MTBliftshare Launched For Tweed Valley Bikers

Peebles based sustainability group Tweedgreen has just launched a new website, MTBLiftshare.com. The message board is designed to help mountain bikers visiting the world class trails at Glentress and Innerleithen share their car journeys. Local project worker Isabelle Clements said: "Every weekend and even during the week, there is a steady influx of cars carrying mountain bikes into the Tweed Valley. Some of these cars are carrying only one solitary biker. We decided to set up this website to help people find other mountain bikers to share their journey with." Tweedgreen carried out a survey at Glentress to understand how mountain bikers currently travel to the trails. Of the mountain bikers interviewed, 91% had travelled 30-200 miles to ride at Glentress. The average distance travelled was 84 miles. One eager biker had travelled a round trip of 400 miles to experience his first ride at Glentress. Isabelle said: "We were surprised to discover just how far people travel to ride at Glentress.This is a testament to the quality of the trails – and the carrot cake at The Hub!" Tweedgreen was pleased to see that the vast majority of these mountain bikers had shared their journeys. 78% of riders said they would be happy to use a mountain bike specific website to find others to share their journey with in the future. MTBLiftshare.com is designed to help mountain bikers share their biking plans, meet up with riding buddies, share their journeys, save fuel, save money, and protect the environment. As well as reducing single occupancy vehicles, Tweedgreen hopes that MTBLiftshare.com will help bikers with no transport facilities, particularly younger riders and students, to get lifts to the trails and discover the fantastic rides in Glentress and Innerleithen. Events such as the Tweedlove Festival highlight the Tweed Valley as a prime destination for mountain biking. Chris Ball, founder of Dirt School (photographed with Ben Wills of RideLines and Jaymie Mart of Athleat Nutrition at Tweedlove on 19th June) said: "With so many like minded cyclists heading to the Tweed Valley on a daily basis, initiatives like MTBLiftshare.com make perfect sense for everyone. Not only can we all lower the impact of our day out on the planet but you might get to ride with some new people at the same time." www.MTBLiftshare.com