Building a Bike Trail - Video

 It's a blue grade trail, made for all abilities to ride, give it a go and I'm sure you'l have fun...

 It's actually a really fun trail, one of the best flow trails I've ridden anywhere - and I ain't young, I've ridden more than a few in my time!

 ROAST

 @TOMGRICE: only real men ride down trails that have 45+ grade. clearly this is not a trail but a form of art.

 double post

 its a big two lane highway through the woods! fast and super epic!

 i know right? how dare someone make a trail that isn't to your liking…

 Eventually we bought an excavator.

 My grandma would love to be pushed through that trail in her wheelchair.

 @TOMGRICE: I'm not talking about the difficulty of the trail more the construction.

 I for one can't stand trails like this, BUT, I would love to have one locally I could take my kids on... just one. Or two for variety. Oh, wait, I do highland mtb park...

 @manchvegas: someone sounds a lil mad cuz they can't ride any of the real trails at highlands lmao

 Shut up, not everyone is as good as you, BesideCabinet.

 @sandboass: ridden all of them for years, all summer long a large group of us rides highland every other wed. #beerleague if you've raced enduro the past few years in the northeast you've seen most of us on the podium. My point was more of it would be nice to have trails like this by my house to take my kids on, instead of having to cart them up to highland. But yes, when they are with me, I don't get to ride the other trails... but watching them is pretty fantastic. I can also see them from the DJ area... haha

 @novas752 it looks like there was some recent thinning in that area, which would explain the carnage around the trail. Coming from someone that works for another trail organization I recognize that to keep the sport growing we need to develop trails for everyone. Although, personally I would love to see every trail be raw loamy tech... that is not realistic for the rather high percentage of riders that are a beginner to intermediate. Plus this is sustainable trail that will last for years to come!

Looks like a fun rip! Thanks for putting all the hard work in and growing the sport @TOMGRICE and crew!

 @Mitch-Lee: I learned to ride single track riddled with roots and rocks on a full rigid like every rider that's been in the sport for a long time. MTB isn't for everyone and that's ok. That said, of course we need beginner trails and we've always had them. There's never been a shortage of easy trails out there. There is a shortage of natural technical trails that have character unique to their local environment. Flow trails destroy all that is unique about any environment they are in. I've rode all over the country and love experiencing different soil types, roots, rocks...... I've rode flow in the woods, and in the desert. Only difference is shade.

You and I both know it's not just a flow trail trend going on. Trails everywhere are being dumbed down and for what? Increased participation? More people buying stuff? Lame.

 @cofattire: So I am gonna go here with me 6 year old lad in a week or so, he isnt quite ready to drop into the stuff into an actual mtb trail yet, not for want of him trying, but we all gota learn. Where, if people didnt make trails like this, would you say he should ride? He loves riding his bike in the woods, I am stoked on that and keen to keep it up, except bowling around the local riverside path aint much chat tbh, and although he loves the bmx track he also likes riding woods

 @usmbc-co-uk: yeah! I would love to ride that trail with my wife and two toddlers. worthy enough to plan holidays around there. you are very lucky

 There definitely is more than just thinning around the trail. They used a large excavator and you can clearly see that the ground cover has been demolished. Why not use a smaller machine and make it much more sustainable with a smaller impact on the surrounding terrain while only slightly decreasing the perfection of the trail?

 Duplicate

 @usmbc-co-uk: I went with my 9 yr old yesterday,it's great for the kids,and adults alike.big berms an doubles.Ideal for skills sessioning.

 __

 This is a working woods and they had already been in and thinned out the trees with much bigger machines before bike track went in and once those trees that are left are big enough they will go in again with the much larger machines and destroy everything so you can have a nice pine table.

Thanks @TOMGRICE & friends for building a quality family trail for everybody to enjoy.

 @cofattire: if you like natural technical trails you should go build some... instead of hating on the hard work of someone else.

 @cofattire: couldn't agree more

 Agreed, Far to much negativity on here, the fact that a trail like this can be ridden by a kid on a balance bike but then Steve Peat can also rip down it and have a good time is amazing. Stop commenting on here and go out and ride your bikes guys!

www.pinkbike.com/video/468987

 I'm planning on taking the wife there soon to help improve her riding. I've no shortage of technical trails surrounding me but this looks ideal for her to get used to coping with undulations and learning how to carve basic turns, and if I can hop and pop about over them then It'll be fun for me too (towpaths on an endure bike are a bit of a snooze). There's just nothing around me that doesn't need a good amount of the basics for her to learn on so places like L.C are ideal for days out with the bikes.

 Agreed - any day a new trail gets opened is a good day, and nice to see some recognition go to those that put in the work. To me the positive angle isn't necessarily growing the sport in terms of numbers, but normalising it, so that the general population can understand that normal, well-adjusted people also do mountainbiking. I reckon so much of the trail access issue is to do with public perception of our sport. We have an image problem. The sooner we get acceptance of the sport, the more trails we can build. And we all need more trails. It would be nice to see some of the bike companies getting behind trail advocacy in a more public way.

 Release the scooter kids!

 Heavy equipment isn't always the answer. In my opinion, the best trails are hand built. Besides, their use of heavy equipment looked pretty destructive. The regulations are there for a pretty good reason.

 Completely agree. Being a builder, not only of my personal trails but also federal hiking trails, it disgusts me to see the destruction surrounding the trail.

 @yukonman: and @sals Look at the map or do some reading above, Lady Canning's is a 1km fenced in square of commercially planted (on artificial earthbanks) pine in rows. It's a working forest, not old growth mahogany. The brambles will be ok in a year, trust me. Cheers for the fun trails.

 see that sweet sweet yellow dirt with all the rocks that they are using as the baselayer, and see how the topsoil isn't that color? That's because they've had to dig down to get it, and it looks like PERFECT trail base layer, the alternative would be to
- use small digger just on the trail and dig holes close to the track because of it's small reach, but that would take ages due to the small digger and be dangerous as hell to riders
-use a dumper to cart in from a dig hole near the trails or bought in from a quarry (expensive) but then you have to re-sculpture the whole trail once you're done from the dumper chewing the trail up, and you'll need a second digger to load it
-Use a dumper again and lay the track down first, but you'll spend all day driving, and its hard to judge a tracks flow until it's shaped to know what section to build next.

And then yeah, commercial forest, who cares.

 100% looks like a working forest.

 Those blue lines often looking very lame on video but some of them can be very funny when you try to ride it with your maximum speed.

 TOO AWSOME!

 watching them throw rocks off of the trail is a sad moment for a MOUNTAIN BIKER

 @fossydh: How can you say theres no flow, you've never ridden the trail! the Video doesn't do justice how much fun this trail is, and how suitable it is to all abilities. Were not saying this is a HOW TO video, it just showing people the progression of the sport and the fact that a community can come together to fund trails like this is just amazing!

Id like to see kids ride there balance bikes down a black grade trail, our sport is progressing and people are starting younger and a track like this can be enjoyed by al!

 @TOMGRICE: (Putting this here as i couldn't work out how to tag you properly) this looks like a banging beginner track, people always forget just how skilled they are compared to a novice and what their needs are, that place looks epic to build, that base layer you are mining from next to the track looks PERFECT

 @TOMGRICE: If People have to pedal all the way...I yust see that there is no flow!!!
And for Kids and beginners is a well build pumptrack much better!
Anyway...that's my opinion, and I feel sorry to see such a mess

 @TOMGRICE: What the f*ck are you talking about ? Didn´t say that ! I just said it can be funny to ride it with speed ! I doesn´t say that it is not funny when you ride it slower. It was just an answer for those who are complaining everything that suits not to their own needs !

 i was replying to @parkbuilder dude not sure why its staged you mate, and your right the faster you go the harder it gets on these kind of trails...

 @TOMGRICE: Ok, thx. We have a few bikeparks here and some bikers only ride the red and black lines the whole day. Some forget how fun or how demanding a blue line can be when you ride there with speed. For sure, always paying attention and slowing down for beginners.