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anyone?
no?
*shudder*
I got involved with the Dundee route development, unfortunately after the cards were sent to print so some of the good stuff was missed out, but it's a good start.
Oh dear!
This smacks of a complete waste of public money.
A bit surprised by the negativity. Not sure why trying to promote MTB is a bad thing...
I'm not negative about promoting MTB in general, I just don't like the way it all gets thrown over the border.
Why is there never any money for MTB'ing in England?
8 million people in Greater london
8 million people in the South East
2 million in Essex
1 Million in Herts.
Thats about 19 million people, all within an hours drive of London.
Where does all the MTB money go........
Scotland Population 5 million, 7 hours and 1 minute up the M1 away!
It's not like there aren't enough locations/clubs in England crying out for funding. Plenty of half arsed attempts at trail centers in England consisting of 3k of fire road and 1 decent as theres no funding/resources for it. Sheffield's about to get a new 1 minute downhill track, and that's newsworthy by English standards!
I'm not negative about promoting MTB in general, I just don't like the way it all gets thrown over the border.Why is there never any money for MTB'ing in England?
8 million people in Greater london
8 million people in the South East
2 million in Essex
1 Million in Herts.Thats about 19 million people, all within an hours drive of London.
I reckon maybe the mountains play a part in it 😛 ... well worth the drive!
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V,
No offence meant - if you're involved in this - but it just reeks of squandered public money. Having just checked who funded it, it's all public money and includes the SE "kiss of death" that ensures it will fail. I'll be very surprised if it becomes a popular website.
Is that one of the outputs from that big fancy conference they had last year by any chance?
Anyone for a game of Quango? =
a. A group who's sole purpose is to make Scotland the greatest place to be a mountain biker and deeply cares about our wants and needs
b. A group of self serving Muppets who's only interest is bank rolling their own lifestyles by hoovering up all the available grants/cash and giving F-all back
c. Some bizarre ineffectual mix of the above two options which may have it's heart in the right place but seems incapable of producing anything other than meetings and the resultant reports
I would so love to be proved wrong but history is on my side 🙄
ok -
Mountains help, so why build trail centers there? Arguably the scenery in that shot is the main draw (the riding looks a little bland) so why not invest the money where peaople actualy live.
A fat kid in London isn't going to get his parents to drive to Peebles, but there's a fighting chance his parents will take him to Swinley.
I'm not negative about promoting MTB in general, I just don't like the way it all gets thrown over the border.
You'll need to take that up with the English agencies. The site is funded by Scottish agencies
No offence meant - if you're involved in this - but it just reeks of squandered public money
I'm not involved.
You'll need to take that up with the English agencies. The site is funded by Scottish agencies
Who divies out the funding? The impression I get is that GT and the other stanes have money thrown at them relative to their English counterparts, by various sources (hence their size), whereas English clubs/local groups scrimp together enough funding to build one or two km of trails. I doubt the Scots are that much better at marketing themselves than their English counterparts, so it must be somewhere in the funding system a bias towards projects north of the border.
tinas,
I don't think the FC owns a lot of land in the home counties.
In Scotland the FC owns a lot of land and has been the main driver to develop the trail centres like GT. Forestry, as an industry, tends to be centered in rural areas. Maybe the fat kid in London should take up trials biking in the urban jungle?
Who divies out the funding? The impression I get is that GT and the other stanes have money thrown at them relative to their English counterparts, by various sources (hence their size), whereas English clubs/local groups scrimp together enough funding to build one or two km of trails. I doubt the Scots are that much better at marketing themselves than their English counterparts, so it must be somewhere in the funding system a bias towards projects north of the border.
Or maybe the Scottish gov/agencies have cottoned on the the value of MTB to the economy and health/wellbeing of the nation.
You need to look at the sourses of the funding. It absolutely eff all to do with england
Some comes from regional development funding, some came from tourist boards, some came from EU funding for depressed areas, some came from the scots NHS budget for health promotion and so on.
It looks like potentially a decent resource.
Lots if this information is available elsewhere from different sources but it would be nice to see everything in one place. The "Equipment" section could use a bit of work though
Generally the trail centres in Scotland are in the less mountainous areas closer to larger areas of population. It is probably no coincidence that the 7 stanes have been successful (by any measure) and are located relatively close to the Border so accessible to "visitors" from England too.Mountains help, so why build trail centers there? Arguably the scenery in that shot is the main draw (the riding looks a little bland) so why not invest the money where peaople actualy live.
There's plenty of fat kids in Scotland, but I've never seen one at Glentress. Once you are "the fat kid" your likliehood of taking up active sport must fall dramatically. Once your parents have "let you become" the fat kid, the chance that they are interested in taking you to get involved in outdoor exercise must be pretty low.A fat kid in London isn't going to get his parents to drive to Peebles, but there's a fighting chance his parents will take him to Swinley.
Who divies out the funding? The impression I get is that GT and the other stanes have money thrown at them relative to their English counterparts, by various sources (hence their size), whereas English clubs/local groups scrimp together enough funding to build one or two km of trails. I doubt the Scots are that much better at marketing themselves than their English counterparts, so it must be somewhere in the funding system a bias towards projects north of the border.
It is an inevitable consequence of 'local' management of Enterprise, Forestry, Health, Tourism and other budgets (which all happened pre-devolution, but is even clearer now) that Scotland can choose to spend its budget how "Scotland" chooses. Therefore if the various agencies have identified MTB as an area they wish to excel at then they can chose to; inevitably that will be to the detriment of some other pursuit/tourist attraction/investment opportunity. There is no UK wide MTB pot of cash that Scotland is taking unfair advantage or - its simply that various government agencies can see a benefit form using their budgets in this way. You might find more money being pumped into Cricket, Rugby, Rowing, or other sports in England form various "English" pots of cash. Undoubtably one or two people at the top of influential organisations can make or break the opportunity. Now with the proven success of the 7 Stanes, the World Cup Downhill Course at FtW etc it is much easier for other "Scottish partnerships" to put together a case which says "look what can be done". However its not always a success, Carron Valley, the only trail centre within an hour of Glasgow City Centre, never achieved its potential because even with all the potential support politics got in the way. Even within Scotland there is some "bitterness" that MTB gets more financial support in the Borders than elsewhere.
For what its worth I'm not really sure the above website is adding anything to the already successful MTB activity in Scotland - but perhaps for those involved in funding and managing this sort of stuff it provides a central point of cohesion rather than in fighting and sharing of information.
I am very unsure of what that website adds - and for what it cost what else could have been done?
all of the trail centres have websites and local tourist boards mention the trail centres adn websites
I can't comment on the whole site but one reason the Dundee section was done with route cards was to get other people started in the sport by highlighting trails on the doorstep that people could use to start with that didn't need a gucci bike or incur travel costs. This mainly includes young people whose parents have no interest or capacity to take them. There are now route cards and safe travels routes for them to follow to allow them to try the sport without having to rely on adults driving them elsewhere. Sadly an amazing number of kids in the city never get taken outdoors and there is only so much the council can do so the cards give them a tool to use themselves, distributed amongst schools, youth clubs etc.
I for one have found trails 10 mins from my parents that I never new were there.... having moved away almost 20 years ago.
The other trail centres do have their own websites but it is good to have as many as possible in the one place.
With regard to the 7 stanes, were they not partly EU funded as an economic regeneration programme in rural areas but not too far from a large population centre?
Just my tuppence... you may not be the intended target?
Read this if interested
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?TabID=0&ItemID=730&mid=13678
[url= http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/scotland-sports-minister-launches-mountain-biking-website/012306 ]
[/url]Mountain biking now worth £139 million to Scottish economy annually
Does that include all the north sea oil burnt getting people there?
Can we call this the [i]"politics of envy"[/i] yet, or do we have to wait until a few more English people bitch about the way their funding is allocated south of the border?
What will they do that Cycling Scotland can't/ won't do???
ditch_jockey - Member
Can we call this the "politics of envy" yet, or do we have to wait until a few more English people bitch about the way their funding is allocated south of the border?
Nah - ye're OK. Any minute now, someone will be along to tell us that it's easier and cheaper to go to the Alps anyway.
BoardinBob - Member
What will they do that Cycling Scotland can't/ won't do???
So - it is [i]part[/i] of Cycling Scotland?Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS) is a project, hosted within Scottish Cycling,
poly-Generally the trail centres in Scotland are in the less mountainous areas closer to larger areas of population. It is probably no coincidence that the 7 stanes have been successful (by any measure) and are located relatively close to the Border so accessible to "visitors" from England too.
This is or was by accident due to the Foot and Mouth epidemic which swept through Dumfries & Galloway and had an effect on tourism both here and in the Borders.
There was already quite a bit of badgering FC in the years before F&M to get Mabie and GT up to the standards of Coed y Brenin. This site at the time was all about the Welsh trails, rarely mentioned now.
A lot of "new" riders to the "sport" are not aware of the history surrounding how 7Stanes came to be. Something Simonralli and I were discussing only the other week and a challenge he may yet take up is to do a history of the Stanes revolution.
Even within Scotland there is some "bitterness" that MTB gets more financial support in the Borders than elsewhere.
Yup! Please separate the Borders from D&G 💡
Ae, Mabie and Dalbeattie are in serious need of some tlc. Those of us on the West side can only look on as the East side would appear to be able to acquire funded easily ❓
Allegedly due to some senior FC/E bigwig influencing the decision making. NB I am using the word "allegedly" gained from a reasonably sound source.
With regard to the 7 stanes, were they not partly EU funded as an economic regeneration programme in rural areas but not too far from a large population centre?
Yes, as above re F&M.
FE, D&G Enterprise, Borders Council, SNH and others put together a Euro bid for £2mill and started to panic when they got it!! They expected to get 1/2 that, most of which had already been spent at GT(note the precedent)
The tourism figures and financial impact on the areas affected by F&M at the time probably had some part to play in influencing the decision.
Having a look at the "Where To Ride" section. Under "Central" there's no mention of Carron Valley. They also believe the Fire Tower trails have "great free-riding "
WTF?
ditch_jockey - Member
Can we call this the "politics of envy" yet, or do we have to wait until a few more English people bitch about the way their funding is allocated south of the border?
Sheffield is pitching to become the centre of the English mtb scene
http://www.ridesheffield.org.uk/
http://dirt.mpora.com/news/sheffield-riders-group-shapes.html
BoardinBob - Member
Having a look at the "Where To Ride" section. Under "Central" there's no mention of Carron Valley. They also believe the Fire Tower trails have "great free-riding "WTF?
Trekster - Member
Sheffield is pitching to become the [s]centre[/s] [b]capital[/b] of the[s] English[/s] [b]UK[/b] mtb scene
[url= http://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/sheffield-sets-sights-on-becoming-uk-capital-of-mountain-biking/ ]Sheffield to set sights on becoming UK capital of mountain biking?[/url]
Don't s**** at the back!!!
*s****s*
Actually Sheffield is great for mountainbiking in many ways - the only thing missing is access to trail centres but it has good green routes in and out of the city and great natural riding around the city.
Golf tourism is apparently worth around £220 million to the Scottish economy. That is only "tourism" and not golf in Scotland as a whole, but I am surprised that mountain biking figures are in the same ball park. Pleasantly surprised.
#careerchange
A fat kid in London isn't going to get his parents to drive to Peebles, but there's a fighting chance his parents will take him to Swinley.
whilst on a post ride coffee break there are some pretty chunky looking kids already getting out to Swinley!...
Having a look at the "Where To Ride" section. Under "Central" there's no mention of Carron Valley. They also believe the Fire Tower trails have "great free-riding "WTF?
It is under Central for me...
http://www.dmbins.com/riders/where-to-ride/16_carron-valley-mountain-bike-trails
Sheffield to set sights on becoming UK capital of mountain biking?
Lots of well regarded manufacturers in and around that area.
Developing mountain biking? This involves buying a map and looking for bridleways rupps and boats (in England)it doesn`t take £m of public money.
[s]Sheffield[/s]Yorkshire is already something of an MTB centre for England, if mostly consisting of good natural trails aided by what seems to be better than average access.
Dalby, Gisburn (well, almost Yorkshire), Stainburn and all the other stuff the Singletraction guys work hard to deliver all help with this.
Arguably the scenery in that shot is the main draw (the riding looks a little bland)
Aye, the Devils' Staircase is bland....
hahaha ! 😀Nobeerinthefridge - Member
Arguably the scenery in that shot is the main draw (the riding looks a little bland)
Aye, the Devils' Staircase is bland....
>a. A group who's sole purpose is to make Scotland the greatest place to be a mountain biker and deeply cares about our wants and needs
b. A group of self serving Muppets who's only interest is bank rolling their own lifestyles by hoovering up all the available grants/cash and giving F-all back
c. Some bizarre ineffectual mix of the above two options which may have it's heart in the right place but seems incapable of producing anything other than meetings and the resultant reports<
mostly b. with a smattering of c.
Unfortunately.
d) getting a new generation of kids interested in mtbing and showing them that it doesn't have to cost loads and it can be done on your doorstep to get you started.
Most people involved are volunteers, the PM is paid but not very much.