Not too long ago, in the hinterland behind Victoria's famed Great Ocean Road, houses withered on the market for years.
Dairy farmers had been forced to amalgamate or sell up and the small town of Forrest was importing its team's footy players to stay afloat.
Surrounded by tall timber, Forrest was also losing what was left of an industry it had nurtured since colonisation as native hardwood logging was phased out.
Into this void came mountain biking, which was seen as an opportunity to awaken a tourism industry.
Trails were invested in by government, and Forrest emerged as one of the country's first mountain biking destinations.
The town has flourished in recent years and locals say when Derby was being dreamt up as Tasmania's mountain biking hotspot, the developers visited Forrest for trail inspiration.
But as mountain biking has boomed nationwide, Forrest has started to lose its appeal.
"There's new trails being built all over Australia, so to keep tourists coming back to us, we need to offer them something new," Forrest Mountain Bike Club secretary and local accommodation provider Michelle Davidson said.
According to a recent study by Aus Cycling, mountain bike riders each spend on average $2,283 a year on transport to and from trails, meals, beverages and supermarkets.
This figure excludes money spent on intrastate or interstate biking holidays.
The local Colac Otway Shire estimates visitation has decreased, and Forrest is losing out to other mountain bike destinations in Victoria.
To remedy this, more than $2.3 million of state and local government funding is being spent to update and expand Forrest's trail network.
But many local riders are concerned they will be left to maintain around 25 kilometres of track once construction is complete.
It is an issue Ms Davidson says is being felt across the state as regions look to take advantage of the mountain biking boom.
"Our club's very small; despite thousands of riders visiting here, the actual locals that are involved in track maintenance you could count on one hand," she said.
"So, we are under-resourced."
In Victoria's alpine region, the community run Mystic Park trail network has recently required riders to become members to use the trails.
The not-for-profit group Alpine Community Plantation which runs the facility near Bright said funds raised would be used for maintenance, safety improvements and future trail development.
Without these changes, Mystic Park was at risk of closing, the group said.
Ms Davidson said the Forrest club was still deciding how they could raise money to protect their expanded trail, but they were looking to local council and government to support ongoing maintenance.
From logging tracks to bike trails
Jeff Fox grew up in Forrest and for many years he built logging haulage roads through the ranges.
After discovering mountain bikes, he says he thought he would have a go at building his own trails.
"Mountain bike trails are just a smaller version of what I was building," he said.
"I went out and did about a kilometre a weekend, and after a couple of years I had about 26 kilometres," he said.
"No-one knew they were there — just me and my mates used to ride it."
Mr Fox says the tracks he built more than 20 years ago were later incorporated into Forrest's trail network when the government first invested in the bike tourism scheme.
The trails are now overseen by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).
"I think the general upkeep is not up to standard; they put the trails in, and they left, and no-one really cares," Mr Fox said.
DELWP did not respond to specific questions from the ABC about how often the department maintains tracks or what the maintenance plan was for the newly constructed trails.
"The Forrest mountain bike trails are maintained by DELWP works teams, together with the Forrest Mountain Bike Club and community members," a DELWP spokesperson said.
New trails bring more people to the sport
Despite the maintenance issues, Ms Davidson is excited by the project and says the new trails will attract riders of all levels and can also be ridden by adaptive bike users.
"That means people who might ride hand cycles or adapted bikes with some kind of disability can actually come and ride the same trails as the rest of us," she said.
Kevin Hayley, who will be testing the new trails when they are complete, is excited to ride courses especially designed for adaptive bikes.
"The ability to have specially designed trails that are wide enough for adaptive bikes so that not only can I fit down it, but maybe I can actually ride it fast and enjoy the burns and fun flow trails the way able bodied bikers can," Mr Hayley said.
But he feels if Forrest is to attract more adaptive bike riders, more accessible accommodation, priced to suit all budgets, will be needed.
"That would be really fantastic and open up the sport and open up the environment to further people," he said.
