DUBBO MOUNTAIN BIKE CLUB

The genesis of Dubbo Mountain Bike Club came from the enthusiasm of a small group of local Geurie residents nearly 20 years ago. With the permission from the local council, a they began to slowly and sensitively formalise a bike track through the beautiful box woodland of Bald Hill Reserve, Geurie. As word slowly trickled out, more like minded people began arriving to ride and help grow and maintain the tracks. These are the same tracks the club rides and races on today.

With the growing interest in mountain biking locally, some organised days began to appear and soon regularly monthly rides, then came organised races. Soon that original group saw the need to get organised into a club to both give itself an identity but also to cover unavoidable legal responsibilities.

For a number of years during the ‘naughties’ we were part of the ‘Central West Off Road Bicycle Club (CWORBC)’. This was a group of likeminded people interested in mountain biking from all over the central west and based out of Orange. This got things moving and organised and for a number years met the need of a small group of keen MTBers.

However, the mountain bike scene around Dubbo and Geurie was growing and the urge to forge our own identify grew with it. So in 2012, after a small flirtation with the strong Dubbo Cycle Club, the Dubbo Mountain Bike Club was formed. The inaugural President was one of the key instigators of those very early track works and is regarded now as the ‘father of Dubbo MTB’; Lynton Auld.

Since 2012 the club has continued to grow. We have around 80 members and have constructed and maintain around 50kms of single track between Dubbo and Geurie. We have a full summer racing calendar of 27 races composed of mid-week hit outs and monthly longer races. We also have a sophisticated handicap approach to our graded club championship, whereby each rider is competing against themselves first and foremost and rewarded with improvements in lap times. In winter, we have a more casual racing series to get the legs in shape and to satisfy the MTB urge. Our junior base has grown well over the last couple of seasons and we are always encouraging of riders of all levels.

MTB racing is a cornerstone of our club, but really, it’s just an excuse to come together and ride. For us at Dubbo MTB, it’s all about the riding and helping each other go that little bit better next time.