Organic Architecture - Trail Builders and Well-Being and Stoke.

I wasn’t sure whether to post this, but I’m sure it will be fine and those who ride will be able to relate. If you’ve never picked up a shovel and spent a day digging, raking and grooming trails,  painfully dragged a few fallen trees to make way for a new line; or if you just turn up and ride, then you're really missing out on an essential element of the riding experience. I don't do much these days as we live in a land of private land, and few places to hide away and dig. Our local hill is also best kept to low impact riding so we tend not to touch whats already there. 

My limited trail building really began when I returned from travelling, surfing and working abroad in the late 90’s. I knew I wouldn't be surfing as much so I bought myself a DMR Trailstar and hit the hills, above where we grew up. Pushing up and tearing down was the order of the day and not much has changed really, I still do that now.  I was lucky to have grown up below the South Downs and had always ridden around the Steyning area, and always just enjoyed the gravity fuelled riding. I began making trails, looking at lines, moving trees, making turns and generally sessioning a few areas. I was working part-time as a College lecturer and was really riding on my own. During the days when I wasn't teaching. I’d head up day after day building a little, only to find my work destroyed by walkers the next day. I’d put them back, and ride again, I wouldn’t give in but it was pretty soul destroying.  The same problem exists in so many places today, but where I was building all those years ago, there now lies a whole network of legal trails under the local scheme with the permission of the landowner and managed by volunteers. Now, when I return to Sussex to see the family, I ride there as soon as I get home.

When I left to travel overseas in ‘97 we’d just closed the doors of our BMX shop. The unit was taken over by DMR/Upgrade Bikes, who were originally set up in the back room of the shop, and  after 27 years later they're a global brand. I jumped on a plane to OZ, leaving bikes behind for a couple of years but when I returned, the riders who had been our loyal customers at the shop, and had helped us build some pretty standard jumps, had become seriously great riders, team managers for DMR, and  even better trail builders than I could imagine. 

They had a mini digger on hand, a pile of shovels, water supply on tap, and a corner of a field out of sight of anyone. Underneath the South Downs, the boys who we'd watch grow into great riders had built the field of dreams and after two years of travelling and surfing, I rode those trails as much as I could.

I’m sure if you’ve ridden a set of trails, stoked and buzzing after a clean run,  you might feel in awe of the creation you’ve just ridden. The hard work, the effort, blood, sweat and dedication,  and the fact that trail riding and dirt jumping has played a major role in developing some seriously stylish and smooth riders. I remember leaving the country and seeing these local lads committed to riding bikes,  and on my return they just blew my mind. 

Building Trails whether gravity focussed or dirt jumping, is a skill to be admired. If you have never pondered on the fact that ‘trails don’t build themselves’, then maybe it’s time to take a moment and ask what made you smile when you reached the bottom.  What made you and your mates scream with stoke as you follow each other down the hillside, mountain or bike park. Who built that trail, who are they, why do they build trails? Trail building and maintenance can be a thankless task, but one that is often necessary for many reasons other that just to satisfy our simple needs. 

Some trails need little work, they are just naturally super fun, like those forged by walkers, with rocky gulleys where the water has run, or paths scattered with sharp granite edges that have scraped many a leather walking boot, and the enemy of even the best double down enduro tyre . Spend a few moments watching the Zermatt round of the Enduro World Series in 2019 or 2020 and you’ll see riders on natural walking trails. In Italy and Spain, many trails are built around the old trading routes that would head up and over the mountain passes, both rocky and narrow, the riders carefully choosing the better lines. These trails have two things in common with purpose built mountain bike trails, they follow the contours of the landscape, and whether walking or riding, they offer overwhelming feelings of positive well-being.

On my local hill here in Cornwall the trails we ride are built by horse power, literally.  Home to five Dartmoor ponies, who spend their days grazing with views of the Ocean and West Penwith, the Wild West of Cornwall. At a height of only 625 feet above sea level,  the ponies have found the paths up and down through the gorse, the ferns and the brambles. In the summer when the fern is high and bright green, the trails are hard to spot, but fun to ride; In the autumn and winter the opportunities present themselves, the fern has begun to die and fall back to the ground to begin its journey into LOAM. There may be a little gentle clearing to be done, but we've never found a need to cut or dig, maybe the occasional ‘bramble redirection strategy’, but we just need to find a line and ride the trail in. The ponies might climb around a granite boulder, but add this into the run and you have a perfect drop.  I suppose my point is that it’s important to ride what you have, and what presents itself. Local trails are a perfect place to develop and progress, don’t get all caught up in always needing to ride the best spots, or the biggest mountains. We have about four great trails, not more than 40 seconds long but all natural, and these trails are a great place to practise and develop skills like braking, and line choice. It’s our own little gravity training ground, and working with the environment that we have, these local trails can be full of positive energy and flow,  and flow equals happiness. 

It's also amazing now that alongside the development of bike parks, Trail Building is a legitimate employment opportunity. Those that are skilled and have a vision, are being paid to create lines down the side of mountains or hillsides. Some build trails for personal reasons, it provides respite and escapism and when they get to share their creation with others, they gain a sense of pride and achievement. Trail Building means so much to so many, it’s such a personal pursuit when we look closely. 

Sam Bowell is the Manager of Rogate Bike Park in West Sussex. The trails frequently shown on YouTube with various top riders like Brendon Fairclough, Olly Wilkins and Bernard Kerr, all riding there as much as possible and home of the DMR line built by Sam. 

I met Sam at the Freedom Ride in 2020, just after lockdown had eased in July, and this was the first real day where the park had opened and friends could ride together. Sam was stoked, as the Freedom Ride was the brainchild of himself, Davi Burkes and Olly Wilkins, and was a celebration of riding with friends again. I got to speak with Sam, as he’s a rider, a coach of ten years and a trail builder. Sam spoke so eloquently about his role as a full-time Trail Builder. 

“I see it as Land Management, it's mapping the Landscape”, and as he went on I was already hooked listening to Sam. “It’s Organic Architecture”, he continued.  There it was, a chapter title right there when I eventually get to finish my book. Organic Architecture was such a beautiful way of wording the pursuit of trail building. His passion was so evident I spent twenty minutes smiling, and listening to Sam speak of ‘Growing Art’ or facilitating riders enjoyment, by asking the trail "what angle is lying to you?"  He often thinks he has Autism or OCD, seeing things within the landscape. “Riding teaches you to look at the big picture, considering the next thing, with a desire to be better, getting in a zone and being proud of what has been created".

I completely understood this ‘What angle is lying to you?’ I’d found this at home on our trails. Following the pony trails, looking for options to veer off, through the fern or utilising a tight turn to get to the next granite drop. You ride it but the turn just doesn’t work, there is no flow, just a flow stopper. So yes, angles do lie. It takes time and hard work, but the positive side for Sam is that his mental well-being takes a boost when he creates legitimate trails, adding legitimacy to being a trail builder. When family or friends ask him what he does, he replies “I’m a trail builder”. When questioned further he adds “this is what I do, it’s Land Management”. 

But, before these trail building heroes reap the rewards of riding a trail they have built, at times they have found themselves digging, carving, shaping and sweating for their own personal well-being.  At times trail Building has become a saviour to what might have been a dark future.

Whether riding or creating natural enduro style trails, or purpose built bike park features, the landscape plays the key role in what it will allow you to develop. Build properly, get permission and consider other riders abilities too. Trail building is about giving back to the community, so respecting the trail, the trail builder, and showing thanks by showing enjoyment. Trail Building is not all fun but hard work. Rewarding yet frustrating,  an escape but also a saviour, and one day I'll post about my good friend, for whom trail building is a really personal journey, one that  literally saved him. 

Volunteering is a worthy, but often thankless task, but one that is filled with reward and arguably a humbling experience. Depending on where and how you decide to volunteer your time can provide such a positive transformation in your own self, that it is often the positive change that you may need. Volunteers freely give their time to benefit another person, but also develop personal skills, intended to promote goodness or improve human quality of life, which in turn helps the volunteer to feel happier and healthier, mentally and physically. 

Whether paid or voluntry one thing is common amongst the trail builders, it is a shared vision, a kind of generosity building for others to enjoy. I'm always humbled by the trails I ride, and take this opportunity to thank you all,  they really are “Organic Architecture”. 
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