Trails...

 Honeltly too, sometimes I'm afraid to build because it might not be how the 'locals' do it OR if something else was already in mind for a line...

 Really simple solution to this, you ride at your own when you f-up somehting fix it back up best you can. If you case all hell out of something just try an fix it unless you really don't know what you're doing, leave the place (a note perhaps) and next time try to come back when there are locals so you can talk to them and explain that you messed it up and just man up to it, then offer to help fix it with their aid and help.

I mean I have gone to trails that I thought were abandoned I went 6-7 times an never anyone around and always looked somewhat unused, that day came in with my own tool started a line off the the side a bit worked on it for 3 days straight. Came back after a week the whole line went from 2 doubles to a set of 7, and a note left on the tree thanking for the work put in and a number to call next time I wanna help and ride with them.

 Stu, i can understand what you mean but you should never build your own stuff at other peoples trails. When people say you need to dig that means help the locals out with something they are digging. If you start building your own lines at other peoples spots the loacls are gonna get pissed off. So just dont ride untill the locals arrive and ask how you can help!

 I almost enjoy building jumps more than I do jumping them, so this video was pretty cool. Can't wait to see what the winter will bring to the bomb trails out there.

 scrippsranchdj i know what you mean, just chilling and building jumps then have a fire and drinking/blazing after a long day. i almost like it better than biking to

 Building bike trails are a good way to spend a yucky day, i like building in the winter and riding all the new trails in the spring and summer-pics and a video in my profile of my new trail

 i have been out building my trails with another who helped found our trails at 5 am in the morning in the pouring rain. probably the stupidest but awesome time i have dig there. only stayed for an hour but we got everything shaped up but that was the day we discovered our pot plant was dead your trails look sick. im not into that kind of riding just straight up dj for me but they look sick

 LOL oh the trials and tribulations of trail building. Canadians love their trees if you know what I mean Yea it's always nice to sit bax and relax, recap on what you did that day and what you plan to do next.

 to be honest, i LOVE building trails as much as i love riding them

 scrip i have never used a tree to build or built in a forest, so i dont apply there and ya man, around a fire with a group of friends, nothing better. rcpro, you are my idol then, most people hate building trails but endure it to ride but when somebody likes building trails i respect that

 i would kill to have dirt of that quality.... doesnt it just look beautifull. Im with you scripps... sometimes i get exited just thinking about digging.... strange

 not going to lie i was kinda looking foreward to someone auctually seshing those jumps after the building was done

 watching this has made me want it to go up to 30 degrees and go out and finish off my trails

 From the OG 1st post its the basic logic with building but you don't need to take it completely literally. Simple rules to run by:
1. fix what you f-up
2. if there are locals there building ask them if they need a hand before you go riding their work
3. don't tear something down if you didn't build it, specially if you are not local
4. respect each other and dig/ride for the love

Totally know what you mean bout the building "skill" some people have it others don't so you might just have them move dirt for you and pile it up, not necessarily shape the jump but an extra set of hands always helps. Now the whole vision thing it really depends on the spot but usually there are a set group of guys that build/ride all the time there and they are the go to guys about any ideas of what you may want to build, most of the time if they don't want it coming threw their lines they will have no problem you building off to the side. But its always good to bring new ideas to the table, and if you make your own thing to the side that is your own just let them know you wanna keep it that way not for them to edit it since you may not be up to par with their riding level yet and want something your size too. Now the good old "Local" term, Locals in my eyes are the guys who run the trails for the most part, they are putting in multiple hours out of their day into the trails. Just because you live a block from the trails and just bought a brand new bike and started riding does make you a Local where you can call the shots and boss people around, thats how you lose respect and just make a bad name for yourself. Clean an simple work your way up to the top if you wanna be considered a Local, help out the current Locals, put in your fair share of hours, ask if you can build you own lines. Don't just show up pick up a shovel and go hacking away at the already existing things there to make them to your level of riding.

 lol. thanks for making my day. spent ages reading through all the trail etiquette stuff ^ and then this. choice bro

 yeah he does...with his hands...

 his pink jeans dont help :/ :L

 HAHAHAHAHA I thought the same exact thing!!

 Exact same problem here. whats worst is my friends who i ride wont rebuild the stuf and rely on me doing it cuz they dont know what hand to put the god damned shovel in. sometimes its best to do things yourself. i prefer building my own stuff alone tbh. it takes time but works.

 Agreed Disco.. My trails are all hand built and 99.5% of the hours were put in by me working with only the company of my two dogs Nothing better for clearing your mind and getting away from the stress of life than digging!!

 our crew all got hurt for a spell and some guy turned a 28 foot gap into a table while we were gone. he moved soooo much wood and dirt to fill in a chunky gap. i'm still baffled.

 Its not so much dont dont dig, but more dont dig beyond your capabilities without supervision. building is an art! But if you make holes try to fix them. if a local isn't there and they dont want you fixing stuff the tools will be well hidden or locked up

 Do some searching, there are several vid's online about building trails. It was either Transition or another bike company that did it a while back..

 nobody can really tell you how to build jumps though, they can give you tips but when it comes down to it your gonna build how you wanna build. the best way to make the look nice is to build them wider and the you planned and then take a square shovels and shape the sides until the are square then pound the shit out of the back intuil it is flat. the best way to make them smooth is when you are packing everytime you hit the jump you slide your shovel down to smooth the dirt, and never pack a jump with anything but a flat shovel, it will wreck it. other than that you shouldnt need any other advice because you should be building jumps how you wanna build them. watching videos of nice trails helps to. check out pawoods.com and the welcome to deluxe dvd/trailer for some really nice trails

 Theres no 'how to' with trail building. A good trail is just a bit of common sense and a lot of experience. If you don't have an eye for building trails in the first place then its difficult to develop one...

 thanks guys!!!

 if you dont have an eye or the natural born ability to make good jumps and nice trails then you need to watch a ton of videos and just get a good idea of what you wanna build then try and build it. and your trails will be different if you have only bmxers there or mtb. and if you have a mix of both then thats the best because then you can get really creative and make some pretty sick stuff to ride. i gotta say riding a fairly easy slopestyle course with no crazy drops on it is probably the funnest mtb feature course i have ever ridden on bmx. and remember you want to try and eliminate as much peddling as you can to keep speed consistant for everyone so rollers, hills and digging your jumps into the ground helps a lot with that. and building down a mellow hill will be the best for carrying speed. also building from scratch is very hard a demanding, dont give up even when you want to or it will never be good

 cheers for the tips bro yea mi plan was to build them into the ground but that waz the plan on how to get dirt but now you said to keep speed that would be sweet!!

 possum72, the hardest thing is how to construct the kicker, but here's a tip that I use for any kicker that is only a few feet high like the one near the end of the video. stand upright with both feet together, with knees locked and keep them locked through the whole operation. balancing on one foot, move the other foot forward pivoting at the hip. The base of your shoe will create a perfect arc that transitions nicely from flat to 45 or 60 degrees or whatever you want. To apply this to digging, pile up a big steep pile of dirt and pack it down or wait a few days til it settles in. Then stand at the base of the dirt pile and pivot your leg up, moving dirt away with your shoe or stomping it in so that the arc you create will always juuuust touch the bottom of your shoe. Move sideways keeping the foot you stand on in line with where it was before and repeat, and pretty soon you will have a two-to-three foot wide kicker with a nice smooth transition.

 cheers bro thanks heaps for that aye im starting on my trails next week will have to put your methods to use thanks bro!!!

 good luck man, post some pics of the jumps as you build them if you want any tips while your building

 yea mann sweet will do

 For anyone who wants to learn how to dig, have a look at this site, i mean personally i think in some ways they go over the top with some of the things they do, but it sows you the general idea of how to dig and shape. Also just a tip from personal experience if you build trails give them rounded edges, the ones in this vid may look sick but they wont last, and cause too much maintainance for the outcome. just focus on good riding surfaces. anyway here is the site
trailpirate.com

 james i dont know how long you have been digging for or how much you do it but these trails will last, if the guys are out there often enough and you dont have hacks casing the jumps or fucking with the lips they will be fine. and it depends on the dirt to. personally i would rather ride a jump like the ones in this video because you can tell how much time is put into them, and almost every good dj spot has square jumps

 Look all i was saying is that unless they spend all there time maintaining the sides as well as the riding surface then it wont stay like that. the work is un necessary. I have been digging for over 3 years, and currently work at one of, if no the best spots in the uk (chertsey trails) where we dont even touch the backs or sides of our jumps as there ate too many jumps and the work load would be un bearable.. From my experience all that needs focusing on is the riding surface, what does it matter if the edge isnt crisp and is rounded, all it means is that it can take more abuse from the weather. All having crisp edges to jumps does ultimately is create more maintenance, and maintenance that doesn't effect how the jump rides

 I think it all depends on your soil - some places I've dug at you could slap any shovelful of soil on any edge and it will stick and you can keep the edges crisp with little maintenance - generally a softer soil. But there are other soils that as soon as it rains the fine dirt washes away and then you are left with course dirt and small rocks etc. Trying to keep an crisp edge on that stuff would be a nightmare. Some people dig and want their trails looking mint - others want to dog so they have something to jump. Both sets ride the same. It all depends on your priorities. On one set of trails we used to landscape them and plant grass and encourage moss so that the trails looked part of the forest. We shoulda spent more time jumping because now they are dozed.

 thats another good thing to bring up about trails, dont do more work than your crew can maintain. and also try and keep your jumps hidden and have minimal people riding there and they will never get plowed

 Let it go, move on a build else where. My and my mate who ride DJ's around Greater Manchester area have about 4 abondoned spots that we have spent time building for them to get found and trashed by kids (Chavs). It is very frustraiting but as far as I am aware there is nothing you can do about it. (without getting physical, but that obviously brings more trouble to your trails)The only solution I have found is go Private, get a bunch of ur mates that ride and build dirt and if any of them know or are related to a local farmer (Land owner) strike up a deal with them to lease the land or whatever and Bobs your uncle. (Easier said than done but I am sure you catch my drift)

 Ross05....at least someone is on a bike destroying. Were they on a moto, then you'd use the back side of the shovel.

 1 month is nothing. look at the pictures of my trails. we spent about 4 or 5 months building those jumps and rebuilding to fine tune them. look at some people who spend like 3 seasons digging and their trails arnt as good as they want them to be

 lol i was still building but couldnt anymore...! There are people at Cannock Chase that have been building and fine tuning trails for years! The point still the same tho, just show some respect and enjoy riding!

 but seriously dont complain about 1 month, i would rather have it wrecked at 1 month than a year

 thats because 75% of people on this site dont build their trails. people think that putting in like an hour a week is building a trail. try putting in over 12 hours a week digging to start a trail from scratch. nobody does that

 I do that. And when your done, and take a step back and look at what you've built, it is the most rewarding feeling in the world.

 yes it is, i find it the most rewarding though after you have perfectly shaped and groomed it so the jump is nice and square, or after you just finished a berm and it looks perfect and smooth because no one has rode it yet

 im agree dude ,,but i prefer the feelings of a blowjob ,,,,

 you sound so gay josh.

 Most of Canada is government owned. Us canucks call it "crown land". If its not privately owned, its crown land. Which also makes it accessible to the public. Meaning we can build a trail where ever we want as long as its on crown land, and not located within a national/provincal park. Naturally, some exceptions apply

 Good to know. I'snt some of your guys land Inuit owned too? The resterstions down here suck and we really just dont have a big enogh following.

 ask

 estou-me a rir e muito!

 e eu tou quase a fazer xixi de rir tanto xD, haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 Is that a hookah at 1:37 ??

 yes.

 a flathead is a man's best friend no dig no ride

 Amen, Brother!

 Can't disclose where these trails are.

 I find building and lying go hand in hand. For example:

Them: Hey, iamamodel, sorry to hear your jumps got dozed. So, do you have a new set you've been digging?
Me: No.

 agree!

 yeah i know right??

 I have.