Industry Collaboration in Spain
Industry involvement with the mountain bike community and the trail-building efforts is key to increasing sports awareness, bringing more people into it, and attracting more investment and involvement from local authorities.
There are some big projects in several countries, some six figures being invested into trail development by known bike industry companies. The results are visible: thriving communities, miles and miles of new trails for all rider levels, and, as a result, even more people getting into the sport. And there is a lot to read and see about those projects: articles in magazines, videos, shreddits, IG stories, and more. But if you asked in Spain, the immediate answer would be, "No brand is involved."
In Spain, trail building is just starting to grow and is still far from getting the recognition it has in other countries. There are some successful stories and interesting things happening. But what about industry involvement? If you search the news, you would say there is barely any investment or involvement with trail builders. Weird, you would say that those selling bikes and components would like to have more trails, so more people bought more bikes.
But fear not; there are indeed brands involved with trail-building initiatives. Spanish brand Orbea is supporting several projects in the Pyrenees. Intense is working with the Lo Podal Trail Association in Tremp. Specialized is doing some work through their "Soil Searching" program in Val d'Aran and some other small projects. But there is zero-to-no visibility on those projects; no one knows about them. If you asked any rider in Spain about this, they barely know about trail-building success stories, let alone about brands getting involved. The general feeling is that there is barely any interest from the industry in Spain to get involved with trail building or openly talk about their involvement in those projects.
But why not? Trail builders are the unsung heroes, the architects of adventure, and without 'em, our outdoor escapades would be a whole lot less excitin'. So, what is stopping the bike industry in Spain from showing its relationship with this flourishing activity? I can't answer that, but maybe someone in an office can, and hopefully, after reading this, will get things moving.
Words: Yaroslov Alpizar Photos: Supplied by Yaroslov Alpizar from different sources
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yaroslov Alpizar
Yari, born in Russia, raised in Havana for 30 years, living in Europe for the last 18 years, between Spain, Ireland, Portugal, and a trusted VW T4. Started mountain biking in 2005 when landed in Spain and was hooked since the first day. Software engineer spending way too much time with anything related to mountain bikes. Trying to give a voice to trail builders and trail associations in Spain & Portugal. Trail Advocate of the Year 2023 award from IMBA Europe.
