“What were some end results of your team’s TTC efforts?”

TH: Added fun features, a new bridge, reroutes to rely less on double track, less buckthon (a small invasive tree). Now, we can start a ride in town and finish on another trail system outside of town.

BC: This year we created six or seven features and added nearly 1600 feet of trail. This was important to reroute riders from ski trail, private property, and blue-level trail in order to reach the park’s high point. This section roughly doubles the length of trail we use as our beginner loop to get riders used to singletrack. As our team grows, this added distance will help space riders out and offer both entry-level trails and “challenge by choice” for our newer riders.

“What other groups did your team work with, and what did that partnership look like?”

BC: The city and local schools own a lot of the public land. There’s also a fair amount of adjacent private land that we maintain a few awesome loops on. We work hard to create plans for development that fit the needs of the multiple programs that use the properties, as well as to meet regional goals to promote outdoor activity. The city and school district have been very accepting of our donated time and effort, giving full support, as long as we can find funding and demonstrate that we are adding value to park users.

GH: We work directly with one homeowner whose land is part of the trail system and who just likes to be kept in the know of what’s happening — as they should!. It’s a diverse world, and I’ve found a lot of common ground with their family, connecting my love of biking and our team’s future on the trails with that family’s expectations and use of their own land.

“As a coach, what did you learn from the experience?”

TH: That our team is small but mighty! Also, that we have the support of local businesses that are starting to help spread the word of both the team and the trails.

BC: Patience is key. As the club was getting put together I had started the journey of working on the trails with a management plan that I wrote. In 2019, we held the first National Trails Day. I felt like I was starting a garage band when I wrote the initial management plan. When we held our first National Trails Day event in 2019, the only attendees were my girlfriend (who’s now my wife), my mother, and me. We rocked out a nearly 400-foot reroute. Now we average 6-12 people on work days. It took a lot of time and consistency to get more riders to become trail builders. Now, students often ask during the height of training season if we can do trail work.

GH: We’re in a small town and not part of any major trail system, so funding is extremely difficult. We get a little assistance from the hospital, but we’re otherwise self-funded, paying out of our own pockets. Plus, the time spent actually doing trail work is just a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. There are also meetings, calls with landowners and the city council and other planning, all with the goal of making future work easier and getting families out into the woods!