Today (June 5) is National Trails Day. I hope you’re all out enjoying the trails. I thought it appropriate to save this post until trail day since it involves the work we did to rehabilitate and improve one trail in the Durham Regional Forest.

SuperFly Alley is a popular advanced trail in the DRF. It’s been around for a long time, and most riders incorporate it into their loop each time they ride at the DRF. It shows. It’s deteriorated over time and is quite choppy and eroded. When the DMBA started doing trail work in the DRF we knew we would have to tackle repairing, or rerouting, SuperFly at some point. Terry and Steve decided after the success of Logs Over Easy and Maple Gravy that this was the year. Into the field they went to scout out some lines. The idea was to fix the worst sections as a start, and fix the rest at some later time. Once they had buy-in for the new lines from the LSRCA the day for the build was scheduled: May 29th.

This was a bittersweet build for me, it is the first build in a long time that I played very little part in. I taught a trail school workshop the Friday night before the build, and brought up the IMBA Tool Trailer, but otherwise this was Terry’s baby. And I have to give it to him, he did a fantastic job with organizing , co-ordination, and project leadership, not to mention the lines he settled on. Like the true gentleman that he is he would point out that none of it could have happened without the help of Steve, who is usually scouting new lines with him. And of course none of it could have happened without the support of everyone who contributed their time, money, and/or support for this build.

It was a bittersweet build for Steve too since just before the actual build day he sprained his ankle and constructing bench cut trails on a 30% side-slope was out of the question. So BBQ duties fell to him. But he was so impressed by the day that he sent me this note and asked that it be shared with everyone:

Saturday’s trail build went so smoothly I think it’s noteworthy. On one hand we seemed to have some trouble rousing enough volunteers, but in end we had exactly the appropriate number of willing workers and great things got done. The combination of everything and everyone turning up on time as promised, along with the co-ordination of the volunteers by Terry resulted in a very efficient execution of the various scheduled fixes, rebuilds and reroutes. We are a force to be reckoned with when we come together in this way. Very impressive.

I was back out in the forest today with my wife Annette. I couldn’t help but take her out there to show her what we had achieved. In fact, by now she’s taking a real interest. I saw riders today smiling from ear to ear as they rode the new lines. I also saw volunteer builder Clair Cornish back out there riding the build joined by his son. Being able to ride what you’ve built is satisfying. Being able to take your family and friends out there and tell them, “this is what we built” is a whole other feeling.

I spoke to alot of people on Saturday as they rode through the staging area where I was manning the Q. I emphasized to all of them that what we were up to was a sanctioned, official build. I wanted to impress upon them that being able to have such a positive impact on the forest we call home is a actually not a given nor is it a job. It’s a privilege.

Steve’s comment of it being a privilege is right on the money. The dirt jump crowd has embraced the ethic that if you want to ride, you have to dig. I’m hoping this starts to sink in with the XC crowd as well.

It’s not just one of our own that was impressed. Phil Davies, “the guy” responsible for the DRF, was very impressed as well. Here’s what he had to say:

I would like to extend our thanks to you and your dedicated and hard-working DMBA members for another very successful rebuild on Saturday.  Once again, we were very impressed by the turn out of members, and for their enthusiasm and hard work.  The resulting closures and new alignments, we believe, will have a great impact on the long-term sustainability of the network.

I started the day by walking the trail and taking some ‘before’ photos, and then kept snapping throughout the day.  I was looking closely at what was there in the morning, and it was remarkable how the old and deteriorating trails were so well hidden after the new trails were opened.

Once again, thank-you very much for  your hard work.  We look forward to continuing to develop and build our relationship with DMBA, and will look to establishing a formal trail management agreement with you in the coming months

I’ve included those “before” and “after” photos he was referring to. But the photos don’t do it justice. SuperFly is a trail I’ve ridden many, many times, and I walked right past the closure of one section, a section that I always (used to) blow the corner on.

One last thought. There was some trepidation from club members, and riders in general, about the use of the paving stones. In my opinion I think it worked out. We were able to keep a fall line section, keep our build costs down, and it makes a cool “rumble strip” sound when you ride over it. It sets you up nicely for the following turn. Traction on the way up is much improved. I realize others might not agree, please feel free to comment below. Do you like changes? Yes, no, indifferent?