Ride the Super 6 campaign launced at UK MTB conference

Forestry Commission England launched their Ride the Super 6 campaign at the UK Mountain Bike Conference in Kielder last October. The Super 6 covers the biking trails in the six most northern forests managed by Forestry Commission England, Kielder, Chopwell, Hamsterley, Whinlatter, Grizedale and Gisburn. Attendees of the UK MTB Conference had the opportunity to experience some of the amazing mountain bike trails in Kielder Water & Forest Park, including a night ride to the renowned Kielder Observatory and a cross border ride from Newcastleton (7 Stanes) to Kielder Castle. The night ride was the kick off of a three day conference that covered mountain biking’s role in health, the environment and economic development. Presentations are available here These days, most other European mountain bike conferences attract a more or less tourism orientated audience but the UK MTB conference also had a great representation of land managers and foresters across the UK which led to to good, substantive discussions. One of the highlights of the conference took place on Friday evening at the Awards for Outstanding Achievements ceremony which was initiated by Forestry Commission England. Mark Torsius did the honours on behalf of IMBA Europe and had the opportunity to hand out awards in 10 different categories. Ranging from the youngest (5 year old Evie) trail builder to the best fundraiser and life time achievement award. A wonderful example of close cooperation between land managers and mountain bikers. Hopefully we’ll see more of these kind of initiatives across Europe. [[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_responsive”,”fid”:”498″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”style”:”max-width: 680px;”,”width”:”100%”}}]]Real nice piece of craftsmanship[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_responsive”,”fid”:”499″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”style”:”max-width: 680px;”,”width”:”100%”}}]]The youngest volunteer of all! 5 year old Evie[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_responsive”,”fid”:”500″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”style”:”max-width: 680px;”,”width”:”100%”}}]]Life time achievement award for Craig Hunter – with Alex MacLennan on the right (FC England)[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_responsive”,”fid”:”501″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”style”:”max-width: 680px;”,”width”:”100%”}}]]You can find all award winners back on the UK MTB Conference Facebook page [[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_responsive”,”fid”:”502″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”style”:”max-width: 680px;”,”width”:”100%”}}]]Newcastleton – Kielder Castle Ride[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_responsive”,”fid”:”504″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”style”:”max-width: 680px;”,”width”:”100%”}}]][[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_responsive”,”fid”:”503″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”style”:”max-width: 620px;”,”width”:”100%”}}]]Darkest skies: Kielder Observatory