MEC/IMBA Canada Trailbuilding Tour Wraps Up in Gore, Nova Scotia

The final visit on the MEC/IMBA Canada Trailbuilding Tour landed in Gore, NS, the weekend of July 29/30. The one-day trailbuilding workshop attracted more than 30 participants, and was held in conjuction with "Gorefest" - an annual mountain bike festival and 8-hour race in the heart of Nova Scotia.
Partners "zero out" with the clinometers in preparation for the layout exercise. Clinometers are an essential trailbuilding tool, used to measure trail and hillside grades.
Workshop participants, armed with clinometers and pin flags, learn the basics of trail layout and design in the field.
At the worksite, 30m of wooden ladder bridge are removed from a long stretch of mud, in favour of a higher and dryer re-route.
Anxious to put newly learned principals into sustainable trailbuilding practise, volunteers get working on the new piece of singletrack.
Proud of their prize, these trailbuilders take a breather after pulling this stump. For best results, stumps (including the entire root-ball) should be removed from the trail tread.
The new trail starts to take shape along the contour.
"Build it right, ride it forever." Test-riders take the new trail for a spin as they pre-ride the course for the 8-hour race.
IMBA Canada's Lora Woolner and Mark Schmidt get a down-east thank-you gift of Sou'Wester rain hats from the workshop's host and organizer, Jody Conrad.
From Nova Scotia, it was off to Prince Edward Island, where Lora and Mark met with local mountain bikers at Charlottetown's Smooth Cycle Bike Shop.
IMBA Canada PEI Rep, Kirk White (far left in the above photograph), organized a ride on the fun trails at Brookvale Provincial Park.
The Homestead Trail at Prince Edward Island National Park offers a relaxing jaunt through field and forest, against the spectacular backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean.

IMBA Canada received a grant from Mountain Equipment Co-op's Environment Fund to help fund trail education visits in 2005/2006. The goal was to promote ecological integrity through sustainable trails, and that was accomplished in four provinces this year.

Nova Scotia was the last stop on the MEC/IMBA Canada Trailbuilding, ending on a high note at the annual "Gorefest" mountain bike festival this July. More than 30 trail enthusiasts and professionals came out for the one-day workshop, organized by Nova Scotia's Ministry of Health Promotion and Protection.

Thank you to all those who attended, and to Mountain Equipment Co-op for making this visit possible!