Mountain Biking-trail building equitette

tl65

What ever happened to trail building etiquiette?

I have been Mountain biking the last 18 or so years and have started to develop some cross country trails in my local woods over the last few years. I have put in many long hours building, clearing fallen branches from the forest floor , winding a trail through the trees. I have never minded others making use of the trails I built and was happy to think others got as much enjoyment from them as I did. I have also visited other woods in the Dublin/Wicklow region, used the trails and stuck to the trail builders course.

Recently A Gravity Endoro was held there, the organiser has re-structured and altered the course of some of the trails. Changing the feel and flow of what I built. Sometimes cutting across trails and obliterating what was there. Since the event there has been a lot of damage to the trails. Over a hundred riders made their way around the trails, creating as much trail damage over a weekend then the locals could do in a year.

Because of the clearing of vegatation around the entrance to the trails, now lads on scramblers and horse riders have found their way in churning them up and making them unpassable for bikes.

Gravity Enduro Events are great for bikers who want the same thrill as our European counterparts. Big sweepy and flowy trails with lots of jumps and stiff decents. In Europe these are purpose built, and maintained for the use of riders during the summer seasons.

If Irish Riders are paying €50 a head for a few rides down the hill, why can't the organiser use other trails that are harder wearing or build his own? Restrict the damage that the event causes. This was not the case in Wicklow.

Why cant the organisers of these Gravity Enduro events make their own purpose built trails, and leave the work of others alone? Where is the trail builders etiquiette? Build discreatly and leave the work of others alone and unaltered!

A disgruntled mountain biker-and trail builder to boot.

fenris

9 minutes - not long for a Friday thread!

tl65

Do they get longer on fridays?

davyjose

As a fellow MTB'er this bugs the piss out of me. Where I live there are some lovely hiking trails and only a few decent XC biking trails. God forbid you dare ride on a hiking trail - you literally get shouted at, and apparently can be arrested. Yet hikers feel happy wandering around on specifically built biking trails.
This is made all the worse by the fact that I live in Oregon which is effectively a giant hilly forest with a few cities and towns dotted around. So it's not like there's no space.
Portland claims to be a pro-biking city, but since moving here I realise that only means if you ride a fixie in your skinny jeans and hipster goatee.
Hugely disappointing amount, and standard, of trails, given the local countryside.

Well that's my rant, sorry, but i know how you feel. It's not easy. Sorry your trail was wrecked dude.

FISMA

Which side of the trail do you cycle on in Ireland? Do ye stay on the LHS, like driving in Ireland or the RHS?

Just wondering!

spokesman

FISMA wrote: »

Which side of the trail do you cycle on in Ireland? Do ye stay on the LHS, like driving in Ireland or the RHS?

Just wondering!

Its all one way system here:D

C3PO

OP - as I suspect you know, very few of the mountain-bike community are regular visitors to this site! Mainly just hybrid MTB-Road-Cross junkies like me! If you are genuinely looking for a response you would be far better posting on the Epic, MAD, Epic DH etc forums!
Having said that I would share your concerns about the use of trails, which were built by unpaid enthusiasts, by a commercial organisation such as the one running the recent Enduro series! My worry is that clubs and people such as yourself who have traditionally looked after the trails in their own "patch" will stop doing this if they see somebody profiting from their work.
Have you spoken to the company who ran the Enduro in your area about returning the trails to the condition that they were in before the event? In my experience the chap who heads up the organisation is a decent guy who in fairness runs a really professional set-up, he may be prepared to do some restorative work!

Tenzor07

Hmmm....the "Friday thread" posting up about how you build illegal trails, Clever!

Anyhoo, as mentioned, your better off posting on Mountain bike forums rather than general cycling related message boards...

fenris

I think that this is just a troll before bedtime.

The Gravity enduro is a sanctioned event, that means that it is planned many months in advance. The organisers are well known and would have been very easy to contact if there was something really good that needed to be kept quiet.

Moving a few rocks does not mean you own the mountain, the people who own the mountain gave their permission to an event organiser to run an event and build out the trails as needed, with the agreement of the land owner.

If you were the land owner and they ran an unsanctioned event cutting across you trails that you built on your own land then you would have a right to whinge.

Niall Davis

Hey there tl65

Can you please give me a call re the condition of the trails after the event. I read your post and would hate to think that we have left Carrick in a worst state then we found it.

My number is 0874176029

Looking forward to your reply

Kind Regards
Niall Davis