Bike park forced to close after larch trees succumb to disease

The Revolution Bike Park at Llangynog - between Lake Vyrnwy and Bala - has been run by the Foster family for the past decade. They say they are devastated.

They were notified in the last week that the larch trees in the 120 acre park have a disease called phytophthora ramorum.

It is a disease that affects large quantities of Japanese Larch in the UK and abroad and more than 2/3 of the forest that contains the bike park is made up of this species of tree.

"We have been managing the trees alongside the running of the bike park for many years and there has been no evidence of the disease, so it has come as a massive shock to us to be notified that the disease has reached us," a spokesperson for the family said.

"As such, by law, all of the larch trees at the bike park will need to be clear felled, and as a result, we have had to make the impossible decision that we will need to close the bike park indefinitely.

"This felling, subsequent clear up and replanting, will obviously have a massive impact on the park, and the level of riding that we have always strived to offer and whilst we’re not sure yet if the closure will be permanent, it will certainly be a matter of years, not months, before we could make any decisions as to the next steps, if there are any.

"We intend to remain open and running our normal uplifts from now until the last day, which will be January 2 - the last day to ride."

Any previously held bookings, or open gift vouchers will need to be redeemed by this date.

The family said: "We are absolutely devastated. When we all set out just over 10 years ago with a dream to build a bike park, we never in a million years thought that we would end up being players on a world stage and that people from all over the UK and the world would come to Revolution Bike Park in Llangynog to ride our wild creations on the side of our little hill.

"Although it has been hard at times, we have loved creating this place for people to come and ride."

They took to their website to pay tribute to the customers, the brands and industry representatives who have supported the bike park, the staff and the local community.

"There is no way we could’ve done any of this without the staff. You all worked hard in every condition that the Welsh weather gods threw at us to help us to build and run Revolution and offer our customers not only some of the best trails in the UK to ride, but a friendly face in the uplift trucks, some delicious burgers to eat and help to patch up the injured.

"Our customers - without your unwavering support we simply wouldn’t be here. From the early days of 10 spaces in the back of the pick-up truck, no shelter and at times sideways rain and knee-deep mud to now.We know that lots of you will be gutted to read this news and we really hope that you can continue to support us right up to the end.