A WILL & A WAY
If there’s been one constant over the last 25 years, it’s the trails we ride. Or so you’d think. In the last quarter of a century, trails have changed just as much as our bikes, gear and riding. Trails are, ultimately, the reason we ride. Tracing their history and development is the best way to see just how much mountain biking as a sport has evolved, while also giving us some clues as to what the future may hold.
The job for any mountain bike magazine, especially one with the tagline ‘Just get out and ride’, is to inspire and inform readers about where they can actually go and ride. Twenty five years ago that was limited to whatever appeared on an Ordnance Survey map – and was legal to ride, of course.
The first mbr route guide was a selection of rides in the Midlands, mostly on towpaths. We revisited these routes 10 years later for a feature, ‘Canal Knowledge’, and even then the disconnect between a modern bike’s ability and the trails was huge. Today, those same trails would be best enjoyed on one of the new breed of fat-tyred, drop-barred gravel bikes rather than a mountain bike.
Not all routes have aged so poorly. Bikes and riders may be more
