World Mountain Bike Conference cancelled

The World Mountain Bike Conference, scheduled for May 12-15 in Dumfries, Scotland, has been cancelled due to lack of interest. Organizers were hoping for 400 attendees, but only 40 were pre-registered as of early April.

"This is a major disappointment and a huge loss to the area," said Councillor John Martin to the Dumfries Standard.

The conference was one of the events of the Original Bicycle Festival, which will otherwise still happen in May. The conference's objective was to discuss sustainable growth of the sport of cycling around the world.

The world's economic downturn is one reason cited for the lack of interest among its target audience, public land managers.

A spokesman for the conference organisers said to the Dumfries Standard. "Actually we are not canceling the event but rather looking to reschedule to 2010 when we hope global economic conditions will have improved.