Auckland mountain bikers frustrated by the lack of a trail in the city have gone underground to build their own tracks. The group - called Underground Trailblazers - formed about two months ago and started building a 250m trail for mountain bikers at the West View Rd end of Western
Springs. That trail is now the subject of an email spat between the group and Auckland City Council, which removed a bridge the group built. Underground Trailblazers spokesman Peter Stoneham says the removal of the bridge won't deter the group from building tracks elsewhere in the city until the council comes up with an alternative - as promised in its 2001 policy. ``This direct community action is a political demonstration against a council that has a mountain biking policy but zero mountain bike facilities,'' he says. The council is in discussions with community boards and the Auckland Mountain Biking Club - a separate organisation to the Underground Trailblazers - about finding a suitable place for a trail, but Mr Stoneham says talking did not get them far before. Council parks officer Graham Marchant says the council has a policy to remove illegal structures on its land. He says any sympathy he has for mountain bikers will not prevent him from carrying out his duty. The Underground Trailblazers have received widespread support for their actions, however, including from Hobson Community Board chair Dr David Simpson. In an email to Mr Stoneham, he wrote he did not condone the removal of the bridge by the council to prove the point it was not built through ``proper channels''. Dr Simpson says: ``I think we, as a city, do very poorly with cycle facilities in general and even less well with mountain bike facilities.'' - by Lauren Mentjox
