Episodes
Amanda Carey – President of NICA – National Interscholastic Cycling Association – Talking Trails, Youth Development, Leadership and Non-Profits – 171
For Episode 171 we have Amanda Carey as our guest. Amanda is the president of NICA, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association. Amanda worked for 5 other Outdoor and Trail Based non-profits leading up to her current role at NICA, including a role as the Executive Director for Mountain Bike the Tetons. We talked all things trails, the role...
Published 05/07/24
Peter Mills of Elevated Trail Design - 170
For Episode 170 we have Peter Mills the owner of Elevated Trail Design as our guest. Elevated Trail Designs is a PTBA Member Company that is based out of the Ashville, NC Region. Peter is a lifelong mountain biker and trail builder that is responsible for some of the newest yet most notable trail projects in the greater Ashville Region and beyond.
Trail EAffect Show Links:
Elevated Trail Design: https://www.elevatedtraildesign.com/
Elevated Trail...
Published 04/23/24
Toby Cortez / Bogue Chitto State Park / Mountain Biking in Louisiana 169
For Episode 169 Toby Cortez is our guest – Toby is one of the masterminds behind the mountain bike trails at Bogue Chitto State Park located in Louisiana. Toby drops a ton of knowledge on this episode, through some incredible stories about how Bogue Chitto came to be, cutting through the red tape that comes with making a trail system reality and what’s in store for the future.
Trail EAffect Show Links:
North Shore...
Published 04/16/24
Loam Pass with Rob Brown and Joey Foresta - 168
For episode 168 we’ve got Rob Brown and Joey Foresta – Co Founders of the Loam Pass. The Loam Pass is your North American Gravity Bike Park Pass, and its brand new for 2024. Rob and Joey Teamed up to create the Loam Pass, and it launched in March with 30 resorts and shuttle services, with additional locations cued up to land on the Loam Pass in the near future.
Tune in to learn more about the Joey, Rob, the Loam Pass, along with some bonus...
Published 04/09/24
Women in Trail Building at the 2024 Professional Trail Builders Association Sustainable Trail Conference 167
At the end of day one during the 2024 Professional Trail Builders Association Sustainable Trails Conference Martha Becton took over as host of the Trail EAffect Podcast. Martha brought Erin Amadon, Rebekah Morrisson, and Addie Clayton onto the show to have an open conversation about Women in Trail Building. A Huge Thank You goes out to these four Women for recording this conversation,...
Published 04/02/24
Hansi Johnson on the Rise of Upper Midwest Mountain Biking and more! 166
Hansi had a front row seat, and sometimes took control of the wheel when it comes to the rise of mountain biking in the Upper Midwest. He’s got some incredible stories, which set the stage for what we know as some of the best mountain bike and trail communities around.
Topics Include:
The Driftless Region
How Hansi got hooked up with IMBA
Duluth, MN
Cuyuna, MN
The Iron Range in MN
Copper Harbor MI
Aaron Rogers
The MN...
Published 03/19/24
Preston York – Owner / Operator of FlowMotion Trail Builders 165
Preston brings a ton of machine and trail building knowledge to this conversation. Stay tuned all the way to the end, as Preston drops one of the wildest stories heard on Trail EAffect.
Topics Include:
How Preston got into Mountain Biking
Various career tracks that let Preston to Trail Building
Preston on Rich Edwards
Equipment and the various machines that Preston uses
Machine Built, yet Handcut style of trail...
Published 03/12/24
Mountain Biker and Trail Builder the Infamous Randy Spangler 164
Randy has done and seen more than most in the world of mountain biking and trail building. Randy shares some pretty epic stories from the road and from his hometown during this conversation.
Topics Include:
How Randy got into mountain biking
Working with Missy Giove at Walden’s Ridge during design
The Drop In Mountain Bike TV Series
Riding in New Zealand
Randy having a front row seat for the evolution of purpose-built mountain...
Published 03/05/24
Gary Moore, Gil McCormick and Chris Winn – COMBA – Colorado Mountain Bike Association 163
We are back with a Non-Profit Trail Organization this week, featuring COMBA, The Colorado Mountain Bike Association. We have Gary Moore, the Executive Director for COMBA, Gil McCormick the Trails Program Director for COMBA, and Chris Winn the Communications and Marketing Manager for COMBA.
Topics Include:
How these three got into mountain biking and trails
How COMBA Began
Hiring Staff at COMBA
The...
Published 02/27/24
Dafydd Davis - A Pioneer in Trail Planning and Design, based out of Wales 162
Dafydd might be the most impactful mountain bike trail planners and designer period. His thoughtful approach to trail planning and design has resulted in trail experiences that were decades ahead of their time in Wales, which eventually spread throughout the world. You’d think the topics we discussed and Dafydd’s concepts were rather new, but he started this approach in 1994, 30 years ago. Dafydd’s concepts have...
Published 02/20/24
Sean Benish – Trail Builder Magazine / Loam Coffee 161
Episode 161 will be a bit different than most shows as this was a last-minute idea to hop on Zoom Call with Sean Benish. Sean is the person behind Trail Builder Magazine, Loam Coffee, and a whole lot more. I didn’t really have any topics for this conversation so we just went with what popped into our heads.
Trail EAffect Show Links:
Trail Builder Magazine: https://www.trailbuildermag.com/
Loam Coffee:...
Published 02/13/24
Rocket Ramps with Henry and Janker Ted – Building Ramps, Trails and Community in New Mexico #160
Topics Covered in this show:
The Rocket Ramp Formation
The Trail Building Scene in New Mexico
Janker Ted’s entry into Trail Building
Where Janker Built in MO
The Goals of Rocket Ramps
The evolution of Ramp Geometry / Ramps & Jumps in general
Ramp / Jump Design / Radius
The materials / construction of Rocket Ramps
Rocket Ramp Sizes
Shipping Rocket Ramps
Manufacturing of Rocket Ramps
Building...
Published 02/06/24
Shea Farrell of Flowride Concepts - Trail Building / Community Building #159
Topics Covered in this show:
How Shea got into Trail Planning, Design and Building
Common Themes of selling Bike Parks and Mountain Bike Infrastructure as a public amenity
Mountain Biking at Resorts / Gravity Bike Parks
Building in Anniston, AL / Duluth, MN and the Cottage Grove Bike Park
Bike Parks – IMBA’s Guide to New School Trails
Creating Visual Graphics for publications
Langfang Bike Park – Guan, China
COMBA...
Published 01/30/24
Dovetail Trail Consulting with Quinn Brett and Joe Stone – Adaptive Recreation #158
Topics Covered in this show:
Universal Trail Design – Sustainable Trail Design
The difference of accessibility and usability
Differences in adaptive equipment
Adaptive Trail Assessment at Walden’s Ridge in Chattanooga, TN
Details on the trails at Walden’s Ridge
Other locations assessed
Bend, OR
Signage and information that should be on signage
Barriers
Dovetail and education / attending more...
Published 01/16/24
TrailBot – The Trail Conditions Resource for when and where to use trails #157
Topics Covered in this show:
How Trail Bot came to be
How Trail Conditions are Updated
What is a widget – How to link conditions to various locations
Reception from municipalities is for TrailBot
Who makes the trail conditions updates
The subjective nature of trail conditions especially how this changes from region to region or even trail to trail
How and why to update when trail conditions haven’t actually...
Published 01/09/24
McGill Trail Fabrications #156
Topics Covered in this show:
Where the name McGill comes from
How the McGill’s came together
The Riveter – North Carolina
Wintering in the Carolina’s
Building at Walden’s Ridge in Chattanooga, TN
Building in Frisco, Co – Purpose build trails
How Aftermath came to be
Directional Trails
Idaho Springs – Virginia Canyon Bike Park
Argo Mine
COMBA
Trek Trails / Trek Foundation Support
Howler Bike Park
The importance of Gravity Bike Parks and value they bring
Famous...
Published 01/02/24
Tony Boone – Legendary Trail Designer & Builder / Aruba MTB Project #155
Topics Covered in this show:
Tony Boone on Jane Goodall
2023 Professional Trail Builder Association Lifetime Achievement Award
Trail Builders Worldwide
Tony Sponsoring companies into the PTBA
The explosion of Trail Building and Trail Use since 2020
Measuring the GDP of Outdoor Recreation
Aruba MTB Project
The Mountain Bike Experience in Aruba
E Bikes
Tony Boone – Stay Human
2024 Professional Trail Building...
Published 12/19/23
Sean Leader of Southern Gravity – Downhill Bike Parks / Downhill Racing / And more #154
Topics Covered in this show:
Southern Gravity
Catching up since Episode 43 the original Sean Leader / Windrock Episode
People moving to the area for Windrock Bike Park
Sean’s view on Gravity Based Bike Parks
New Shuttle Based Bike Parks
Shuttle Trucks / Trailers and how bike parks can function without Chairlifts
Efficiencies of Shuttle Trucks vs Chairlifts
Trailer Size Differences / loading times
Growing...
Published 12/05/23
Chris Skogen – Industry vs Community and a whole lot more! #153
Topics Covered in this show:
Chris’s Wheels
Lemon’s to Lemonade
Yes, is the answer, what is the question?
Almanzo 100
The value of a hand written note
The beginnings
Creating Space for Human Beings to look in the mirror
Moving the needle socially
Not about bikes
Industry VS Community
Comparison
Trek – Win the Season 365
Stepping away from Gravel and towards the Mountain Bike
Getting away in the woods
What make a great Trail...
Published 11/28/23
Copper Harbor Trails Club – Giving Tuesday with Adam Yeoman and Nathan Miller
Topics Covered in this show:
What is Copper Harbor as a community
Giving Tuesday 2023 – What was raised for funding
Partnership with the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation
Partnership with SRAM for 5 years – Matching Donations ($500K Per year)
Trail that was built in 2023 with donations
East Bluff Bike Park Trails
Keweenaw Point Trail Phase 3 (section 1)
Keweenaw Point Trail Phase 1.25
Orchard Trail
And...
Published 11/21/23
Max Penny of Howler Bike Park in Branson, MO #151
Topics Covered in this show:
Max’s Backstory
Howler Bike Co.
The state of mountain biking in Missouri
The Stats at Howler Bike Park
The Phases of Howler Bike Park
The Howler Family
How Max and his family settled on the location of Howler Bike Park
The Build at Howler Bike Park
Companies / Builders that helped build the Trails at Howler
Dirt Tek Trails
Reserve Concepts
Backyard Trail Builds
McGill Trail Fabrications
Future Expansion at...
Published 11/07/23
Renee Mattson of Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission on: Mountain Bike Trail Development Guidelines for Successfully Managing the Process – Part 3 #150
Topics Covered in this show:
What the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission is
How and Why the State of Minnesota decided to fund Trails and more
How the Mountain Bike Trail Development Guidelines for Successfully Managing the Process came to be
How communities in MN can qualify and apply for these trail...
Published 10/24/23
Mike Repyak of IMBA Trail Solutions on: Mountain Bike Trail Development Guidelines for Successfully Managing the Process – Part 2 #149
Topics Covered in this show:
What Mike / IMBA Trail Solutions have been up to in 2023
How Mike and IMBA got involved with helping to write this book
Why this is not just a MN Guide, but a Guide that can be used worldwide
The Presentation of the book at the 2023 International Trail Conference in Reno
The sections that Mike was involved with
Topics / subjects...
Published 10/17/23
Jake Carsten Author of the book: Mountain Bike Trail Development Guidelines for Successfully Managing the Process #148
Topics Covered in this show:
Jakes Backstory relative to how he got into Trail Planning and Mountain Biking
Jakes Deep History in Trail Building and Planning around the world
Mountain Bike Trail Development: Guidelines for successfully managing the process
The Backstory behind this book
Key Topics that needed to be in the book
The professionalization of the trail...
Published 10/10/23