For all you need to know about getting invovled in the next dig (9th-18th October) scroll down…If you’ve just come looking for the email address to sign up to here it is:
volunteer@ridebristol.com
Trails update
With overwhelmingly positive feedback coming through, it is clear that most of you are really enjoying the flow of the rebuilt trail sections. Ongoing maintenance will always be needed, but overall the surface is bearing up well to heavy use.
If the trails have been transformed, so have the finances. Generous individual donations and successful fundraisers have created a healthy looking community pot. Impressed by our collective effort, Bristol City Council has also pledged significant new financial support. This will cover half of the next two year’s projected costs. This is a huge boost and we are super grateful for their ongoing contribution.
Everyone involved in this process is massively appreciative of the physical and financial support the riding community has given. Buoyed up by this and hopeful it will continue, we have put plans in place to refurb all the singletrack sections of the Nova Trail by the end of 2020.
We want your feedback please!!
We are incorporating what is learned on each project into the next and want your feedback and ideas. Whether you have been involved in the digs yet or not we want to hear your thoughts. Find the questionnaire here. It shouldn’t take more the 5-10 mins…depending on how much you want to write!
Our most ambitious project to date – Wednesday 9th to Friday 18th October 2019
We want to resurface from the hole in the wall on Beggar Bush lane all the way down to the miniature railway – highlighted in purple on the map below (linking the two sections refurbished in December 2018). As ever, more help means more berms, rollers and a lovely flowing feature-rich trail.
At circa. 1400m this will be the longest section we have ever attempted to restore. It also has the potential to be the most complicated. Due to access restrictions in place to protect the rare species and habitats adjacent to the trail, work will be undertaken in three distinct phases:
- Early August, Architrail is putting in dumps of stone along the trail to keep the length of barrow pushes to a minimum.
- Early October, Architrail will be in to prepare the surface.
- 9th-18th October, volunteer days, building lots of lovely features
In March this year 70 volunteer/days of effort went into the 900m Quarry Trail project. The two Beggar Bush Lane sections completed in December 2018 were of a similar scale. This suggests we need about 100 volunteer/days for the 1400m of trail repairs planned for this October.
Help build our volunteer base, sign up and get your mates to as well
Though tiring, working on the trails is a laugh and everyone seems to get immense satisfaction from giving something back. We know this could change if we ask too much of folks, so a key focus is to get volunteer numbers up. Currently there are 141 people on the email list, ideally we would like to get this up to 300 by the start of October.
- If you have helped or want to help, but are not currently getting email updates from Chris Leeks, please contact him so he can add you to our headcount.
- Get a mate to sign up. This is really vital, please spread the word.
- Contact (use chris@rocfish.co.uk, or better still volunteer@ridebristol.com)
Due to H&S, the minimum age of volunteers is 16.
Happy trails, we hope you enjoy a great summer of riding!
From all at Pedal Progression and the Ashton Court Trail Advocacy Group.
