Nick sort of accidentally fell into mountain bike riding. Like lots of small town kids, he rode as a way to get around. “Mum would be like; “Where are you going? What are you doing? Who are you gonna be with?” I just went and I went wherever I wanted. We all had this freedom that the other kids didn’t have. Utilising that freedom probably wasn’t any more than stopping at McDonalds for an ice cream though.” As he grew older, Nick would find himself riding the unofficial mountain bike trails with a group of friends. “From time to time I would find myself out on the trails. They weren’t much more than a beaten-up old dust track at that point.” Now, mountain biking is central to his life. When he isn’t running his burrito shop or chasing his children around, Nick is bush-bashing through the trails that border civilisation and the outback.
Alice Springs (or just Alice as the locals call it) is an unlikely spot to find a large mountain biking community. Not only is the community already quite large for a town of only 26,000 residents, but it is growing and expanding. Nick Bitar has been there to watch it grow from a jumble of unofficial trails through the desert to an attraction in and of itself. After going to university interstate, Nick came back to Alice and things had changed. “When I came back that the group of friends that I had been riding with has started to formalise as a club.”
Nick is a general committee member for CARR and owns Loco Burrito, a Mexican burrito shop in the heart of Alice. CARR stands for Central Australian Rough Riders, the official mountain biking club for Alice Springs. CARR runs events for all ages and skill levels, taking advantage of the varied network of trails that have expanded alongside the club. One of their biggest events is Easter in the Alice, a three-day multi-stage event that showcases the beauty and variety that trails in the red centre have to offer.
Nick didn’t race this year but he had plenty of fun. Himself and Ted Thompson, the president of CARR, went out into the bush and played their electric guitars to everyone’s enjoyment. Nick also spent the second day of racing cooking up a storm of burritos for contestants and spectators. “I love mountain bike riding. Everyone can do it no matter the level that they are at.” Nick explains to people that mountain biking is one of the few sports that isn’t defined by the skill level or experience that they are at. In fact, there were whole families with kids as young as seven who rode at Easter in the Alice, showing people that experience is not a barrier for entry.
To an outsider, Alice is a weird place; locals don’t store their mountain bikes in sheds or garages – they store them in their hallways. It is a fairly simple train of thought; it is safer, more secure and riders can get out of the house faster. The mountain bike trails are only ten minutes away and the sooner you are out on them, the sooner you can enjoy the beauty of the ‘red centre.’ A walk down Todd Mall with Nick is also quite strange. With children hanging of both of his arms and running around his legs, Nick still finds the time to say “hello” to people and often will stop to see how they are going and what they are up to.
Being born and raised in Alice, Nick is innately familiar with the business community and the vibrant events put on in and around the town. “I started at Taps Tubs and Tiles – my parents plumbing supply business and then moved on to my own business from there.” Nick and his wife Alice bought Loco Burrito and cemented its business in the restaurant scene, gaining a religious following by tourists and locals alike. Nick and many other business owners have decided to support events like this with the knowledge that the race brings in highly lucrative tourists from the east coast. “During the pandemic [Loco Burrito] was about 50% locals and 50% tourists. As we head into our first busy winter season [since the pandemic], it will be nice to see some of that tourism to come back.”
Like all of Australia, Alice Springs went into lockdown in April 2020 to curb the transmission of COVID-19. As things shut down, Nick felt lucky that he hadn’t fallen for the trappings of a larger restaurant business. “When COVID hit, I was pretty happy that I didn’t have a huge menu and a huge sit-in restaurant. COVID really drove home for me how much local support we have.” Lockdown was short in the red centre, however, tourists from larger cities did not return until much later. This meant that large tourist events such as Easter in the Alice were not run during the previous year and business such as Loco Burrito lost a portion of its customer base.
Briony Mattocks was super keen to get back to racing in the desert as an elite rider and avid fan of the trails in the Alice Springs region. “I’ve been pretty consistent in my genuine love of Alice Springs over the past six years. I always like to give then a shoutout.” Born and raised in Sydney, she has raced all over the world from Wales to Canada and still will religiously come back to the red centre for races. “Every time I go up there it is like catching up with old friends. Hand on heart I’d say it is one of my favourite places to ride bikes in Australia, if not the world.”
Being a regular visitor, Briony also has seen the trail system expand and mature as the years have progressed. “Alice Springs has the whole package and it is surprising.” Officially, there is 414 kilometres of trail but locals like Nick will say that there is a whole lot more on offer. “The more that [mountain biking] becomes a tourist attraction, the more trails that the town council will make official.”
Alice always seems to draw those who visit it back. Briony felt that desire to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and every time she reflects on it, that desire becomes stronger. “I’ve got this joke where I’m like: “I’m just gonna pack up, buy a camel farm in Alice Springs and move there.” But that could actually happen one day.” Nick has moved away many times to pursue bigger things, even travelling internationally. However, the slower, eclectic and intriguing lifestyle has always brought him back to where he feels at home in the red centre.
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