Our friends at Trash Free Trails are always coming up with great ways to get people outside connecting with natural places. Trash Free Trails exist to protect our trails and the wild spaces they take us to. Their belief (and it’s one that we share) is that those who access and are connected to our wild places will be more willing to work together to fight for their protection.
Their latest idea is to encourage people take Purposeful Adventures and leave a positive trace. It might be as quick and simple as removing a bag of single use plastic from your favourite trail or as grand as riding further than you’ve ever ridden before, encouraging a friend to come with you whilst helping others and removing litter on the way. Maybe it’s spending a bit more time than usual stopped in the woods enjoying the sounds and smells, learning new things, maybe spotting birds or identifying trees – whatever inspires you to get out there and connect. Big, small, long, short, simple or complicated – every adventure is worth taking especially when you leave a positive trace.
Pedal Progression is proud to be listed as a TFT Purposeful Adventure location. This means you can drop in, pick up resources and use our noticeboard to see what others have been up to and let people know what you have done. We’d love to hear your stories, have some pictures, find out what your purpose has been and how you have left a positive trace! You can do this anytime we are open, but we wanted to get involved by facilitating some community adventures.
To kick things off we are going to put on two afternoon adventures to go out with local riders, runners and walkers:
17th September: Family Vibes…
The first ride will be for families and children. You don’t need to sign up. Just turn up at 5:00pm to our shop on the 17th September for a get together before we ride – have a think before you arrive about the purpose of your adventure and how you plan to leave a positive trace. You can either stick with Ollie, who will be riding a route around blue trails at Ashton Court or you can head out with friends and family, do your thing and meet back for a debrief so we can share our stories. If you don’t want to ride you can head out for a walk or run and join us back at the shop to share your experiences.
1st October: Adults Only…
Ride two will be geared towards adult riders. We’ll meet at the shop at 5:00pm, pick a place to ride out to, grab some rubbish and return to the shop for a beer or softy. Ride route and location TBC – we’ll take nominations for natural spots with worse litter in the area. Again you can join the main ride or head out alone and come back for a re-group and a catch up at the end. TFT is for riders, runners and roamers.. We are obviously riders but if you fancy heading out alone or with a group for a run or a roam then drop in first and pick up your trash bag.
We look forward to getting out with you and your friends, exploring and making a positive impact in our favourite places!
