Queen Elizabeth Country Park has opened a new mountain bike trail

MOUNTAIN biking enthusiasts will be happy at the newest addition to a country park that officially opened at the weekend.
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The trail, which has taken just under a year to complete, spans across 300 metres, and has been produced by the park’s volunteer collective in a bid to encourage children and families to get more involved in the sport and get them outdoors.

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Dozens of people turned out to have a go on the trail and some families said that they have been searching for a beginners track to take their children to.

Emily Wing, 10, tests the new mountain bike trail in Queen Elizabeth Country Park watched over by dad Dave Wing, 39 Picture: Mike Cooter (210123)Emily Wing, 10, tests the new mountain bike trail in Queen Elizabeth Country Park watched over by dad Dave Wing, 39 Picture: Mike Cooter (210123)
Emily Wing, 10, tests the new mountain bike trail in Queen Elizabeth Country Park watched over by dad Dave Wing, 39 Picture: Mike Cooter (210123)

Dan Cooper, a volunteer for Queen Elizabeth Country Park, said: ‘It was really good, there was quite a few people there throughout the day, I stayed there until about 1pm and we had a lot of families come.

‘We even had young children with balance bikes and they were really enjoying it and the parents were saying how great it was that the trail had been made. A dad of a three or four-year-old had said that he was looking for somewhere for ages and it was amazing that this is here.’

A visitor tests out the new mountain bike  trail in Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Picture: Mike Cooter (210123)A visitor tests out the new mountain bike  trail in Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Picture: Mike Cooter (210123)
A visitor tests out the new mountain bike trail in Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Picture: Mike Cooter (210123)
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The park received some funding from Sport England and British Cycling’s Places to Ride and it is also planning to make even more improvements which will include training and skills areas for people to practise, as well as making adjustments to the existing trails to bring them back up to a high standard.

The blue trail in the park will be updated as it was named MTB Volunteer Trail of the Year 2018, and due to various reasons, it needs regenerating to bring it back up to its original quality.

Dan added: ‘It is all part of a bigger project that is happening at QECP because we got some funding and there is going to be a skills area that is going to be by the new trail.’

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