UK Road Trip: A day at Coed Llandegla Trail Centre
Trail centres, a concept that started in the US, is a rapidly growing industry in the UK, seemingly springing up everywhere! With many other European countries being slow to embrace the concept, we headed to Llandegla in Wales to see what makes them so popular here in the UK. Basically the idea is to have a selection of all-weather tracks, colour coded for mixed abilities, and all one-way, so you know no-one is coming the other way at full tilt. These tracks are more often than not on forestry land and built with the use of a lot of stone, with some wooden North Shore stuff thrown in for good measure.
The colour coding follows the ski industry and is usually along the lines of the easiest being green, then blue, brown, red, then the hardest being black or black/black for full-on DH tracks. Among these tracks is usually a skills/jump type areas to hone the skills. Most trail centres are pay for parking, with the parking money going towards the up-keep of the trails. Parking will be to facilitate the often large amount of riders gathered at these places, especially on weekends, with toilets, showers, bike shop and restaurant being the norm too.
Over the summer we will be heading to trail centres all over the UK, the first of which being One Planet Adventure, Coed LLandegla over in North Wales. We hooked up with Managing Director Ian Owen (aka Badger) for a blast around the real fun 22k red and black trails, and to hear a few words on this very popular place.
So One Planet Adventure when and how did it all begin?
We opened our doors for the very first time on 30th July 2005, Both Jim Gaffney and myself left our “proper jobs” in the April of that year. We then had to do all the associated stuff with setting up a business and getting the trail centre into a working model. It’s safe to say that friends and families looked on with disbelief some of the time and we certainly heard the phrase, “are you mad” more times than was needed. We have both grown up within a few miles of the centre and with me being the eldest I have been riding in the forest since 1981 when the first MTB started to come into the country. I had been riding the woods on a BMX prior to that. It was this simple belief that we knew it would all work out.
What’s your average amount of riders per weekend?
It changes seasonally and with holidays, but works out at around 2,000 per week. I think we initially expected quieter in the winter and busier in the summer. As it turns out our busiest week is usually the one just after Christmas (if we don’t have snow). The whole family is off at the same time, lots of food has been eaten, Christmas bikes and new year resolutions. Surprisingly June can be one of the quiet months. Holidays aren’t in swing and it rains all the time!
Do you have good relationship with the Forestry Commission, especially with the ever increasing health and safety fun police!?
It’s a very different situation at Llandegla The Forest is actually privately owned by UPM-Tilhill and not the forestry commission (now Natural Resources Wales) We work in partnership with UPM-Tilhill so its a very close and very effective way of working. With regards to the health & Safety aspect we both adhere to and try to lead on what is considered best practice. Wales has a Trail Managers Forum, which gives us the opportunity to asses what is being done here and meet with the trail managers from the rest of the country to achieve a national standard.
What does OPA have to offer, coaching, families, fast riders, events, etc?
I am glad to say, quite a lot! With coaching we run the full gambit from teaching a non rider to ride, right the way up to world class coaching. The main work is between those points and getting riders to improve the skills that they have. We also offer first aid and maintenance courses to help off the bike. We work with the RSPB and have a black grouse hide in the forest for the people who like to rise very early in the morning, other evening events are also on offer. We have put a lot of walking trails in the forest also. This works well for families, so some of the non riders can go for a walk when their partners are out riding. As for organised events we have quite a full calendar. These include Duathlon, XC mountain bike, trail running race, night enduro, endurance mountain bike, forest products challenge, charity events and the commonwealth baton ceremony. I am sure that more will be organised as the year progresses and we always try and maintain open trails!
How many hours are put into track building by staff, do you have volunteers too, do you have any pro riders influencing track builds?
The main track builds and maintenance is carried out by qualified contractors, this is when funds are available, but we always have an annual plan for this in advance. We have a fantastic group of trail pixies and this happens the last Thursday of the month as a rule, the more the merrier. I get out just as often as I can, habitual puddle drainer, I probably need therapy! We also have a great relationship with a number of companies and they actively encourage their staff to go out and volunteer a day of time to the cause. We also have litter pick days. This is a huge frustration as the litter shouldn’t be dropped in the first place. I am sure you will all agree with that. We work with both Neil Donoghue and Jasson Rennie on track builds. Jason is actually a machine operator as well so he certainly knows how to build a jump.
How affected can you be by savage weather?
Very much so. We are 335m high at the centre and 500m at the top of the trail. Last year we had to close the doors for six weeks as the snow blew in and then refused to go. So many people drive for miles and then just as they arrive, they get to Llandegla snow! We call it a very problematic micro climate!
What do you have planned for the future?
Lots, we want to keep making the trails the best we can, along with a lot of other developments. But the weather, funding and general country economics can sometimes put us back a step. We are here for the long run and are determined to succeed…
We had a great time around Llandegla, all was ridable, with some fun flowing descents and climbs tough enough to test the fittest of riders, depending how hard you go at them. The food was absolutely spot on, with a nice heated down-to-earth restaurant serving top after-ride nosh, when it’s seriously pissing down and you don’t fancy going off piste in the deep mud and getting lost, you can’t really go wrong with a blast around this place.
Big thanks to www.oneplanetsdventure.com
Words: Jim Buchanan, Pics: Doc Ward
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