Bristol MTB Survey Summary Bristol has been an active part of mountain biking in the UK since the early 1990s. In 2001 the City became the home to one of the UK s first purpose-built trail centres, the Forest of Avon Timberland Trail, and in 2011 the 1SW Project revitalised the city s mountain biking with two all-weather trails and a new visitor centre. The aim of this development was to create a family-friendly off-road cycling destination which would appeal to visitors to the city. The new trails were an instant success, with built-in trail counters recording 20,000 rides at Ashton Court in one month. 5 years on from the last major official trail development, it s a good time to take stock of their success, identify any gaps in provision, and consider where trail development might go in the future. This survey was carried out by Bristol Trails Group, a volunteer organisation set up in 2004 who maintain some of the existing trails and act as a point of contact with the wider mountain bike community. Nearly 500 responses to the survey were received, with a number of recurring themes. While it s clear that the trails are still incredibly popular and well-used, there is a growing demand
for expansion of the trail network, particularly where more challenging riding is concerned. There is also a willingness by users to contribute to the development of the trails, both financially and in kind. 1. Background 2. Who responded 3. Riding habits 4. Trail preferences 5. Maintenance and development 6. What next? Contents
1. Background of survey The survey ran during October and November 2015. It was publicised via the Bristol Trails Group website, social media accounts, posters at trail entrances and in bike shops in central Bristol. Data was collected via a custom Google Form and 472 responses were received. 2. Who responded i. Location As might be expected, people who filled in the survey were overwhelmingly from the Bristol area. The BS3 and BS6 postcodes were particularly well-represented. ii. Gender Only 10% of respondents were female. While fewer women than men participate in mountain biking, this was unexpectedly low. There is research to show that around 30% of women in the UK are regular participants in sport 1, so there is work to do in order to close this gap within mountain biking. 1 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmcumeds/513/51303.htm
Figure 1 - Age and gender of survey respondents iii. Age Most respondents were between ages of 35 and 44, and most are experienced mountain bikers, with over 50% taking part in the sport for more than 10 years. 3. Riding habits Figure 2 - How frequently riders of various experience levels use the trails i. Experience Most respondents to the survey were experienced riders, with about half saying that they had been mountain biking for 10 years or more.
ii. Frequency Frequent riders made up the majority of the respondents, with nearly 60% saying they rode once a week or more. This indicates that the trails provide their users with a regular workout. iii. Seasonality 89% of respondents said they rode all year round, with no clear split along gender lines. It seems that the vast majority of mountain bikers aren t fair weather riders. iv. Sociability Bristol s mountain bikers are a sociable bunch, and over 50% of survey respondents said they usually rode with friends. 32% said they usually rode on their own. v. Clubs and groups Only 15% of respondents said they rode with an organised club, which has interesting implications for anyone trying to engage with the mountain bike community as a whole. vi. Ride location Over 50% of respondents said they mostly ride locally. vii. Transport 84% of respondents get to the start of their ride by bike. Figure 3 - How many rides are local, and how respondents get there viii. Style of riding Riders were asked what style of riding they participate in. Mountain biking can be split into several categories, although there is some overlap between these: XC is what most people think of as traditional mountain biking, with equal emphasis on climbs and descents. Enduro is a relatively new category of mountain biking that is growing in popularity fast, where the descents are timed, but riders also have to reach the top of these under their
own power. The difficulty of the tracks lies somewhere between that of XC and DH courses but can be very challenging, especially when the physical demands of the climbs are taken into account. Downhill or DH riding focuses, as the name suggests, on the descents, typically short steep tracks with a high level of technical difficulty. DH tracks are accessed by an uplift or a push to the top, and there are many tracks across the UK, ranging from commercial centres like Bike Park Wales to the community-built DH area at Ashton Hill Plantation. XC was the most popular category, with nearly 80% of respondents saying they participated in this style of riding. However, 45% of riders also said they took part in enduro, and 33% in downhill. It should be borne in mind that these riders aren t necessarily entering organised events in these disciplines, but they enjoy riding the style of trail that would be used for them, and appreciate a technically challenging trail. Figure 4 - Styles of riding that respondents took part in Other sub-categories of mountain biking were less popular, but a large portion of respondents enjoyed road cycling, and over 50% also commute by bike. 4. Trail preferences i. Man-made and natural Respondents were asked what kind of trails they liked to ride, ranging from purposebuilt, official tracks; through informal rider-built trails; to purely natural routes like bridleways. Most riders enjoyed the purpose-built trails, but a large percentage of respondents also rode less formal trails. 46% enjoyed riding whatever was there and 38% rode trails without knowing whether they were official.
ii. Favourite trails Ashton Court received 100 votes for favourite trail, Leigh Woods 83. It should be noted that the Leigh Woods area also includes some well-established unofficial trails, many of which were mentioned by name, and in total these trails polled 40 votes. The other two popular riding areas were 50 Acre Wood and Ashton Hill/Belmont, on 25 and 28 votes respectively. 5. Maintenance and development i. Trail days 20% of respondents said they had attended an organised trail day. Interestingly, almost as many (15%) said they d taken part in informal trail building. ii. Contributions We asked whether riders would be prepared to contribute financially to the maintenance or development of the trails. 57% said they d be prepared to contribute a token amount, and 6% a substantial amount. This raises the possibility of funding future trail developments through crowd funding or visitor payback although both come with a certain amount of auxiliary work to set up. The other popular response was to offer help in kind, with 25% of those surveyed saying they wouldn t contribute financially, but would be willing to help construct or repair new trails.
Figure 5 - Would you be prepared to contribute financially to the trails? What next? The last question in the survey asked riders what they d like to happen next, giving them 7 options, plus an other field to add different comments or details. Almost 50% chose More official XC trails and/or More challenging trails. The next largest response (18%) was for more local competitive events. Just 10% of respondents said they thought things were OK as they were. Figure 6- What respondents wanted to see next
A selection of respondent s comments follows, most of which reinforce the theme that riders would like to see further trail development, particularly of more challenging trails. Increased difficulty (edited down from 50 comments) I'd like to see an expansion and progression of current manmade trails in Leigh Woods and Ashton Court. There are some decent descents we need to utilise them as oppose to building flat trails. 50 acre woods needs sorting out and more trails at Belmont would be great but I'm sure that will be done. Local trails in Bristol are too simple With a significant amount of altitude change to work with, it's a shame that the weatherproof AC and Leigh Woods trails stick to the flats. The blue trails at BikePark Wales would be a good example to model a new loop upon. Be nice to have a more challenging trail in Leigh Woods that are rideable all year. Deep mud is not fun Red sections, and sections that actually go downhill It is great locally and AC & LW official trails are great for starters and families but tame compared to Welsh trail centres, we often go to Wales or FOD. I do realise that there is little elevation to work with but Cannock fits a more technical challenge in. More optional harder features/lines that can be used to overtake without being dangerous. An expanded network Longer, blue/red graded trails (think FoD, Cwmcarn etc) Off piste trails that are well maintained. Managed for winter wear. This may mean closing them during the winter to avoid excessive wear Make some of the older unofficial trails in Belmont Plantation official. I would love there to be a much longer trail around Leigh woods. Perhaps with different lines so laps can be mixed a bit. I dunno how practical it is, but some trails in Stoke Park/Purdown or maybe Frome Valley? Options nearer North Bristol would be good There is a lack of joining up of official trails (e.g. Nova / Yer Tiz / national routes), 'kind of official' (e.g. 50 acre) etc. Need local knowledge to successfully join them up. Other suggestions I'm all in favour of anything that gets more people out riding. So I guess maybe stuff for younger riders? More group rides More cyclocross!