European Study on Trail Sustainability Gives New Insight on Mountain Biker Motivations, Illegal Trail Use, & More
Photo: Ross Bell
It's no secret that mountain bikers sometimes face conflict with other user groups and can be portrayed as reckless, inconsiderate, and hedonistic, but a recent study found, in contrast, that mountain bikers are largely driven by affective motives like appreciation for nature, and the vast majority say the sport has caused them to change their behavior to better take care of their environment.
The study, led by Tom Campbell of the Edinburgh Napier University and the Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland and available in full here, surveyed 3,780 European mountain bikers in several areas: demographics, riding styles, trail use and preferences, motivations for mountain bike participation, opinions and understandings around trail access, attitudes toward sustainable trails, and environmental behaviors. For the first time, a large-scale study assessed the myths about mountain bikers' attitudes and behaviors and pitted those myths against what those mountain bikers actually said.
The other authors behind the study are Lewis Kirkwood of the Edinburgh Napier University and The Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland, Graeme MacLean of Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS), Mark Torsius of IMBA, and Geraint Florida-James of the Edinburgh Napier University and The Moutain Bike Centre of Scotland.
The survey included questions like, for example, the following:
 | Thinking about your own use of trails and personal attitude towards nature, please indicate to what extent the following statements apply to you: My use of and access to trails has led me to change my behaviours to reduce my environmental impact—strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree. |
Results
Demographics & Rider Characteristics
The respondents were European residents over the age of 16 and 60% male, 16% female, and 24% undisclosed gender. Most self-described as intermediate (50.2%) or advanced (43.2%), with 3.7% beginners and 2.9% professionals.
The largest age bracket was 36-45 (33.8%), followed by 26-35 (25.6%) and 46-55 (23%). 9.9% of respondents were under 25, with the remaining 7.8% over 55. The countries with the most respondents, with more than 300 each, were Denmark, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK. France, Germany, and the Netherlands were the next most-represented, with between 100 and 300 respondents each.
Riding Styles
Trail (31.2%) and enduro (25.7%) riders unsurprisingly made up the bulk of the respondents, followed by cross country (15.1%), freeride/downhill (12.9%), pump track (8.2%), miscellaneous (4.1%), and dirt jump (2.8%).
When broken down by country, a few statistics stand out: The Netherlands and Denmark have significantly more cross country riders when compared with the rest of the countries, while France and Italy dominate in terms of enduro (unsurprising, considering the terrain of those countries). Switzerland and Italy have the most downhill and freeride enthusiasts, with Norway and Germany close behind.
Photo: Scotty McLaughland
Motivations
The largest group of participants indicated exercise/health as their primary motivation (20.2%), closely followed by connection with nature (19.2%). Next on the list were play (17.4%) and challenge (17.3%), essentially tied, and escape/solitude (16.7%). Risk, accomplishment, culture, each received less than 3% of the responses.
Germans mountain bike for escape and solitude nearly four percentage points more than average, and the Danish don't ride for play nearly as much as most other countries - 12.8% compared with 17.4%. Brits seem less interested in connecting with nature than average (15.2% compared with 19.2%) and are more drawn to risk than most (5.5% compared with 3.5%).
Attitudes Toward Trail Access
70.6% of mountain bikers surveyed believe they are clear on where they are allowed to ride, while nearly half (46.5%) believe mountain bike trails should be reserved for mountain bikers only. Fewer than 20% of respondents feel that mountain bikers should be limited to bike-specific trails, and 80% believe mountain bikers should have access to all trails including hiking and equestrian trails.
Unauthorized Trail Use & Social Conflict
Most riders surveyed ride unauthorized trails from time to time, at least. 21.3% said they ride unauthorized trails often, 36.7% said they ride unauthorized trails occasionally, 26.3% said they never ride illegal trails, and the remaining 15.7% were unsure.
The most common rationale for riding unauthorized trails was insufficiency of legal trails (25.7%), followed closely by "it's harmless if done at quiet times" (24.8%). The desire for freedom and adventure ranked third with 18.2%, legal trails being unappealing ranked fourth with 15.5%, 'other' ranked fifth with 13.6%, and convenience took the remaining 2% of the vote.
Now, a few outliers: Germany, by far, had the most riders who ride unauthorized trails, with 53.6% riding them often and 34.1% riding them occasionally. Just 7.7% of German respondents stick only to the legal trails. Denmark riders, on the other end of the spectrum, tend to abide by the rules, with 44.9% never riding unsanctioned trails, 42.1% riding them occasionally, 7.2% unsure, and just 5.8% riding them often.
In terms of rationale, Germans were most likely to say there were insufficient legal trails with 35.8% of the responses. Norwegians were least likely to answer that their legal trails were unappealing, with just 3.5% of the responses - barely over one-fifth of the average. France ranked highest in wanting freedom or adventure, with 24.9%, beating the average by 6 percentage points.
The majority of respondents had experienced some social conflicts while riding unauthorized trails, with the most frequent form of conflict being other trail users making negative comments (64.5%). Over 60% who experienced those comments said those experiences happened either "very infrequently" or "now and again," as opposed to more frequently.
Environmental Attitudes & Behaviors
Nearly 90% of riders surveyed ride on wet trails, particularly in the UK, where riders largely feel they don't have other options and where riders were also more likely than in other countries that they ride wet trails for enjoyment.
About 95% say that mountain biking has increased their appreciation of nature, while nearly that many say the sport has increased their willingness to protect trails. 90% have also taken direct action to protect nature.
98% of respondents said the sustainability of mountain bike trails is important to them and 75% said they believe they have a good understanding of what makes a trail sustainable. 60% of the riders said they feel a sense of ownership to their local trails, with just 10% answering that trail maintenance is the responsibility of the landowner. 91% of respondents believe mountain bikers should volunteer to maintain the trails.
Perceptions of Sustainable Trail Characteristics
1552 respondents provided a free text response to the question of what they consider to be a sustainable trail, then those responses were analyzed and broken down by theme. The responses, in general, fell in two categories: sustainability of the trails themselves and their broader impact on their environments. The broader themes around the trails themselves were good drainage, little need for maintenance, natural materials, long-term durability, and all-weather durability. The themes that emerged from the broader environmental responses focused on minimizing the trails' impacts on the broader environment, minimizing erosion, and preventing damage to local flora and fauna. "We also learnt that mountain bikers consider a sustainable trail to encompass a range of social, economic and wider environmental elements which extend well beyond the construction and maintenance of the trail itself," Campbell wrote.
Photo: Innes Graham
Conclusions
The researchers concluded that mountain bikers, as a whole, care more about the natural environment and the sustainability of their trails than is often stereotyped. Similarly, they found that mountain bikers are motivated largely by the same factors as hikers and other trail users, rather than by "risk," despite mountain biking being often categorized as an "adrenaline sport."
| Even more interesting is that most riders believe that mountain biking has increased their appreciation of nature and their willingness to protect it. In fact, most riders claim to have taken direct action to protect nature and have also changed their behaviour to reduce their environmental impact because of their participation in mountain biking. So, we have some initial evidence of a positive causal relationship between mountain biking and environmental conscience. |
Riders' self-reported attitudes and behaviors toward trail stewardship indicate that governing bodies and stakeholders can capitalize on this "goodwill," the researchers suggest, by providing more avenues for mountain bikers to support their trails, both financially and through volunteering.
The authors also concluded that there's a need for more research regarding illegal trail use and its impact on the environment. Thanks to a lack of systematic information, the article read, the sustainability implications of riding illegal trails remain unclear, and more research could be used to better inform decisions about trail advocacy and mountain bike access in the future.
| Understanding how and why mountain bikers are using certain types of trails should help to inform planners, landowners, and trail builders when making decisions about future trail provision and also ongoing maintenance. The fact that mountain bikers are willing to contribute to trail maintenance provides an excellent opportunity to harness social and financial capital to benefit our trail networks and the wider natural environment. However, mechanisms need to be created to ensure that these willing attitudes can be easily turned into actions. |
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the flipside is when I ride something on the "down low", I don't put it on the internet. If you really want, you ccan use your "internet footprint" to direct out of town riders to certain trails over others by doing simply things like updating Trailforks ride logs for some trails and having radio silence on others.
@sailor74 Yes I remember that even though I'm not that old. It was such an amazing feeling when you finally found a trail after following every small footpath you saw
Also bad when mt bikers are anti moto when many many trails were moto 1st.
Same thing hikers on mtb made trails.
Very rare to see a hiker working on trail drainage before it during rain.
Of course, except of some small private parts or protected areas.
So, if it can be done here, with just a little bit of willingness and common sense (shared trails between hikers and mtbikers) it can be done everywhere
www.bernerzeitung.ch/schlammschlacht-auf-berner-wanderwegen-841345496679
One party interprets the law as it’s allowed everywhere in CH where not explicitely forbidden, the others say another law regulates this…
The law is a different sight. Then you can read the law's in the swiss canton of aargau and its official forbidden to ride, see here.. www.ag.ch/de/bvu/wald/erholungsraum_wald/reiten_und_biken_im_wald/reiten_und_biken_im_wald_1.jsp
In Switzerland its everywhere different. In Valais there is a strong corporation between the swiss hiking association and the MTBer's like Graubünden.
And for an example in Basel. Before the trail was build in Sissach, there was no problem to ride all the hiking trails that exist there... And know, you've got a flowline, one official Trail to ride, and everything around is now forbidden. Just saying...
www.zh.ch/de/sicherheit-justiz/sicher-unterwegs/sicherheit-im-strassenverkehr/verkehrsregeln-im-wald.html
but i don't care, and ride my bike on any trails ;-)
but not in ZH SG AI AR etc.
Woman: King of the 'oo?
Arthur: King of the Britons.
Woman: 'Oo are the Britons?
Arthur: Well we all are! We are all Britons! And I am your king.
Woman: I didn't know we 'ad a king! I thought we were autonomous collective.
Man: (mad) You're fooling yourself! We're living in a dictatorship! A self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes--
Woman: There you go, bringing class into it again...
Man: That's what it's all about! If only people would--
Arthur: Please, *please*, good people, I am in haste! *Whose TRAIL is that?*
@CT-MTB Ha, you're right, that was an exaggeration. But still far more are willing to do trail work than advocacy was my point.
And I've seen it more than once that you really don't want too many people showing up to actually dig. Some people don't want to listen, start doing their own thing, butt heads.
Spring trimming and post-storm cleanup, the more bodies the more better.
This is my experience from you know, actually participating.
Not all Trail Stewardship's are created equal. Some are collaborative, some are fiefdoms.
@yoimaninja: It is all about what you prioritize in your life, you can have a full time job and give up 4 hours on your weekend once a year to dig. The "I don't have time excuse" is just silly.
T = 0.00 hrs -- load gear into car
T = 0.50 hrs -- arrive at trailhead
T = 0.75 hrs -- safety & planning talk
T = 1.00 hrs -- break into groups, hike to work zone
T = 1.50 hrs -- arrive at work site, plan work
T = 1.75 hrs -- start working
T = 2.50 hrs -- wrap up work
T = 3.00 hrs -- arrive back at car, change clothes, socialize with folks
T = 3.25 hrs -- change out of muddy cloths, drive home
T = 3.75 hrs -- arrive home, unload gear
T = 4.00 hrs -- out of the shower, resume child care duties
So that's 45 minutes of digging if you're going to dedicate 4 hours
You can leave early for the trails and don't count the drive there. Get your tools and all up the trail and start work. Maybe even plan on stashing a couple of tools so when you're riding the same trail you can put in a few minutes of work. No real need to change clothes unless you're working in the rain and no reason to socialize if you are pressed for time. Zip home, crack a cold one and be proud of yourself.
How do you know you're on a legal bike trail in Tirol (outside of a bikepark )?
There are cars driving on it
The problem basically begins with advocacy (or rather the lack thereof) and the mis- or under-representation of mountainbiking as a sport in municipal politics. This issue also isn't helped by the public perception of the sport. Mountainbiking in the public opinion has historically always been regarded as a rather rowdy activity and definitley not a sport to be taken serious. As such, there has always been a lot of NIMBY-ism going on in politics trying to limit bike access to public trail systems. Unfortunately, the legal situation to trail access and public land access for mountainbiking has developed accordingly.
The legal situation is very complicated and slightly varies from one state to another. I don't want to bore you to death with a lecture in German public law, so I'm not going to go into detail. But to put it short: Right now, in most German states, it's basically illegal to ride your mountainbike offroad anywhere where doing so is not specifically permitted (via a signpost). The question of liability on public trails does its part in further complicating the matter regarding the legal situation.
In the last couple of years, at least the representation issue has slowly been getting better. There's now advocacy groups and biking clubs forming everywhere and there have been some officially sanctioned trails built that you'd actually find appealing as a mountainbiker. But it's happening very slowly and not there are nowhere near enough trails in most places. The the legal situation is, like I said, also still far from ideal. Trail access is still legally prohibited in most places with special permits required to build and maintain trails. Even as a club, you'd have to jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops.
On top of that, the objectors and adversaries have been getting more and more militant in their efforts to keep hiking trails, forests and open land mountainbike free. The most radical adversaries of trail access for mountainbikes are often times not even the hiking clubs or horseback riders, but ecologists, conservationists and other Greens - if you can believe the irony.
There's still hope for the future but right now Germany really isn't a good place to live as a mountainbiker.
Here in Utah it seems that once trails were realized as an economic stimulator, they started springing up everywhere. And the newer trails (~last 5 years or so) are very entertaining.
I don't pretend to know German culture and Utah may be a bit "wild west", so I hope this helps?
That and patience....
Stuff like this happens in Freiburg all the time. I don't know about other places, but here the NIMBYs even attack official and legal trails. As you said, by far the largest problem is that mountainbiking has had a rather unfavourable public image. Basically the same thing that happened to the skater scene in the 90s. People finally need to accept that riding a mountainbike is as much of a legitimate hobby as hiking or playing football.
That cultural shift is probably what needs to happen for things to get better. Like I said, there's hope for the future, but it's going to take a lot of time.
It's good to hear that, biking wise, things are going in the right direction in Utah. And what a fantastic place to go for a hike or bike ride. So much awesome scenery...
I find it difficult to define trails, as the concept varies so much. I'd like to split them into "tracks" - purpose built for riding, whereas "trails" is something created by multi-use, including wildlife. "Natural trails" sounds weird over here, at least in my head.
But heaven forbid if you rode your mountainbike on a singletrail through the forest, because THAT would surely disturb the wildlife.
There's also a big difference between "unauthorized" and actually illegal. Unauthorized simply means it isn't formalised in any way, and any liability lies solely with the rider (usually). Whereas if you own/lease/have permission to use the land, build a trail, grade it, sign it, and encourage people to use it then it's on you to maintain it to a safe standard.
There might be some local rules that prohibits biking in some areas though. And also it might not be great riding everywhere just because you are allowed (high speed on shared gravel paths as some like to do...)
Saying Finland is in Scandinavia is like saying Belgium is part of France.
Belgium and France are both in Europe, but that doesn't mean Belgium is in France. You understand?
If you build your trail properly you will do all the earth moving required to create the trail you want without causing too much impact. Erosion is caused when a trail is not supported and/or properly drained, causing trail widening and collapse. These are all extremely common on more natural trails, particularly in forests where the ground is more wet.
A supportive berm (supportive, not necessarily big), for example, prevents people from skidding, going off the trail, taking the trail too wide etc. and as long as it's drained properly the trail shouldn't change. It takes a day in Squamish to know this, the trails there are excellent, don't involve bringing in material, and don't erode (all trails require some maintenance).
Your trail design needs to work with the terrain you're using. I've done plenty of erosion correcting work in the forest.
You are right in that a lot of trails are made without people thinking, but as I say that's about incompetence and not doing something which is appropriate to the situation. There is not one single correct method for everywhere.
It would interesting to find out exactly how the number and use of rogue trails relates to local rules/access, government support, etc.
Thanks to those that did this study. It shows more needs to be done.
I consider myself a frequent hiker too. When I do it through it's with trail building tools in hand
For example I would never have checked "connect with nature" and seems Brits are low on that front. I do like the fact that my exercise, adreneline, and friends happen to be outside but its not in any way why I do it.
Not one of my motivators for riding, I definitely would not have ticked it.
But another language it may be just "joy of being outside", and maybe I would...
-The provision of official trail capacity hasnt kept up with the demand and the growth of the sport - thats only going to get worse.
-Local authorities still lack the interest in investing in trails and facilities, despite the clear economic benefit.
-Mountain bikers like a range of trails, some natural. Trail centres are only just waking up to providing more of a mix.
-Not everyone lives near official trails
Personal I still find it amazing that I pay my taxes to fund the Forestry Commission and yet they then tell you where you can and cant ride on publicly owned land.
Note that in some regions, all trails are deemed legal unless signed otherwise. In other regions, trails are unsanctioned unless signed for biking. That also affects the numbers.
I know the picture above is meant to support this piece, but that type of trail building is not best for the environment, if we really want to get down to it. Locally, there has been a push to build flow trails with banked corners and clean smooth surface. These are not trials, they are tracks. I hate the word sustainable as used in current context. Sustainable only means high maintenance because we dug and exposed too much dirt to keep erosion to a minimum without constant maintenance. They take a mini dozer thru the woods, dig and push stumps and trees to the side and build these tracks. You can have flow without this. I enjoy minimally built trails that include roots and rocks and wish the current mindset on trail building would change. I guess the younger generation likes it. But, it is not making you a better rider...
Rest of us are far lower impact riding trails that survive for years. Survey looks to be way off. or perhaps we dont reflect the rest of the world? unlikely...
No shit most of us ride unsactioned trails (particularly in Canada). They are just better in just about every way.
#renagdetrailsforever #guerillabuildersunite
There will be an announcement soon in your area that should make you happy. Bonus points for use of "wankers".