Organisers have called a halt to the Blue Dragon mountain bike challenge.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After a decade of sending riders through the wilds of his native North-East, race creator Ben Mather believes the event's original intention to put Derby on the mountain bike map has been accomplished.
Last held in 2017, the race consisted of teams of two tackling nearly 100km of trails around Derby and Weldborough over two days.
In a Facebook post thanking riders for their support, Mather said: "My passion for originally organising The Dragon was to bring people in to what I would call my home, my backyard, North East Tasmania and particularly Derby.
"I grew up in the area and felt that I could help it to recover by bringing people there to experience its beauty and charm. While we only started by bringing a few people for one weekend each year, it has now surpassed my wildest imagination.
"Because of the success of Blue Derby I feel like the event has achieved what it set out to do and has therefore run its course in its current format and venue. While I can see a few sad faces you can now enjoy the best MTB trails in the world every day of the year.
"Will there be another Blue Dragon? Who knows. For now I'm content with what it's achieved but I'm always planning on what could be the next big adventure."
Mather stressed that adverts for a three-day event called the Dragon Trail MTB to be held in Derby in March 2020 were nothing to do with him but hosted by a Queensland company Geocentric Outdoors.