Let's Tidy Those Trails!

One of the best things about mountain biking has got to be the places that it takes us.

A ride can transport you to a wild location that feels far away from civilization, or it can give you a new appreciation of somewhere much closer to home. Be it the bike park or the backcountry, there’s almost always an amazing feeling of escape as if you’ve been transported away from the everyday and into an adventure. Sound familiar?

It's no surprise then that there's a growing movement in mountain biking to look after nature and take responsibility for the places we ride.

The team here at Marin Bikes are part of the movement. We love the places that we ride, we want to keep them safe for the future and we’re building a community around that passion.

We’re calling it Tidy Trails and we’re waging war on trash.

Why Does Trash Matter?

A pile of trash in a wild place is a glaring reminder of the impact that we can have on the natural world. But it's more than just an eyesore: the amount of non-biodegradable waste we're leaving in the outdoors has reached the point where it's having some serious side effects. You might want to skip the next paragraph if you're of a sensitive disposition, but this stuff is important.

Trash contributes to the deaths of an estimated million animals per year around the world. Over in the UK, where Tidy Trails was dreamt up, animal rescue charity the RSPCA deals with an average of 14 calls per day concerning injuries to wildlife from man-made pollution.

And the devastating effects of trash are almost certainly bigger than we imagine - one study found that around one in 20 bottles and cans they collected had the remains of small mammals inside.

And of course, it’s not just plants and animals that are affected by trash, it bites us humans in the butt too. Trash strewn trails mean we’re more likely to have our trails knocked down, our access revoked and our reputation as mountain bikers tarnished.

If we don’t love those spaces we go to ride, we’ll stop visiting them or being allowed to visit them. They make us fitter, healthier and happier but only if we keep them safe. No trails, no benefits of the trails, right?

Why should riders pick up litter that's almost certainly been dropped by other people? It's a good question, but an even better one is “if you don’t, who will?”.

Mountain bikers often get the blame for leaving trash, but with our knowledge of the places we ride and our bond with the outdoors, we're the perfect people to do something about it. If you ride the same places regularly you'll know where trash tends to get dropped and how to get it to where it needs to be.

And this is where you come in… yes you!

How can you join the Tidy Trails Community?

Marin’s Tidy Trails starts this September as a worldwide “screw you trash!” from the Marin community.

The first Marin Tidy Trails Community Day is scheduled for the 24th of September and will take place on trails around the world.

Everyone here at Marin will spend the day on their local trails, scouring their favorite spots for soda bottles, gel wrappers and energy drinks cans. We’ll be leaving our favourite flow spots tidy and showing the world we’re committed to the tidiest of trails.

We’re encouraging anyone who cares for their trails to get involved too. Bike shop staff, Marin riders, friends, family, pets and relatives. You don’t need to own a Marin bike, you don’t even need to be a cyclist. Just go out onto your local trails and do your own Tidy Trails Community trash pick.

When you’re done, tag us on Instagram with @marinbikes_tidytrails and #TidyTrails and we’ll give you a social media high five for your efforts.

Marin Dealer and want to help? We’ve got you!

We’re asking Marin dealers to organize their own Tidy Trails Community meetups on their own trails. These can be in time with Tidy Trails Day on September 25th, or any other time throughout the year.

We can help dealers with their events and can even send along some staff to help out. If you ask really nicely, we might even send out some of our limited edition Tidy Trails bags, made specially by our friends at Montrose Bag Co for collecting Trash.

And of course, our commitment to the places we ride doesn't stop at keeping them tidy. We also want to recognise the hard work that goes into creating and maintaining the trails.

We’re also encouraging our dealers to reach out to local trail builders and advocacy groups, and take some time to help out on dig days under the Tidy Trails flag. We all benefit from having great trails and the more we can do to maintain them, the better.