Aberdeenshire Mountain Bike Centre on Track

Mountain bikers of all abilities could hit the tracks at a new Aberdeenshire trail centre if North East Trail Centre Organisation's plans come to fruition. North East Trail Centre Organisation (NETCO) was formed in 2015 to deliver a much sought after mountain biking trail centre in the North East of Scotland for all riders - from beginners to elites. NETCO hopes to create a modern facility to address the significant geographic gap and provide Scotland's third largest city with a network of over 35km of all-weather multi-graded trails.

Expect something exciting to push all riders to their limit

The aim is to create a hub to increase participation in cycling, improve health and access to the outdoors and deliver social benefits to Aberdeen City and Shire – all minutes away from the Granite City. Working closely with Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS) to advance our vision, NETCO is pursuing funding through various grant schemes and, in addition, hopes to gain support and raise funds from the mountain biking community, Scottish and North East businesses, organisations and future users. Funds will initially go towards a feasibility study and notional design. Please donate Here.

The vision has already gained supporters with VisitScotland’s Regional Director, Jo Robinson:

“This proposal is a great opportunity for bringing a whole new set of visitors to the region. VisitScotland research shows that domestic visitors to Scotland who take part in mountain biking or cycling stay, on average, a total of over two million nights and spend £109 million each year. Such visitors will often stay at more remote and rural locations, generating income for smaller villages and towns not always visited on the traditional tourist trail. This has been demonstrated in other areas of Scotland, where businesses have benefited directly from the opening of the mountain biking trails, including during the traditionally quieter winter months. Our country has a global reputation for cycling and in the UK alone it is estimated that there are 11 million people who own a mountain bike, so there is a huge opportunity for Scottish tourism to capitalise on this.”

Feasibility Study

From a long list of some thirty possible venues, NETCO have narrowed the choice to the four most promising sites. In 2016, NETCO will commission a large-scale feasibility study to assess the suitability of each of these sites, but we need your help! In addition to pursuing funding through various grant schemes, NETCO hopes to gain support from the mountain biking community, building on the strong encouragement we have received from local riders and a wide range of organisations to date, and the interest demonstrated by the 2000 respondents to our survey conducted last year.

Trails for all abilities are part of the development plans

We invite riders far and wide to support this development by donating to our MyDonate page in the first instance. We are not only looking for donors with deep pockets (though a few of those would be welcome!); raising lots of small donations of £2 from a wide donor base would help us to demonstrate the public support for this project and build momentum behind this vision. Let’s make this happen - Please donate Here.

We will be offering the following rewards to our supporters for donations:

£ 100.00 - Free two-hour coaching session on opening of the centre

£ 30.00 - Items from OneUp Components and Pinkbike on a lottery basis

£ 10.00 - Free coffee on opening of the cafe

£ 5.00 - We only need 600 £5 donations to hit our initial target!

£ 2.00 - Even £2 will be a valuable contribution. Thanks from NETCO!

Letters of support

But we’re not just looking for cash! To bolster our business plan and improve our chances in future grant funding applications, we would welcome letters of support from individuals, companies and organisations. Please direct letters to netcomtb@gmail.com. Your email might detail how this will benefit you, friends, family, the North East and Scotland, or just be a simple note to add you name to the list of those eager to see great trails built in the area! For further details, please contact us at netcomtb@gmail.com. To keep up with the project visit the NETCO website and Facebook page.

We thank you for your time and support in advance.

Let’s create the best trails in Scotland!

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MENTIONS: @NETCO

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