The hills of Lantau are alive with the sound of angry mountain bikers, upset that they are barred from the Olympic Trail, renamed in 2008 by the government to commemorate the success of the Beijing Games.
Despite mountain biking being an Olympic event, and with Hong Kong having won its first gold medal in this category at the Asian Games last November, the sport continues to face mounting obstacles from country park authorities.
The latest commotion is the ongoing attempt by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) to try to ban mountain bikers from using the Olympic Trail from Mui Wo in south Lantau to Tung Chung in north Lantau.
'Bikers have been using this trail for 30 years, but recently the AFCD has been trying to ban biking,' long-time Hong Kong resident Michael Maddess said. 'Has anybody told the AFCD that mountain biking is an Olympic sport?'
Soon after the Beijing Olympics, the government put little bike designs along the cemented pathway of the Olympic Trail to celebrate the success of the Games. Today those symbols are the only presence of bikes on the trail as, according to Maddess, the AFCD is bent on extending the country park boundary to cover the area of Lantau towards Disneyland and Discovery Bay.
'The Olympic trail is not a designated mountain biking trail,' AFCD spokeswoman Sally Kong said. 'Our country parks are for all to enjoy. As far as possible, AFCD seeks to promote compatible uses of our country parks for multiple users.