Mountain bikers pedal cash into Collie

Collie is set to receive a cash injection to its local economy this weekend when more than 200 mountain bikers descend on the town for the inaugural Collie Valley 50.

Sport and Recreation Minister Mick Murray was one of the driving forces behind the event and said Collie had been building its reputation as a mountain biking destination.

“I recently met with WestCycle and other key stakeholders and we decided that Collie was capable of hosting a bigger event then we had done in previous years,” he said.

“Sporting events like these provide a huge cash injection into a country town’s local economy with the hundreds of additional visitors spending their money across various local businesses.”

According to course designer Erik Mellegers, riders will be faced with a challenging course featuring both new and old school cross-country features.

“The start line will be on the corner of Prinsep and Forest streets and head out along some old dirt roads, link up to the Munda Biddi opposite the cemetery, cross Patstone and Mornington roads and into the Arklow network,” he said.

“There’s old school cross-country features on Dead Cats, 220 has some newer flow stuff ... and there’s enough single track to keep everyone happy.”

The event is being run by Perth Mountain Bike Club and will be opened by Mr Murray who was looking forward to his duties on the day, but said he would leave the riding to the experts.