The world is changing and we are definitely getting a lot more rain the past couple of years. The lakes aren’t freezing as much or for as long. Our world is changing.
So, what does this mean for our trails? How do we have to build them to resist water damage? How can we we make them so we can ride them when they are wet?
Certainly for the most part we try to respect our trails and make sure they are there for a long time. B.C has some awesome trails and there is no question they get more rain than us on the East Coast.
What do you think? With the increased rain how should we change our riding behaviour or trail building habits?
Maybe look at what they are doing in the UK. They get tons of wet weather and manage to ride year round without much fuss. What are they doing that we aren’t? They just ride the wet trails?
I help out Trailflow from time to time and I certainly see how trail building has evolved from essentially deer paths to properly built trails designed to last and endure extreme weather and heavy usage. There are still those out there who don’t build with the same care for several reasons (inexperience, ignorance, and yes arrogance).
We certainly need to reassess our commonly used trails and any new trails to make sure they have proper drainage, are built in areas that are sustainable etc.
As much as I enjoy my time on gravel paths and yes even my road bike, I prefer singletrack.
I totally agree, following a trail standard for locating trails and managing water flow will allow trails to recover from wet weather quickly and have us riding more and sooner.
I’d also add time, resources, manpower and maybe even legality of the trail to that list.
I’m going to admit that I actually enjoy riding raw deer tracks and blown out, rutted, root monster trails, the natural challenge is the fun. If everything was buffed and smoothed out it would be boring. Variety in terrain and track style is the spice of MTB.
I’ve found that some trails are much more resilient than others simple due to the soil composition. Take whopper for instance, even the single track is mostly composed of granite dust and grit. Hard to damage that.
Yes resources availability is huge and is a big factor in trail development. As is the legalities . Great points.
The natural stuff is super fun to ride. I really enjoy the granite stuff as well. There are some great trails that hold up well in hrm that have those characteristics.
