“These trails are too easy…” It’s an often-heard comment these days. As more and more purpose-built trails are launched, so people seem to expect each one to present a more daunting technical challenge than the last. But there are (at least) two ways in which this attitude is, not to put too fine a point on it, monumentally wrong-headed.

First, not everyone is a bike handling god. Most people can get to be pretty handy, but you have to work up to it. If every new trail was harder than the last then the number of “beginner-friendly” trails, as a proportion of the whole, will diminish. And that’s no way to encourage people to take up what is, after all, the Best Sport Ever.

Second, why should everything be handed to you on a plate? If you want challenge, make it yourself. And that doesn’t necessarily mean getting a shovel out and making your own trails (although if you’ve got somewhere to do that, go for it). It means looking at things from a different perspective. Not, “I can ride that,” but, “I can ride that really fast and with great big dollops of style”.

Statements like “My gran could ride this” are often used disparagingly, but really the mark of a cleverly-built trail is that pretty much anyone could ride it, but the more experienced rider can still get something out of it. Ride it faster, ride it more smoothly, ride it with more flair, seek out alternative lines, ride it on a grotesquely unsuitable bike.

There are very few trails that aren’t capable of providing some sort of entertainment. If you’re finding it too easy then the fault is not with the trail, it’s with your imagination.