NEWS & NOTES FROM THE FIELD 

Trash Free Races took us to some incredible places last year. We’re very grateful to be able to laugh, play games, engage, chat and listen to a lot of people at those events. For reasons out of our control or explanation, every now and then, one conversation sticks a little more than others. The knock on effect of one conversation in particular has resulted in a new roving Community Hub and 7138 items of single-use pollution removed and reported by one power couple in Calder

Words by Katie May. Limitlass is Scotland’s leading women’s mountain bike community, empowering and inspiring riders of all levels. Our flagship event, The Limitlass Festival, is a weekend of skills coaching, workshops, guided rides, and wellbeing. All in a fun, uplifting and inclusive atmosphere. But Limitlass is more than just a festival. It’s a growing community built on connection , with each other, and with the wild places we explore. We know that Limitlass wouldn’t be

Image by Sam Dugon. Words by Rach Coleman Wales is something of our spiritual home. Though we work all over the UK (and a bit internationally now too!) it never fails to bring us immense joy and pride to return to Welsh trails. From Afan Forest and Bike Park Wales all the way up to the summit of Yr Wyddfa. Part of why we are who we are, is because Trash Free Trails was founded in this small but impactful country. Our work in Wales has only continued to grow in the last year,

Image by Pete Scullion. Words by Rach Coleman and Stan Townsend. We've sometimes worried this year that the Our Trails Gathering might have seemed like a bit of a blip. A singular moment of tremendous energy, never to be returned to or repeated. In all honesty, at times it's felt like this might be true. The Gathering, and Emergence, the programme of our work the event falls within, are still really new for us. It sometimes has to go on the backburner while our more establis

Words by Chris Hunt. As part of our ‘Pump Track But It’s Clean’ tour, this spring, we set off across the UK to hit the nation’s pump tracks, clean them up, meet the communities riding them and, as a side quest, we’d scout the best young talent honed on their berms and rollers to send to the UCI Pump Track World Championships qualifier in the North East of England. Well, in mid June those qualifiers took place and Joe Patterson who we met up at the Fort William event was there

Words by Claire Copeman. Images by Muhammad Muhsin Abd Rahman. While we've been busy bustling at race events, our Community Hubs continue to protect their local trails, and encourage others to do the same. Today one such Hub, Adventure Tours UK , are taking over the blog, to share more about what they've been up to in North Wales with EYST. At Adventure Tours UK, we believe in leaving the trails and wild spaces we love better than we found them. Last year we deepened our comm

Image by Leigh Rose. Words by Rach Coleman Last week we announced our annual ‘Earth Day Spring Clean’ campaign. But there's one very special aspect of the campaign we're especially stoked for - we're going on tour! Kicking off on April 10th in Cheddar, the HQ team will visit pump tracks from the South West all the way up to Fort William, concluding with an double bill event on April 19th that will see local riders tackle trash at the local bike park, and a small group of hike

Image by Sam Dugon. Words by Rach Coleman Today is Ostara - the Spring Equinox. I crawled out of bed at 5am to chase the sunrise at Hay Tor, the highest point on Dartmoor. It's not too far from my home, but it took some willing. I had to tell myself over and over - it will be worth it . I was thrilled to find out I was right. The Spring Equinox marks the seasonal shift from winter to summer in the Northern Hemisphere. On it, the length of day and night are the same - some kin

Images by Pete Scullion. Words by Sarah-Jane Brown Adaptive Riders Collective & Trash Free Trails: A Natural Partnership Since 2022, the Adaptive Riders Collective (ARC) has been creating opportunities for people with disabilities to explore the outdoors through adaptive cycling. ARC is more than just a cycling group, they are building a peer led community, focused on access and inclusion into the mainstream cycling world. Based in Scotland, ARC runs everything from introduc

Images by Pete Scullion. Words by Huw Jordan Despite a quiet end on our social media, the Our Trails Gathering was nothing but quiet - as we've returned to work after the festive break we find we keep returning to it and the incredibly inspiring people who joined us there. Here writer Huw Jordan shares his experience of the event, and some of his core takeaways. It’s been a few weeks now since the Our Trails Gathering saw a collection of activists, executives, scientists, adv