Sitting elsewhere in the UK, it seems like the Scots have it all: broad access rights, and a government body to promote mountain biking. So when we posted a news story about the consultation on the Scottish Mountain Biking Strategy, we weren’t expecting to get quite so many comments – or indeed see quite so many criticisms. When the new and final Scottish Mountain Biking Strategy was released, we sat down with Graeme McLean from Developing Mountain Biking In Scotland to see what it’s all about – and to see whether those criticisms had been taken on board.
I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones.
More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments.
I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.
I think most of the first half – the focus on Tweed Valley, the focus on specific areas, the need for money to do all this. The stuff about the possibilities and encourage more people out on bikes and the amount of time spent by many people doing many things – that seemed to work for me.
There was mention of wanting to put a World Cup on in 2024 – given what was achieved in this year for the World Champs, it seems a real wasted opportunity to not be pitching for a XC round as well – it is possible as it has been shown to work.
I was surprised that there still seems to be an effort to build an uplifted bikepark in the Tweed Valley- there’s been no mention of it anywhere for a while so I expected that it had been quietly shelved..
Also had a quick scan of the Strategy document and there’s mention of a 7 Stanes refresh, that’s good news if true.
With the likelihood that there wont be a Fort William WC next year, and the ESO taking on and then not bothering to continue the Scottish Enduro Series, I cant see any local loyalty coming from ESO. And with the diggers in at Glentress actively removing any World Champs legacy, I dont expect any WC coming unless someone finds a large bag of cash to give away.
Wouldn’t be the first time they’ve been referred to as DMBinTV
In fairness, the Tweed Valley is the critical mass, so it is going to see a pro-rata increased input. However, as Graeme said, there have been great developments up in the North East most of which have been supported by DMBinS. There are other projects in place all over the country, but the scale of these mean they don’t always grab the headlines or awareness.
I was surprised that there still seems to be an effort to build an uplifted bikepark in the Tweed Valley- there’s been no mention of it anywhere for a while so I expected that it had been quietly shelved.
It is linked in with the Innovation Centre and Trail Lab. The difference though is that the Innovation Centre and Trail Lab are fully publicly funded by both UK and Scot Gov. The Bike Park would be a commercial venture with some public funding available to draw in external funding. The commercial nature of this means things are quieter until everything is confirmed.
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