"Sustainable" Mountain Bike Trails Exposed

His peers will undoubtedly teach him to keep his mouth shut from now
on, like everyone else. The mountain bikers can't have someone
actually telling the truth! It will upset their whole applecart....

Mike


Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2011 12:05:36 -0700
Subject: More Unsustainable mountain bike trails...

Mountain biking is unsustainable in the rainsforests of BC. A mountain
biker questions "sustainable" trail building, mountain bike-style!

North Shore Mountain Biking Forums (http://bb.nsmb.com/index.php)
- The Shore (http://bb.nsmb.com/forumdisplay.php?f=3)
- - Trail building (http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=142886)

thewwkayaker 06-25-2011 11:51 AM

Trail building
OK I'll admit I'm not an expert in trail building. I've built a house
and understand some basic principles but perhaps I'm missing something
so perhaps the experts can help me.

First thing I learned when building my house was to keep wood, even
treated wood, away from dirt especially in our climate.

So can someone explain why, when I took a walk down Pink Starfish,
that the DNV trail builders built a structure (bridge) and then pack
it with dirt? Will that not speed up rotting? I suspect it's a split
tree (like a slippery log) and would have needed grip added but dirt?
And perhaps I'm not understanding something but when water is added to
dirt, ignoring the quick rotting that will take place, does it not
create thick mud that is terrible to ride in? I didn't check if there
was drain holes made - I admit I was just astonished that anyone would
build a dirt trail in the air that I forgot to do a full review of the
structure.

My only other question is, with all this love of dirt, again when you
add water does it not produce thick mud? I believe one builder has
been quoted in saying it's like riding in peanut butter when it's wet.
How long will that last? How fun is that to ride in (IMHO it wasn't
but perhaps I'm not use to it yet).

Anyway I'm just looking to understand the new building practices.