UK Trails Project completes nationwide MTB trails surveys

The UK Trail Project* is a UK-wide project which aims to help improve the sustainability and security of the mountain bike trail network across the country.

The first step of the project is to develop a UK-wide ‘Right Trail, Right Place, Right People, Right Time’ report through an audit of the current number and position of trails, trail groups and associations in each country providing a deeper understanding of the current challenges and opportunities to improve the management of the trail network.

The survey closes at midnight on Wednesday, May 15, and the UK Trails Project team is urging every MTB rider, trail builder, trail association member, bike park/trail centre manager and land owner or manager to complete the feedback, to help ensure this audit is a true picture of the UK trail network.

Input from across the industry is helping to build a comprehensive picture of what are people riding, what makes an area great and what could be improved throughout the UK.

With this in mind, BikeBiz is encouraging readers to share the surveys with industry colleagues, and riding friends.

• Link to Riders Survey
  Link to Trail Association/Trail Centre/Bike Park Manager Survey
  Link to Land Owner/Manager Survey

Launched in March, the survey has received over 1000 replies which will inform the report and create an improved understanding of the breadth and types of trails across the UK.

The report will also detail the pressures and challenges associated with supporting the trail network, particularly, for land managers/owners.

Dave Evans DMBinS UK Trails project manager said: “We would like to thank riders, trail builders and land managers from across the UK for taking the time to complete the online surveys to tell us more about their trails. We want to get a broad picture of the types of trail provision around the UK and by identifying gaps in the trail network, we can look at options to improve resources across the country.”

For more information about the UK Trails Project, please contact david.evans@scottishcycling.org.uk or visit
www.dmbins.com

*Scottish Cycling, through Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS), manages this project, and is supported by a steering group including British Cycling, Welsh Cycling, Forestry and Land Scotland, Forestry England, Natural Resources Wales, and Outscape Northern Ireland along with the project funders, SRAM.