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I drove to a secluded forest office on the border of Wendover Woods.  The reason being to attend a meeting between Buckingham Bikes (represented by Dan) who are the guys who have the lease from the Forestry commission for the next 3 years), the CTC (represented by the previous owner of Aston Hill Ian Warby in his new role) who are the  UK's national cyclists organisation, the Forestry Commission and about 40 members and friends of the Hill.

One thing stood out the whole evening. Everyone there had a passionate bond with the Hill and wanted to see a brighter cohesive future.  I believe last night was the beginning of a new era for this trail centre.

Aston Hill was around before many of the trail centres we know and love today. In many ways it has spearheaded trail development across the UK.

 The routes may be legendary but Aston Hill has suffered in a wierd way from being in England. The trail centres in Wales and Scotland have overtaken in terms of facilities and put English mtb to shame. The English trail centres are a poor half brother and sister, especially (but not exclusively) for Downhill.

One goal is  clear in my mind, working with organisations like the CTC and the Forestry commission this trend needed to be reversed and places like Aston Hill are clearly the places to make this happen and show that the hosts of the next Olympics could have leading trail centres. The opportunity is vast especially with CTC and Forestry commission support. Also it kind of goes without saying but with Ian who has years of experience of Aton Hill as well as being involved in the CTC there is an unspoken feeling of confidence in moving this forward. 

Personally as many of you know I am a member of Aston Hill and have ridden their regularly over the last few years (and just took a ride through the XC last Sunday). I am keen to give personal support as well as support  through ibikeride as we can going forward. So expect to hear more.  As a North Londoner it is my local club. It just happens to have a world renowned global reputation:)

Aston Hill has 4 downhill runs, a 4x track and a great xc route. It has bred racers and hosted many events. It is currently unmanned and although there is some maintenance going on it is in need of structure and organisation. This is exactly why Dan from Buckingham bikes was calling this meeting.

So back to the the meeting. It was chaired by Dan from Buckingham Bikes. They won the tender approximately 6 months back and seem committed to help define it's future going forward as a club (type yet to be defined)managed by it's members for it's members. All good stuff.

Ian from the CTC presented three options for how the club could be run and the majority of the committee was nominated by being proposed and seconded from those that attended. Details will follow shortly on Aston Hill site and the Southern Downhill Forum that hosts the Aston Hill forum. .I don't pretend to be an expert here but a summary of the three options (Which are relevant to anyone thinking of forming a club or a opening a trail centre are):

1. Club trading as a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity
   1. This enables funding and the ability to create funds. It also allows the club to follow a charitable ethos. For example encouraging / enabling underprivileged kids into biking. Elements of the club could be not for profit and not accordingly.
2. Proprietary club run by its members trading as a limited company
   1. It would mean running the club as a commercial venture.
3. Members registered as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) scheme. This is a common approach and enables a level of funding and investment but there are some limitations.

No formal decision was made on any of the options and the decision will be made formally going forward. I'm not driving any speculation but personally if it was my call if the maths added up ( Iwould not know) I would support option 1 as this gives the freedom and investment to get going and the room to grow into an internationally renowned centre. Key to any decision though is a detailed look at the cost of running and deleloping the club in light of its revenue streams and this is for the committee to get their teeth into with the CTC to make an informed decision. Most of the Club committee from chairman to trail managers and events organiser were nominated and this more than capable team as they get formalised will spearhead what goes forward.

All these details will get posted on the Aston hill website soon.

So Aston hill and it's members and stakeholders have moved forward to formally define a new future for the Hill. It's clear that soon the hill be organising through this team, trail maintenance and memberships.  It is too early to talk of plans and this will be up to the committee working with the members, Buckingham Bikes, the Parish Council, The CTC and the Forestry commission. We are here to support.

What is clear and was openly discussed is that England is beginning to wake up to our sport. Hence the opportunity for better trails, car park management, permanent facilities (which we have begun to expect), drained all year round routes, training, events and races are all very real and with this right team and direction can be realistically on the horizon. 

There are great local riders out there who are our future champions, there are tons of kids who need a healthy route and challenge. This can only happen with co-ordinated trail building, education, environmentally friendly development, publicity and training. England needs to step up to the mark and I believe Aston Hill with it's new dedicated and passionate team are the trail centre to do this.

Watch this space.

Aston Hill website http://www.astonhill.com/

Aston Hill Forum: Is hosted currently on Southern Downhill http://www.southerndownhill.com/forum/index.php/board,19.0.html

CTC Website http://www.ctc.org.uk/ 

The CTC is the UK's national cycling organisation. A charitable trust the CTC works to promote cycling by raising public and political awareness of it's health, social and environmental benefits

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