MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CHAMP’S NEAR MISS ON CAIRNS TRACK
A NEAR miss for a hopeful mountain bike world champion has sparked calls for greater awareness among users of Smithfield Conservation Park ahead of the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
World No.1 Tracey Hannah almost came to grief on the world-famous downhill course at Smithfield MTB Park on Tuesday after being forced to evade dogs a man was walking along the restricted-access trail.
She was riding down a section called Ronnings Ramp, where riders can travel at upwards of 80km/h, when she “almost ran over” the dogs.
Hannah, via a post to the Cairns Mountain Bike Club Facebook page, said the man asked what right she had to be riding on the track.
“With it being just under 7 weeks until world champs getting over an avoidable injury at this time would be impossible and this could of devastated my season,” the 29-year-old said in the post. “Please walk your dogs in a dog park not up downhill mountain bike tracks.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve come across walkers with off leash dogs on the mountain bike trails.”
Cairns Mountain Bike Club vice-president Adam Gowlett said it was a timely reminder for users to be more aware of their surroundings and heed the warning signs.
“The trails are very well signposted and generally well signposted to indicate if you’re going the wrong way on a downhill trail,” he said. “There really is no excuse.” Gowlett said 99 per cent of the time there was no issue between the different groups who used the park.
Issues could increase as the track experienced more heavy use from locals and internationals in the lead-up to the world titles in September.
Gowlett said the professionalism of Hannah’s post was testament to her character and everyone in Cairns was behind her world title tilt.
“We would like to have a world champion from Cairns and we can’t have that if someone runs into a dog or a pedestrian on the track,” he said.
Cairns Mountain Bike Club posted to Facebook one hour after Hannah’s post to remind members of their responsibilities as park users.
The Department of National Parks, which manages the park and mountain bike trails, allows dogs on leashes in certain areas of the park, but not the restricted-access mountain bike track.