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About us

The Bristol Trails Group was set up in October 2004 to organise repairs to the local mountain bike trails and liaise with the authorities responsible for the land the trails are on.

Ever feel depressed by your favourite local trails turning into rutted mud-filled slogs, and staying that way even in summer? Bored of spending longer cleaning your bike than riding it, or driving for two hours to do a short trail centre loop? Don't mind getting your hands dirty, and have some ideas about how you want your trails to ride? Then it's time to get involved!


Here in Bristol we’re one of a handful of cities in the UK that have fun and challenging trails within a very short distance of the city centre. We're very fortunate to be in this position, but there are also some problems. Having the trails so close to the city centre means that they see a huge volume of use, and this, coupled with the terrain they are built on, means that without regular maintenance and rebuilding they would soon become unrideable.

Back in 2004, it became apparent that mountain biking in Bristol was facing some difficulties. The Forest of Avon Timberland Trail had recently been opened, triggering an unprecedented amount of use. In turn, the trail was rapidly being overwhelmed by the numbers of riders. Sections were becoming eroded, rutted and waterlogged, which made riding the trails a slow and frustrating experience. It was clear that something had to be done.

At the same time, the managers of the land the trails were on were looking for input from mountain bikers about what sort of trails they wanted to ride, and how best to deal with the issues they were facing.

The Bristol Trails Group was born out of this situation. We organise regular trail days where riders can put something back into the trails they ride, or help build exciting new ones. We also act as advocates for mountain biking, and as a contact point between riders and land managers.

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News
Bristol Bike Fest - The Aftermath

Photo (c) Pete Tiley. See more of his fantastic Bike Fest photography at Bristol Sport.

After 5 years of bone-dry weather, it was pretty much inevitable that we were due a wet one. Races like Mountain Mayhem are notorious for the dire state the courses get into after a bit of rain, so it's fair to say that there was some concern among the local riders when the usual 5 days of glorious pre-Bike Fest weather failed to materialise.

Thankfully the course held up really well under the circumstances, and by the end of the Saturday the trails were almost dry again. Sunday was a different story, and more rain made the 6 and 3 hour events a real challenge for the competitors.

Things were looking bleak, but a quick ride of the course on Monday evening revealed that the damage was much less than anyone could have thought. Admittedly it'll be a while before the bomb holes are back to their usual state, but the vast majority of the trails were smooth and fast.

The fact that the course was able to withstand an 18-hour hammering by nearly a thousand riders speaks volumes about the hard work and planning that has gone into the trails over the past few years. So, to everyone who came out on a dig day, this year or previously, a big thank you.

Thanks are also due to Ashton Court for putting everything in place that we needed to fix the trails, to Tarmac for sorting us out with stone at very short notice, and to Ben at Kona and Mike at Merida for sorting us out with some excellent prizes for the trail builders.

With summer in full swing it seems like a good time to ease off on our usual bi-monthly schedule of trail days. However there are still some bits of trail in 50 Acre Wood that are in urgent need of attention, so keep your eyes peeled for another big dg day in mid to late July. If you want be sure of getting notification, sign up to the forum. and you'll get a mailshot with the latest news.

The trail closure in 50 Acre Wood is also coming up soon. The original start date has now been put back to mid-July.

Posted on 25 June 2009
   
 
 
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