Get involved at trashfreetrails.org but you don’t actually have to wait for an excuse to clear the trails, just make like this mbr reader and get picking!

>>> How and why you should do a bit of trail maintenance

Trash talking

Last month I slogged my way up the first big climb on my Sunday loop, popped out into the sunshine at the viewpoint ready for the reward of a sumptuous vista and beheld… rubbish. Not much, a few bits blowing about bit it was enough to spoil my ride. I picked them up, but everywhere I stopped from then on I seemed to pick out more of it, like my brain was attuned to its pervasive nature. It’s everywhere if you look hard enough. It’s bad for the environment, the soil, the wildlife, our health and our wellbeing and it’s time to stop it.

– Tim Brown

mbr – Great letter Tim, thanks for taking some personal action on this. There’s a lot of momentum at the moment around clearing up rubbish, internationally of course but now on the mountain bike scene too — a new organisation’s just launched called Trash Free Trails (TFT), dedicated to cleaning up our trails and riding spots. As a publicity drive TFT is starting with a roadtrip, taking in eight riding spots around the UK, from BikePark Wales to on April 13 to the Tweedlove festival at Inners on June 9. It’s more than a litter picking exercise though, at BPW for example there are rubbish cleanup rides, plastic pollution education activities, comedy consultation games and more.

Contact us: mbr@timedia.com

All Star Letter correspondents win a Madison Zenith waterproof jacket worth £99.99.