Biographies

Damian has had a lifelong interest in railways and found cycling a great way to get around. When it became obvious in the mid -90s there were too many closed railways to keep as heritage railways he became interested in the new concept of rail trails to preserve the history and provide a great facility for people to walk and ride. Over the last 20 years he has helped produce the guidebooks, calendars, magazine and website while getting around to almost all open and prospective rail trails in Australia. One of the great rewards from this is getting out and enjoying our wonderful rail trails with his family, and meeting the many passionate people involved with rail trails. In between this Damian works as an electrical engineer.

Steven has a lifetime interest in railways, cycling and ‘the great outdoors’. He began using Victoria’s rail trails with his family over a decade ago, enjoying the history, natural environment and safety provided. Consequently he joined the Rail Trails Australia committee in 2008 to become more involved and hopefully improve/complete the trail network. He was involved in the management of Medical services of the Great Victorian Bike Ride for a number of years. When he gets time away from his General Practice, he now leads groups of people to cycle in rural locations, using rail trails throughout Australia and New Zealand, providing regional economic benefit and brilliant experiences for the participants. In between this Steven is a medical practitioner.

Robert enjoys nothing more than getting on his bike to explore new horizons, in particular country rail trails, where he becomes immersed in the natural environment outside the urban settings where he resides. There are few rail trails in Victoria, if any, that he and his partner and friends have not ridden, and he is now working on riding more interstate trails. Keeping fit and being outdoors are just some of the things that Robert feels passionate about as they contrast so greatly with the office-based work he has been involved with over many years in professional practice as an Accountant. Having had experience on Boards (usually acting as Treasurer) for a number of organizations including an Independent school in Melbourne, Community Interfaith as well as a number of sporting clubs, he believes it’s time to gain some exposure outside a purely financial role or to apply those skills in any other capacity.

Sam is a retired geologist and mining engineer who now spends his time advocating for a better environment for cycling and improvements for active transport users worldwide, especially within Australia and specifically in Newcastle NSW. He is currently President of the Newcastle Cycleways Movement Inc., a long standing bicycle user group (BUG) which is one of the founding constituents of the Bicycle Institute of NSW (now Bicycle NSW). He also serves on the Cycling Strategy Working Party of the City of Newcastle, and the Richmond Vale Rail Trail Inc. committee, and is on the boards of several community associations and institutions. An experienced bicycle tourer, he has cycled rail trails and other greenways on three continents plus New Zealand, and has researched the benefits of these assets to the respective regional communities and economies. Sam is also an active community musician, playing ukulele, bass, guitar, harmonica and singing in various groups, clubs and ensembles.

Jocelyn learned the joy of cycling as a young adult in Perth, having never previously ridden. After returning to Sydney in the 1970’s, she continued to cycle, though frustrated by Sydney’s poor cycling environment. Jocelyn was smitten on her first experience of RTA in 2011, when she and her adult son rode part of the Beechworth trail. Such a lovely way to ride, away from cars and traffic, they thoroughly enjoyed the simplicity of riding with their gear in panniers, eating in local cafes, pubs and restaurants and sampling local delights. She now rides an ebike, which has given her a new ability to ride again, and her aim is to extend her riding and include many Rail Trails. Having had a career in mental health, she knows the huge health and wellbeing benefits of exercise, being outdoors, and being in the natural environment. Jocelyn sees the use of rail trails as offering significant individual and community benefits, and is therefore keen to contribute to the RTA team’s ongoing advocacy for, and extension of the Rail Trails in Australia.

Joel has been travelling on rail trails since 2009, starting in his home state of Victoria. Since then he has continued cycling rail trails, initially concentrating on Australia, before embarking on a few overseas trips for months at a time, with a focus on cycling as many rail trails as he can. This included numerous rail trails in Western Europe, North America and New Zealand. This has has allowed him to compare the different ways communities go about developing and promoting rail trails, along with the varied surfaces and facilities available on each trail. His focus is not on the end destinations or how far he has cycled each day; rather his focus is on exploring and learning about the history of where he is cycling, especially rail history.

Peter is a keen road cyclist who began riding in 2010 when invited to train for the Townsville to Cairns Bike Ride which raises funding for the Children’s Cancer Institute in Sydney. Like many former runners who develop knee problems after sporting injuries, he became hooked when his knees improved significantly once he was able to cycle for 50kms, putting off knee replacement surgery. There being no rail trails to speak of in Far North Queensland, Peter’s knowledge of them arose from regular visits to Cooma in NSW for family reasons. During one of these he learned about the 213 kms Monaro Rail Trail project initiated in 2015 by a group of passionate rail trail enthusiasts. The extraordinary benefits of rail trails – mental and physical health, economic development and social wellbeing among many others – made them a “no-brainer” in Peter’s mind especially given the safety aspects compared with road cycling. Apart from being actively involved with the primary organization advocating for the Monaro Rail Trail, Peter has closely followed rail trail developments in Australia and elsewhere including contributing to the 2022 legislative and policy reforms in NSW aimed at alleviating the significant barriers that State faces in bringing rail trails to fruition. Before retiring in April 2022, Peter, who moved to Cooma in 2019, was a commercial lawyer with over 50 years in private and public sector practice, including 12 years with the Australian Government in Townsville and Canberra.

Alan has been a keen cyclist for many years. He was introduced to Victoria’s rail trails over a decade ago, joined RTA a few years later and in August 2015 joined RTA as the Administration Officer. Over the past several years he has managed to explore most of Victoria’s rail trails as well as some in South Australia and Queensland. He is very interested in supporting the raising of awareness of rail trails and their benefits and the subsequent development of rail trails throughout Australia. In addition to cycling, he is also a keen bushwalker. His career has been focused on Program Management with a strong emphasis on business and productivity improvement.

Nikk is a geologist and keen gravel bike rider. He used to spend his time in academia traversing mountain tops and firing neutron beams at rocks, trying to understand the mechanics of the Earth. Nowadays, he works with cycling advocacy groups to advance active transport across Australia. Nikk was Research and Policy Advisor with Bicycle Network, and is currently a Program Manager and researcher with Amy Gillett Foundation. Nikk is particularly passionate about rail trails, and the exciting potential they have for connecting the community with history and nature.

Alexander is a very keen railway enthusiast who has also been closely involved with rail trails for many years. He has visited several places in Australia and overseas that have a rich history in old railway equipment. Given his outstanding technical expertise, he has helped maintain and update our website and guidebooks.

Back in 2014 Geoff’s first ride on his new mountain bike was on the Warrnambool to Port Fairy Rail Trail, 37km into a bracing head wind and a car ride back home afterwards.  That started a love of rail trails from the Wangaratta to Beechworth Rail Trail to the Old Beechy Rail Trail and several in between.  Living in the Western District for many years, there are so many places to enjoy a walk, a ride or just experience the Aussie bush. Geoff looks forward to supporting rail trail communities as a regional rep for the RTA.

John is a retired Automotive Engineer, who took up cycling for the first time when he was in his forties, and became an enthusiastic rider on the tracks and trails around Geelong and the Bellarine.  Once they discovered rail trails, John and his wife Sally fashioned many a short break and weekend around at least 18 of the trails of Victoria, South Australia, New Zealand and Spain.  They have also participated in the 10 Great Vic Bike Rides up to 2019 – and have entered for this year’s event.  John’s previous volunteer experience includes ski club, motor rally, sailing, and school council organisations.

Jenny re-discovered her love of cycling about six years ago.  On her many trips from Northern Victoria down to Melbourne she would often look over at the Great Victorian Rail Trail between Tallarook and Yea and think one day ‘I’m going to do that!’   She hasn’t ticked that one off just yet but has enjoyed riding a number of Victorian Rail Trails and is really excited about the Central Victorian developments she has witnessed over the last few years including one very close to her heart which is her own hometown Lockington-Kotta Rail Trail.  Jenny has also participated in the Great Cycle Challenge since 2018 which she plans to continue doing in the future.

John worked for Telstra as a Technician and Technical Officer for 35 years and has been a keen cyclist for more than 50 years, riding a lot of the “Big Rides” in NSW, VIC, WA, and QLD.  It was while doing some of these rides that he discovered “rail trails” and was hooked, eventually joining Rail Trails Australia, and becoming part of the rail trail committee.  He is also the state representative for NSW, which finally has one rail trail on an ex-government rail line, the Tumbarumba to Rosewood rail trail.  He is working with Rail Trails Australia to lobby politicians and local councils in an endeavour to have more rail trails built in NSW.  John is also a member of the Railway Historical Society and has an interest in railway history and feels that it is important to preserve as much as we can as a monument to those early pioneers who built the railways.  He sees rail trails as a practical way to preserve and showcase our railway heritage.  John and his partner Kathy have a goal to explore and ride on every available rail trail that they can find, including New Zealand and USA.  As keen photographers as well as cyclists, rail trails are the perfect way to indulge both passions.

Dennis first became interested in Rail Trails when he took up a position as Executive Director of Pedal Power ACT in the early 2000’s. He also started to do some serious riding about then, becoming an active member of the ACT Veterans’ Cycling club and being Secretary for 3 years. His education about Rail Trails was initiated through a Rail Trail seminar run by Bicycle Victoria at Lilydale in Victoria in 2004. About this time he moved to a property near Bungendore in NSW near Canberra and through the local Rotary club established a committee to explore the development of the Molonglo Rail Trail.   With no NSW government interest and a failed funding application to Federal Government, this initiative went into hibernation. With a different approach by NSW government, a new committee has been established and Dennis has been a member for the past 5 years. Dennis’s first career was as a Surveyor and Cartographer, with 20 years in the Royal Australian Survey Corps of the Australian Army. He then spent 15 years in the Australian Government with what is now Geoscience Australia, mostly working in the Remote Sensing field. More recently he completed a mature age Ph D in Management at the University of Canberra researching how cyclists use online technology to choose their cycling destinations. He has been involved in Cycle Tourism conferences for  over 20 years, presenting at most, and being  the convenor of the conference held in Canberra in 2012. The 2012 conference incorporated a Rail Trail seminar. More recently he ran a RT Forum in Tumbarumba to mark the opening of their Rail Trail and assisted with the organising of the recent Rail Trail forum held in Murwillumbah to mark the opening of the NRRT. Dennis has been a resident of the ACT region for over 30 years but still travels a lot. His bike goes with him everywhere. Having enjoyed riding RT’s in much of Australia and NZ, Dennis is passionate about getting more Rail Trails built in the southern NSW region.

Mark has had an interest in railways from an early age, influenced by his father. This has grown stronger over the years, and now includes the history and research of closed lines. He is a long-time member of Australian Railway Historical Society (QLD Div) and has been an active member of their tours for more than 25 years. Mark has been part of many farewell tours for the closing of railway lines, after which he watched the corridor deteriorate. He became aware of the rail trail movement in Victoria and has been a member of Rail Trails Australia for many years, becoming the Queensland representative in 2012. He is a keen cyclist and enjoys using the rail trails and meeting and talking with other users. He studied at UQ Gatton Campus, having had a variety of employment roles, but is currently working in the painting supply industry.

Peter is passionate about linking outback savannah trails for safe cycling in Far North Qld. He and his committee were instrumental in establishing a ‘Friends’ group on the Atherton Tablelands which led to trail feasibility funding from Qld. Transport in 2005. Since that time Tableland Regional Council has developed a 20km trail from Atherton to Walkamin with Mareeba Shire Council considering a 16km extension to Mareeba. He is a member of Atherton Herberton Historic Rail, a passionate group of volunteers who are dedicated to bringing railway history to life for the benefit of the Tableland community and visitors. It is hoped that a 22km multipurpose ‘shared use’ trail between Atherton and Herberton can be upgraded in tandem with the main railway alignment. He established Tableland Adventure Guides in 2010 and ran this boutique company for 7 years with the aim of showcasing the unique North Qld. environment via bike, hike and kayak. He has ridden many of the Victorian trails as well as the Central Otago Trail, Caminos in Portugal/Spain and trails in Scotland. As a rep. of RTA he looks forward to sharing his knowledge with other users and in assisting in the development of local tracks and trails.

A retired Secondary Science Teacher, Jeff is a long term resident of Queensland’s Garden City, Toowoomba. Jeff is the Secretary of the Toowoomba Region Bicycle Users Group and is one of the TRBUG’s main ride leaders for group rides. In addition Jeff is a TRBUG cycling representative consulting with the Toowoomba Regional Council and the Regional Office of the Queensland Transport and Main Roads Department on local bicycle infrastructure projects. Jeff’s passion for cycling encompasses recreational road cycling, mountain biking, adventure cycling and generally, just holidaying with a bike! Jeff has cycled extensively throughout Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Bali, France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. The development of major rail trails in South East Queensland has led to a mushrooming of interest in cycling by people who had previously cycled little, or not at all, and who now enjoy an active, safe, outdoor pastime. This has fuelled Jeff’s interest in becoming more involved with fostering the development of rail trails for all recreational users.

Desley’s passion for regional tourism was the catalyst for her career in local government, elected as a Councillor for the Gladstone Region in 2016 and again in 2020. Desley saw the potential of rail trails as significant tourism assets for regional communities, and as such took an interest in the unused rail corridor from Gayndah to Taragoola (near Calliope). Cr O’Grady was instrumental in driving interest in this project and in December 2017 an Expression of Interest was called to form a working group that would advocate for the development of the rail trail. Over 70 people attended the EOI meeting at the Mungungo Hotel with the majority of feedback positive towards the development of the “Boyne Burnett Inland Rail Trail”. From the inception of the working group there has been over 30 people attending meetings on a monthly basis to progress the project.

James is a civil engineer based in Perth, Western Australia. His interest in rail trails started after developing a series of long-term cycling strategies for regional WA. Growing up in the Wheatbelt region, James’ interest in rail trails sits at the intersection of three of his passions – civil engineering, active transport and regional economic development. James commenced as a regional representative for Rail Trails Australia in 2019.

Eamonn is a keen cyclist and urban planner from Perth, Western Australia. Whilst cycling is Eamonn’s main form of transport around the City, his true passion is getting away from the cars and the city and onto the rail trails, singletrack and gravel roads in WA’s Hills, Avon Valley and South West. He is keen to further lift the profile of adventure cycling and cycle tourism in WA by both promoting our existing rail trails and advocating for new rail trails.

Dylan is a transport planning consultant with a passion for exploring new places by bike. In his day job, he has worked on major transport infrastructure projects across Australia, the UK and Ireland, with much of his work focusing on improving access to active travel infrastructure. Dylan’s adventures by bike, including overseas cycle touring and more locally such as the Munda Biddi trail, have inspired him to work towards better connecting people with nature, local history, and regional centres via rail trails.

Mark’s interest in Rail Trails started with a social ride along the Riesling Trail in South Australia. It was the gentle slopes, great scenery and no cars that appealed to him as well as the good wine and great food. While working in Local Government he was involved in the rewarding experience of renewing and upgrading off-road cycle tracks. He has recently retired and needs a challenge so volunteering to help Rail Trails Australia, particularly in South Australia, is the perfect way to combine his knowledge and his passion. He is a keen ebike rider who just likes to ‘go faster and go further’ at a time when his body wants to do the opposite.

Tony is a lifelong cyclist and has always had a fascination for trains and railways. His career in Aviation has seen him living in NSW, NT, SA and the ACT along with shorter visits to all the other states. Recently retired, he now lives in South Australia’s beautiful Barossa Valley where his daily ride is the Barossa Rail Trail (along with a few laps of the recently opened Angaston Station MTB circuit). Tony has undertaken a number of Tour Down Under Challenge rides, several Sydney to the Gong rides, and some cycle touring including SAG Mawson Trail. Whilst living in the Shoalhaven region of NSW, he was a founding member of the local BUG and Rides Leader for a number of years. Tony enjoys recreational rides with family and friends and particularly enjoys the traffic free safety and tranquillity of a rail trail. He hopes his broad cycling experience and wider knowledge of Australia’s regions can be of benefit to Rail Trails Australia.