It’s that time of year again where Mother Nature wreaks havoc on our trails.
Loads of rain, wind, and snow do more damage in a few months, than years of mountain biking can ever achieve.
Luckily, we’re in a community with a good amount of trail builders and a club that promotes regular maintenance, and our trails seem to withstand the abuse better than many areas, but we still need hours and hours of labour to keep things running smoothly.
So how do you do your part?
If you’re not the type to give up an entire weekend to get out there and build trails, or do the major repairs needed, no problem. You can still be instrumental in keeping our trail networks rideable, safe, and fun throughout the year.
Every time you ride, make sure you take a small trail saw with you and be aware of areas that need some minor maintenance.
You’re ride may be a bit broken up with maintenance stops, but you will be doing a huge service to your riding community.
If you see some smaller blow down, stop and cut it out, rather than dismounting to climb over it and hoping the next group will get it.
If a drainage ditch is clogged with leaves or branches, stop and clear the blockage, you’ll be amazed at how quickly a big muddy puddle disappears.
If the there is a trail section littered with small branches and sticks (derailleur killers), quickly sweep the trail clean and then continue on, knowing the next rider through will be that much safer.
It’s really not much, but as a community we can do a ton of work in cleaning up Mother Nature’s mess. At the same time, we save the trail builders and the club many hours that they can now spend building new trials and improving our current network.
So, maybe your next few rides will be a bit shorter than planned, and have a little less flow, but think how great spring will be with most of the trail maintenance already completed.
Lets all do our part, a little bit at a time.
I’m James Durand and I’m Going’ Ridin’