Trail Care Crew's European Vocation

IMBA Trail News
Volume 11, Number 5
November 1998

Mike and Jan Riter

Editor's Note: IMBA again demonstrated our commitment to the international element of our mission when Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew No. One - Mike and Jan Riter - travelled to eight European nations Oct.1-27 to share their trailwork knowledge and exchange ideas. They worked with clubs and land managers, visited mountain bike schools, and addressed leaders of the Union Cycliste Internationale - the world governing body of bicycle racing. They filed this report for IMBA Trail News. This Trail Care Crew trip was funded by Subaru and the UCI.

We started our trip in the Netherlands working with Mountain Bike Club Discovery. (For more info and pictures see the story in the TCC section) We had planned a morning ride and a meeting with land managers of Dutch public lands, the Vereniging Natuurmonumenten. (All thoughts of learning some Dutch were quickly abandoned when we saw that title!) But when we awoke to the coldest October day the area had seen in 200 years, the plans quickly changed to in-town activities. We presented a short slide show at the club's monthly gathering, and the next morning almost all of the club's members showed up eager to work on the trail project. We participated in a trail ceremony where we were given the great honor of opening the trail by riding through a paper mural covered with bike related drawings. This drew a lot of local media coverage. We joked that it was all a big hoax and that a brick wall or at least a mud hole lay on the other side of the mural. It was a fun experience and added to the pleasure of meeting the wonderful people of this club.

England

From there we hopped on a ferry and crossed the English Channel to London, where we worked with the Cycling and Touring Club. The weather continued cold and wet. We first worked on Forestry Commission land at Wendover Woods. The trails built here are mainly used for racing, including a downhill course and a cross country loop. Ian Warby from Firecrest Mountain bike racing, almost single handedly built, by hand, a four foot-wide, mile-long section of nearly perfectly cut trail, much of it through rock. It took him nine months. This young man's efforts reminded us that nothing is too hard if you want it bad enough.

We then headed west to the Hereford area to look at the historic bridleways, some of which are a hundred or more years old. These trails are on legally defined routes which by law cannot be moved. So in many places where trails go up a steep hills and erode, there is no opportunity to reroute to drain water better. Another challenge is keeping the routes open because they can run right across a farmer's crop field. The logistics of it all can be bloody mind boggling.

While in that area we also visited the ancient Forest of Dean. It is managed for timber and has been cut a lot over time. Like the famous Sherwood Forest, you can see how the legends start in wonderful and mysterious woodlands like these. The goal here was to look at a downhill that was built illegally and raised safety concerns. We were amazed that the Forest Commission was open to a downhill being built on their land, so long as the proper steps were taken to get approval.

South Wales was our last stop in the UK and we rode and hiked new trails that were built by mountain bikers. We were once again impressed with the quality of work and the technical difficulty that can be added to a trail that has a "slickery" (slick + slippery) surface. Once again our hosts throughout the U.K. took very good care of us, showing us the most important of all historical buildings, the British pubs. Also, they saved us from killing millions by driving us around on the left side of the road, instead of leaving us to our own devices. They could not however save us from bikes with the brakes reversed, which Jan demonstrated with a spectacular over-the-bars-cart wheeling dismount at the bottom of a gnarly downhill.

In The Chunnel

We travelled via the Chunnel and in Brussels met the O2 Bikers magazine's technical editor, Mike Defresne. We conducted an in-depth interview for the magazine (the fifth interview so far; Europeans will definitely learn more about IMBA). Our visit to another downhill course helped us to understand why Europeans are so dominant in racing. It's scary! This one was on the property of a citadel, and was situated in an area that hikers do not use. The course is extremely tough to ride but does not greatly impact the land because of its flowing layout and following of contours. Its use of natural and constructed features gives the course plenty of personality.

South to Switzerland

For the next day and a half we cruised from Brussels, down through Luxembourg, to Metabief, France, where we visited a mountain biking school. In Lausanne, Switzerland, we met with IMBA board member Chris Payne, who works for Union Cycliste Internationale. Chris will soon create IMBA's first office in Europe. We gave a presentation to the UCI staff on the Trail Care Crew program.

We drove to Freiburg, Germany to work with the German club, Deutsche Initiative Mountain Biker (DIMB). Mountain bikers in southern Germany have a very tough time gaining access to singletrack because of opposition from a very powerful hiking organization. The hikers can literally close a trail under two meters wide to mountain bikers simply by placing a hikers-only sign on a tree. Even if the signs are erected without approval, land manager are slow to react for fear of angering hikers.

Racing to Sweden

We returned to Brussels, then boarded a train for Copenhagen, Denmark, then rode onward to Are, Sweden where we had been invited to give a presentation on responsible course construction at the UCI's 6th annual race directors meeting. Race course design differs from recreational trails because of the challenges they must present to riders. While our philosophy and basic approach is the same for both types of trails, some of the cures we apply to problems are different. We were very well received and many people asked questions. Afterwards we sat down with delegates from several countries and addressed specific problems. On the last day of the meeting a workshop on downhill courses included us for the discussion of course design and problem solving. This race directors' meeting convinced us that organizers really earn their money! We were impressed with the resources UCI provides for racers and promoters alike.

Trip Specs

Kilometers by plane: 15,300
Kilometers by train: 4,500
Kilometers by car: 1,706
Kilometers by bike: 70
Countries visited: 10
Languages we wished we spoke: 7
Pubs visited: 20
Days we had sunshine: 7

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	Trail Care Crew's European Vocation IMBA Trail News Volume 11, Number 5 November 1998 Mike and Jan Riter Editor's Note: IMBA again demonstrated our commitment to the international element of our mission when Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew No. One - Mike and Jan Riter - travelled to eight European nations Oct.1-27 to share their trailwork knowledge and exchange ideas. They worked with clubs and land managers, visited mountain bike schools, and addressed leaders of the Union Cycliste Internationale - the world governing body of bicycle racing. They filed this report for IMBA Trail News. This Trail Care Crew trip was funded by Subaru and the UCI. We started our trip in the Netherlands working with Mountain Bike Club Discovery. (For more info and pictures see the story in the TCC section) We had planned a morning ride and a meeting with land managers of Dutch public lands, the Vereniging Natuurmonumenten. (All thoughts of learning some Dutch were quickly abandoned when we saw that title!) But when we awoke to the coldest October day the area had seen in 200 years, the plans quickly changed to in-town activities. We presented a short slide show at the club's monthly gathering, and the next morning almost all of the club's members showed up eager to work on the trail project. We participated in a trail ceremony where we were given the great honor of opening the trail by riding through a paper mural covered with bike related drawings. This drew a lot of local media coverage. We joked that it was all a big hoax and that a brick wall or at least a mud hole lay on the other side of the mural. It was a fun experience and added to the pleasure of meeting the wonderful people of this club. England From there we hopped on a ferry and crossed the English Channel to London, where we worked with the Cycling and Touring Club. The weather continued cold and wet. We first worked on Forestry Commission land at Wendover Woods. The trails built here are mainly used for racing, including a downhill course and a cross country loop. Ian Warby from Firecrest Mountain bike racing, almost single handedly built, by hand, a four foot-wide, mile-long section of nearly perfectly cut trail, much of it through rock. It took him nine months. This young man's efforts reminded us that nothing is too hard if you want it bad enough. We then headed west to the Hereford area to look at the historic bridleways, some of which are a hundred or more years old. These trails are on legally defined routes which by law cannot be moved. So in many places where trails go up a steep hills and erode, there is no opportunity to reroute to drain water better. Another challenge is keeping the routes open because they can run right across a farmer's crop field. The logistics of it all can be bloody mind boggling. While in that area we also visited the ancient Forest of Dean. It is managed for timber and has been cut a lot over time. Like the famous Sherwood Forest, you can see how the legends start in wonderful and mysterious woodlands like these. The goal here was to look at a downhill that was built illegally and raised safety concerns. We were amazed that the Forest Commission was open to a downhill being built on their land, so long as the proper steps were taken to get approval. South Wales was our last stop in the UK and we rode and hiked new trails that were built by mountain bikers. We were once again impressed with the quality of work and the technical difficulty that can be added to a trail that has a "slickery" (slick + slippery) surface. Once again our hosts throughout the U.K. took very good care of us, showing us the most important of all historical buildings, the British pubs. Also, they saved us from killing millions by driving us around on the left side of the road, instead of leaving us to our own devices. They could not however save us from bikes with the brakes reversed, which Jan demonstrated with a spectacular over-the-bars-cart wheeling dismount at the bottom of a gnarly downhill. In The Chunnel We travelled via the Chunnel and in Brussels met the O2 Bikers magazine's technical editor, Mike Defresne. We conducted an in-depth interview for the magazine (the fifth interview so far; Europeans will definitely learn more about IMBA). Our visit to another downhill course helped us to understand why Europeans are so dominant in racing. It's scary! This one was on the property of a citadel, and was situated in an area that hikers do not use. The course is extremely tough to ride but does not greatly impact the land because of its flowing layout and following of contours. Its use of natural and constructed features gives the course plenty of personality. South to Switzerland For the next day and a half we cruised from Brussels, down through Luxembourg, to Metabief, France, where we visited a mountain biking school. In Lausanne, Switzerland, we met with IMBA board member Chris Payne, who works for Union Cycliste Internationale. Chris will soon create IMBA's first office in Europe. We gave a presentation to the UCI staff on the Trail Care Crew program. We drove to Freiburg, Germany to work with the German club, Deutsche Initiative Mountain Biker (DIMB). Mountain bikers in southern Germany have a very tough time gaining access to singletrack because of opposition from a very powerful hiking organization. The hikers can literally close a trail under two meters wide to mountain bikers simply by placing a hikers-only sign on a tree. Even if the signs are erected without approval, land manager are slow to react for fear of angering hikers. Racing to Sweden We returned to Brussels, then boarded a train for Copenhagen, Denmark, then rode onward to Are, Sweden where we had been invited to give a presentation on responsible course construction at the UCI's 6th annual race directors meeting. Race course design differs from recreational trails because of the challenges they must present to riders. While our philosophy and basic approach is the same for both types of trails, some of the cures we apply to problems are different. We were very well received and many people asked questions. Afterwards we sat down with delegates from several countries and addressed specific problems. On the last day of the meeting a workshop on downhill courses included us for the discussion of course design and problem solving. This race directors' meeting convinced us that organizers really earn their money! We were impressed with the resources UCI provides for racers and promoters alike. Trip Specs Kilometers by plane: 15,300 Kilometers by train: 4,500 Kilometers by car: 1,706 Kilometers by bike: 70 Countries visited: 10 Languages we wished we spoke: 7 Pubs visited: 20 Days we had sunshine: 7


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