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After a few false starts, we’ve launched a proper Crowdfunder to raise the funds for a long overdue revamp of “Cooking on Gas” at Lady Cannings.

Click here to view the Crowdfunder and donate, or read on for more info!

With £20,000 earmarked already, we’re looking for another £20,000 to reach our goal of £40,000.

The money will be used to;

– Return the trail to its learner friendly Blue grade status

– Replace the trail surface along the majority of the track

– Reshape and improve berms and other trail features

– Improve sight lines at crossing points

After opening in 2017, the “Cooking on Gas” trail in Sheffield has proven popular with a variety of mountain bikers, those new to the sport, seasoned riders and everyone in between.  It’s one of two Blue Grade trails built within Lady Cannings – a plantation near Ringinglow that is managed by Sheffield City Council.  

Mountain bike trail grading follows much the same pattern as for skiing, so the Blue grade sits one step above a complete beginner Green trail.  Cooking on Gas was designed as a smoother rolling trail for those new to mountain biking – but with a few features that riders can use to build their skills.  This has only added to its popularity, with families making regular use of the track, along with its sister trail “Blue Steel”

With both trails having seen thousands of runs across the years, they’ve suffered wear and tear along with weather damage, with the surface wearing away and now in a much rougher condition.

While Blue Steel has suited  repairs by our excellent “Trail Crew” volunteer team, Cooking on Gas needs professional repairs with machinery and materials – which is why Ride Sheffield is asking for your donations to put to the cause.

Back in 2017, we launched Rad Tax as a way for riders to support us financially, paying monthly or annually for a Green, Blue, Red or Black level membership. On top of the warm, fuzzy feeling you get for supporting our group, each membership is also awarded with stickers, T shirts, hip flasks and more – depending on the level of support. Most supporters choose to pay monthly, donating £5, £10, £20 or £50 each month.

Rad Tax has been well supported over the last 5 years, bringing in around £650 a month from 70 supporters.

We think that it could be much bigger, more well supported and achieve greater things – partly with a bigger push and explanation from us, but partly that it’s been held back somewhat by its name. Feedback from local riders has been partly confusion and partly a dislike for something with Tax in the name. That’s a whole other conversation, but point taken!

For 2023, we’re renaming Rad Tax as Trail Fund!

Trail – we use the money raised to help pay towards trail maintenance, new build projects, rights of way improvements along with tools and training for our Trail Crews.

Fund – to make it clear that we’re collecting cash!

At a glance, it’s now much clearer what Trail Fund is for. We’ll also be clearer in how we spend the money and take feedback from contributors as to how it’s split between projects. Every 6 months we’ll post an update with facts and figures, along with ideas for the future. There’s lots that we’d love to be able to take on with enough budget, so we’re pretty excited for what this could bring!

The important bit –

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO TRAIL FUND!

On the other side of things and well worth a mention is that we’re in need of help in other ways. We’re aware that some of our supporters may be able to help in other ways, either instead or in addition to a financial contribution. We’re a small team a rather stretched, so any assistance you think might help us, we’re all ears. Practical work at trail days is brilliant, but perhaps you have skills elsewhere and some time you could spare to help? Admin, website, social media, photos, merch sales, writing funding bids, running an email list…. just a few ideas to start with.

As ever, we’re on info@ridesheffield.org.uk if you have any questions about Trail Fund (or offers of help!) Big thanks in advance!

Want more of this in your life? Of course you do!

Then come and help us build it!

Starting the winter season as we mean to go on, we’re planning to do more resurfacing work on Blue Steel at Lady Cannings on 19th November. 0930-1430. We’d love your assistance to make it happen.

Please sign up here:-

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/copy-of-lady-cannings-trail-day-finishing-blue-steel-tickets-454958803027

We will organise some refreshments afterwards, but will make a call on exactly what when we have a better idea of the weather.

See you there!

(please note – numbers are limited as we need to be able to manage both the quality of the work and the safety of you and other users in the area, and we can’t do that if there’s hundreds of keen diggers charging about the place with barrows or waving spades about)

The Sheffield response to COP26 was a sizeable demo and some inspiring speeches. However, we have characterised ourselves as the Outdoor City and, if we’re to be taken seriously, our response to the current environmental catastrophe has to be robust both within the city and without.

Apocryphally, Sheffield has the greatest level of graduate retention in the country. Many arrive, enjoy the student life, discover the delights of the great outdoors and put down roots. Our history of rambling is second to none, socialist walking groups were heavily involved in the campaign to increase access to the countryside. We have the largest climbing population in the country and the mountain biking community is immense. 

Inevitably, most of the people involved in those pastimes love the landscape and are keen to look after it. However, are we impact neutral or do we have to examine how we conduct ourselves and reduce our effect on the natural world? Do we have examples of adventure sports getting it dead right?

Over the years, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) has become more and more obsessed with the minutiae of access and the effect it can have on the environment. Local access volunteers, particularly Henry Folkard, have conducted themselves in an exemplary fashion, largely in the Peak District. 

Nearly twenty years ago, Stanage and North Lees Ranger Bill Gordon began to study the ring ouzel, a red-listed bird that had reduced in numbers across the British Isles. He recorded populations and nests and concluded that numbers at Stanage and Burbage were holding up well but needed to be protected.

A site meeting was held and an RSPB official suggested there should be a four month access ban on Stanage to prevent disturbance of the birds. Unsurprisingly, the response from the BMC was to firmly oppose that idea. Stanage has always been one of the most popular crags in the country and a magnet for walkers too. A ban would alienate many of those people.

Instead, local bird study groups, Henry Folkard and the Peak District National Park got together and came to an agreement that climbers would avoid nesting sites and neighbouring climbing routes to give the ouzel every chance to breed successfully. 

Over the next few years, climbers took ownership of the ring ouzel and went out of their way to protect it. Signs were posted near nests and the BMC put out regular updates. One day, Flo, Bill Gordon’s wife, was taking down one of the signs after a nest had successfully fledged and a climber on a nearby climb shouted, “Oy, leave the ring ouzels alone!!”

Engaging outdoor folk in the process of protecting the ring ouzel was a stroke of genius. Over the years, ouzel numbers have fluctuated and the scheme has grown. Climbers, ramblers and mountain bikers have been recruited to monitor nests. 

Involving the outdoor community is so much more productive that treating them as pariahs. The knowledge gained will always be passed on to friends and fellow enthusiasts, ensuring that the message gets out there – look after the wild world. 

Are there other examples of people getting it right? Mountain bike group Ride Sheffield have an outstanding relationship with the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust. For the last ten years, they have maintained all the bridleways on Blackamoor Nature Reserve, allowing the Trust to concentrate on essential conservation work. It has also given an underfunded Sheffield City Council (SCC) a helping hand too saving money for the Rights of Way Team.

Most land managers have volunteer schemes that bolster their ability to enhance the natural world. We need to expand the volunteer ethic and encourage more people to get involved, particularly those who frequently visit the area. It’s good for the natural world and good for everyone’s mental health too.

Where are we getting it wrong? The way we access the Peak District is crucial in many respects.  Parking in the Peak District on popular days is sky-high and we need to encourage the use of public transport. The national park has a large network of roads that mean it’s difficult to get away from the sound of cars. Some years ago, SCC and the BMC funded a climbers’ bus that dropped people at Stanage. It was woefully underused and eventually discontinued. How can we remedy these problems?

Both the Lake District and Peak District National Parks are considering some radical solutions. One of the proposals is to close some roads so that peace returns to the moors. Our obsession with motor vehicles has to be challenged and the tranquility that would result from closing a few roads at weekends would be a game changer. Introducing shuttle buses is also on the cards, ensuring that access to the national park is maintained. Those buses would have to be able to transport bikes too. This is brave and inspirational but will it happen? 

The Peak District is the second most popular National Park in the world, surrounded by cities and increasingly busy since people discovered it during lockdown. However, it is massively underfunded. While the vast majority of people want to look after it we have to aim higher. We must volunteer more and help those land owning charities that have taken a serious financial hit during the pandemic. Leave your car at home, ride in, listen carefully to advice from conservation bodies and support those charities. If we don’t, the place we love will suffer.

Ride Sheffield & Cotic Women of Steel Women’s Dig Day

Following on from the success of our first women-only dig day, we will be running another one from 10 am –  approximately 1pm on Saturday 27 November, also on Blacka Moor.

The women’s dig days will focus on repairing bridleways and we’ll talk about the work which has been planned, look at the techniques needed and discuss the best approach to make it suitable for all user groups.

This month, we will be working on Devil’s Elbow, maintaining the drainage to try to keep the trail in good condition over the winter.

Places will be limited, so please let us know if you want to come along – either sign up on the Women of Steel Facebook page, or email info@ridesheffield.org.uk with the subject “Women’s Dig Day”