Shovel & Pen: some thoughts on trail stewardship by cycling-trivialities

My name is Dillon Osleger. Through a series of stumbles and falls through life, I've somehow found the good fortune of being able to say I work in trail stewardship and advocacy for a living as the executive director of Sage Trail Alliance out of Santa Barbara, California. I spend a fair number of my hours each week on the tools, sometimes restoring trails lost to wildfire or time, sometimes digging new lines from behind mini excavator joysticks. But more so, I spend a heck of a lot of hours behind my computer screen or in a suit shaking hands, making maps, presentations on geology and ecology, crafting legal language of government bills, and listening more so than speaking to people to make sure the work I do is worthwhile. Doing the greatest amount of good with the resources available, or some such thing.

I'm not quite sure if this audience will be surprised by that statement, but regardless of if you pick up a shovel to tidy up corners in the woods every so often, or find yourself working in volunteer advocacy avenues, even if you've never considered doing either, I suppose this article is simply an invitation, if not a peek behind the curtain, as to doing more, from wherever you feel comfortable. If there ever were an antithesis to that industry plug shred flick provided on Mondays, it might be this short photo epic of the non-glamorous life of a trail builder. No one ever said seeing how the sausage is made was good for the appetite, but if this short slide show can show one or two groms out there that there are careers that blend bikes, science, policy, manual labor, and public lands, well then I'll happily drift off into retirement riding the trails they build and tender. This sport is better off because of the foundation lain tirelessly and often thanklessly by the folks in the trenches. I'm merely a placeholder for the countless folks who dig, advocate, and stop and say hi to other trail users, making sure the world we live in has trails that make this sport possible.

Stats:
Age: 29 •
Height: 6'1" •
Inseam: 32" •
Weight: 175lb •
Digs trail in: Santa Barbara & Lake Tahoe, California
Sponsors: Specialized Soil Searching, Rapha, Fox, RaceFace, Topeak

Let's get one thing straight, right off the bat. I do this because I love it. The building, the bikes (thanks Specialized!), and the landscapes

My day job is making these dirt ribbons down 3000 feet of vert in the Los Padres National Forest

It involves a Sisyphean cycle of brushing back chaparral and uncovering landslides

In equal measure, my evenings are spent poring over old maps, finding new routes and trails

The rock faces you ride by didn't just coincidentally shear into benchcut

And more often than not these days, they fall away entirely thanks to wildfire or climatically erratic precipitation (bet you didn't expect the author to have a graduate degree in earth science eh?)

And so just the same, there is an outfit and slow process to making permanent fixes

Yeah, it's unlikely anyone expected the photo of me in a suit, lobbying for trails, conservation, and climate, but thats the reality of our sport. It's time we recognized it. While I was in D.C. with Outdoor Alliance for the week, meeting with congressional officials and administration staff to discuss alterations to the Farm Bill that can provide funding for trails on US Forest Service lands, Kate Courtney (yep, that Kate Courtney) was in town with Protect Our Winters, advocating for a bill tying renewable energy transmission lines to rural outdoor economic development. The folks you never see out in the woods (me) and those you admire the most (Kate) spend our hours in formal attire, making the case for why trails and mountain biking matter to folks who will likely never see the mountains wherever you live, but who govern their future. The future of our sport really does rely on not only making new trails, but caring for the ones we have. Fun fact for those who have stayed with me this long - in the last 5 years, over 24,000 miles of trail have burned in the U.S. alone.

So here I am outside my congressman's office. Not only did I get a fist bump because he remembered me from a hike, but he agreed to come see the damage from last years storms to trails in his district. This is where real funding is found.

In contrast, here's a republicans office.

He has a Sierra Buttes Connected Communities poster in there. This is a bipartisan issue. We all enjoy being outdoors.

Contrastingly basic government quizzes have become a lot harder these days with our wild bickering - I'm just glad we have trails to bond over

To underscore the time and scope under which we've been at this, here's me, shorter hair version, with the Secretary of Natural Resources of California.

It's all truly fun, but this work does make differences. These people, suited up and away in offices in the pillars of government remember us.

and from that comes the continued existence and increasing opportunity that our sport is afforded

I hope this little essay didn't feel preachy, nor overly self focused. I don't have a whole bunch of photos of trail builders and advocates around the world sitting on my desktop, and the only story I can really tell is my own. What I do hope I can ask is that you consider the wider scope of what being a mountain biker entails. Maybe you have the means to donate to your local trail stewardship (If you're in Santa Monica to San Luis Obispo, I sure hope you consider Sage Trail Alliance), maybe you're keen to volunteer for a trail work day. Perhaps you value advocacy for recreation and climate - Outdoor Alliance and Protect Our Winters are worthwhile nonprofits that punch way above their weight, from state to federal issues. Honestly, even the cash you spend on bike parts sends a message. If you didn't know Specialized Soil Searching existed and supports trail builders in equal measure to professional athletes, take a gander. If you've been on the fence about that new Rapha kit, maybe knowing they throw real money at restoring trails impacted by wildfire will make you feel a little better every time you wear it. Support the brands that aspire to make this world and this sport better. Cheers!

Author Info:

cycling-trivialities

Member since Jan 11, 2018
2 articles