On the weekend of 6 & 7 May 2006, more than 250 Downhill Mountain Bike riders converged on the State Mine Heritage Park & Railway for round two of both the NSW Downhill and Bike trials series.

The sheer number of riders registering on the Saturday caught organisers by surprise.

Traditionally Thredbo with its chairlift access, resort village and big hills has been the home of Downhill Mountain Biking in the state, consistently attracting more riders than any other round.

All that changed on the weekend.

The 250 riders who registered for the downhill race made the Lithgow round the biggest NSW state round ever hosted, proving the popularity of the State Mine Heritage Park and Railway venue.

"Downhill racing has really grown in the last couple of years," CTMBC club president and event organiser, Craig Flynn, said.

The massive numbers had the organisation chasing extra transport and bike trailers to help get the riders to the start.

However the riders agreed that it was worth the wait for a chance to race on such a great track.

Added to that were the 20 bike trials competitors who made use of the State Mine Heritage venue for the first time. This was for round two of the first NSW trial series in almost 10 years.

Adam McBeath (of www.sydneytrials.com) made use of some of the mining machinery on display at the museum to set a very demanding course.

“This site is great” Adam said.

“The hardest part of my job was setting something easy for the novice riders.”

Adam was so impressed with the venue he will asking to include it in their National series later this year.