In this issue:
Areas:
Pinjar PeeWee
Lancelin-Kalbarri
Advocacy:
City of Swan Guidelines
Trails WA Ratings
Events
Family Fun Day / Adventure Rally May 16/17
Login for more information
To access the Members Only area of the RTRA Web site you will need to log on as follows:
User Name: {tag_recipientusername}
Password:
Forgotten your password?
Helping to save your riding areas
|
Dear Member,
With great weather forecast for the Easter weekend the trails are going to be full of trail bike riders, walkers, horses, mountain bikers and who knows what else. Be safe out there!
And before you go, here's the latest RTRA update...
Mini-riders clock 100,000 kilometres in six months
Our new TRAFx traffic counters have revealed that the PeeWee circuit at Pinjar has recorded over 180,000 laps over the past six months - the equivalent of over 100,000 kilometres of riding even assuming that the majority of those laps are using the shortest configuration of the circuit.
That’s a heck of a lot of riding not being done illegally in parks and reserves and a lot of time spent away from the X-Box!
The fact that the circuit has held up so well after such heavy use illustrates the importance of proper design, materials and construction. The RTRA will be using this data to strengthen our push for more such facilities, especially in the southern suburbs of Perth.
City of Swan Noise Guidelines Feedback
Changes are likely to be made to the City of Swan’s proposed guidelines for riding on private property, following the RTRA’s submission to the council.
In a response to our submission the City of Swan indicated that it wanted to continue to work with the RTRA on ways particular issues may be addressed to balance the interests of residents and riders and to properly address concerns of RTRA members.
We are pleased with this outcome, as it shows the value of our intervention on the issue, and we will maintain involvement in the issue to ensure that the voice of riders continues to be heard.
Read more about the issue, and the RTRA response.
Lancelin - Kalbarri Report Released
The Northern Area Catchments Council report into off road vehicle areas in the coastal region between Lancelin and Kalbarri has now been released for comment.
The study identified two areas for further investigation, one of which (Southlands in Geraldton) is already a gazetted Off-road Vehicle Area. The other area (Buller River) is just north of Geraldton and in the buffer zone for the proposed Oakajee industrial precinct. A secondary recommendation is for further exploration of a long-distance 4WD and trail bike route along the coast.
There is much work still to be done if either of these areas are to be developed, but it’s a promising start to the process. The report is available for download from the NACC web site.
Trails WA - Reviews Needed
If you and / or your kids enjoy the Pinjar Motorcycle Area here’s another quick way you can help: Write a review and rate the trails on Trails WA.
Getting lots of reviews and ratings demonstrates that trail bike riders are engaged in the trails community which can help us access future trails funding. The Pinjar Motorcycle Area is listed as one of only two 'Trail Networks' in the Trails WA database (the other is the Mountain Bike hub at Pemberton). This is another accolade for Pinjar, which continues to be highly regarded as a trails project.
Please go to Trails WA to give your rating and optional review.
User-created Shortcuts on the PeeWee Circuit
Still on the subject of Pinjar, one of the main tasks at each Pinjar Maintenance Morning is to look out for and close down user-created shortcuts on the PeeWee Circuit.
We will continue to be vigilant and maintain our ‘no-tolerance’ approach to these - here’s why: The PeeWee circuit has been specifically designed to be a safe and non-intimidating place for the youngest riders on the smallest bikes. This is the target market and we want to discourage older and faster riders from using the circuit.
Short-cuts are created for only one reason - to increase the speed of a section of track by straight-lining where the track currently has curves. Apart from making the circuit faster than was intended, user-created shortcuts can change the sight-lines where sections of the trail merge, increasing the risk of collisions.
Our view is that if the circuit seems too slow for you the way it is designed, then you are on the wrong circuit.
Christini 2WD Motorcyles
Most of us know a hill or two that breaks us into a cold sweat just thinking about it (Big Bertha, anyone?). Well help might be at hand with the release in Australia of the Christini 2WD motorcycle.
The Christini is based on a copy of a CRF450X or a GasGas 300 2 stroke, which enables the price to be roughly comparable with Japanese and Euro rear-wheel drive models. On the Christini the front wheel is driven at 80% of the rear wheel speed via a free-wheeling hub, so it really only comes into play when the rear wheel loses traction. The major drawback is the weight of the bike, which at a dry weight of 127Kg is 14Kg heavier than the equivalent Honda CRF450X.
RTRA member Stephen Fox owns perhaps the first Christini in WA and is impressed with its hill climbing ability. More details...
Adventure Rally & Family Fun Day
The weekend of May 16/17 sees the running of the 2015 KTM Adventure Rally (Sunday) and Family Fun Day (Saturday) at the Mornington PCYC near Harvey.
The Adventure Rally is always a popular event and one that suits riders of all levels from advanced novice and up. The Saturday Family Fun Day was pioneered by the RTRA and T&E Club in 2009 and has been run by the T&E CLub since then. More details...
Spread the Word
If you think the RTRA is having a positive impact for riders, just think how much more effective we'd be if we had double the members. It's actually not that hard - all it takes is for each member to find one other rider to sign up. If you have riding buddies who are not yet members of the RTRA, please forward them this email and give them a prod to join up.
|