Video: The Dirt Merchant

Dec 12, 2012
by Adam Nawrot  

The Dirt Merchant from Adam Nawrot on Vimeo.


Jason Fenton has building and maintaining mountain bike trails in the heart of Central New Jersey since 2004. The Dirt Merchant takes a peek into what it means to be a mountain biker and cyclist in the middle of some of America's densest suburban sprawl.

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Member since Feb 15, 2011
2 articles

62 Comments
  • 72 8
 I thought they were talking bout my fav trail in the Whistler bike park.... guess not.
  • 20 27
flag brett7 (Dec 12, 2012 at 2:01) (Below Threshold)
 Me too, very disappointed .
  • 24 1
 You hugely missed the point of building your own trail and putting passion into your work to create something that is just for you and magical
  • 10 0
 Pretty motivating. Too bad they couldn't have strapped a camera to one of their heads or held the camera steady long enough for us to appreciate the trails that they were building. I did see a shot of a ladder bridge at one point though.
  • 1 1
 Yeah, i have plans to make a bike film... i will keep that in mind if i get round to it
  • 38 2
 So obviously his trail building didn't lead to a grassy patch marked off as a cyclocross course, lets see more of this trail you built.
  • 3 0
 The filmmaker probably should have followed up the "community" aspect of him talking with all the cyclocross racers with a bunch of people out on the trails he built.
  • 22 11
 WOW! Trail Building videos are usually my favorite videos but what happened with all the chainsawing and post hole digging? I mean watching skin suiters riding around on the grassy knoll was BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!! You owe 10:45 of my life back.
  • 4 5
 Glad I read the comments first. On to the next video!
  • 10 3
 Biking is not just about WC Downhill racing and FMB World Tour. It's also about the average bikers, who just love to spend their free time in the woods riding with their buddies and taking part is some amateur races. And the cyclocross part was just about that - making biking available for everyone.
  • 3 1
 My previous comment was quite naive. After watching the video, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the first six minutes or so. I have spent the last four summers working as a professional trail builder and found it easy to relate. I just felt like the cyclocross riding didn't really jive with the rest of the video. It would have been nice to see some more riding of six mile run.
  • 2 0
 how do you get to be a professionnal trail builder and actually get paid to do that????
  • 3 0
 Start by doing some voluntary dig days somewhere local and become a regular.
  • 4 6
 I am not going to bash on the cyclocross thing because riding is riding, and that is great fitness, but wearing a set of F'n STihl Chaps that are Brand new for a few little tiny trees is Gay, I mean dude, I understand city boys is different then boys in the woods, but really Bright orange Chaps to trim little trees for an hour or two?
  • 4 0
 There are quite a few companies that specialize in building trails for individuals, companies or the government. People are willing to pay to have trails built properly so that they last. I couldn't have asked for a better summer job. As far as chaps are concerned....if you care at all about your legs, wear them! The most dangerous stuff to cut with a chainsaw is small brush and branches. It's very easy to get a small branch wedged in between the bar and the chain and throw a chain. I threw a chain a year ago and it sunk into my chaps, not my flesh. I like my legs. They allow me to spin my pedals. It would seem it makes sense to protect them.
  • 5 0
 pbrider,

As one of the "boys in the woods" to whom you refer, I can tell you that using a chainsaw without chaps is absolutely dumb. It takes only a split second for a chainsaw to rip through your quads and grind into your femur. I can speak from experience that cutting through the "little tiny trees" usually is more difficult and dangerous than dropping a 20" thick, 80' tall oak.

Your comment about it being gay is absurdly naive and reminds me of the punks in the skate park who think that wearing a helmet is for sissies.
  • 2 1
 Sam, helmets are not for sissies, neither are chaps. Helmets are to protect your head when you think the risk is enough to warrant it, and Chaps are for your legs. If I ride my bike to the store to get a bag of chips I might not wear a helmet, if I ride my bike at the park or on some trail, I will. It is about risk. And as a 23 year old from New York I will go out on a LIMB (no pun intended) and say you don't know shit about saws or cutting trees mainly from your last statement about cutting little limbs vs dropping and bucking big trees. You are both spoiled kids that probably bought a farm boss or a 460 to trim your bushes in the front yard because it came with a free hat. Come out to the real woods and I will show you how to use a saw.
  • 1 0
 heh! I grew up on a small dairy farm and go home often to help out. My parents bought me a Stihl MS260 for my 17th birthday in the hopes I would do something productive with it. Seems like a lot of work for a birthday present, but I was grateful since that is to date by far the most costly thing anyone has ever given to me. We have 150 acres of mixed hardwood on our 300 acre farm that we selectively thin and harvest from. Our other saws are a Stihl 038, 021, and a Husky 460 Rancher. I've been cutting since I was 12, felling trees since I was 14,and have felled, bucked, and skidded a dozen or so tri-axle loads worth of saw logs. Yes, that includes the 34" thick ash I dropped last year for a harvest. Oh, and I cut 25-35 face cord of firewood each year besides. I've maintained my saw and the old man's saws for several years, and sharpen my chain with a hand file regularly. Oh, and no hat (hard or otherwise) was included. I actually paid for my chaps and hardhat.
  • 1 0
 Your a fool. I own a 10 year old 55 rancher and split my time between a farm in Wisconsin and school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Real Woods? Pay a visit to the U.P. sometime. This argument is useless.
  • 7 0
 i have no problem with anyone calling themselves a "dirt merchant", although it is somewhat uncreative to use an existing title and attach yourself to it. but THE DIRT MERCHANT belongs in one place, and should associated to one trail. and then having the video present a cyclocross trail? that's like titling something the "mona lisa" and showing a finger painting. cmon now.
  • 1 0
 BEST COMMENT HERE!!! Forget CX..roadbikers BE GONE (I always lol when I hear cyclo-cross riders reference themselves at 'mountain bikers' lololo
  • 11 1
 i want to be a dirt merchant when i grow up!
  • 11 6
 Dirt merchant aka soil dealer aka earth cartel aka loam tradesman aka ground retailer aka mud seller aka dust vendor aka brownpow distributor aka terrain wholesaler. Numerous names for your local trail boss that kills it with a shovel
  • 1 0
 Don't forget dirt monger
  • 6 2
 To all the folks who dismissed this as a boring video.....show some respect and go design/build some trails,it's hard work. Anyone who builds gets a thumbs up in my book....and yes I have built substantially myself. As for cyclocross - I've never done it and never will but the kind of shape you have to be in is pretty phenomenal. Cool vid and keep up the good work.
  • 3 0
 A really interesting and nice story of a growing community. It's always nice to see people who are interested in helping the sport grow by making it accessible for new everyday people who just discovered biking - instead of making World Cup level trails and races. Cheers!
  • 3 0
 Yea, my parents generation used to have this saying before they went to the mountains: leave it better shape than you found it. Current one was recently taught: have fun and let nothing stop you, then tell us about it. It really makes me want to get out there and dig. Sometimes it is a very little you can give back to thingd that give you so much - like pick up trash someone less fortunate has left. RESPECT!
  • 2 0
 As for the CX critique: I don't do CX either but many friends of mine do so I won't knock it... its better than surfing a couch. I'd have cut the CX a little shorter to make room for the above, or done another video on CX. But I can't get into the creator's head and know what he was thinking so maybe I'm being a little unfair too.

Strava? Yes, its a problem here too. I always say: "Yo dude, Strava is no firkin excuse to throw trail etiquette out the window. Slow down and yield and be courteous to other users or lose the privilege for all of us".

On behalf of all the people in NJ that have lifted a macloed to build sweet trails, I want to thank Adam for shedding a little light on one of our best here in NJ (though we have dozens of great people similar to Jason and great places to ride like 6 Mile).

Cheers, Mergs
  • 1 0
 I need to jump in here and defend Jason Fenton because I know the lad and he doesn't deserve the negativity. Here goes:

a) Jason is a dedicated trail builder that has *real* permission from the landowner, NJDEP, through his organization, JORBA, to build trails. This means that he's allowed to build trail by the State of NJ. All activity he does has to be seen through that lens. I know that legal permission to build trails may come easy in other parts of US and the world but in NJ, this has been a decade long fight to gain this level of access within New Jersey's State Parks and Forests. Many came before him to pave the way for Jason (and me and my volunteers, in my park Jungle Habitat) but Jason's level of dedication in his area has brought it to a new level. He not only rallies trail work days where 50+ eager volunteers show up (we literally run out of tools at his work days) but he's there in the AMs solo with a macloed tweaking lines just because he's in love with this dirt.

continued...
  • 1 0
 b) anyone that has taken chainsaw safety knows that you wear your safety equipment every time without exceptions. A chain can come off, or any number of dangerous situations can occur, even with small trees that can result in injury. Its better to be safe than sorry and thus be able to ride another day. Chainsaws should never be taken for granted. The day you do, they bite you in the ass. Youtube has plenty of evidence of chainsaw work gone bad. I wouldn't focus on the little trees either... Hurricanes Irene (last year) and Sandy dropped plently of monsters and he was bucking many large ones too. They weren't depicted here.

c) Jason is a good man and dedicated to the cause and has taken a pancake flat overgrown park and made it a gigglefest in the woods (in a section of NJ that is really built up and needs a place like this). His building skills have really become impressive. He has a massive amount of support locally and he's been a real leader in the mtb community out here in NJ. I think the film is a good narrative on that and I tip my hat to the creator of the film.

That said, my only critiques of the video would be that a) it could have had a little more emphasis on the other volunteers of 6 Mile and b) a cursory mention of JORBA.org (which due to its stellar reputation makes Jason's work possible in a legal sense. For example, Jason mentioned Jason Pace in the video who was his partner for years. That would have been a great seqway into the other volunteers that were a part of this success and JORBA's role there and throughout NJ's parks. Full disclosure: I once served as Executive Director of this organization and still maintain a park in the north part of NJ so I am very biased and tend to defend my bros, like Jason.

continued...
  • 1 0
 good points
  • 1 0
 i'm gonna hit up the six mile run trail next time i'm in the dirty jerz... as for everyone bashing the guys chaps... typically the people you need to get permission to work on or build trails REQUIRE you wear PPE whenever workin on a trail. at least in the over-conservative northeast. I run a saw almost every day with no chaps, but when i do trailwork on public or someone elses land, i owe it to them to do whatever they ask so I dont become a liability and risk losing that space for riding...
  • 1 0
 MERGALICIOUS!!!!!!!!

It cracks me some of you tell him to take off his sissy chaps for an hour or two of trimming. Are you fvcking kidding me? Jason F. Logs countless hours digging. In the hundreds! All it takes is a split second to loose a limb or die.

Credit where credit is due, JORBA.org, Jason Fenton, Jason Pace, and hundreds of volunteers who shaped 6 Mile.
  • 1 0
 Currently I'm building a trail and I can confirm that there's nothing better than building your own trail; 3-4 hours without thinking about any problems. It's torturing at the same time because it takes so much effort... I can't wait to ride it and hit all the jumps!
  • 6 2
 Great video. Best trails in new jersey by far is six mile.
  • 1 0
 Yes, especially when you consider there's like a 150ft elevation change. It's a giant pump track! Love it.
  • 4 0
 Most of the Pinkbike community is under the impression that every awesome trail has to be in Whistler, or Utah, or Colorado, but lets face it people, if we want more places to ride, we're going to have to build in boring, flat, and small places.
  • 2 0
 I agree with PHellerm. There must be beginner trails for the new people interested in biking. I think that those "boring" trails close to the city (or even in the city) will get more people into mountain biking than a banger movie of a WC Downhill racer and a freerider slaying a trail in China.
  • 1 0
 I love 6mr, just wish they showed more of it in the video...
  • 2 0
 Nice to see local trail building on here. Really don't have much over here in New Jersey for trails but, its home. Thanks Jason
  • 2 2
 The whole Cyclocross thing cracks me up. Running with a bike? Hilarious. Guess it's safer for those roadies than riding on the street! All these hard-tail niner guys out here are just roadies that are tired of being run over by cars. Total creeps-most of them. They time themselves with that ridiculous Strava thing and run hikers and kids off the trail to get the best time. They scream "get outta the way!" as they piss off everyone, including real Mt Bikers, as they fly by on their carbon Specialized pieces of shit. Horses , kids, old people, dosen't matter! They are giving the wholre MTB community here in SoCal a bad name. Go back to the street, roadies! You don't belong on the dirt. Gotta go build some trails today myself, the Secret DH Trail in West Hills! HA
  • 1 1
 I obviously don't want people riding recklessly on trails and endangering other people but there's no point in knocking cyclocross or road riders and saying people who ride hardtail 29ers aren't "real" mountain bikers. Different stokes for different folks.
  • 5 5
 The whole Cyclocross thing cracks me up. Running with a bike? Hilarious. Guess it's safer for those roadies than riding on the street! All these hard-tail niner guys out here are just roadies that are tired of being run over by cars. Total creeps-most of them. They time themselves with that ridiculous Strava thing and run hikers and kids off the trail to get the best time. They scream "get outta the way!" as they piss off everyone, including real Mt Bikers, as they fly by on their carbon Specialized pieces of shit. Horses , kids, old people, dosen't matter! They are giving the wholre MTB community here in SoCal a bad name. Go back to the street, roadies! You don't belong on the dirt. Gotta go build some trails today myself, the Secret DH Trail in West Hills! HA
  • 3 0
 quit drinkin all that hate-orade and just go ride brah
  • 3 2
 No Hate, just stating the facts
  • 1 0
 this man speaks the truth@! CX is really wack
  • 2 0
 I love riding bikes but damn, most bikers are such fruitcakes! Way to absorbed with gear. Building your own zone to ride will always be respectable though
  • 1 0
 OMG if only the forest service had augers for post holes. All that strenuous work with that damn post hole digger and you could just have it done in a couple seconds... lame
  • 1 0
 You can see a little more of 6 Mile Run here:

videotrailreviews.com/trails/2011/07/six-mile-run-nj
  • 1 0
 die roadies, die...don't call yaselves mountain bikers if all you do is CX. FORGET CX!!!
  • 1 0
 Good work, but why use footage of temporary lines just taped into a field? Also you messed up real bad at 4:15 Wink
  • 1 0
 I wonder if this guy knows the Situation?
  • 2 3
 The whole Cyclocross thing cracks me up. Running with a bike? Hilarious. Guess it's safer for those roadies than riding on the street!
  • 1 0
 I'm not mad. Just disappointed. Glad i flicked through before committing.
  • 1 1
 say layout one more time
  • 1 2
 ten year olds with machetes make better trails
  • 1 0
 You, sir are a tool. NO, they can't and NO, you obviously have never ridden at 6MR or you wouldn't say something so incredibly stupid as to expose yourself as a complete idiot. Go ride there, then your will be allowed an opinion.
  • 1 0
 Andrewfield -

LOL first your only 16 ....And by looking at your " trails " that says enough about you and your skills buddy.. When you grow up then make a well educated comment otherwise sit your little ass back in time out before you get back handed some common sense into your dumbass skull little boy .
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