Bath Bike Park:
Who are we and what do we do?
Pedal Progression started life as a skills coaching company in 2011 and moved into Ashton Court in 2012 where our offer grew to include high quality bike hire. We quickly grew in reputation amongst the mountain bike community primarily on the strength of our coaching, high quality service and community engagement.
From the early days of the business we have always wanted to bring mountain biking to a wider audience. We created a GCSE syllabus for inner city schools, an active ageing project for over 55s and worked with Lifecycle UK to give young people from lower socio-economic areas opportunities to ride off road. This work continues to be a big part of the business for us with current projects that seek to get young people who are struggling to exercise and with their mental and physical health. We have done this over the years by being willing to take risks when others may not have and being innovative in the way we think about our business model. We actively seek to reach out to and partner with organisations that share similar values and aspirations.
Whilst finding ways to engage with a wider audience, the commercial side of the business grew from strength to strength. Our keen focus on high quality customer experiences brought many new customers to us for their first experience of mountain biking. They got hooked and bought their friends and family. We grew our hire fleet to the capacity that our current building would allow to keep pace with growing demand for accessible, exciting outdoor experiences. Pedal Progression are now ranked #2 on Trip Advisors Bristol Outdoors Activities list. Our ultimate goal is to bring the joys of mountain biking to more people, keeping them happy fit and building healthy habits for life.
Matt George – Company Director & Head of Business Development
Matt started riding bikes aged 6 and by the age of 13 he had created ‘The Stunt Club’, a paid membership (50p for life!) club based out of a cul-de-sac in the suburbs of Poole. Riding continued to be a huge part of life through his teenage years and into adulthood where he found employment in cycle retail, testing bikes, writing for magazines, riding in front of the cameras and mountain bike coaching, work that has taken him around the world. This was all before founding Pedal Progression in 2011.
It was Matt’s passion to see his local trails not go to ruin that began the trail refurbishment campaign at Ashton Court (Bristol), which has lead to the creation of charity, Ride Bristol. Having coached hundreds of riders with Pedal Progression over the last 9 years, Matt is now our head coach and is passing his knowledge and experience on to the next generation of coaching staff. Matt wants to introduce as many people as possible to riding mountain bikes and this is his driver as he looks to grow the business and brand.
Ollie Cain – Company Director & Head of Resources
Ollie has had a passion for riding bikes of all types of bikes for more decades now than he would like to admit. He joined the Pedal Progression team in 2015 and went on to quickly establish the Little Rippers program that evolved into the Skills Academy. In it’s 4th year this program now delivers over 500 opportunities annually for children to get out and ride. Ollie is also the co-founder and head coach of Bristol Shredders British Cycling Go-Ride mountain bike club and a trustee of the charity Ride Bristol. Both organisations aim to create more accessible opportunities for people to ride.
Prior to working for Pedal Progression he worked in cycle retail management for 15 years, setting up, managing, recruiting and mentoring new staff and managers across multiple sites and in a variety of roles. Ollie’s track record in retail sales and operational management shows a dedication to prioritise and target consistent business growth and performance with exceptional customer experience at the core.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide a mountain bike experience of the highest quality to our customers. We do this by focusing on developing mountain bike facilities that have trails for all abilities, from balance bike beginners and weekend warriors to aspirational amateur racers and professionals. Our rental equipment is more than fit for purpose in order to consistently exceed the customer’s expectations. Our coaching school provides development pathways to meet the needs of the diverse client group we seek to serve. It is built on the desire to progress through hard work, a positive attitude and growth mindset. This is built into the culture from the top down. Our company leaders, staff and coaches embody this ethos.
We seek to expose new people to the sport by reaching out to demographics that would not normally consider mountain biking, due to their lack of resource, perceived ability or socio-economic background. The company is run professionally to ensure financial success. Whilst fairly and generously rewarding our staff, we also use the success of our business to reach those who would not otherwise get a chance to experience our offering. In doing this we provide more pleasure to a wider variety of people and bring more people to the joys of mountain biking as well as promoting good health and wellbeing.
Our Values
- Safety
We prioritise the safety of our customers over everything else. Regardless of the activity, whether browsing stock, out on the trails or just passing by outside the shop, we put measures in place to keep them safe as far as is controllable. Our staff are the lifeblood of the business and as a team and management, we prioritise each-others safety within the workplace. The hire bikes, tools, stock and other assets are critical to our day to day profitability and are systematically protected both by the staff on shift, CCTV and an external security company.
- Welcome
We are welcoming in all our interactions with (but not limited to) the public, customers, affiliated groups and suppliers. Welcome is not only about our attitudes but includes the physical environment we create. We seek to provide opportunities for all people, regardless of age, race, faith, gender, sexuality or background. Everyone should find enjoyment in the activities and services we provide. To the best of our ability, we look to run the business in a way that is kind, caring and supportive of all people and the natural environment.
- Excellence
In everything we do and the way we present ourselves as company we must hold high standards of professionalism. Only the best is enough. We seek aspiration in our business aims and provide aspirational role models to our customers, to support their growth and development. We know about the products we sell and commit to increasing our skill sets to stay on top of our game. We’re driven by excellence. This informs the way we treat others, develop our staff members and how we pursue business goals.
- Efficiency
We understand that a successful team works efficiently and this is considered in our approach to work. In all things, we strive to complete the most excellent and professional job in the most efficient time scale and with the smallest cost to the business. There will be times when individually and as a team, we fail. We understand that our failures are as important as our successes. If we’re not winning we’re learning. As long as we’re learning, we’re growing. We never make the same mistake twice.
From Our Design & Construction Partners, Architrail Velosolutions
Introduction
Architrail have been providing industry leading mountain bike trail services since 2010. Since then we have delivered numerous successful mountain bike trail projects from feasibility studies through to construction projects. Our tracks range from small scale beginner skills areas, to international level race tracks. Together we have proven expertise to plan, design and deliver all types of mountain bike and recreational trails in a range of environments. We pride our ability to deliver off-road trail services in challenging and designated environments including SSSI, SAC and AONB alongside various other constrained sites.
Company Profile
Architrail has been designing mountain bike trails for almost a decade. Our team’s combined experience and passion delivers unsurpassed attention to detail, accuracy of planning, construction excellence and project management. With extensive experience in working for both private and public sectors, we are used to dealing with not just the mechanics of course building, but also legal aspects and project scoping to ensure our tracks deliver a smooth all-round experience.
Every member of the Architrail team is an experienced and passionate mountain biker and we aim to infuse this enthusiasm into every project undertaken, from small scale volunteer projects, through to major cycling hub construction or region wide scoping exercises. Through our work as global lead designer for the UCI MTB World Cup from 2002 until 2009, to development of trails for Primary Schools or UK Bike Parks, we have honed our creative skills and pride ourselves in developing cutting edge trail design.
As a company we are committed to going about our work in an environmentally sensitive and sustainable way. We aim to create facilities that allow riders to embrace and interact with the environment in a safe and mutually beneficial way, without detriment to the local ecology. Above all, we believe that all cycling facilities should be fun and we will always push boundaries to ensure that this is the case.
Pedal Progression & Architail Velosolutions Working together
Architrail did the original design and build of the trails in Ashton Court and Leigh Woods back in 2011. They were also contracted to do maintainence on these trails for the following 5 years, with money donated by trail sponsors. By 2018, with the funding gone, the trails were wearing rapidly and the bedrock was beginning to show creating unnecessary hazards. The team at Pedal Progression recognised the impact this was having on those riding the trails, particularly the younger generation and less able riders and decided to get involved.
We contacted Architrail to find out if there was a way in which they could collaborate to get the much-needed maintainence done. Very quickly we agreed on a method where by Pedal Progression would fundraise and once enough money was found, would engage with the local mountain bike community to get together an army of volunteers to carry out the work. This method proved to be very successful and if it wasn’t for Covid-19, the whole 7.5km loop would have been reworked by the end of 2020. Bath media giant Play Sports Network put a video together for their mountain bike YouTube channel GMBN. This can be found here and another short documentary made by a UWE Masters student, here. This second video focuses more on the community engagement side of the project, including short interviews with some of the volunteers. Our work has now been cemented with the creation of Ride Bristol, a charity that will continue the maintenance of Ashton Court and will also look to fund and develop new mountain bike facilities in Bristol. Pedal Progression are represented in the trustees.
