Riders clean up Eumeralla Trail

LOCAL club Surf Coast Mountain Bike Club (SCMTB) recently completed track maintenance at the Eumeralla Trail Network as the sport continues to grow in the area.

SCMTB works in partnership with the Surf Coast Shire and Parks Victoria to primarily clean water off the trails when necessary.

Water affects the quality of riding, but also acts as a potent vehicle for the invasive cinnamon fungus (Phytophtora cinnamon) which destroys plant root systems and for which there is no
known cure.

It is because of this mutal benefit that according to SCMTB president Tony Smales, the relationship with Parks Victoria has developed over time and the club is now entrusted to manage the sanctioned trails in the area.

“We’ve been working with Parks Vic on the maintenance for six years. It took a little while, but now they trust us to do our own working bees, so the majority of the work is done by us,” he said.
The club has demonstrated an ability raise big money for trail works through donation and grants. Because the work they do has a positive environmental impact, Parks Victoria supports
the project.

“When we do our working bees, it is a co-funded thing. If we need machinery that needs fuel or we need tools, we’ll buy that. Parks give us one of their power wheel barrows, which carries three times the amount of a normal ‘barrow and you don’t need to push them up hill. We haven’t paid for any dirt and gravel to build the tracks,” Mr Smales said.

The group is advocating for a trail network that connects Aireys Inlet to Anglesea and hope to be recognised as a mountain bike destination.

Mr Smales said the group is working with Surf Coast Shire, Parks Victoria and a number of other stakeholders to develop the concept further.

“The shire has been really proactive about it. Falls Creek, Hotham and Tasmania are mountain bike destinations and the plan over the next five or 10 years, is to turn this area into a mountain bike destination. It has already become an informal destination which is popping around Vic,” he said.

“We are lucky that people can combine surfing and mountain bike. It has been created by
the people.”

Head to the club’s Facebook page for more.