As you've probably noticed we've had a pretty astonishing amount of rain recently. I'm a bit worried about the effect this will have on the trails and so I thought I'd post the following guidelines. Of course following them is entirely optional, but in an ideal world I hope that people would take them into consideration before setting off on a ride.

1. Ride sparingly

Trails are so much more susceptible to damage when they're wet. Riding in wet conditions is good for developing bike handling skills and some people actually prefer it. The problem is that if a trail has been heavily ridden in bad conditions it won't return to its original state. There will be roots and rocks appearing (which can be fun) but also ruts and holes. Apart from making the trail into a brain-rattling experience and robbing your speed, these also collect water. And if a hole gets big enough, it can take ages to dry out, leaving you with a gopping section that persists long after the wet weather has departed.

Before you charge off to give your favourite route a good ragging, think about whether you really need to be riding . How about bringing in a bit of variety instead? You could ride on the road (even if you don't have a road bike), go for a gnarly street session, check out a spinning class, write volume 1 of your memoirs... The possibilities are endless. The trails don't stay wet for long at this time of year and your patience will be rewarded.

2. Don't widen the trails

OK, so you've decided that you absolutely have to ride, and nothing else will hit the spot. But please think about where and how you're riding.

First off, making an ad hoc diversion around a bad section is never a good idea. If you're skirting round the edge of a big puddle it widens the trail, and most of the time your back wheel will still end up slipping into the ooze anyway. A lot of the puddles aren't that deep and many are solid underneath from previous repairs.

Even worse is when people miss out a section entirely and create short diversion off to the side of the trail (in Canada they call this "braiding"). Without wishing to get too militant, you shouldn't be doing this. The alternative lines are never useable for very long (often they're a lot less durable than the trail they're intended to miss out) and it looks terrible, as it's effectively doubling the damage caused to the landscape by bikers. The diversion often ruins the "flow" because you have to make quite a sharp turn to get on it.

Some diversions are created by beginner cyclists trying to miss out a section that looks difficult. I would say have confidence in yourself, ride at a fast walking pace, be prepared to dab, and you will clear any section on the official trails (and 99% of the unofficial trails) around Bristol.

3. Ride don't slide

Skidding by locking your brakes up dramatically increases the damage caused to the trail. It's also slower and gives you less control of the bike than doing your braking early and accelerating out of corners. If enough people skid over a section you start to get "braking bumps" - line of small bumps about 1' apart that resemble a mogul field in skiing. These are horrible to ride on a XC bike and once they start appearing only major trail surgery can remove them.

Lots of people blame disc brakes for skidding, but most types actually have more modulation than V brakes - i.e. you can brake a lot harder without locking the wheel. If you have problems locking your brakes try moving your levers towards the centre of your bars (as seen here on Cedric Gracia's bike) as some people find this gives them a lot more leverage and more control. Like it says on the old Race Face components, don't hurt the dirt!

4. Some trails can't be fixed

There are no arrangments for maintenance in place for some of the trails around Bristol, for example Leigh Woods. That means that if they are ridden in bad weather they will get worse and worse until they die!

It also really upsets NIMBYs/conservation minded types (delete as applicable) as not only are mountain bikers riding where they don't have permission, they're also making a real mess of the place too. Although there is no hard evidence on this point, a lot of people feel that mountain bikers do way more damage to the trails than walkers or other users. Don't give them any ammunition to use against us, stick to official trails. Which brings me to...

5. Come out and put something back!

As of writing there are bi-monthly maintenance sessions on the Timberland Trail and more projects in the pipeline. Attendance varies from just me (thankfully this has only happened once) to ten or twenty people, but what is certain is that only a tiny proportion of the people using the trails actually come out and work on them.

Some people might object to the idea of doing the land manager's work for them, but the fact is, if we don't look after our trails no-one will. The land managers don't have the budget to maintain the trails, and even if they did, specialist MTB trail builders are very thin on the ground and very expensive to hire.

Trail days aren't just an opportunity to fix the damage that's been done. We can also make them more interesting, set up sections to be either fast and fun or twisty and challenging, even change the gradient and surface of the trail. As yet we can't build 30ft doubles or swivel-totters, but we are laying the groundwork for the growth of our sport, whether it's challenging trails for experienced riders or useable winter routes for all abilities.

Anyway, thanks for reading this, and I'd be interested to hear any comments people might have.