All downhill in bikes event

By Dion Teasdale
MOUNTAIN bike riders will descend on Healesville this week for the first event in the Victorian State Downhill Mountain Bike series.
The two-day event will be staged on four downhill tracks off Long Gully Road on the outskirts of Healesville on 11 and 12 November.
The event is being hosted by the Fat Tyre Flyers, a Melbourne-based mountain bike club, and is sponsored by Yarra Valley Cycles in Lilydale.
Matt Swann, manager of Yarra Valley Cycles and a Fat Tyre Flyers member, said the event would be a great opportunity for people to learn more about the sport.
“The aim of the event is to increase popularity of the sport of mountain bike riding, which is enjoying increasing participation across the country,” he said.
“It is a very exciting sport. It is physically demanding and it really gets your adrenalin pumping, but it is also one of the friendliest sports around and is fairly non-competitive.”
Mr Swann said the weekend event would feature practice riding all day Saturday, and Sunday morning, before the time trial racing starts at 12.30pm on the Sunday.
“We are encouraging spectators to come along for free and find our more about the sport,” he said.
In addition to staging state race events, Mr Swann said the Fat Tyre Flyers also run weekly riding events every Thursday evening from 5.30pm until dark at the Long Gully Road location.
“We get up to 40 riders from across Melbourne every week, from the beginning of daylight savings through to May,” he said.
“Beginners and people interested in the sport are always welcome to come along. It is a very social occasion and we are a very open bunch of people,” he said.
The first event of the Victorian State Downhill Mountain Bike series will be held along Long Gully Road, Healesville. Phone Yarra Valley Cycles on 9735 1483 for more information.