Just a couple of miles from a city centre

Purpose-built MTB trails have come to urban areas with the launch of Bristol's Timberland Trail. Bristol has a long-standing reputation for excellent almost-city-centre riding, but it's generally been a slightly underground affair. Increasing concerns from the powers-that-be about unsanctioned trail building and riding neatly dovetailed with renovation plans for the Ashton Court estate, and various local groups including the Forest of Avon, Forestry Commission and local shop/café Mud Dock Cycleworks got involved. £20,000 of sponsorship from Timberland was the final piece of the jigsaw, and work on an official trail got underway.

Phil Lee, one of the founder members of the Singletrackmind MTB club that built the 9feet.com (now Penhyddh) trail that got Afan Argoed established as an MTB destination, was contracted to design and build the new trail, with lots of work done by volunteers. The 11km trail uses some stretches of existing trail within the Ashton Court estate and in neighbouring Fifty Acre Woods, with plenty of brand-new stuff linking it all together.

The trail was officially opened at the recent Bristol Bike Fest, and was used in the 12-hour enduro event where it was well-received by the riders. And now it's open to all, although it'll be a couple of weeks before all of the permanent waymarkers are in - when we rode it there were lots of temporary signs, some of which seemed to have gone astray...

It's a trail of two halves, with one section in Ashton Court and the other in Fifty Acre - there's a couple of brief road stretches to link the two up. You can do the two halves in either order, although riders are encouraged to all go in the same direction - worth bearing in mind if you're a local and have got used to riding some sections the other way.

It's impressive how much trail has been packed in to quite a small area - look at it on the map and there's not a great deal of space. It's been done by being very twisty and loopy - a quick-handling bike and good front tyre are very useful. If you like your trails fast and open you may be disappointed, but if you enjoy having to work a bit then step right up. There's a couple of bits where you feel rather as if you're riding around in very small circles, but that's the trade-off for a decent length trail in a small space. Ride round the Timberland a few times and watch your cornering improve immeasurably...

Having a decent trail this close to a major city centre is a splendid thing, and will with any luck be mirrored by other cities. Sure, at least in part it's a way for the authorities to get riders away from certain areas, but we'd rather see a carrot than a stick.

More information on the Timberland Trail can be found on the Forest of Avon website.