Chris Labes was thrilled to finally introduce Airlie’s first bike track designed specifically for mountain biking at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday.
The Whitsunday Mountain Bike Club (WMBC) secretary said WMBC had partnered with the BIG4 Airlie Cove resort and caravan park in 2014 to make the track a reality.
Work began on the $40,000, 2.4km track in 2015 and on Sunday it was officially opened.
Ms Labes said it was completely unexpected for the resort to partner with the club.
“This caravan park remains the owner of this land so they invested privately in this development which is huge,” she said.
“We didn’t expect it but now that it’s happened, it’s really wonderful and now we’ve got to do our part, which is keeping the track well maintained and getting as many people riding here as possible.”
A number of mountain bikers attended the opening to “break in” the new trail, which starts at the Airlie Cove BIG4.
As the track is the first mountain bike specific trail constructed in the area, Ms Labes said it was going to help attract visitors to the region.
She said trails were rated by international standards, with the new Airlie Beach track a “blue trail”, or suitable for novices. “There’s nothing scary here – no jumps, nothing that’s going to hurt anybody,” she said.
“You do need to wear an Australian standard helmet and proper footwear but otherwise you should have a lot of fun.”
Anyone can join the WMBC and Ms Labes said they were always looking for more locals to get involved.
SOURCE: WHITSUNDAY TIMES
Nerida Conisbee Ray White Group Chief Economist The latest population projections from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have just been released. While getting long term projections correct is notoriously difficult, the reality is that in the next 48 years we are very likely to have a much bigger Australia. … Read more
Nerida Conisbee Ray White Group Chief Economist The number of single people purchasing homes is falling but becoming more evenly matched by gender. Increasing cost of housing has meant that the proportion of single people purchasing homes is falling. In 2014, an estimated 26.2 per cent of purchasers were single. … Read more