Narooma's new mountain bike hub is on track for completion in April 2023.
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Georgie Staley and David O'Brien, founders of the Narooma Mountain Bike Club, have been central to the trail's development to help Australia catch up with the mountain bike facilities in New Zealand, US and Europe.
From riding mountain bikes 10 years ago in the US, "we could see the development of the sport there and we knew what was coming", Ms Staley, club president, said.
Starting in 2015/16, coincidentally when work began on Tasmania's Derby mountain bike trail, they hand-built the first 30 kilometres over three years.
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Their prayers were answered last year when they received $3.9 million from the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund to build stages 2 and 3 of the trail to create 95 kilometres in total.
Tasmania's Dirt Art, leaders in the field, have built an extra 25 kilometres, with just 40 kilometres to go.
Attracting visitors
They have lived in the area for a long time and know how local businesses struggle to survive during the quiet season.
"That is the reality of it so we need to utilise all our strengths - not just boating and fishing - but the forest behind us."
They saw the potential for mountain bike trails to bring visitors to Narooma between April and November, so generating income and creating jobs.
"I don't think people understand how big this is going to be," she said.
The new mountain bike hub receives plenty of social media hits regionally, nationally and internationally.
"The big names internationally are contacting us saying they want to come and asking when it will be open," Ms Staley said.
Enormous community support
About 30 interested people turned up for the first meeting about starting the Narooma Mountain Bike Club.
It was incorporated in November 2019 and the addition of juniors and ladies events helped numbers to grow to 150.
Most are locals but some come from around Batemans Bay, Moruya and Canberra.
The club has enjoyed huge community support with people donating time, money or expertise, such as Sunbird Photography, while Club Narooma provided funding for grant writers.
The trails are maintained by the club "and we have to raise money constantly for that", Ms Staley said.
People can also contribute by sponsoring trails through the club's Adopt-a-Trail program.
"We need people to help," Ms Staley said.
"We will soon have another 65 kilometres to look after."
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