Making a mountain out of a molehill

Hi, this is my first blog introduction into why we started OX Trails.

I’ve been mountain biking for over 8 years now, and have lived in Oxfordshire from before I started riding. As soon as I hit my first trail, mountain biking instantly became my greatest passion. Within a short time I was embarking on regular weekend trips from Forest of Dean, all the way up to the Tweed Valley.

I’m originally from Devon, so when I first moved to Oxfordshire the rest of the country felt a lot more accessible. However, Oxfordshire is a blank spot on the map when it comes to bike trails. To get my required riding fix I found myself traveling +3 hour long trips every weekend to reach my trail destination.

Fast forward to December 2023 my daughter Sophie arrived, and this changed my perspective on trail accessibility. Those +3 hour long trips were no longer as practical. My colleague and OX Trails co-founder Gordon and I found ourselves dreaming of an Oxfordshire with a network of sanctioned trails and tracks accessible from our door step.

Barrow Hills in Abingdon is a BMX track near my house that had fallen into a poor state of repair. Gordon and I saw this as an opportunity to improve the riding potential from our door step. After biting the bullet and speaking to our District Council on a proposal to overhaul Barrow Hills, we were soon inspired to think broader. Unlike more popular riding destinations in the UK, Oxfordshire is very flat, has no Forestry England land, and many woodlands are private or SSSI’s. With such low density of trail opportunities we soon realised that we would need to look at this on a county scale to make a worthy impact, this ambition gave birth to the Oxfordshire Trail Association (OX Trails).

Oxfordshire Trail Association formed as unincorporated association in Septmber 2024. Since then we’ve grown our core members and are working hard to become operational and develop projects. Soon we aim to take on the license from the National Trust for developing and maintaining the trails at Badbury Clumps - a mountain bike gem in the county. In parallel we are working on a proposal with the Vale of White Horse District council for a volunteer led renovation of South Abingdon BMX track.

We are only at the start of our journey, but we couldn’t of progressed this far without the help of some amazing ambassadors in the riding community. As I look forward I see the potential for a diverse community working together to develop Oxfordshire’s riding network. If you’re reading this I hope I’ve inspired you to join us, the Ox Trails community trail builders.