EDITORIAL
If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, don’t be totally deceived by the recent rains. While they’re much needed, the lack of snowpack means we’re potentially still in for some significant water shortage issues later in the summer.
If you’ve been pining for sunshine, there’s an upside to Juneuary. The rain means the soils are staying moist and tacky, and the riding has been as spectacular as the wildflowers. This moisture has also been welcome to those in the digging community; moving piles of dust around is easier than heavy, wet dirt, but it’s a fool’s errand. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t do as much digging as I should, and this was true even when I was at the helm of our local mountain bike trail association, the NSMBA, but I try to put my time in when I can, and am attempting to teach a kindergartner that giving back to where we ride is as important as the riding.
If you’re big enough to ride jumps, you’re big enough to water them.
Teaching the next generation to give back to their trails (and community as a whole) is important. We bought the qrca jersey in Powell River, and it was a favorite for hot days like this one, watering the North Saanich Freeride Park jumps last year.
Like bicycles, the quantity, quality, and variety of tools available out there to modern trail builders is immense. Whether you’re a classic mattock/pickaxe combo’d up with a spade shovel type, out there with your sifting box and a squaremouth shovel slappin’ n’ packin’ the jumps, or an ex-firefighter who loves a McLeod and Pulaski, there’s a plethora of options for you. Prolific builders have all developed a preference for handle material, length, and the selection of implements they need for the tasks they undertake. Everyone has a favorite, and forums and parking lots have been littered with (good-natured) arguments for decades.
Whether you’ve got four different draw-knives for peeling cedar, a custom-handled sledge for pounding feathers and wedges, or attend one trail day a year, your contributions to your local riding are appreciated; the trails need you. A special shoutout to the folks out there lugging 8′ digging bars and come-alongs out there to move boulders with the collection of straps and chains they’ve accumulated specific to the task ahead; those things are heavy. Those folks also know the reality of how many hands make light work, and with enough hands, a 2-ton boulder can (slowly, carefully) be mobilized and laid to rest right where it needs to go.
Any trail day led by your local trail organization is likely to start with a discussion around safety and the day’s goals. While SORCA brought plenty of tools, you’ll notice many of the prolific Squamish builders pictured here also brought their own.
I’m lucky and privileged to have a full quiver of bikes, and I subscribe to a specialist philosophy – horses for courses, if you will – specialized bikes for different rides. While I do have a reasonable selection of trail-building tools in the garage (and a few stashed in the woods), the vast majority of my time spent working on trails is in small stints, with a small child. Whether we’re out clearing drains after school, hacking back some blackberries from the commute, or attempting to delete the latest e-bike ruts on an unsanctioned climb trail on a Sunday morning, odds are we’re not going to be there long. There’s no specific project we’re going to try and complete, and I’ve probably got the 45lb team member on my shoulders for 60% of the hike in and out. This means my desire to lug in a multitude of heavy, specific tools is low, and I want one or two tools that I can do a lot with. I want something with versatility.
Heavy rocks, heavy equipment. It took a multitude of folks working over a good chunk of the morning, using digging bars, chains, come-alongs, and straps to get this boulder into the large hole they’d dug to armour a slab runout. Most riders will have hardly any idea it’s there now.
My weapon of choice for these master-of-none missions? The Rogue Tools 70AR 7″ Travis.
As Rogue describes it, “This multi-purpose tool has a beveled scraper on one side, a rake on the other, and a 7″ wide sharp hoe on the bottom.” This ash-handled* wonder does a lot of duties; it’s a hoe, it’s a rake, it works as an axe, as a mattock, and as a McLeod.
*I have a preference for wood handles over composite
![Boris-Snatch-Heavy-Is-Good[1]](http://nsmb.com/media/images/Boris-Snatch-Heavy-Is-Good1.width-1920.jpg)
The 70AR isn’t the lightest tool out there, but the swing-weight works to your advantage when chopping organics or hard-packed ground. Based on how often I need to sharpen mine with an angle grinder, I also chop a lot of rocks.
In a tale every builder will be familiar with, we were almost done for the day and walking out when we came across the biggest mud-hole of the day.
A significant period of time later, using nothing but the Travis, we’d pulled all the organics out and recontoured the hardpan to drain. Two years on, this work holds, and the trail is still dry here. I’ve stopped a couple times to kick the drain clear.
The Travis on a wet winter drain clearing mission.
The variety of trail tasks you can accomplish with the Travis is remarkable. I’ve yet to use a tool that is as versatile, and at just under $110, I’d argue you’d be hard-pressed to find a way to make your trail tool dollars go farther. With a shovel, bucket, Travis, Silky Saw, and file to keep things sharp, the world can be your canvas. If you’re just starting out, the Travis is incredibly good on a wet-weather walk to clear drains; it can move dirt, chop troublesome wood, rake debris, and when the going gets tough, the pointy end will do an admirable job picking/prying. While I hate terms like “four-in-one” as much as Mitch Hedberg, the Travis really is a multi-tool; the reviews and comments online (as well as on the tailgate) seem to back my opinion up here. If you show up with a Travis, I can guarantee someone is likely to say, “I’ve got one of those, I love it!”
As usual, I forgot a true “before” image. A was sent off acquiring the biggest rocks he could find and carry for a retainer, while I worked on some benchcutting and using the cut material to fill some roots. The Travis (and some plastic shovels) were the only tools we had.
Final inspection from the site superintendent – like many of the projects we’ve undertaken on this trail, it’s an improvement over the original, but far from perfect or permanent.
Some roots buried, some slopes smoothed, and you can carry a bit more speed up the punchy bit.
If all the tool talk is lost on you because you don’t have time, energy, storage space, or some other reason to not own tools, this is fine!
There are two small, easy, impactful things you can do every year to help ensure your local trails stay in good nick. Only one of them costs money. First, buy a membership; consider it like an annual lift ticket. Odds are, you can do this right now from your computer, and if you’re “pretty sure” you’re a member, do me a favour and double-check. It’s cheap, the dollars will be multiplied by volunteer hours, and the reason every trail organization says it’s important is because it really is!
While tools help, they’re certainly not required. Pausing to kick a couple of drains clear on your ride goes a long way for the long-term health of your trails (and builders).
Every shovel-full and dollar counts. Give back in whatever way works best for you.
While not a sticker I created, it’s certainly a motto I can get behind.
The second is free; every time you’re out there on the trails, try to do one thing to make them better. Whether it’s clearing some spring brush, stopping to clean a drain with your heel in the fall, or raking a few loose rocks out of the chute, it all helps. Knocking out these little tasks as part of your everyday rides takes no time away from your recreation, gives builders the chance to work on bigger projects instead of housekeeping, and you can feel smug next time you ride through that section.
A special thank you to SORCA for holding an annual space to remember Dave Reid via a trail day. Whether you know it or not, if you’ve ridden in the Sea-to-Sky, you’ve probably ridden something Dave had a hand in. Prior to being a father myself, Dave would regale me with tales of building with his kid (now grown man), Griff. I think about Dave every time I’m out on the trails with A.
With that said, let the fun begin in the comments. Why do you hate my favourite tool, and what do you like better?
Elder millennial, size medium.
Reformed downhiller, now rides all the bikes.