All of the mountain bike trails at the Woodlot are maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers. We take time from our busy work schedules, our families, and any riding we might do to build and maintain trails like Blood Donor, Giant Killer, Platinum, Hoots, and many more. These trails have been featured in a tonne of videos and tv shows and we've never asked for (or expected) anything more than a 'Thanks for building a great place to ride'.
Over the years, we've cultivated a pretty good working relationship with the land managers and we continue to discuss relevant issues as they arise with these people. While there's currently an understanding that no new trails will be put in at the Woodlot, we've never been told to shut down the existing trail network.
Many of you read my post from yesterday, you'll know that I was pretty pissed off when someone attempted to open a trail that was obviously closed (ie. there were signs all over the place, debris dragged all over the trail, and there had been no work done to the trail in ages).
To get to the point of this post: Today I was riding down 'Hoots' with another one of the builders and we came across a bunch of new soilwork that was not done by us or any of the other guys. To be blunt, the work and the cleanup was shitty; whoever did this stuff dug holes right beside the trail without covering them up when they were finished and, among other things, tried to add something that would get ripped to shreds by a weekend worth of riding. After seeing that, we interrupted our ride, got off our bikes, and returned the trail to the condition that it was in before this 'work' was done (read: we tore everything out and did the work properly).
Now, I realize some of you might think I'm being a bitch but know that all of the builders up here don't do trailwork for selfish reasons - we don't build stuff that nobody but us can ride. In fact, we're stoked when people ride the trails and respect the work that we've done. But when I come through a section of trail and the inside of a berm is all chewed to shit by some chump looking for soil or a drainage element filled in with punk or crappy dirt I get pissed. To fix this garbage takes time away from work on other trails and working on lines that are faster and more challenging than those they replace.
During all of the time that I've posted on NSMB.com I've never hidden the fact that I'm a contact person for the guys who work on the trails at the Woodlot. If you have an issue with the way we work on the trails we created, contact me and we'll explain our position in no uncertain terms.
If you really want to help on or are concerned about the condition of the trails up there, contact me at woodlotbuilders@hotmail.com and we'll give you a call when we have a trail day.
If you did the work and are thinking about continuing, ask yourself this: Is the mountain biking community around here better off with trails like Platinum, Blood Donor, and Giant Killer? Or without them? Will people think you're a hero if all the trails up there go to shit and there's no one left to do the tonne of work that goes on there almost every week?
"It's, like, so much fun."
