// Words by Harvey Mushman
// Photos by Alex Tyler, Ian Lean and Jacob Gibbins
Wideopen reader Harvey Mushman is sick of hearing other riders bad-mouthing the humble trail-centre. Here’s his response to the haters!
“you can sum that section up in one simile – ‘It’s trail center-ish’”
You’re at a race and want to describe a certain part of a certain stage to one of your mates. It’s single-track, smooth, hard-pack stone with a few easy jumps and nothing too mental. You don’t tell them all that, you can sum that section up in one simile – ‘It’s trail center-ish’. But is that just a description or a bit of a dig? Are you actually saying that it’s too easy ride and doesn’t require much skill?
Trail centers are nothing new here in the UK and are really starting to take off worldwide. You can go whatever the weather and have a good, unhindered rip on your bike without getting too lost. Every weekend morning around the UK roads you will often see the typical trail center riders, bikes strapped to the top of their cars, on their way to get their weekend’s riding fix with their mates at their nearest center, usually quite early so they can make a day of it and pig out at the center’s cafe afterwards.
“MTB purist snobs … who see trail centers as places that only the peasants of the MTB world go”
And so we come to it … the subject matter, trail center scnobbery. Why do people slag them off so bad? These so-called MTB purist snobs, who see trail centers as the places that only the peasants of the MTB world go. They see them as the “non-racers”, “not proper mountain bikers”, the ones with the long stems, full face helmets and so much protection on they look like they are going to war! You hear anti-trail center comments on the trails and at the races and you can read them in several top MTB magazines, all trying to dish the dirt on all things that aren’t cool or part of the elite click.
It’s time to fight for their corner and say what they cannot say in retaliation to these critics. It’s time someone took a stand and said NO!
Here are some of the claims I’ve heard about trail centres … and what I’d like to say back at them.
“They’re too busy and I get held up all the time, you cant get a good run on any of the downhills!”
OK, so you’re a quick rider who wants complete runs of the downhill sections, maybe even to see how well you can do on Strava (even though you are far to cool to admit that!). Basically you’re just going at the wrong times, either go real early or late afternoon, you’d be amazed how quiet things will then become, especially weekday evenings, when most can’t make it. Then they become so quiet you can give it full beans with your made up Strava name, so no-one knows it’s you!
“It’s easy terrain and not challenging enough!”
It’s as easy as you make it, I personally love the sloppy difficult off-piste stuff, but come mid winter you really can have enough of the freezing cold, wet, shitty exposed open moorland and just want a ride where the ground is firm and predictable. I also have a big local, open XC, tough climb up over the mountains, broken up by a quick blast of the blue route at my local trail center, which believe me, is like a relief after such a hard slog. The up-hills too are as hard as you make them, if it’s too easy, sprint them and treat it as a big training mission.
Think surfaced trails are too easy…? Try Bike Park Wales for size.
“It’s not true mountain biking, you don’t even have to map out where you’re going!”
What about just riding up the hills with your mates, not having to think about directions, just having the laugh and socializing? Isn’t that what mountain biking is all about? I’m pretty shit with a map and to be honest could get lost in my own back garden, I just want to enjoy the riding, rather than freaking out about where the hell I’m going.
“I don’t think paying that much for parking is right, it’s meant to be a free hobby!”
Oh really, so you’re sat on a 5 grand bike with hundreds of pounds worth of trick kit on, but you don’t like the idea of paying a fiver to go towards the hard work that keeps the trails in top running order? Don’t be so bloody tight!
So maybe these trail purists and Strava police should just take a step back and consider the bigger picture here…
That expensive bike with all its lush trickery has not been developed out of nothing. You may think that things all get developed as a result of racing but that has to be paid for by sales of bikes and equipment. The vast majority of riders now in the UK are the weekend trail center riders, slow or fast, alone, with friends or family. These are the guys who buy most of the bikes and kit, so they are the real ones who put the money in the pot, which trickles down to the development of your high-end kit.
So in a way you should pull your head out of your arse, stop looking down on the trail center riders and thank them for the development of this fantastic hobby we all share. All those who moan about trail centers, Strava, the word ‘Enduro’, wheel sizes whilst bitching on the forums, take a chill pill, get out on your bike and just ride.
