If you’re looking for some freelance trail building expertise, you’ll probably be delighted to hear that Phil Lee, the man responsible for getting the original 9feet.com trail at Afan Argoed off the ground, will now be working on trail building projects full time.

Well, nearly full time – he also runs MTB-Wales.com and will continue to develop that and other projects.

His main focus is going to be on trail building, though, building on the experience he’s built up since persuading the Forestry Commission that Afan Argoed should have a purpose built mountain bike trail in 1998 and getting it built entirely with volunteer effort. The trail includes the famous Hidden Valley section, a singletrack that many people thought couldn’t be successfully built but is now one of the best-loved trails in the UK.

The 9feet.com trail is now the Penhyddh Trail and is run by Julian Cram, who’s employed by the Forestry Commission to look after and develop the trails at Afan. Phil, meanwhile, has been working on the Avon Timberland Trail at Ashton Court in Bristol and helping to develop a trail on private land in the South Wales valleys, among other projects.

Basically, if you’re a landowner looking at the possibility of building MTB trails on your patch, then Phil can help. He can be contacted on 07968 325291 or by email on [email protected].