Mystic MTB - Bright

LPG

likes thicc birds
The main issue is the unsealed road and the costs associated with maintaining it, which is why many locals who don't shuttle are pissed off and Council won't fund the maintenance of the road because it is on HVP's leasehold. The original reason for the fee for access was to reduce the usage and I think it didn't reduce the numbers as much as anticipated.
There is also the issue of the risk of liability and the need for users to sign a waiver which is taken care of by the new structure but could have been achieved through a QR code and a competition to win a bike or similar that would have got good take up.

There is no way they will be able to police it as you can enter the park from so many locations and nobody is going to want the job of going around asking everyone for proof of payment. Going to be a lot of agro over Christmas for all the people who are out of the loop on what's going on.

The Alpine Cycling Club is mandating that all members who use the park as part of a club function must have paid the fee and there are discounts in place for participating in sanctioned trail maintenance days, ACC members and for the junior program.

What worries me is that the money will be spent maintaining the road and not the trails as peoples expectations of what a pay to ride park are versus the current maintenance of Mystic are very different and the risk of loosing some of the free labour that maintained the trails. Dig to ride gets thrown out the window when you have to pay to ride.
Bright is great to shuttle but it is still an awesome place without. The cost of the road should have been dealt with with the changes to the self shuttling rules. With the weather and logging activity at bright it would be hard pressed to say that shuttling is the cause of damage, and if it actually is why not just adjust the price to suit?

Regarding insurance, why don't they just have a rule where all users need to have a Aus cycling license like so many other private spots to cover insurance instead of making a location specific fee? I don't know specific but this seems to be enough for many private locations that are actually businesses (I'm thinking Green Valleys in NSW but I'm sure others are similar).

I don't mean to be argumentative, I just have questions. It seems like something has caught them by surprise or has been mismanaged and they are now trying to claw themselves out of a hole and are piasibg people off in the process.
 

yuley95

soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Is anyone going to ride there for $100 a day, Maydena is $90 in it's peak and had loads more trail and maintenance. No-where in the world do you pay that much to ride trails which have seen no maintenance in 3 years and , no current plans for new trails.
Just for comparison (yes i know its a different situation). Whistler is $74 for a day pass, that includes maintenance on 90 plus trials, 3 chairlifts running 10 hours a day, i don't see how Mystic park needs >$25 ( i dont know what blue dirt pays them in their shuttle fee) to maintain a park that was mostly built by volunteers and have not seen maintenance in 3 year.
I could be wrong but my understanding is that the fees being charged and trail maintenance have no relationship to each other. And Blue Dirt are seperate again.

It's a weird set up where a pine plantation/logging company owns (or leases?) the the land for their business and likely don't care one way or the other if you and I get to ride trails. To this point they have been happy enough for trails to exists on the land as they have no real need to access large areas for decades as trees grow.

The issue comes when cars etc used to access those trails start degrading the roads or getting in the way of trucks. I've also heard stories about the company having to hire spotters while they fell trees as people (bikers/walkers/runners) ignore signs and enter areas that are off limits because they feel entitles and think it's public land.

So this essentially feels like the plantation company trying to either dissuade people from using the land or at least generating income to offset cost they incur.

Seperate to that is the club and the vols that build and maintain trails.

Seperate to that is Blue Dirt offering a shuttle service.
 
I could be wrong but my understanding is that the fees being charged and trail maintenance have no relationship to each other. And Blue Dirt are seperate again.

It's a weird set up where a pine plantation/logging company owns (or leases?) the the land for their business and likely don't care one way or the other if you and I get to ride trails. To this point they have been happy enough for trails to exists on the land as they have no real need to access large areas for decades as trees grow.

The issue comes when cars etc used to access those trails start degrading the roads or getting in the way of trucks. I've also heard stories about the company having to hire spotters while they fell trees as people (bikers/walkers/runners) ignore signs and enter areas that are off limits because they feel entitles and think it's public land.

So this essentially feels like the plantation company trying to either dissuade people from using the land or at least generating income to offset cost they incur.

Seperate to that is the club and the vols that build and maintain trails.

Seperate to that is Blue Dirt offering a shuttle service.
So, what you're saying is the $25 is to cover additional cost not related to maintenance of the trails and the fee blue dirt pays is for trail related costs, if this is the case there may be a lot of very disappointed people, as I have already heard comment that "hero will be smooth" etc, when this more than likely won't be the case.

Mystic is a good place to ride, but it has now become the most expensive place in the world from what i can tell, which is a bitter pill to swallow considering the 3 years ago there was more trail on the hill then there is now (mystic and graveyard).
 

yuley95

soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
So, what you're saying is the $25 is to cover additional cost not related to maintenance of the trails and the fee blue dirt pays is for trail related costs, if this is the case there may be a lot of very disappointed people, as I have already heard comment that "hero will be smooth" etc, when this more than likely won't be the case.

Mystic is a good place to ride, but it has now become the most expensive place in the world from what i can tell, which is a bitter pill to swallow considering the 3 years ago there was more trail on the hill then there is now (mystic and graveyard).
I could be wrong but that’s my understanding
 

Hal-9000

Likes Dirt
No self shuttling = no more Bright for many families.
Brights major selling point (for me at least) is that it was so family friendly but this has killed it.
Out of interest, are paragliders allowed to drive themselves up to the launch pad?
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
No self shuttling = no more Bright for many families.
Same, but we made that decision when the free shuttling stopped a few years ago.

3 trips to bright, one was 17 days and the other two were 4 & 7 days. Done walks and sightseeing morning till mid afternoon. Ate breakfast, lunch and tea in the town and surrounding towns, spent a bucket load at the Bright brewery everyday.
3pm the missus gave us 3-4 shuttles up the hill.

Can't expect families to stump up that cash for a couple of hours x 7 days.
 

leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
Out of interest, are paragliders allowed to drive themselves up to the launch pad?
Yes, it's addressed on the ACP FAQs - paragliding club has its own lease agreement with HVP and para club membership fees help pay for access/road maintenance contributions etc. Also there's like 20 mtb-laden Rangers flogging it up the road in a cloud of dust for every paraglider in a Forester there haha... bit of a false equivalence.
 

Hal-9000

Likes Dirt
Yes, it's addressed on the ACP FAQs - paragliding club has its own lease agreement with HVP and para club membership fees help pay for access/road maintenance contributions etc. Also there's like 20 mtb-laden Rangers flogging it up the road in a cloud of dust for every paraglider in a Forester there haha... bit of a false equivalence.
That's a lot of extra cash then earned by the self shuttling fees (plus regular shuttles) to get a sealed road!

Reading the info on the reasons given to pause self shuttling....it mentioned safety for riders not the road getting torn up. They wan't to 'make sure that those driving on the road have done an induction beforehand'........um, I wen't through a pretty lengthy induction called L plates and P Plates before receiving a full licence which ensured I was good to drive on roads!
 
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Plankosaurus

Spongeplank Dalepantski
That's a lot of extra cash then earned by the self shuttling fees (plus regular shuttles) to get a sealed road!

Reading the info on the reasons given to pause self shuttling....it mentioned safety for riders not the road getting torn up. They wan't to 'make sure that those driving on the road have done an induction beforehand'........um, I wen't through a pretty lengthy induction called L plates and P Plates before receiving a full licence which ensured I was good to drive on roads!
Safety is a catch all for everything.

There's a couple of cross points where riders might belt out of a trail and onto the road, plus ebikers adding a lot more rider numbers climbing the hill. Common sense says this won't be an issue, but they can definitely say it might be and close shit up for that reason

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Hal-9000

Likes Dirt
Safety is a catch all for everything.

There's a couple of cross points where riders might belt out of a trail and onto the road, plus ebikers adding a lot more rider numbers climbing the hill. Common sense says this won't be an issue, but they can definitely say it might be and close shit up for that reason

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Yeah, I'm not buying the 'safety' excuse either. I suppose we should stop people driving into busy camp sites unless they have completed an induction?? Camp sites are full of kids on bikes!
What is the world coming to?!
 

smitho

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I rode Bright a couple of months ago. Hero was fun and altitude was good but otherwise it is a place sorely in need of a substantial amount of maintenance.

I don’t have an issue with it becoming pay to play provided that there’s a consequent substantial improvement in the quality of trails. The quality of trails at other places in VIC is constantly improving and bar Hero trail, Bright has just been left behind. Ultimately the market will decide - if there’s not an improvement people just won’t pay to ride there, particularly when they’re the most expensive shuttles in the state.

Other question is, where’s the local council in this? Seems they’re very happy to reap the benefit of such a strong tourism draw card but not willing to stump up any funds to keep it running.


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Wake Jake

Eats Squid
Blue Dirt confirmed that they still have to pay ACP the same per rider amount they were previously - ACP are collecting from both the rider and Blue Dirt for the same service.

Alot of families relied on private shuttles to make it cost effective. Also handy in summer. Early morning runs and late arvo to beat the heat. Riding on middle of the day (10am-4pm) and going up in a troopy won't be much fun as the only shuttle option.

As others have said the track quantity has diminished and maintenance seems to be light on.
Lack of a future plan and transparency is a bit concerning to me. But happy to see what happens.
I'll just be riding Mt Beauty more!

Anyone know what the $1.3m is being spent on?
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Hal-9000

Likes Dirt
Cancelled our week long Christmas holiday we had booked due to the no self shuttle.
TBH, Bright has been losing its appeal recently as during the holidays it’s just so overrun with people plus now this….it’s not the family friendly spot it once was but the self shuttle option was a huge positive. My kids are beginner MTBers and last time we went we got 3-4 self shuttles in ( from where Hero crosses the road) before they got tired. They definitely wouldn’t be up for squeezing onto a hot, overcrowded shuttle. Don’t suppose the shuttle will stop there anyway?
Terrible decision from all those involved. They prob don’t care but there’s a few grand the area has lost just from one family.
Shame
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
Unfortunately I think no one really cares. Still plenty of folks with money to splash. I'm glad I had my time with mystic but can't say it's going to be top of my priorities now. That epic trail at yack looks like it might open this side of the year. No shuttle experience but something new I guess
 

downunderdallas

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ok am booking trip to Bright in late April looks like I might have 3 days to ride but maybe 2. 3 too much for just Mystic? Beechworth and/or Yack worth doing if I am out that way (and rarely get to ride in Vic) Could potentially get 2 in Bright and then go to Lake Mountain is Cascade trail (shuttle) still open then, looks like it is?
 

Mattyp

Cows go boing
Keep an eye on the Mystic MTB FB page, there seems to be a lot of logging disruptions going on there lately and for the next few weeks/months.
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
eechworth and/or Yack worth doing if I am out that way (and rarely get to ride in Vic) Could potentially get 2 in Bright and then go to Lake Mountain is Cascade trail (shuttle) still open then, looks like it is?
Mystic is good but not that great and certainly has lost it's appeal with some of the stuff going on and price etc.
- Yack epic is good and can be done from beechy or yack side. It's very flow and easy going but fun as hell. Could be done in a drive up and down day (assuming from melb)
- Otherwise if you are staying in melb, then cascades is the way to go. A bit more gnarly than yack epic but still fun nonetheless. If you are wanting to maximise your day, I'd suggest going to buxton afterwards for a short 15k or so.
 
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