trails.foundation

Trails need to be smooth — that makes them faster and more fun to ride. Most of your work will go into creating a smooth surface to ride on. This article explains how.

Glossary

  • Lip / take off — the part of the jump where you leave the ground.
  • Landing — the part of the jump where you return to the ground.
  • Bowl / Bomb-hole — the space between a landing and the next lip.
  • Double — a jump with a gap; a take off and a landing.
  • Berm — a banked turn.
  • Hip — a jump where you change direction in the air.
  • Table — a jump with a flat top.
  • Roller — a small, rounded bump.
  • Roll-in — the slope or ramp used to get speed at the start of a line.
  • Pump — a technique to generate speed without pedalling.
  • Dig — the act of building and shaping trails.

Finding land

By far the hardest part of building trails is finding the land to do it on. Unless you own your own land, you will need to convince a landowner to let you build on their land. It is rare for landowners to consent.

If you do have a choice of land to build on, here are some things that you might want to look for:

  • Water nearby
  • Good soil
  • Not too close to houses
  • Maybe a hill

Things to avoid:

  • Conservation areas
  • SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest)

Permission

Many trails start without permission from the landowner, but this obviously risks them being destroyed. It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

If you get permission to build on land, take it — whatever the land is like. Permission is the most rare commodity.

You can use the Land Registry to find out who owns land for £7.

You’re much more likely to get in trouble for digging up bluebells and cutting down trees than for the digging itself.

Planning permission

Even if you’re not building a structure, you probably require planning permission for a change of use of land. This can be applied for retrospectively.

If you’re starting small then it’s probably better to just begin building, but if you’re making a bike park you should definitely apply for planning permission first.

Planning layout

  • Think about drainage from the start.
  • Use the hill if you have one.
  • Go along the hill, not straight down it.

Soil

  • A sand / clay mix — too much clay cracks, too much sand won’t stay strong.
  • Use subsoil, not topsoil or mulch.
  • Not stony.
  • Use stones for features, not the riding surface.

Tools

  • A long-handled shovel.
  • Avoid spades with knuckles on the back.
  • Avoid wooden handles or spades made from multiple pieces.
  • Keeping tools safe — hidden is better than locked.
  • A rake — for removing roots and stones.
  • Brooms.
  • A watering can.
  • Water storage is going to be an issue unless you have a water source.

Digging

Think about how big the final jump will be and don’t remove dirt that you’ll end up needing to put back in the same place.

The soil at ground level is almost certainly bad, so make sure this dirt isn’t part of your riding surface. This can often be a problem when a bomb-hole passes from above the ground to below the ground — make sure you dig out all the bad material before you start stacking.

Drainage

Think about drainage. If you dig large bomb-holes (the section between the take off and the landing) you’ll halve your work, since you’re digging downwards and building upwards at the same time. But this will create large puddles at the bottom of every bomb-hole.

  • In well-drained soil (sand), slightly slope the bomb-hole and dig a drainage hole on one side.
  • In less well-drained soil (clay), keep bomb-holes shallower — maybe only one spade head — and take more dirt from either side of the bomb-hole, so that water can escape.
  • An even better option, if you have lots of dirt, is to keep everything above ground level and actually raise the bomb-holes a bit.

Stacking

  • Put the bad dirt at the bottom.
  • Avoid using logs or anything hard to move later.
  • Avoid anything that decays.
  • Get to a good size before you begin shaping.
  • Cover the outside with good dirt.
  • Use the rain to your advantage.

Shaping

  • Slap and slide.
  • Plenty of water.

Protection

  • Carpet.
  • DPM (damp-proof membrane).

Riding

  • Water first — it helps keep the dirt stuck together.
  • Sweep regularly — gets rid of dust, which can make the surface slippery.

Maintenance

  • Remove litter.
  • Sweep regularly to get rid of dust.
  • Remove sticks and stones.

Don’t

  • Cut down trees.
  • Dig up bluebells.