wgas

I recommend that they speak to ian at the drop off though.

Ian is leaving the Drop Off (at least at the Glyncorrwyg centre) as apparently he’s fed up of the current landlord (who isn’t the FC). If you’re suggesting that Emma and Tracey could run their business out of a bus, I’m not entirely convinced.

I’m not suggesting they run their business from a bus. A big boat would be nicer.
But Ian has done well to last this long, and will be very aware of the issues of tenancy and rights etc as he has had some success with it so I understand.

He seem to remember that he got an extension on the tenancy against the landlord’s wishes, but I think he has had enough. I’m sure Emma and Tracey will have taken legal advice and know their rights anyway.

all this talk of competition is silly

as someone else pointed out go skiing and try and find a reasonable priced anything on the slopes, no matter how many cafes are up the mountain

the hub may not be aldi cheap but the foods good enough and tracy and emma have put loads back into the sport,
taking those wee nippers up the freeride course should surely impress anyone whos passionate about mtbing
i use the hub knowing full well that i could have saved money by taking my own sarnies but im happy to pay them because i can see the good theyve done for GT and mtbing

I’m sure Emma and Tracey will have taken legal advice and know their rights anyway.

I’m sure you’re right. I was only trying to help!

You should know better than that. 😉

hora:
If mcds was involved I wouldn’t ride there as my son might learn to associate burgers with exercise ……………………..yep I know about their involvement with football.

Cheers for the morning afternoon chuckle Hora.

I think what has upset most people is that Emma & Tracey are fundamentally responsible for Mountain biking in Scotland as its is known today. They sent the benchmark for everywhere else. The thought of losing thier input, knowledge and experience to many of us is devastating. By bikers for Bikers. No-one wants to loose that.

Emma & Tracey Vs Forestry Commission

kennwallacehpc

Thats bit OTT. Their input at Glentress has been good for sure and it is a shame they have not got the tender. However it is time to move on. Cold damp portacabins with not enough seating just don’t cut it any more. The new centre is aimed at more than the hard core of MTBers. Glentress is an internationally renowned centre for MTBing – it needs a new centre and cafe.

Tehre is a lot more to MTBing that trail centres you know – some would say that real mtbing is not hap0pening at Glentress – that is the sanitised variety.

This off your link is just stupid and ruins your credibility

Our world of the rough and rugged outdoors is now likely to be slowly sanitised and wrapped in cotton wool as the bureaucrats run riot in the name of Health & Safety and Profit, ultimately unweaving the very fabric of why such a place exists.

Kimbers – its what the market will bear that to some extent drives prices on ski slopes. Welcome to the market economy. Its a place where there is no room for sentimentality and it’s we the consumers that set the demand and the price we are willing to pay not the businesses. If they charge too much they go out of business. Its why competition is important as it provides consumers with alternative services and goods at a different price point. Profits fuel further developments to increase revenues to the point where market saturation is reached and growth becomes static until new services, innovation or goods can be brought to the market. The ending of one lease and the tendering process is part of this process to stimulate new growth and services for consumers.

I’ll get my coat and get back to my financial exam revision 😯

Emma & Tracey are fundamentally responsible for Mountain biking in Scotland as its is known today

Sorry?

Nothing to do with Karl Bartlett, Pete Laing and the rest of the Seven Stanes crew, the millions of pounds of European and UK government money spent on building trails – without which, lets be honest, there would be no reason for mountainbikers to use the cafe?

Given the amount of money pumped in by the taxpayer, its right and proper that the FC should seek to maximise the financial returns from the lease for any facilities at these trail centres, and when someone is going to make a profit from, essentially, a licensed monopoly business at the publicly owned trailhead, then making sure the taxpayer gets his share is the least that the FC can do!

I think what has upset most people is that Emma & Tracey are fundamentally responsible for Mountain biking in Scotland as its is known today

😆

Priceless

I think what has upset most people is that Emma & Tracey are fundamentally responsible for Mountain biking in Scotland as its is known today

Oh, I though the ran a cafe.

I think what has upset most people is that Emma & Tracey are fundamentally responsible for Mountain biking in Scotland as its is known today

I have never been to the place (GT that is, not Scotland) but even i chuckled at that, what a load of old toss !

What confuses me about all this is the role of the FC. What is the FC actually for nowadays? Clearly selling cheap timber doesn’t pay the wages, so are they primarily a leisure outfit?

And whilst everyone is hand-wringing about the people responsible for the world-class Glentress facility, let’s remember the proper hard work done by Andy Wardman (FC employee) and and the Trailfairies (not employees!).

Cheers, al.

I think what has upset most people is that Emma & Tracey are fundamentally responsible for Mountain biking in Scotland as its is known today

I think the last ice age might have had something to do with it.

I want to see Neeps and tatties on the new menu!

I think what has upset most people is that Emma & Tracey are fundamentally responsible for Mountain biking in Scotland as its is known today.

Wow, sense of proportion fail, classy move tagging this thread with your company identity as well.

Gotta be unpaid advertising/spam.

Well, I’ve been to GT a few times. I remember the first time we went down. I was so looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about and I was sooo very disappointed!
I never had my rose-tinted riding glasses on so found the facilities to be lacking to say the least. The food in the café was ‘alright’ at best and well, I just didn’t get what all the excitement was about.
I for one was delighted to see the new stuff getting built and think it will be good for the centre.
People fear change, Christ there were a few on here that just about had a heart attack when the forum layout changed! Can you imagine how they’ll react to the change of personnel at a trail centre! 😯
I look forward to seeing how things develop at GT.
The change might do it good, as it certainly needed something to help. It may be considered ‘unfair’ but it’s business after all.

Oh, and:

think what has upset most people is that Emma & Tracey are fundamentally responsible for Mountain biking in Scotland as its is known today.

That really has to be the quote of the day/week/month/year

Brilliant! 😆

think what has upset most people is that Emma & Tracey are fundamentally responsible for Mountain biking in Scotland as its is known today.

If all that is known of mountain biking in Scotland is Spooky Wood and the Glentress car park…too many people have never gone beyond Glentress and dont seem to realise that the rest of Scotland is full of riding that is just as good and doesnt need an overpriced bike shop and overwhelmed cafe to enjoy.

i actually think they have done much for mtbing in scotland

surely gt is the most ridden trails north of the border

{irridium tints on}i remember fondly our 1st club trip up there about ’98ish?

we were so excited – tracy picked us up at edinburgh airport in the van and drove us to teh hotel by the hub and was very interested to know what wed make of the trails as compared to the recently opened cyb that wed done a few trips to already

the trails there made gt great
the black route at the time seemed epic, the ewok village, spooky wood id never ridden anything like it
but we would never have gone there if there wasnt a cafe and bike shop being pushed in the mags and on the interwebs

but we would never have gone there if there wasnt a cafe and bike shop being pushed in the mags

🙄 Yeah, because that’s how we all decide where to ride…..not….

kimbers – Member
i actually think they have done much for mtbing in scotland…

I think the point the others were trying to make is that trail parks are a very small part of mountain biking in Scotland.

Still, sympathy is due to people who have built up a business over 10 years and then lose it like this. There is always the suspicion that bean counters fail to take in the whole picture, and the tender has simply been awarded to the group that will pay the most rent without regard to their viability.

too many people have never gone beyond Glentress and dont seem to realise that the rest of Scotland is full of riding that is just as good

The forestry certainly seem to be missing this, given their predicted massive increase in user numbers.

tragically69

sorry im not a real mtber who has ridden every bridleway within a 100km radius of my house, has the personal number of my ROW officer and a complete set of landrangers covering the brittish isles and navigate most of my rides using a quality sextant and an extensive knowledge of the stars

for lots of (most?)riders, especially beginners trail centres are the where its at and glentress was the 1st in scotland

Let’s not get carried away, with sentimentality!

If we look at this logically we can see that after the great job the government and their talented and able representatives have done to manage the roads and the NHS, the forrest are in capable hands 😯 .

Then we have the vision that enabled them to see the need for a tram system in Edinburgh, a system I might add, that is almost complete 😯

How can we doubt the ability of the people who gave us the scottish parliament building, a work of tremendous architectural wonder, 😯

I do not know if this will be a good thing or not, but I doubt it!

kimbers – Member
…for lots of (most?)riders, especially beginners trail centres are the where its at and glentress was the 1st in scotland

But in Scotland there’s lots more, hordes even?, who don’t go to trail parks because of the availability of extensive networks of trails near every town and village. We have the right to use them and don’t need permission and that includes the trails through the large private estates.

sorry im not a real mtber who has ridden every bridleway within a 100km radius of my house, has the personal number of my ROW officer and a complete set of landrangers covering the brittish isles and navigate most of my rides using a quality sextant and an extensive knowledge of the stars

for lots of (most?)riders, especially beginners trail centres are the where its at and glentress was the 1st in scotland

Sorry I have no idea what on earth are you talking about….

You’d have thought the trails were made of bacon butties….

You’d have thought the trails were made of bacon butties….

If only… I’d be winning expert class in the SXC.

Let’s not get carried away, with sentimentality!

I remember when you just drove all the way to the small parking area at the top and made up a random route with the existing trails, then hacked back up to the car park and rally droved (good word) home.

Bike Radar have published the story with lots of comments from Emma.

“I fear that it’s people sitting behind desks who wouldn’t know a pedal from a brake lever that are making the decisions,” she said.

They should probably give in gracefully and maybe setup somewhere else.
al.

I’d have thought that all you guys who were ranting and raving about how public expenditure needed to feel the bitter wind of commercialism would be completely happy with this. Surely all you rabid free market IT guys must see that best value tenders are the way forwards. After all that’s what you were baying for over the summer….?

Inded AP – there is a faint whiff of hypocrisy over all this. Loads of moaning but no willingness to actually do anything. Free markets rule until a fave get shafted by them

Does going mountain biking require a cafe?Playing devils advocate here but surely it’s about enjoying the wilderness without the townie stuff like cafes etc?

and a complete set of landrangers covering the brittish isles

I have them all!!

Some people say there’s no place for sentiment in business. But I bet most of those people probably never started their own business from scratch.

It’s sad that Emma and Tracey didn’t win the new Glentress contract.

I hope they find somewhere new to set up shop/cafe and go on to even greater success.

Does anyone know what Sian and Dafydd Roberts did after losing a similar gig at Coed Y Brenin?