Winter may be blasting through country estates across the land but the marketing teams at Shred and the National Trust have already got their minds on spring 2011 and the blossoming of a new partnership.

With an aim to show outdoor enthusiasts that the Trust has a lot to offer them, they have appointed the South West’s Shred to help take this message forward to the UK cycling scene.

Jim Pascoe from the National Trust in the South West is really excited about the tie-up: “2011 will see the National Trust talking a lot more about the outdoors; why we feel it’s so important to get out there, and the wealth of opportunity that is offered by the amazing outdoor places the Trust has.

“One thing we want to do is to encourage a lot more people to see the National Trust as a place to enjoy a great bike ride. We have seen the amount of fun and passion that the team at Shred put into riding their bikes and it’s infectious. Their style is very approachable and inclusive. This was an important consideration in our aim to get in touch with riders of all levels and skills and tell them about what’s available to them on National Trust land now and to come in 2012.

“After working with a similarly dynamic people in the world of surfing over the past couple of years, the Shred team offers a great opportunity for us to use Shred’s enthusiasm and presence in the riding world to convey our messages about what’s available now and what’s coming up.

“With impressive new trail projects being planned in the South West around Plymbridge and Lanhydrock as part of the 1SW project, we needed a team of ambassadors that can work with the Trust and help us to get the message out into the riding scene.”

The partnership will see the National Trust supporting the team’s activities in 2011 with a full lineup of events and roadtrips along the way, the key for the team is to do more of the same as 2010 as Shred’s Steve Toze explained: “At Shred we have been hammering away at having a good time on our bikes since 1996, since then we’ve made a lot of friends and we like to think encouraged a lot of people to have a go at riding and racing bikes.

“With some amazing new trail centres going into our patch of the UK it is great that the National Trust approached us to help to take the message out there. The National Trust owns a lot of land that is great for riding, surfing, walking and camping – all things close to our hearts.

“What is really cool for us is that this relationship doesn’t pivot around us having to dress in large amounts of lycra and step onto the podium at events nationwide, we just have to do what we’ve always done and ride heaps of different types of events, enjoy ourselves and talk about what the Trust has to offer riders and the new things that are to come – so just adding to what we’ve always done so well.”

The team will be unveiled at their official launch in mid February, along with more information on the new trail centres being constructed as part of 1SW project and an opportunity to ride with the team.

More at www.nationaltrust.org.uk and www.shredmagazine.com