The winter of 2021/2022 was brutal. Over the course of four months a total of seven huge storms hit mainland Britain, causing widespread destruction, with perhaps nowhere harder hit than Aberdeenshire. Trees were levelled in their thousands and the county lost much of its trail network. That’s bad for riders of course, but the aftermath for the local area and the businesses that rely on a steady flow of mountain bikers was much worse.
From the wreckage though, green shoots began to emerge in the shape of the Tarland 2 Trails. The Scottish government committed £350k towards finishing the new project, which in turn encouraged Scottish Cycling’s National Lottery fund to invest a further £300k, adding to existing community funding efforts. Fast-forward a year and those shoots have
