Video: One Year, One Trail - The Building of Loam Line

Apr 3, 2015 at 9:03
by neubiker  
Building Loam Line

by neubiker
Views: 154,372    Faves: 1,069    Comments: 85


Images for One Year One Trail - The Building of Loam Line

Over 18 months ago we first started scouting a new zone that would be an ideal spot to build a fast, flowly jump trail. Inspired by videos of endless trails we started asking ourselves, why doesn't’ that exist around here? We were always disappointed to find these videos were either short runs, or a collection of one off hits that were edited to look continuous. We wanted to build a single trail that we could continue to ride long after we had a shot a video - with that vision in mind we found the perfect zone and started digging….

Images for One Year One Trail - The Building of Loam Line

For the next 18 months, every weekend we carved berms, packed lips and sculpted wood features. Through blistering summer heat, pelting rains and snow flurries, we continued with our progress. With each weekend that passed we neared the day when we would set off with our bikes in hand rather than tools. The end result was a 3 minute descent filled with fast flowy hand built berms, gap jumps and wood features.

Images for One Year One Trail - The Building of Loam Line

It has been a experience to say the least - the building bug bit us hard. The weekend could never come fast enough. Not so we could get in our fix of two wheeled fun, but rather so we could finish a feature or scout the next section. As riders, we often see the end result of a build, but we don’t often get to see the sweat equity that goes into building a new trail. Our goal was to capture a little bit of what building and riding your own creation feels like. This is what one year, and one trail looks like - the building of Loam Line.

Images for One Year One Trail - The Building of Loam Line

Builders: Lyle Warren, Greg Warren, and Clark Cernoia
Riders: Greg Warren and Clark Cernoia
Video: Lyle Warren



Author Info:
neubiker avatar

Member since Mar 7, 2013
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118 Comments
  • 175 36
 nice work, but, that's not loam. You packed all the loam down. Loam is a way way way over used descriptor. You can't build loam, it is a gift, from the gods.
  • 159 16
 you are so wrong. the technical term for loam is that gold mineral dirt. your thinking about duff, the soft topsoil
  • 16 2
 ^what he said.
  • 37 0
 Substitute duff for loam and you have the quote of the day, "You can't build duff, it is a gift, from the gods."
  • 70 1
 I learned something today
  • 11 2
 Amazing looking trail. It will certainly be the loam line, once all that duff wears away.
  • 39 0
 Loam is a description of texture in soil science. Loam is a near equal combination silt, clay and sand- the three textures of mineral soil upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/SoilTexture_USDA.png/300px-SoilTexture_USDA.png What's commonly referred to as loam in mountain biking is actually the organic top layer, also called the duff layer- like danonow said
  • 7 0
 ... I'll sleep better tonight now !
  • 4 11
flag bonkywonky (Apr 5, 2015 at 10:11) (Below Threshold)
 Loam is actually a gift from god but mostly for bmx trails as it gets greasy as hell when it rains.
  • 1 3
 TIL
  • 9 10
 wanna see what REAL LOAM looks like??? just watch the "Rake and ride" video from the Coastal Crew !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 3 2
 @bonkywonky whaaaat loam for bmx dirtjumping sucks so much, well you easily shape things but not solid
  • 2 0
 full bench tho
  • 24 3
 Nothing says loam like wooden ramps
  • 3 0
 Winner of the internet!! ^^^
  • 3 3
 @Danonow, so i'm not wrong, i'm right, they packed it all down, and loam is a way over used descriptor. Want to get horticultural with me sweet as, but my statement is still correct.
  • 11 1
 www.pinkbike.com/photo/12091124
  • 69 8
 Wait, were they having fun on 26" bikes? Didn't the industry tell us that was not possible anymore?

Awesome work and dedication. Enjoy that trail.
  • 162 1
 They spent the last 18 months in the woods building, they haven't heard.
  • 2 1
 @RaythePedaler someone needs to tell them we've all already gone over to BOOST 148 as well
  • 5 0
 Well wait, I think that Stihl chainsaw had a 27.5" bar...
  • 1 0
 @theprocrastinator lol
  • 47 0
 Simply amazing, great filming and trail.
  • 12 55
flag tommcd98 (Apr 5, 2015 at 9:25) (Below Threshold)
 not the most stylish riding but you can tell they are a having the time of their lives
  • 36 2
 respect to the fuckin builders. generally.
  • 17 1
 No, respect to the builders that deserve it. Not all of them do. Our local trails have just been ruined by a trail building company. It's a travesty. The guys in the video though, deserve lots of respect.
  • 4 0
 see your from leeds aidy. which trails are you on about
  • 31 4
 You guys are so lucky to have that much space to work with, if we tried that here in the uk, we'd have dog walkers with sticks trying to wreck it, even though there's acres of other land to walk on. Oh and the 'health and safety' people, or council 'officials'. Awesome job tho', looks like 3mins of bliss to me, great job!!
  • 2 9
flag Small-Tales-Epic-Trails (Apr 6, 2015 at 1:46) (Below Threshold)
 A nonsense comment.
  • 7 4
 I'm so confused as to why b4youwereborn has got +21. Yet I'm doing exactly what these guys have done IN THE UK! Stop being lazy people and pick up a shovel.
  • 6 0
 Unless you own the land or have a secret spot many miles away from the public you will not get away with wooden features in the UK for long , at my local , semi unofficial trails we have got away with what we have done largely in part because we don't build wooden features or cut down trees.
  • 3 2
 Exactly, a spot many miles from the public. It's true BC has a lot of space. But so do we, if you build trails in the local wood with lots of other users around, then of course you'll have conflicts. I bet the guys in the video didn't build their trails in down town Vancouver. The reason secret trails are secret is because nobody bothers to go to random places out in the sticks. I simply dislike the negative attitude of people wish this, wish that. I too have never cut down any trees or or built wooden features. I doesn't mean you can't build a rad trail in a spot of the beaten track.
  • 2 2
 Living in Scotland it's easy to have that opinion. 95% of your country is just empty. Come down the South of England and try doing it mate. You'll quickly find that for most of us this sort of shit is impossible.
  • 3 1
 1. I'm english, not sure the locals calling scotland my country would go down so well. 2 I've built many trails in Somerset where I'm from in the South west, one of them is still in use 15 years down the line. 3, I was simply pointing out what a stupid comment "you can't do that in the UK" is, because you can and I am doing it. I suggest he re types you can't do it whilst living on the edge of 1 million people in the UKs second largest city.. 4 if you don't like where you live, move, I did. Sound fair enough?
  • 3 1
 Just to make it clear the UK starts in Cornwall and finishes in Shetland. The UK is not just the south of England.
  • 12 0
 Props to the builders! Who happen to be pretty damn good at filming and riding too…
  • 1 0
 Great Trail, great job. must be great getting so much satisfaction from the efforts you put in.
  • 8 1
 3 minutes doesnt sound a lot , but in really life its proberly feels like forever
  • 22 0
 In real life, it takes forever to build 3min of quality DH trail. (and no way you'll look as clean as these guys while doing it}
  • 14 1
 3mins x n-laps = stoked. find your n.
  • 1 0
 nice tail, nice work, guys...
  • 7 0
 Asians are always about that math #shichyu!
  • 3 0
 3 minutes of trail with that many man made features at a decent pace is massive task , props to the builders.
  • 4 1
 You dont know how lucky you are in Canada. Here in the states the BLM shuts that shit down. Nothing better than riding your own hard work, nothing worse than having to destroy it cause the status quo says your a criminal.
  • 5 0
 Most cities will try to tear out unauthorized trails here (Canada) aswell
  • 3 0
 However, "illegal" trail building and the resulting fanfare (myself included) is in large part why the legal trails of the North Shore exist today (and Squamish by the trials moto guys, etc.). We are just beginning to see the light of legal AND fun trails in the US and elsewhere.
  • 2 0
 Really awesome and i am glad you guys could work together as a team. i have just finished a dirtpark (which isnt comparable to what you guys achieved since its just a single step up and a small pumptrack) but most of the time i was out there by myself and it was super rough getting work done all alone. so, mad respect to you guys.
you can check it out on instagram --> elicgrossmann.mtb

BUT:
after a few seconds watching the video i was like "Noooo way" could this have been possible in Austria (unless you own a forrest or your best friend owns the forrest) because cutting down trees or really just going into somebody's forrest will get you into massive issues with the land owners.
We had a trail and the hunters or whoever started to just slightly cut down our wodden features so you would crash when you go over it... pretty f'ed up but yeah.
Happy for you guys
  • 5 0
 good job guys. nice to see people taking pride in their work.
  • 1 0
 Well whatever +21 means? Me and a few mates raked in a few lines in some nice out of the way woodland, which dog walkers used to bypass by some distance. We even spoke to a few who were really nice and keen to see what we were doing. We put in some berms and small jumps, and got a good little thing going.
Until we went up one day to find all the berms wrecked and they'd attempted to pull out the wood from the jumps.
So my comment is about people who wanna destroy stuff which has no impact what so ever on their lives, we dig and build at our local (official) trails in the winter.
So we know about 'picking up a shovel'. We just wanted something of our own, which didn't involve a 40+ min' drive to ride.
  • 1 0
 Not that the building isn't what makes it all happen, but pretty happy most of this vid was the amazing riding of the "loam trail". Killer work behind and in front of the lens.
  • 1 1
 LoaMY goodness, since we're getting technical here, thought I would drop some useful info:

Loam is made up of 40% sand, 40% silt, and 20% clay along with a relatively higher level of organic matter (humus) than most other soils.

In other words, its the most desirable soil to have for just about any type of use, including shredding the she-gnar-gnar
  • 4 0
 Sweet trail, you guys should move to Wollongong NSW Australia!
  • 3 1
 And bring some of that loam.
  • 3 0
 Yep, the best thing outta building ... getting to ride what u built.........shred on............
  • 3 0
 I wish I had some good land access here around roseburg to build a trail over May and June...
  • 2 0
 There is a chance I might be moving to Roaeburg this summer or fall. Ill let you know :-)
  • 2 0
 Hells yeah well have to find a building zone!
  • 3 0
 Guys! Incredible video! Nice work. Thank you.
  • 3 0
 Good work guys and nice riding Build - Ride - Share
  • 1 0
 I hope the city doesn't find this trail, cause there going to be doing assessments on the trails next year. And make sure there safe to ride
  • 1 0
 The CTSS is already aware of it when they did their assessments several months ago. Hopeful it will be grandfathered into the trail network once District of North Cowichan reviews CTSS's proposal. I don't see why it wouldn't as it's well built and sustainability built. There is a lot of stuff that is poorly built up there or aging that would be a higher priority to take care of first I imagine.
  • 4 1
 How many features are on the Loam Line?
Looks like fun.
  • 1 0
 ...and how many km long is it?
  • 5 0
 1.75km top to bottom.
  • 1 0
 That's awesome, I wish there were places to build around here. I have to drive 60 miles to get to anything even close to what you have there. They just bulldozed the exit to our local spot for houses, now there is no way out except back uphill.
  • 2 0
 anybody knows 2nd song on this vid? I really like it and looks like shazam doesnt know it
  • 2 0
 1st song - soundcloud.com/untiltheribbonbreaks/fall-in-love-utrb
2nd song - soundcloud.com/dimondsaints/layla-smokestacks-dimond-saints-rework
  • 1 0
 thanks Smile
  • 1 0
 yes double thanx
  • 1 0
 Fantastic job. I'm nearing the 1 year mark. So I know exactly how you feel and an excellent write up. Great job. You reap what you sow.
  • 3 0
 Looks like a lot of fun ya'll!! Congrats on a sweet build!
  • 3 0
 felicitaciones!!! I think building is the future of mtb...
  • 4 1
 Oh Canada Oh Canada, beauty within beauty
  • 3 0
 awesome job. The filming is superb.
  • 2 0
 Awesome work guys. I just re-discovered that whole part of the mountain, there are some nice little gems in there
  • 2 0
 Nice work guys glad to see people still ride big bike
  • 2 0
 awesome video awesome trail good job guys
  • 1 0
 We do live in a spectacular place great job great vision.....inspirational.
  • 1 2
 Where is that? What is the closest city? Lol. Me and my buddy's got our trail ripped down by the city of burnaby after 2 years of hard work sweat and tears! Frown I hope your trail lasts forever!
  • 2 0
 Beautiful trail and great work on the drone!!
  • 3 0
 wonderful stuff!
  • 3 0
 Great building vid.
  • 2 0
 fantastic dedication and enjoy!
  • 2 0
 Great work, and great riding.
  • 1 0
 Ahhh...that's what you guys were up too up there. Awesome looking trail and edit...good job!
  • 2 0
 Awesome track, would love to see a helmet cam video!
  • 2 0
 Looks great well done!
  • 2 0
 great job guys
  • 2 0
 WANNA RIDE DAT!!!!
  • 1 0
 You live in Cape Town, you already have the most amazing trails Big Grin


Do you ever ride Signal Hill by the way? I found an amazing rocky DH-ish trail over there that I used to do often when I was there. The best descend I found in the City Bowl area Smile
  • 1 0
 hahah no I havn't ridden there, but awesome I'll go check it out
  • 1 0
 Great trail, great riding, epic filming as well.
  • 2 0
 Tzouhalem?
  • 2 0
 Awesome work guy's
  • 2 0
 inspiring me to go build
  • 1 0
 holy shit what a sick line, i wanna ride that!
  • 2 0
 Nice Vid.
  • 2 0
 Just awesome guys !
  • 2 0
 awesome job and vid lads
  • 1 0
 Well done boys! You certainly put the time in!
  • 1 0
 Nice trail build! Good riding!
  • 1 0
 I love flow trails. keeps people away from the gnar.
  • 1 0
 Respect; It must be great feeiling to ride own built trail. enjoy it!
  • 1 0
 SICK! Now that looks like a super fun trail.... Good work guys.
  • 1 0
 good job! Smile
  • 1 0
 That was sick man.
  • 1 0
 Is this tzouhalem??????
  • 1 0
 WHERE IS THIS TRAIL????
  • 1 0
 Fully sick mate
  • 1 0
 VOD bitches!!
  • 1 0
 Dope!
  • 1 0
 Respect for your work
  • 1 0
 Rider built! Awesome!
  • 1 3
 "Our future generations will find those humps and asume we were drawing constelations from dirt." - Me 2015
  • 2 2
 Beautiful! Where?
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