Rocky Trail Entertainment owner and competitive mountain bike rider Martin Wisata said Green Valleys Mountain Bike Park was “up there with the best” tracks in Australia.
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The park, nestled amidst the trees and cows on a longstanding dairy farm at Tongarra, is the only legal purpose-built downhill track in Wollongong.
The privately owned adventure playground has been operating for two years with mountain bike riders from all over the country coming to visit.
“I can just see from numbers it’s really popular with the riders,” Mr Wisata said.
He and his wife Juliane started the company nearly a decade ago out of their passion for mountain bikes.
When they’re not organising an event somewhere in Australia they’re in tournaments themselves – Mr Wisata recently competed at the six-day Mongolia Bike Challenge and is about to take on the Crocodile Trophy in QLD next month.
Nearly two years ago Rocky Trail added the Tongarra circuit to the NSW championships series for downhill racing and hopes to keep it that way.
“The track gets reworked every year, so there’s a lot of new sections in it,” Mr Wisata said.
“It’s hard to go down there fast but it’s easy to go down slow.”
Saturday and Sunday saw 150 riders travel from as far as Dubbo, Coffs Harbour and Melbourne to compete in the RedAss Downhill #Enduro State Championships.
The youngest rider aged around 11 and the eldest in their 60’s.
For those who don’t consider mountain biking a sport, Mr Wisata said “if there’s a finish line, there’s a sport”.