No we're not talking about hurling yourself off cliffs or riding along lolly sticks shouting "dude" and "pinner" to each other like Bill and Teds most excellent pedalling adventure. No I'm talking about the fact that the most commonly asked question (apart from can we nick bits of the site for our school project) is "how much do you have to pay to ride the trails?"
Philosophically speaking we could fill a whole book about the investement of sweat, the food needed to rpovide it, the complex wrangling and loss of earnings/dog house credit with work and wives plus the price of bikes and their depreciation in value after a single lap of a trail. In actual put your hand in your pocket terms though the Welsh trails are totally free to ride.
Yup that's right, not toll bar, no ticket, no man in a guardsmans hat with a bus conductor machine, just an open gate which says 'trails this way, all the fun you can eat for free.'
Yes most of the centres have a pay and display car park, but frankly for the amount of millions ploughed into the trail and centre development a few quid to leave your car is a small price that you'd pay almost anywhere you left it apart from your own drive. The jet washes aren't anymore expensive than the ones at your local garage either and you needn't ever worry about Wales running out of water by using them. By using the parking, the washers and filling up your face in the cafes you're also proving it's worth investing even more money into new trails and facilities. So remember that if you think it's clever to park on the edge of the forest and get in the way of all the local traffic to save a couple of quid, because ultimately the future of mountain biking in Wales is in your hands.
That's all really. Just to say the trails are free and we reckon that's a really bloody good thing that deserves supporting and celebrating with an extra slice of cake at the cafe next time you ride.
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