Whatever gets periodically touted as the future of our sport - be it 10-speed drivetrains, street trials, or gravity enduro - none of these things do much to get new riders riding. Mountain biking should in theory be accessible and open to anyone with a half-decent bike, but for many people in the UK it still involves driving for an hour or two before they even turn a pedal.

In Bristol we're lucky to have great trails near the centre of our city, but even then, if you live on the outskirts, Ashton Court et al can be well off your radar. So it's inspiring to see riders taking matters into their own hands and building their own local places to ride.

Some pics by Ed Rollason from our final blast round the Ashton Court trails. If you missed it don't worry - work isn't starting until the beginning of May, and trail closures will be staged to keep as much of the estate open as possible.

Work on the new trail in Ashton Court is going to start in early May. The trail will be closed in phases, to enable the new sections to be built while keeping as much of the estate open as possible.

When the new sections are built, they'll need 2-4 weeks to bed in. Please don't ride them during this time or they could be damaged before they are opened.

There's more infromation about the plans for Bristol's trails here:

http://www.bristoltrailsgroup.com/news/160-1sw-projectbristol

Thanks to everyone who turned up to the meeting at the Scotchman and his Pack on Monday night. It was good to catch up with people and to share the plans for 2011.This is going to be a big year for the trails in Bristol and we want to get as many people excited about it as we can. For those who weren’t there, here’s a round-up of what you missed.

Like many people in the mountain biking community, we're concerned at the news that the government is planning legislation which will enable them to force the sale of Forestry Commission land. We've been Facebooking and Twittering about the plans for a while, but it seems the time has come to go into a bit more depth about why the changes could be bad for what we do, and mountain biking in general.

The 1SW Project's development plan for Bristol's trails recently received its official launch, at an evening attended by the project staff, trail designers, and a cross-section of Bristol's MTB community.

If you're not already familiar with the 1SW initiative, for the past year, a partnership of the Forestry Commission, Bristol City Council, the National Trust and trail design company Architrail have been designing new and improved trails, consulting with local riders and other user groups, getting the necessary permissions from environmental and planning agencies, and tenders have now gone out for the actual building work.

By way of a very quick update, here's what's happening with the South Bristol pump track project.

The tender to design the track has been won by local firm Architrail, who are also involved with the new 1SW trails that are being constructed next year. They're going to produce a range of possible designs so people can pick their favourite one.

It's been established that the track will need planning permission, but this has already gone in so hopefully it should be decided by Christmas.

Architrail are also building the second track in Eastville Park, in partnership with BMX collective Body English

We're looking to expand the site to include a database of local routes, and we need your help. If you've got a favourite ride you'd like to share, send it in.

Next bit of 50 Acre Wood to get a buffing is going to be the ultra-fast downhill towards the end of the trail. It's generally looking pretty good, but a few wheel-trapping holes have emerged that need sorting, and there are a couple of other bits that could do with a tweak.

The South Bristol pump track project is going ahead, and as of today the council are inviting professional track builders to tender. Whoever gets the contract is going to work with the local biking community to design the track and build it. So it looks like it's going to have rider input from start to finish, but also be overseen by an experienced professional. Sounds good to us.

Closing date for applications is the end of September so there'll be another update then.

Big thanks to everyone who's helped get the project to this stage with their ideas and enthusiasm, especailly Taff Frewin.