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.

Recently we paid a visit to the riders of MB Swindon. Swindon is more associated with the financial services industry than great mountain biking, but a forward-thinking group of local riders have taken over a low-key community project and turned it into a trail that's become the hub of a strong riding scene.

History

It started in 2007 when Nationwide's bike club won a grant to develop a trail in the woodlands behind their HQ. In late 2008 the current group of volunteers became involved, and began shaping the trail that's there today.

By the end of 2009 the original grant money had run out, but the Croft Trail was still a work in progress. Swindon didn't have a dedicated MTB club at the time, so the volunteers set one up and used the fees from this to fund the ongoing improvements to the trail. Membership of the club quickly mushroomed to over 100 riders, with a hyperactive ride schedule, skills days with qualified coaches and all the usual member services you'd expect.

The trail

The trails are squeezed into a tiny area, about 15 acres, with around 20m height variation. Not exactly promising. Roll through the start arch and you're onto a flat, narrow-ish path surfaced with hardcore. But then things start to get interesting.

Almost immediately there are some sharp turns, some bermed, some flat. Then rocks start to appear, embedded on the trail, which need to be rolled or jumped. The trail diverges into blue and red routes, with the red taking you up onto a boardwalk, ending with a rollable drop of a couple of feet followed by a 180 degree hairpin.

And it keeps demanding your attention: dotted along the trail there's a skinny log over a pit, some rolling jumps, rock drop-offs, log piles, a rock staircase going down and even one going up. The straights never last for more than a few seconds, there are some sharp changes in gradient, but it hardly ever loses the flow. A lap takes in the region of 20 minutes and after a few goes it feels like you've had a proper work-out.

More than meets the eye

After a few loops of the trail you really start to appreciate the thought that's gone in to its design, as well as the amount of work involved in building two miles of trail by hand. MB Swindon are constantly tweaking the trail, experimenting with new features and thinking of ways to improve it.

The whole set-up is incredibly beginner-friendly, allowing for a gentle progression into riding the knobbly stuff that you find at modern trail centres and in nature. When we went along, the club were having an open day, and even had bikes for curious new riders to borrow. That said, they've also done well to make the trail as technical as it is, and there are a couple of sections that could catch experienced riders out.

The  Croft Trail is a great potential blueprint for other places. If you've got a suitable space (which, as the Croft Trail demonstrates, doesn't have to be big), a supportive local council or landowner, and some free time, you could build a mountain bike trail. Towns across the UK have skateparks, playing fields and football pitches - why shouldn't they have MTB trails too?

For more info see www.mbswindon.co.uk

All photos taken from the MB Swindon website