks Vic
• Interim Trail Maps
• Club expeditions to other trail networks  Future Working Bees  Club merchandise.

The trail proposal submission was the topic of most interest at the meeting and a vote on the submission style was put to the members present.

Excursions

Currently club expeditions cannot be committed to with the schedules of current committee members but if you’d be interested in helping out please get in touch with the club either via Facebook or email (plentygorgemtb@gmail.com).

               

Working Bees

Future working bees are not currently a high topic of discussion. This stems from the sensitive nature of many areas of the Plenty Gorge Park and Parks request that no work is done prior to their approval. This approval rests upon the conditions that no ecological harm occurs with any works and means a prior on site assessment must be conducted first. The current under-staffing of the Parks office means this hasn’t been able to be achieved yet. With all of this said the current state of the trails has meant that no major working bees have been required!

We do thank anyone who was able to attend our May 22^nd working bee though! Short work was made of the 4 loads of rock that was delivered to the boggy finish of the “Mr. Lincoln’s Twisty” trail and the section has held up magnificently over the wet winter we have endured.

 

               

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trail Closure

From July 1^st a trail was closed linking between River Avenue and Memorial Drive. Unfortunately, this trail cut through fencing excluding access from a sensitive orchid plot adjacent to the Pipeline easement. We thank the large majority of riders who have respected this closure and kept off the trail in the months since its closure. Parks have re-installed the fencing and monitor it regularly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trail Proposal Update

The hot topic of the AGM. Our 20+ page proposal to Parks Vic upper management has been progressing. We have had on site meetings with our local and regional Rangers to discuss this. During our previous discussions we were directed towards including the entire network in our proposal, but this has changed. Regional Ranger Faye Williams has not only been working with us but also the Warrandyte MTB club and has had discussions with the officers in charge of the Silvan submission. Under her advice, and after popular vote, it has been decided to submit initially as Stage 1 the trails bounded by Plenty River, Memorial Avenue and the suburb of Plenty. This decision has been made to increase the likelihood of success as the offices at Parks Vic are hesitant in taking on the responsibility of over 70km of trails and its ongoing maintenance. Following the success of Stage 1 it is the clubs plan to release official maps, start further maintenance and any possible re-routes, and progress on Stage 2. 

Trail Vandalism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, we had a vandal who didn’t like bikes using a structure on the northern end of the Gorge. After a series of attacks over a few weeks we decided to remove the structure for rider safety. A detour is in place on the high side of the gully for riders to go around and still have trail access. If you experience any vandalism on the trails, even if only logs across the trail where there shouldn’t be, please let us know ASAP. We keep Parks VIC informed and it may influence future decisions about trail maintenance and will help to prevent further vandalism.

Club Excursion – Brackenbury Challenge, Creswick

On November 27^th the club will be attending the Brackenbury Challenge at Creswick. We were there last year and really enjoyed it and it’s great to support another grassroots club. Two options are available at either 25 or 50km with entry only $25 or $40 respectively. Being a smaller event there won’t be much traffic on the trails leaving you to enjoy the singletrack to its fullest.

The club will have a tent and eskies setup as well as a free BBQ following the event for all who are interested. 

Entry available online: http://tinyurl.com/brackmtb

Merchandise

Currently the club is in discussions regarding the purchase to keep in stock t shirts and jerseys with the club symbolism. We are looking to have jerseys available at a lower price when compared to last time, $60-70 rather than $100, to increase uptake and reduce the burden on the club when taking these into stock. If you would be keen on either a jersey or t-shirt when they become available let the club know and we will make sure there is one set aside for you when they’re delivered.