If you go down to the woods today.,.,.,..,

Whilst I'm not pretending that West Wales is perfect in every way, it is perfect for trail building and after a lot of hours and many miles of surveying to find the making of a good spot, we have selected our new trail. The dogs and I have enjoyed looking for the ideal place a great deal and have seen huge amounts of Ceredigions Wildlife along the way. I wanted a spot that was going to be fun and flowy as opposed to a mentalist down hill only trail, I want it to be a combination of pump track, jumps and North shore. The kind of place that I can call in on the way home from work and scare myself a little. With that in mind, here is what I wanted as a canvas.

• Not too far from home-Max 5 miles.
• At least partially tree covered to stop the rain/frost from killing the jump faces.
• Nice amount of undulation.
• Sizable enough to keep adding bits, as time allows.

And,,,,,,

• Preferably with 'nice dirt' !

All the above were checked and so time to get the hell on with it then ! Literally hours for walking around looking, stopping to scratch the beard and trying to imagine the line. Once the start point was decided upon it became much easier. The small side branches of soft wood trees are way nasty if you land on them and I spent a couple of hours trimming them flush with my trusty Silky fox saw. (they are brilliant, get one) It was great to look down the line with nothing obstructing. Looking down the start run it was easy to see where to start putting the fun bumps, the tree spacing meant that every time there is a root I will just add a mound. These will either act as a 'pump' or a jump depending on how quick you hit them. By the time you get to the first really classy feature, you should be near warp speed ! Then the choice of jump, rock garden or wall ride are on offer. NICE ! Every feature has to have as much opportunity to ride as many ways as possible, due to the fact that the run lengths are short and it will help keep it fresh and fun.

 Just being in the woods is an antidote for so many things, but having the feeling (like when you were a kid) that you can build anything you like and anything is possible, is really sweet. Especially when you have your kids, dogs and a couple of buddies along too ! Try it yourself, it's the biz. 



I will do some time lapse when the North shore stuff is being built so that you can have a go if you fancy. 

 Funky stuff, like this !!!!

Plenty of good info here from the IMBA and you can find some wicked youtube trail builders guides too. Most trail centers have maintenance and dig days, so if you don't want to dig your own spot, you can go and meet some good people and put a bit back into your sport. 

Some of the fundamentals that are worth considering.