Since MTBs – or ATBs (all terrain bicycles), as they were often known back then – started to become available in the UK in the mid-’80s, the sport has grown steadily. In recent years, this growth has become more marked, with the 2020 lockdowns getting more people out on bikes, mountain biking attracting a more diverse range of riders, and e-bikes opening up the sport to more people than ever before. Add an increasing number of folk wanting to explore beyond purpose-built trail centres and bike parks, and natural trails have inevitably become more crowded, and conflict with other users and landowners more prevalent. This isn’t helped by England and Wales’s outdated and confusing rights-of-way system, complete with inappropriate, missing or incorrect records.
There is, therefore, a need, now more than ever, for advocacy for mountain biking, if we want the sport to continue to grow and to develop it for the next generation. Thankfully, Cycling UK are taking up the mantle with their ‘Lost Ways’ and ‘Missing Links’ campaigns, seeking to get wrongly-recorded footpaths corrected to become bridleways. This window of opportunity closes in 2026, though, so there’s never been a better time to join their cause (). On a local level, the likes of Ride Sheffield (), Trail Collective North Wales () and many others are also doing sterling work when it comes to
