the course will be used for racing as soon as october, the main priority is to get it ready for racing (it being a race course and all) the other stuff will happen but obviously money up front (or rather lack of) is the contributing factor. As I said before the course will have to be all but self funding, the council have made that quite clear, but with the centre (cafe, shop etc…) the course and other bits planned this shoudl see a steady usage / cash income…

By ‘fully working’ I mean with car park, trail centre and bacon sandwiches. As Crazylegs says, it’ll be used as a race venue this autumn, but I really wouldn’t want to let hordes of inexperienced cyclists anywhere near it at the moment. (Obviously the STW trail gods would be fine, but it’s so hard to tell the difference…)v:-)
They’re planning a regular trail-centre style funding style, so the car park fees go towards trail upkeep and that kind of thing.

It’ll take a while to turn over to a public venue because of planning, grading, signage and so on. I’d have thought they could have the new sections built by the spring, but then you need to map them, grade them, put a ‘Is this trail suitable for you?’ sign at every tech section. Bearing in mind the current course took over two years to build.

Obviously the STW trail gods would be fine, but it’s so hard to tell the difference…

so does that mean Premium members get access first then?

To help things along if there are any local bike clubs around running Go-Ride clubs they should start lobbying the council and show their willingness to use such a facility. Is there a local BC development officer?

Issues like this just highlight how weak we as a “group” are 🙄

Just wait for the “how much to park/enter/butty whining” 😈

Hadleigh MTB club are all over it…

as for a

local BC development officer?

not a chance – the council try and push for people getting on bikes but most of the cycle paths are lethal and thats pretty much all they tell you to do – ride in the cycle lanes – never see any of them on bikes other for publicity pics in the local rag…

whilst i’m not sure I would be to keen to go off that drop, as people have already said, you are just as likely to smash yourself up at many of the other purpose built trail centres in the uk.

Last time i looked there were no rules stating beginners couldn’t throw themselves down the world cup track at fortwilliam trying to emulate Danny Hart…

he ambulance is up at GT all the time, they get multiple call-outs there on summer weekends. In fact the local hospital has complained about it a few times I believe.

Perhaps we could also make football and rugby non contact too? Without having the exact figures to hand you will find nationally that these sports place a bigger burden on the hard working tax payer. Other physically demanding sports have also been known to cause injury; we could frown at them to. Be better if we all stayed at home and didn’t bother really.

smell_it – Member
he ambulance is up at GT all the time, they get multiple call-outs there on summer weekends. In fact the local hospital has complained about it a few times I believe.
Perhaps we could also make football and rugby non contact too? Without having the exact figures to hand you will find nationally that these sports place a bigger burden on the hard working tax payer. Other physically demanding sports have also been known to cause injury; we could frown at them to. Be better if we all stayed at home and didn’t bother really.

Couple of years ago when I broke my collar bone my consultant had been to a seminar in the Borders(the Borders being a popular rugby playing area). There had been a discussion on this very subject. It would appear that mountain biking has(had) overtaken rugby in the stats for serious injuries ❗ Don`t know the figures, only what he said. Talking to the nurses at A&E earlier certainly seemed to confirm this for my D&G area.

HERE IS MY REPLY FROM ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL!!

This is the definitive answer and the course WILL BE SANITIZED UNLESS THEY CAN BE MADE TO SEE SENSE.

“We are committed to retaining as much of the Olympic course as possible but adaptations will have to be made to allow beginner and novice riders to use the course safely.

There will be various works to make it suitable for public access and these works will not begin until 2013.

ECC are planning to provide opportunities for experienced riders of a suitable standard who are interested in riding the course the chance to join guided rides before the adaptations are completed.

For experienced mountain bikers who have completed “black” grade trails at other UK trail centres or others with appropriate coaching or skills qualifications who are interested they should email london2012@essex.gov.uk providing details of their experience level and weather they are interested as a) a Group or b) an individual.”

I’m sure most people on here will find this ludicrously patronizing and consider that it shows a complete mis-understanding of our sport.

I think the root of the problem is that the general public in this part of the country don’t understand anything about mountain biking or its popularity. This comment in the Essex Echo illustrates my point:

“Give it a couple of months and this ‘track’ will be just another mothballed facility.” As if!

PLEASE EMAIL ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL contact@essex.gov.uk

ps I live in Yorkshire so this doesn’t affect me personally – just want mountain biking to be the winner!

I’ve started an online petition. It’s very easy to use – just click the link.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/keep-the-olympic-mountain-bike-course/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend

Er, I might be wrong but “adaptations will have to be made to allow beginner and novice riders to use the course safely” seems to be perfectly in line with Chipps’ post saying they will add extra lines, signage etc rather than necessarily meaning they are going to tarmac it all. I’m certainly not sure that reading the worst in to the statement then encouraging people all over the country to pile on the council is a terribly effective technique for getting your point across.

Am i missing something here? isnt “the OLYMPIC MTB COURSE” the entire lure of the place? Otherwise, frankly, it’s just a fairly flat field in Essex (yes, yes, i know it has some ups and downs, but compared to other places you can easily and freely ride in the UK (Dartmoor, Wales, Scotland, the Lakes, The Peaks etc etc) it’s pretty tame in terms of altitude change).

If they keep the course, i’d make the effort to visit (and you know what, i might decide not to do all the really steep bits, but at least it’s my descision as to what i feel capable of, not someone sat behind a desk who has no idea of my, or other riders skill set etc).

If they sanitise it, sorry, but then i’m not interested in the slightest, i’ll point my car the other way and go spend my money on some real trails out in the wilder bits of the UK.

ssssh if surrey council hear about this they will be up there and flatten it out and cover it in gravel. F..kers.

In case anybody doubts that the intention is to dismantle the course; here is the email I received from Essex County Council yesterday.

This is the definitive answer and the course WILL BE SANITIZED UNLESS THEY CAN BE MADE TO SEE SENSE.

“We are committed to retaining as much of the Olympic course as possible but adaptations will have to be made to allow beginner and novice riders to use the course safely.

There will be various works to make it suitable for public access and these works will not begin until 2013.

ECC are planning to provide opportunities for experienced riders of a suitable standard who are interested in riding the course the chance to join guided rides before the adaptations are completed.

For experienced mountain bikers who have completed “black” grade trails at other UK trail centres or others with appropriate coaching or skills qualifications who are interested they should email london2012@essex.gov.uk providing details of their experience level and weather they are interested as a) a Group or b) an individual.”

I’m sure most people on here will find this ludicrously patronizing and consider that it shows a complete mis-understanding of our sport.

I think the root of the problem is that the general public in this part of the country don’t understand anything about mountain biking or its popularity. This comment in the Essex Echo illustrates my point:

“Give it a couple of months and this ‘track’ will be just another mothballed facility.”

As if!