Beicio Mynydd Dyfi Mountain Biking CIC has announced it will close after eight years as the formal stewardship organisation for mountain bike trails in the Dyfi Valley, Mid Wales.

The Community Interest Company confirmed it will cease operating due to what it described as “the discrepancy between volunteer capacity and legal responsibility.”

“The CIC is to cease operation due to the discrepancy between volunteer capacity and legal responsibility.”

Formed in October 2017, Dyfi MTB replaced a previous custodian and acted as the recognised local governance interface with Natural Resources Wales (NRW). The group helped ensure official trails such as ClimachX remained operational, while also coordinating volunteer maintenance, dig days and community activity across the wider Dyfi network. Dyfi MTB supported maintenance across Mach 1, 2 and 3, re-established historic routes, and hosted events including the Dyfi Wild Ride and charity film nights.

Chair Dafydd Tomos said the group was “proud of what we have achieved by bringing together volunteers, riders and land managers to create a great riding experience for Dyfi visitors and locals alike.”

Director of Trails Rikki Barratt added that the organisation remains open to helping “new blood explore other, more sustainable options of trail stewardship, such as a local MTB club.”

The Dyfi Forest riding offer around Machynlleth includes ClimachX alongside the Mach 1, 2 and 3 routes and a wider mix of official and long-established unofficial trails. Full overview here:

Trails in the Dyfi Valley remain open and are not 'currently' at threat of closure.

The Structural Issue

The language used in the statement is notable. The closure is not attributed to funding cuts or land access withdrawal, but to a gap between volunteer capacity and legal responsibility.

That phrasing suggests governance pressure rather than trail demand:

• Insurance and liability exposure
• Compliance and administrative burden
• Formal stewardship agreements
• Director-level legal accountability
• Volunteer fatigue or limited succession planning

Dyfi MTB functioned as the structured, legally recognised body sitting between volunteers and NRW. When that intermediary layer becomes unsustainable, the issue is not trail popularity, it is governance resilience.

This is not unique to Dyfi. Across Wales, volunteer-led trail organisations increasingly carry formal responsibility for infrastructure located on public land, often without professional administrative support structures or paid capacity.

We have reached out to Dyfi MTB for further clarification on the specific factors behind the decision and will update if additional detail is provided.

A Wider Context

The timing also intersects with the ongoing UK Trails Project, a national initiative focused on developing more sustainable stewardship and governance models for mountain bike trails.

The project is led by Dave Evans, formerly of Bike Corris in the Dyfi Valley, who moved into the national role in 2023. Its remit includes examining long-term trail management structures, liability frameworks and how volunteer groups can operate sustainably within modern legal and land management systems.

If Dyfi MTB is closing because volunteer capacity can no longer match legal responsibility, this reflects precisely the type of structural tension the UK Trails Project was established to examine.

The closure also aligns with broader discussions driven by the UK MTB Trail Alliance, the coalition advocating for policy, access and governance improvements for mountain bike trails across the UK. Alongside the UK Trails Project, the Alliance pushes for sustainable stewardship models, clearer liability frameworks and stronger support for volunteer organisations operating on public land.

The announcement also sits within broader concerns about the long-term sustainability of Welsh MTB infrastructure, explored previously in:
https://ibikeride.com/news/why-wales-mtb-is-in-serious-trouble

What Happens Next?

Dyfi MTB has indicated openness to alternative stewardship models, including the possibility of a local MTB club structure.

What remains unclear is:

• Whether a new formal body will replace the CIC
• How maintenance responsibilities across the wider Dyfi trail network will be coordinated
• Whether NRW will assume a more direct operational role
• What liability framework future volunteers would operate under

For now, the trails remain open. The question is whether Dyfi represents an isolated organisational closure, or another indicator that volunteer-led governance models in Welsh mountain biking are reaching structural limits.