Welsh Trail Riders Association

WTRA Ltd

Welcome to the Welsh Trail Riders Association (WTRA)- In 1972, a group of likeminded enthusiasts got together in Cardiff to form the Welsh Trail Riders Association, with the aim of promoting trail riding. Also the organisation of enduros started with the first event to be run on land owned by the Forestry Commission, the now defunct Beacons Enduro.
Around this time, contacts were made with the New England Trail Riders Association in the USA and the WTRA logo was similar but in black & white with a different background. Indeed the concept of Hare & Hounds events, so popular today, was based on the NETRA formula and WTRA ran the first of these events in Wentwood Forest in 1980.
For many years trail riding was the main focus of the club and enduros were organised at a number of venues. The Beacons Enduro had actually been running since 1966 as an event based on rights of way and moved into the Crychan Forest, near Llandovery in 1974. It became the longest running event in the British Enduro Championship until a change in the nature of enduros resulted in its demise after nearly 40 years.
The Sportsman Class was created by Bob Perring and first introduced by WTRA at the Beacons Enduro with the aim of allowing riders to do “just the one 50 mile lap” each day. WTRA were also responsible for the introduction of the “Carbon Time Card” in the UK bringing it back from the USA in the 70’s for use in our events...they suited the muddy wet conditions.
Over the same period, events were also run in various forests including Wentwood, and Gwynno in South Wales and Brecon, Caio, and Glasfynnydd in Mid / West Wales. However the most popular turned out to be the Eppynt Enduro which took place on the military ranges near Sennybridge over a 60 mile open moorland course. Unfortunately this terrain is no longer available to us because of a change in MoD policy.
For the 1983 ISDE, we ran 2 days of the event in the Crychan forest ensuring a memorable time for the competitors.
For a number of years the club had considered a new concept of ‘Trail Bike’ rallies and with the active encouragement of the late, great John Deacon and his KTM sponsor, Gordon Jones, also deceased, organised the first of this type of event in the UK, the Cambrian Rally of 1994. It proved an instant success and introduced a lot of competitors to the sport who had felt that traditional enduros were not for them. The format remains very popular with a number of other clubs also organising such events and attracting riders on machines from 50 to 1200cc and from all over the UK and Ireland.
In 1999 the club organised a round of the World Enduro Championship, based in Llandovery, and although very successful, the huge cost and drain on manpower meant that we are unlikely to run another. However, following on from this, a number of club members put forward a proposal, on behalf of the ACU, to organise the 2003 I.S.D.E. based at the Royal Welsh Showground at Builth Wells. However the ACU were not prepared to underwrite the event, or provide the level of support necessary and the project was abandoned.
The club membership is spread over a wide area and we meet during events or at various social functions. We also have a keen ‘road bike’ section with numerous rides at weekends and an annual longer distance trip over the extended Spring Bank Holiday weekend. These days trail riding is restricted to helping out at Horse and Mountain Bike events as most of the rights of way that we used to enjoy have been downgraded. However we are still represented at the TRF, who continue to fight our corner to maintain the remaining vehicular rights of way.