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Bellingham, Washington, United States 
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Shoot the Trails 2011, Brad W
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Entry for 2011 Shoot the Trails contest Bellingham, WA. Build it, ride it.
People you are now watching the 1st place winner of the Shoot the trails award. Thats right last night Brad took 1st place in the video and photo contest. Congrats! NW rules!
awesome video and photo submissions! i was there and i don't know how this vid or his photos could not have won compared to the others. not sure how fair that is to people that entered seeing as how it was supposed to be an amateur contest. should wmbc have regulated this?
rideabike- I don't get paid to take mountain bike photos, or any other photos for that matter. I used to a few years ago, but that doesn't make me pro anymore. I do it for fun, just like everyone else who entered. Besides, I was asked by WMBC members to submit stuff. Sorry if it didn't seem fair, I just thought the material was relevant to Whatcom County biking.
try building a trail all alone because your the only active rider in your area...
it's quite depressing espacially when there where 20+ people where riding on the weekends at our (or now its more like mine) local sport and after the jumps got torn down/built smaller by some dumb kids
it's quite depressing espacially when there where 20+ people where riding on the weekends at our (or now its more like mine) local sport and after the jumps got torn down/built smaller by some dumb kids
I've been there, and it can be depressing. Progress is slow working by yourself. Sometimes riding new trail isn't quite incentive enough for others to help, so get creative in your approach with these 20+ other riders. Make a plan for what you want to accomplish and review it with other riders. At first your trails are going to have to appeal to everyone, then in the future you will be able to get help building what you want to build. Consider it an investment in your future, and the future of your community. You can build your own scene. Everywhere that has a riding scene started with one person who became friends with another through digging in the dirt. 10 years ago Whistler didn't exist for mountain biking, and now it is a destination. That's an extreme example, but a reality nonetheless. You're not alone my friend!
Nice thing about building alone is that there is no one to disagree with your decisions. Sometimes I get more dirt moved solo, cause there is no one to BS with and get distracted.
I'm a one man show most of the time. It's slow work, but so satisfying when it all comes together and you can really call it your trail.
Brad has been on both sides of the success and pains of trail building. His advise comes with wisdom and experiences on both coasts.
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these are the people of mountain biking that inspire me most. ya i wanna go ride my bike... but i really wanna go out with my shovel and saw and build a sick trail to ride it on. thanks for the great vid guys!
The time-lapse shots were epic and inspiring. Really cool that you thought those through so well. Great images as well. Congrats, wish I could have made it to the event to see the other pieces - I'll have to track some of them down.
I wish it was that simple over here... We don't have a lot of woodland around where I live, and what we do have is either private, or a playground for either the scramblers, (who attempt to ride anything we/I build, even stuff obviously not meant for them - breaking it) or the reserved for the walkers/horse riders who'll complain/flatten things for no apparent reason.
I've managed to find a small spot in some local school grounds, but as I'm sure you can guess, it's not exactly ideal
Sorry for the rant. I'm glad you guys are making the most of it over there! Those are some sweet trails, and cool video too. Congrats on all the hard work.
I've managed to find a small spot in some local school grounds, but as I'm sure you can guess, it's not exactly ideal
Sorry for the rant. I'm glad you guys are making the most of it over there! Those are some sweet trails, and cool video too. Congrats on all the hard work.
Exactly the same here, built a few trials, a lot of hours put in for them to be taken down pretty quickly.
That bridge near the end is definitely the most serious bridge I've seen built out of natural, non processed/manufactured, materials. Nice work for sure guys.
It really is a work of art, and waaaay out in the middle of the woods. Huge props to the local crew that built that beauty!
Hands down...one of the most badass mt. bike bridges in creation! Totally unappreciated unless you stop to look at it from the side.
For those of you without a vast set of woodlands or a piece of land with permission for building, there are lots of resources on the I.M.B.A. site for getting city council and other forces behind your innitiative - http://www.imba.com/resources/organizing. It might not happen over night, but you can get permission for building trails with some dedication and patience. You'll still want the trail to happen when it finally does happen and best of all you won't see your hard work get torn out.
Another good thing to do once you do have permission is to plan your trail. Extensively. I see alot of half thought out trails start to form and not end up working. I could go on and on, but flow on a bike is much different than flow on foot, so walk stuff, eye it up, imagine yourself carrying speed through it, rough it in and try it out knowing that its going to be 10x faster when it packs in.
Another good thing to do once you do have permission is to plan your trail. Extensively. I see alot of half thought out trails start to form and not end up working. I could go on and on, but flow on a bike is much different than flow on foot, so walk stuff, eye it up, imagine yourself carrying speed through it, rough it in and try it out knowing that its going to be 10x faster when it packs in.
Really nice work Brad. I'd say you just threw your hat in the ring for Deep Summer 2012, I hope those folks notice...
Man, i want to personally shake the hand of everyone involved with making that trail. The simple fact you even make the planks from chiseling logs is epic beyond words. Every photo was also amazing. Great job!
Let me know when you have some dig days on the weekends, I'd love to come up and help throw some dirt. I need to find a place to build a few things I had in mind...
Looked at your profile, are you still in CA? From what I've heard CA is the WORST place to build for fear of getting in trouble. If you can, find yourself a nice working forest that does active logging. Do not cut down live trees, do not nail into live trees, do not dig down to tree roots. The loggers have told me that they don't care as long as we don't damage their timber harvest. Beware, all your hard work could be gone in a matter of days when they decide to log it, but it's the chance you take, and eventually it does happen. There are local mountain biking organizations for nearly every zone in the US, so extend a hand to building with those groups and I guarantee you will meet some like-minded individuals and generally cool people!
Yup thanks. i tried to ask the rangers about simple mowing/ cutting overgrown grass that covered the trail and they`re all like suspicious and shit...
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Congrats on winning the contest bud. Not only does it take tons of work to build a trail, but filming and shooting each step of the way is huge job in it self.
Well done. Representing WA state nicely! My trails look like crap compared to the stuff you built, guess I need to put some more time in.
yo brad, I deffienatly feel for the guys quote that no one does recognize effort that go into building we have all been there
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as a builder I'm just stocked to see a video like this! So much work and so much pleasur at the end, congrats guys!
So sick man, I give you major props for the work that you put into everything you do, trail building wise and the pics and vid side as well, such rad work man, keep it up.
Love watching trail progression videos, makes you want to build so bad, its just finding people that are as willing!?
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Nice not often something different like this is done, keep up the great work interested to see what comes next
B-rad, we need you to come back and share some knowledge. I got a whole mountain of possibility out my back door.
Good job, congrats for the video, the effort and the awards.
The sound track fits so well, what is it ?
The sound track fits so well, what is it ?
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Make sure and keep it to yourself. The trail isn't open until it's done, which is probably a year or so from now. Yes, I have stepped in poo lately. I hate stepping in poo.
The worst is when the poo gets stuck to your tire and you don't know it. Then you build up some speed and the poo gets flung into your mouth. At least for me, that is the worst.
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