Maydena's $190k Beyond Gravity, And Lithgow Finally Gets The Green Light
Quiet week? Not even close. Tasmanian downhill just put real money on the table, Lithgow finally got its approval after years of paperwork, and Thredbo has locked in an opening date. Here's what actually happened.
Maydena goes its own way: Beyond Gravity, $190k minimum
Red Bull Hardline won't be back in Tasmania in 2027. Maydena Bike Park and Elevation Events didn't sit around sulking about it — they built their own race, and the numbers are genuinely wild.
It's called Beyond Gravity, running 26–27 February 2027 on an adapted version of the old Hardline course. The pitch is simple: instead of a freeride spectacle built around enormous features, it's a proper downhill race with a prize pool that makes a World Cup look like a club round.
- Minimum prize pool of A$190,000
- Riders collectively take 30% of broadcast revenue
- A$25,000 guaranteed for 1st, A$15,000 for 2nd, A$10,000 for 3rd
- Every invited rider walks away with at least A$5,000, even finishing last
- Hit 150,000 viewers and the pool climbs towards A$800,000, with six figures each for the male and female winners
For context, a UCI Downhill World Cup win pays about €3,750. Hardline Wales paid roughly A$22,500 for the win in 2024. Beyond Gravity is playing a different game entirely.
The catch? It's pay-per-view. Early bird is A$14.95 until 30 days out, then A$22.95. A replay drops about an hour after the live broadcast. There's roughly 40 cameras across the course, and Rob Warner and Wyn Masters are on the mic, which is worth the entry fee on its own.
The Aussies get a proper crack at it
Beyond Gravity added a Hometown Heroes category so local riders can line up against the invited international field, and the list is exactly who you'd want: Dan Booker, Jackson Connelly, Ryan Gilchrist, Carter Sloan and Darcy Coutts. There's also a Next Generation race on the Friday for the juniors, with the fastest moving through to the main event.
Full roster includes Loic Bruni, Vali Hoell, Loris Vergier, Finn Iles, Troy Brosnan, Tahnee Seagrave and Amaury Pierron. It's a seven-day festival around the race, not just two days of racing.
Lithgow: 25km of gravity trails, and you can catch the train
Over in NSW, the State Mine Gully project has finally cleared its development application. That's 25km of approved trail on the western edge of the Blue Mountains, and it keeps the full network — nothing got chopped during approvals.
The part that matters for riders: it's about three kilometres from Lithgow station, roughly a five to ten minute pedal. Central to Lithgow is around two hours forty-five on the train. Almost no major Aussie MTB destination works like that.
- Gravity-focused network with shuttle pick-up points, plus climbing trails
- Just under 200m of elevation, using the ridges and gullies properly
- A significant chunk will be hand-built due to ecological constraints, which usually means better trails
- 110-space car park planned, with potential e-bike charging at the trailhead
- Construction expected February 2027, completion targeted mid-2027
Funding is $3,057,144 from the Australian Government's Growing Regions Program plus $3.5 million from the NSW Regional Tourism Activation Fund. The adjoining Gardens of Stone network is still going through its own assessment and has been scaled back, with a draft review expected for public comment late 2026.
Thredbo opens 21 November
Shorter one: Thredbo's hiking and biking season kicks off 21 November 2026, with opening weekend doing the usual thing. If you're planning a summer trip, that's your date.
What we're riding on the back of all this
Big race news always does the same thing to us — we start pulling the cockpit apart and pretending it's "maintenance". If you're doing the same, these are the bits that actually make a difference:
- Wake alloy handlebar — cheap way to change your front-end feel without going carbon
- Bucklos lock-on grips — the upgrade nobody talks about and everybody notices
- ENLEE Enduro flat pedals — wide platform, sealed bearings, proper pins
- The full MTB hardware range — everything else for the toolbox
Free shipping across Australia, and every order ships from a shop that actually rides. See you out there.
