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advocacy
From the very beginning Loam Coffee has been about supporting trail advocacy and new trails. Whether that is supporting our local trail alliance, sending innumerable bags of coffee for dig days across the U.S. and Canada, serving coffee to trail builders, or having our own Trail Builders Blend to raise awareness … we believe this is an important topic.
I’ve come to see mountain biking as the bridge between urban and rural … city and wilderness. Due to sheer population density most mountain bikers live in a city whether large or small. What that then means is the continual travel from the city to the backside of nowhere to ride. We leave the comforts of city life … access to amenities, services, and the pulsating rhythms of constant activity … to replace with the quiet remoteness of a trail.
One of the exciting things about mountain biking is you never know what you’ll find or see out on the trail. From lost car keys to bike parts to spotting deer or a bear from afar we can never anticipate the unanticipated. I’ve spied on bald eagles perched directly above me and have peered down from a low cliff to watch a 6 foot long white sturgeon lazily swim at the surface. I feel as though I’m always prepared for the unprepared … or at least assume I could anticipate confronting a mountain lion on the trail (which I couldn’t) or troublemakers shooting guns too close to the trail (which I hope I don’t). But a few weeks ago I came across something … someone … I wasn’t anticipating.
A rogue trail builder.
My earliest experiences in trail maintenance and stewardship began around 15-16 years ago. I wasn’t part of any local trail advocacy group nor even knew of any. A local chapter might have existed but I had no connection. Instead, the trail network that I used regularly was my focal point. Every now and then myself with another mountain biking guide would go out and trim back branches and work on trails that were being washed out by the rain. The trails we rode and used were not built by mountain bikers, instead they were trails first cut by cattle and horseback riders. Erosion was a constant but I didn’t know any different as we worked to maintain the trails.
