Join the OX Trails community! 

Round & About

Dan Andrew tells us more about the OX Trails community who invite you to a fun, free biking event at Ladygrove Park Didcot on 23rd August 

OX Trails is the name for the Oxfordshire Trail Association, set up in September. We’re a group of off-road cyclists who have come together to form an unincorporated charity that promotes off road cycling. 

Our mission is to change the landscape of off-road cycling in Oxfordshire. We work with local land owners, local authorities and communities to identify, build, maintain and promote cycling trails and tracks. Not only that, our aim is to build the community around these tracks through community building and maintenance of trails and to promote off road cycling in a positive manner.  

Anyone who rides off-road knows the county has a lack of purpose-built trails and tracks. Bridleways are shared with walkers and horse riders which often creates conflict. A handful of small pump tracks cater for very young children, and the Ridgeway is great for cross-country riders and for developing fitness but offers little in the way of challenging terrain or features to ride. Little pockets of purpose-built trails do exist but are often built without permission so often kept secret. If discovered, they often get destroyed. To ride purpose-built trails means a drive to Swinley Forest, The Forest of Dean, Tidworth, Rogate or Wales. For the younger generation this is a real problem. 

Providing dedicated cycling facilities gives riders the opportunity to develop their skills in safe spaces. We aim to make off-road cycling accessible to newcomers and young people. The benefits of participating in any sport are well documented, including cycling. Our work promotes healthy lifestyles and wellbeing and has the potential to facilitate a passion for cycling that will impact sustainable transport.  

OX Trails are developing a collaboration agreement with the National Trust for the maintenance and development of Badbury Clump trails in Faringdon, Oxfordshires only sanctioned mountain bike trails. We’ve been looking after the trails for several months now and have repaired many of the trail features and trimmed much of the vegetation around them. We also have projects at the proposal stage in Didcot and Abingdon – the first modelled on the facilities they have at Edenbrook Country Park in Fleet and the latter to redevelop the BMX track in South Abingdon. There’s also lots in the pipeline that we can’t speak about yet!