At the time of writing Bristol has one official mountain bike trail, the Forest of Avon Timberland Trail. There are also several places such as Leigh Woods, Still Woods and the Ashton Court Plantation where mountain bikers are currently permitted to ride on established trails or bridleways. At the moment we are concentrating on fixing up the Timberland Trail but we don't see why we shouldn't lavish attention on other trails as well. As many of you reading this will be aware, there have been problems with the Timberland Trail since it opened in June 2003. Due to a combination of the terrain on which it was built, the fact that it is unsurfaced and the amount of use it sees, parts of it have degenerated very quickly and some are now almost unrideable.

UPDATE

We are currently repairing problem sections of the Timberland Trail in order to make the Ashton Court section rideable as a complete loop by mountain bikers of all abilities. The official direction isn't going to be reversed as the poll on this only got a small response, and redoing all the signs for the trail would be expensive.

The Forestry Commission have indicated that they want to surface the section of the trail in 50 Acre Wood. This section will also be rerouted to make it easier to maintain and more fun to ride. The Forestry Commission will be putting in a new track running along the bottom of the wood. This will serve as a temporary diversion while the trail is being redeveloped and can act as an easier route when the trail is finished. The trail in 50 Acre Wood will be more difficult than the Ashton Court section, hopefully in a different way to how it is presently! Work on the diversion should start very soon. If you have any suggestions on this project then get in touch via the forum.