By Grace Jones | posted on July 19, 2018
A DOWNHILL bike race that will launch from Monkey Rock was given the go ahead by Denmark Shire Council on Tuesday night.
The downhill speed event was proposed by the Denmark Mountain Bike Club and unanimously supported by council.
Club president Nathan Devenport said the Monkey Rock Speed Run had been on the cards since last year in the hope that it would be approved.
“It’s only going to be a small scale event to start with. If I got 50 riders I’d be stoked,” he said.
“We’re such a new club so the process of getting the event ready to propose to the Shire has been a learning process for us.
“We’ll have the chance to ride in the amazing Denmark environment.
“We’re pretty privileged to be able to do that.”
Mr Devenport said the club would need to put certain practices in place to stop the distribution of phytophthora dieback and to further protect flora and fauna in the reserve.
“We’ve been taking the Shire’s advice with planning the event,” he said.
“We’ve had meetings and site walks with the sustainability officer, Donna Sampey, to make sure we put proper protocols in place to protect the environment.”
Denmark Police have also put their support behind the race and will put their speed gun to good use to clock contestants during the race.
Shire Councillor Mark Allen said endorsing the club’s proposal was a no-brainer.
“The Shire had a can-do policy on this, which I think is just fantastic,” he said.
With one in five Western Australians owning a mountain bike, Councillor Kingsley Gibson also supported the speed run.
“Obviously mountain biking is a rapidly growing sport, offering the community health benefits,” he said.
Following the council’s decision, Mr Davenport said the club would begin advertising for the competition which will be held on August 5.
“All our club members have been aware the race would be coming up,” he said.
“But I think we’ll get riders from Albany and even a few from Perth.”
