Saturday was National Trails Day and I got a chance to help out with the MTB trail reroutes out at Sope Creek just outside Atlanta. I assumed this would be just another monthly SORBA work day with maybe a dozen volunteers so I was blown away to see nearly 200 people ready to work at 8am! Apparently REI promoted National Trails Day involvement pretty hard and was able to get a good group out there, most of whom were not mountain bikers. The SORBA guys were clearly in charge though and ended up leading several groups of ~20 volunteers each.

My group (led by SORBA Atlanta prez. Tom Tomaka) was assigned trail closure duty – sorta like demolition work on a construction site. While we piled sticks, leaves, and logs on top of the old, eroded trail other groups were busy constructing split-rail fences at the entrances to the old trail to route riders and hikers to the new dirt. Still other groups did finish work on the new trail sections, clipping roots and tamping loose dirt to make the trails smooth as butter.

Trail closure step 1: Find sticks and logs to pile on closed trail.

Trail closure step 2: Place sticks and logs on trail.

Trail closure step 3: Cover with leaves. Where’d the old trail go?

Some die-hard Sope Creek riders will probably be disappointed to see the steep, rocky trail sections replaced with bench cut smoothness but the reroutes had to be done to address some serious erosion issues. It’s rare to see mountain bikes allowed at all on trails managed by the National Park Service like those at Sope Creek and the good news is that there are plans to build a brand new loop / network of bike trails in the park as early as this fall.

Long Cane Trails LLC did the initial machine work on the reroutes.

At the end of the day the volunteers were able to open at least 2 new trail reroutes which was honestly really satisfying. I managed to get a quick ride in on the new trails (“first tracks” as snowboarders would say) and I gotta say these new sections flow much better than the old stuff. I also ended up working with singletracks member GoldenGoose and didn’t even know it until afterward – small world (see if you can pick him out in the second photo above).

Even if you didn’t get a chance to help out in your area on Saturday, make a point to help with trail work at least once this summer – contact your local MTB club to get involved!

Santa Teresa Park (San Jose, CA) photo by gab26.

Tomorrow is National Trails Day here in the US and as a mountain biker I gotta say I’m a little confused about what I’m supposed to do. Over on the IMBA website there isn’t a single mention of National Trails Day (other than a news item from 1998) and the SORBA website is linking to the American Hiking Society to help people find events to participate in. Huh? I thought mountain bikers were trail users too -  I guess NTD is the American Hiking Society’s show.

Since IMBA doesn’t seem to be organizing or promoting events for mountain bikers to celebrate National Trails Day, I thought I’d put together a quick list of ideas and events for tomorrow.

1. Take a beginner / first time rider on a mountain bike trail. Yep, there’s really nothing better than introducing n00bs to mountain biking and (hopefully) a greater appreciation for trails and outdoor spaces. National Trails Day isn’t the day to shred and terrorize other trail users (nor is any other day for that matter) so take it easy and help others get comfortable on the trails.

2. Get to work. SORBA Atlanta (my local club) is hosting a trail work day at Sope Creek with a group ride to follow and I reckon many other clubs are doing the same. Oddly (or perhaps shrewdly) enough the Sope Creek event is being promoted on the American Hiking Society website rather than SORBA’s site. Could this be a way to show hikers that mountain bikers are good for the trails? I think so – let’s crash this party (in a good way).

Finally, here are a few National Trails Day events for mountain bikers I found through a quick Google search. This list isn’t even close to complete so if you know of an event in your area go ahead and post it up here in the comments. Happy Trails Day!

EPIC Mountain Bike Ride (Irvine, CA)

Trail work / Group ride @ Legend Park (Clayton, NC)

SORBA work / Group ride @ Sope Creek (Atlanta, GA)

Trail work @ Crested Butte Mountain (Crested Butte, CO)

Trail work @ Sprague Book Park (Glenwood, NY)

Grand Opening of Raisin Woods MTB Park (Dalton, GA)

Festival @ Bur Mill Park (Greensboro, NC)

Trail work @ Riverside Park (Hartford, CT)

Multiple events/rides happening in West Virginia State Parks

This week I read a couple articles about how mountain bikers are finally starting to turn the tide on trail closures and trail use conflicts through leadership and hard work. We’ve seen the impact hard working mountain bikers can have right here in our own backyard and apparently it’s happening all over the country.

In Pennsylvania’s Wissahickon Valley recent studies have shown that degraded and eroded park trails were definitely NOT caused by mountain biking but rather by poor water drainage (good study to pass on to your local land managers). In fact mountain bikers have partnered with a local non-profit to improve the trails and the two groups worked more than 3,700 volunteer hours in 2008 alone! The Philadelphia Mountain Biking Association (PMBA) has about 250 volunteers who have worked on trails in the Wissahickon Valley and they even managed to get a $10,000 grant from REI for their work. The great thing is that everyone, including hikers and equestrians, will benefit from the work being done by the PMBA.

In Asheville, NC mountain bikers are heading up an effort to rehab and create new trails on city land known as Richmond Hill. The trails at Richmond Hill have been neglected for some time and residents seemed at a loss for what to do – that is, until the mountain bikers showed up. Now SORBA Pisgah is leading trail work days every other Saturday starting this weekend to build trails for beginning to advanced riders right near the heart of downtown Asheville. Oh, and the hikers will get to enjoy the new and improved trails as well.

Yep, on the east coast and in the midwest it’s rare to have mountain bike trails handed to us and if we want more bike trails we’re gonna have to take the lead ourselves. Find (or create) a local group and get connected on a trail project this year – let’s all be leaders in 2009!

Check out our list of local mountain bike clubs to find a group in your area!

This weekend I made good on one of my New Years resolutions and helped out with some trail work out at Sope Creek mountain bike trail inside the Chattahoochee River National Recreation area. The morning got off to a cold start (my car thermometer said it was 17 degrees when I left the house) but that didn’t stop 15-20 Atlanta area mountain bikers from showing up to help out.

The Sope Creek mountain bike trails are in pretty bad shape and unfortunately the only trail open to mountain bikes is a badly eroded double-track that used to be a road bed. There are big plans for new singletrack in the next year or two but in the meantime mountain bikers are doing their part to help out and show goodwill toward the National Park Service and the hundreds of walkers and joggers who use the trails every week.

SORBA-Atlanta organized the work day and we got started with some safety training and an intro to the basics of trailwork. Our job was to clear out grade dips that had become clogged with sediment using hand tools called Pulaskis and McCleods to help slow the erosion that has devistated the mountain bike trail. The work went pretty quickly and it was a great opportunity to sweat and socialize with riders working toward a common goal: better singletrack!

After the work party a couple of us hit the trails on bikes but honestly we were ready to call it quits after a short loop due to the weather and the lack of trail variety. Sope Creek isn’t a trail I would choose to ride in its current condition but I’m optimistic about the changes taking place there thanks to the efforts of SORBA and the NPS. With work parties scheduled at Sope Creek and other MTB trails each month there are plenty of opportunities to stay involved – see you at the next trail work party!