Note for an updated/ add on to this review please read my "One Year On" review. It is still useful background to read this article first.
I've been thinking about getting a new electric bike for some time now as my old ebike went well past its end of days, but I just couldn't find one that ticked all the boxes I was looking for ... until I stumbled across the Lekker E-Amsterdam 2nd Generation Commuter eBike.
The National Cycling Participation Survey 2019 is out and the data suggests that 14.8% of Tasmanian residents ride a bicycle in a typical week and more than one third have done so in the past year.
Funding for the George Town Mountain Bike Trail has now been received by the George Town Council, allowing them to proceed with the project.
The City of Hobart is developing a mountain bike network plan to improve riding experiences on the the lower slopes of kunanyi / Mt Wellington and is seeking input from users up until 31 August 2019.
An extra 16kms of trail opened as part of the Wild Mersey Mountain Bike network on June 15, 2019 almost doubling the size of the trails available.
According to the Examiner Newspaper both major parties have committed to extending the $1.47million federal government grant for the North East Rail Trail.
The grant which was set aside for the recreational walking and cycle path is due to expire in March 2020 and the North East Recreation Trail Committee was concerned that the promised money would be lost if the work had not begun by then.
Things are looking good for mountain biking on the West Coast with the Liberal National's Senator, Steve Martin, promising $2.5 million to fund the west coast's entire mountain biking strategy and Labor's Justine Keay announcing a $1.2 million funding commitment to develop the Mount Owen trails.
At their December 2018 meeting, the West Coast Council have decided not to proceed with the proposed gravity trails in Queenstown (the final stage of the West Coast Mountain Bike Project started in 2014 as a job creation program following the closure of the Mt Lyell mine) and instead seek new proposals and funding to try and construct a product that will attract riders to the West Coast.
The Snug to Margate cycleway was officially opened on 12 December 2018.
The Tasmanian Government has now reviewed the two competing proposals for the North East Railway line and decided to give both parties part of the line to develop. The full media release from Treasurer Peter Guttwein is below.
The Warrawee section of the Wild Mersey Mountain Bike Trails were officially opened on 13 December 2018, just in time for the busy summer period.
The Tasmanian Government have released their next 365 priority deliverables and, although thin on the ground, mountain biking and cycling do get mentions with the commencement of stage 2 of the Dial Range project, an extension of the Strahan Cycleway to Ocean Beach and better funding for Ride2School and cycle safety initiatives included.
The Wellington Park Management Trust has finalised the Wellington Park Track Users Code.
The Wild Mersey Mountain Bike project will receive $800,000 from the Commonwealth Government’s Regional Jobs and Investment Packages program.
Ten new projects have been approved for funding under the Tasmaniian Cycle Tourism Strategy's $6m cycle tourism fund.
Public comment is being sought on the Draft Meehan Range Nature Recreation Area (Redgate Section) Management Statement 2017 by 8 January 2018.
The proportion of visitors to Tasmania undertaking some form of mountain biking activity has remained fairly flat at 21,115 visitors, or 1.6% of total visitors, for the October 2016 to September 2017 period.
A plan to upgrade the Penguin Mountain Bike Park has secured the backing of Central Coast Council.
Launceston Mountain Bike Club has provided the following useful summary of updates about what's happening with the trails in and around Launceston in their September 2017 Newsletter.