DREAM BIG!
Sydney based mountain bikers know that NSW generally suffers when it comes to trail access. Sure, some areas have excellent raw and technical riding on offer, but only if you know exactly where to look.
The vast majority of our trails have been scratched out by local riders, most of them jaded and dejected after years spent pushing for legitimate trail access. The constant stonewalling that many clubs and rider groups face becomes all the more demoralising when you see the stark contrast with states such as Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania; states that are pumping funds into MTB tourism.
What does a person who lives and breaths mountain biking do when there are no legitimate trails? Covert trails are one answer but these are fraught with challenge. While they can be good to ride, they can also hurt the efforts of those who are trying to do things ‘by the book’. If informal trails gain too much attention, they’re often shut down and sometimes bulldozed, with all the hard work and financial outlay going to waste.
The Illawarra region, just over an hour south of Sydney, has been going through this process for decades. With a sizable rainforest flanked escarpment positioned immediately adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, it’s tailor made for epic MTB adventures and groups like the Illawarra MTB Alliance have been chipping away at
