Build it And They Will Come

The late eighties and early nineties had seen the first boom in mountain biking. Despite its growing popularity, riders in the UK were limited to roads and bridleways and a handful of other rights of way.

The first trails (which are still part of the existing Coed Y Brenin network) were little more than repurposed old tracks, with the occasional minor tweak and some signposting. They had sections flow, but were also technically challenging – especially given the technology and geometry of bikes at the time.

Since those first steps towards a purpose built riding destination, the concept of a trail centre has actually evolved very little.

There are signposted routes with a clear start and finish point. The riding offers progression and challenge for all levels of rider. Alongside that, there should be everything that makes riders feel welcome – whether that’s parking, a cafe, bikeshop or just someone to say hi to.

As the first trails grew in popularity, grading the trail became more important. Things we take for granted now – from marker posts at each junction to somewhere to buy an inner tube and a bacon butty – needed someone to have the idea in the first place, then make it happen.

History is very rarely the linear story we like to make out. Dafydd was undoubtedly one of the first to create the trail centre concept, but he wasn’t alone. At least not for long.

At around the same time Dafydd was busy in Wales, Rik Allsop was having the same conversations with the Forestry Commission in Scotland and getting his hands dirty building trails in the forests of Mabie and Ae.

When we met Rik he was propped up against the open door of his bike shop, just up the road from his first projects in Mabie. Inside there’s a treasure trove of kit, some dating as far back as those early days. Framed by another pile of dead inner tubes is a map of the trails at Drumlanrig – all built by Rik on a small budget. Many were created by hand, all using just the resources and materials that were available on site.

It’s interesting to hearing Dafydd and Rik both talk about the trails they built. They speak with the same passion and care – a depth of relationship with the land that goes way beyond throwing a riding surface down.

Both only used the materials that were on site to construct the trails and they minimised any resource usage when constructing them. This decision came from a desire to create a trail that felt like it had always been there – that was truly part of the landscape rather than sitting on it. Rik sums it up perfectly:

“It’s flow isn’t it?”, says Rik, grasping for the explanation of the blend of engineering, science, art and pure hard work that goes into creating a trail. The real art is in creating flow regardless of whether the terrain is rooty, nadgery or gnarly. It’s a different kind of flow, but it’s there.

In some ways both Drumlanrig and Coed Y Brenin are atypical of the hundreds of trail centres that they inspired. Despite being around longer than most, they are interesting and engaging on a modern bike. Speed needs to be managed and lines chosen. How confident a ride you are defines exactly what those lines are.

Rik and Dafydd both used another word when they described trail centres: community. Trail centres mean the crowds gathered on any given wet Sunday in the huge visitor centre at Coed-y-Brenin, muddy puddles pooling beneath their feet as they sip on steaming brews. And they also mean the all-comers family rides that Rik leads on a Saturday that are training up a new generation of shredders.