A new website has been launched to help mountain bikers visiting the Glentress and Innerleithen trails in Scotland share cars in order to reduce their impact on the environment.

The MTBliftshare.com message board is the brain-child of the Peebles-based sustainability group Tweedgreen, who carried out a survey at Glentress to understand how mountain bikers currently travel to the trails.

Of the mountain bikers interviewed, 91 per cent had travelled 30-200 miles to ride.  The average distance travelled was 84 miles.  One eager biker had travelled a round trip of 400 miles to experience his first ride at Glentress.

The website is designed to help mountain bikers share their biking plans, meet up with riding buddies, share their journeys, save fuel, save money, and protect the environment.

As well as reducing single occupancy vehicles, Tweedgreen hopes MTBLiftshare.com will help bikers with no transport facilities, particularly younger riders and students, to get lifts to the trails and discover the rides in Glentress and Innerleithen.

“Every weekend and even during the week, there is a steady influx of cars carrying mountain bikes into the Tweed Valley,” said Tweedgreen project co-ordinator Isabelle Clements.

“Some of these cars are carrying only one solitary biker. We decided to set up this website to help people find other mountain bikers to share their journey with.”

Head to www.mtbliftshare.com organise a lift.