Projects at the Forest of Dean Cycle Centre

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Our vision is to make the Forest of Dean Cycle Centre the most complete trail centre in the UK. We want to create a place that offers something for everyone, where anyone feels welcome to ride.

To do this, we are constantly working on ways to make the centre even better. As well as regular, day-to-day maintenance of the existing trails, we also spend time drawing up plans for future trails and other projects which will improve the site.

This page outlines a few of the projects we're currently working on.

Mountain bike rider doing a jump with a red waymarker sign to his left

Freeminers Master Plan

Our red-graded cross-country trail, the Freeminers trail, is a challenging and varied trail which has developed over many years. For the last decade it has been maintained by the Dean Trail Volunteers (DTV).

The trail is currently made up of three loops of different lengths, which makes maintenance challenging. There are also issues with water management and erosion, which has left some sections almost un-rideable in the winter.

We have worked with DTV to create a master plan for the trail, which sets out our shared ambition of how we want the trail to look and ride in the future. This is a long-term plan which is likely to take several years. 

The main focus will be quality over quantity - one core loop will be identified to reduce the maintenance burden. The natural feel of the trail will be kept, some manmade features will be added, and the overall drainage will be improved. Our goal is to create and exciting red-grade cross-country trail worthy of sitting alongside our award-winning blue-graded Verderers trail

Fostering Inclusive Action Sports (FIAS)

We are working with the University of Bristol on their Fostering Inclusive Action Sports (FIAS) project. This project is designed to tackle gender inequality in mountain biking and they have created a Framework to help foster a more inclusive future for mountain biking culture. Forestry England is fully on board!

We have used the FIAS Framework to create our own action plan for the Forest of Dean, which will help us make the Forest of Dean Cycle Centre as inclusive as possible for women and marginalised genders. Some of the things we’re working on include:

  • Setting up a steering group of women+ riders to understand their experiences and help guide us on areas where we can improve
  • Exploring options for women+ focused events and races
  • Engaging with local groups of women+ riding in the Forest of Dean: exploring how we can proactively support them thrive and encourage more women+ and girls into mountain biking
  • Improving our marketing so that it is representative of women+ riders and helps drive culture change 

We are committed to understanding existing inequalities in mountain biking, to celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion. Our journey is ongoing and we’re proud of the work we’ve done – but we know there is still a long way to go. 

A group of female mountain bike riders sitting and laughing with a young girl

If you want to find out more about any of the work we're doing, or if you have any suggestions of improvements that could be made in the future, feel free to get in touch at: fodtrails@forestryengland.uk