Wow Im pretty impressed with the feedback the last post got, makes me think trails are in not that bad of a state as I thought. Anyway just wanted to follow up on a few things, one is Im not saying The Come Up is the blame for trails dieing out, I think its a good site and lately its got a lot of good content up with articles and what not but basically none about trails. There needs to be a good trails based website like that, I know Deluxe puts up a lot of good trail videos but there needs to be a good site with daily trail content and just good articles on opinions of trail related stuff. As for dudes like Chase Hawk who used to ride the trails every summer and havent been there in ages it just bums me out because people have told me hes too proud to put brakes on to ride the trails. Same goes for Slattery the newest Anthem video of him is rad but all that footage is like 4 years ago and I dont think hes been to the trails since. Now I see edits of him without brakes and just doing wild street stuff. I think younger kids see that and are like well he isnt riding trails anymore he is way into street so Ill do that now. Ive seen only one person from Australia riding the trails brakeless and make it work, but really if you wanna try it out go ahead but really its not worth it getting hurt. Especially when you get a random kid who think hes can ride the trails brakeless during a jam when there are 100 people there and we dont need a flying bike in the woods taking out spectators. I hate to call out Tony Cardona but he showed up at the woods this past summer with no brakes on and was not in a state of mind to ride but he thought he was gonna give the trails a go, but seen the sign that says no brakes and instantly left. That sign prolly saved his life that day if he tried riding. For Catty its more of an Insurance thing we pay a lot of money to have insurance and its a big risk to ride the trails brakeless considering the amount of trees and drainage holes etc, theres a lot that could go wrong. Basically put some brakes on for a day and ride the trails, I welcome all those dudes who used to come ride the trails, a lot of them list Catty and Posh as there favorite places to ride well why they hell havent you been here in years come out and ride. I know trails used to be strong on the whole no dig no ride and scare people away but when you have every young kid out there buying bikes without brakes and the only thing they know is street riding we gotta come together and make trail riding known you can come out and give it a try. Its not gonna make you uncool to have brakes on for a couple days. Share your thoughts in the comments.. Im glad this has opened up some peoples eyes so far, lets make this summer a good one…..
PAWOODS 
Im surprised kids get made fun of for having brakes. I just got a new bike. It has no brakes. I think its retarded. And I cant wait to get a set of brakes on it. I think I understand the, ”No guts no glory” idea of no brakes. But wouldnt it be more gutsy to not use your brakes even tho you know you have them? Get some brakes just for the sake of not getting hit by a car when you fly thru an intersection. And save the soles on your shoes.
I almost hit some kid yesterday riding brakeless with my car because he missed his tire when he tried to stuff it in his wheel… But to each his own I guess.
I also don’t know why everything has to be “cool” with riding anymore. When I first got into it I was made fun of for not playing regular sports and shit. I still did it because it was fun for me.
Fuk street
Its funny how it comes down to caring about what other people think, really? People really take their brakes off to try to impress other people?
I thought bmx was about having your own style and not being sheep.
Looking foreward to throwing dirt with you guys soon.
I hate people who only ride street. kids now a days get into street because its way less of a risk. Kids don’t even give trails ridding a chance because they dont know how to jump their bikes. There are so called “pro” ridders that cant even hit dirt jumps, its ridicules. Trails ridding is the best in bmx for sure. I have been building trails in my backyard for four years now and your trails have been a big motivation to keep moving forward and building new lines. In my mind trails have never been dead. looking forward to making the 6 hour trip up there for the jams this year, going to catty woods was life changing!! Hopefully i should be throwing a few big jams at my trails this year, any one who is into trails can come!!
Well I rode Posh for the past two summers and I definitely need to make it out to Catty this year, last time I went it got completely flooded, but we threw a few shovels anyhow. I’m all about balance, I love every aspect of riding from street to dirt to vert and flatland(just got a new flat bike and I’m stoked). I think if more kids tried every aspect of “BMX” they would be more psyched about trails and what it offers. Like why not go rip around a park in the afternoon, shred some trails during the day, and ride some street and flat at night, sounds like a perfect bmx day to me. Still as I get older trails lure me in for “that feeling” of hitting a new set, getting more sideways than the last time, big smiles as you know you’re up in the air with no worries at all! That’s what draws me back all the way from Chicago, plan on making a trip in September and every year from here on out, hope to see you guys there 🙂
It sucks that your scene is deminishing, but the scene that you guys have created over at Catty and Posh has become the standard for what good trails look like around the world, and that is a sick accomplishment. Trails are thriving on the West coast, at least for those of us who want them to.
these are some real good points your making there,look what happened to my spot,theres like 20 kids who ride and live behind the trails,none of them go to the trails though.bmx goes in cycles,last few years were cool,now its not,kids are trendy,most anyways,need to get optimus pime to send a message to all those who have some heart in search of a good time to come out,ha.more then 1 local is good.try going it alone,see you guys soon as it rains.
Living in the UK and having had a set of trails I have dug I can honestly say that the most amount of fun I have had on my bike is riding trails. Now having gone to university I only ride park really becasue noone else rides trails or even jumps or seem to have any interest in them, so I have no opportunity to ride trails any longer. I would honestly love to just go and see catty, watch the riding and try to ride some trails. I would also buy a brake just to do so. I cannot believe that kids don’t take the opportunity to do so living minutes away.
I love trails and I’m not discouraged by bad weather, buying digging equipment or endless work on land that I don’t own that will likely be destroyed if found but most people I meet just aren’t into it. People will call me and ask how the trails are running and unless I say everything is going perfectly, they inevitably have something else to do. Maybe next time.
yeah i know what you are trying to say. i lovee trails thats all ill ride anymore. we had a really good spot here in southern california call marina hills, there is a you tube video posted somewhere if you look it up. but we would get kids with out brakes showing up aswell. us locals would tell them we recommed brakes and they would
end up getting wrecked. street is real big in our area of course. there is a group of bout 10 of us who just dig and ride trails. it is a crying shame.i remember all my trails heros as well, punjab, ground chuck, gilly, stauffer, taj, joe rich, robo (morales). ect the list goes on, those where dudes i looked up too coming up riding trails. but i will say nothing compares to riding east coast trails. i am a believer in no dig no ride thats how i was brought up on trails and especially the first time i moved out east just to ride trails. trail trends come and go with the kids. it will come back again. but for us die hards we got to keep doing what we love and never stop. ill never stop riding and digging, my sons are being raised in to it. so there is hope and i know younger generations will come around.
I started a set here in the UK back in 2007 with one other guy, since then our digging crew has grew to about 4 or 5 and things are starting to come together. Our spot is on private land so we have to chain it off, mostly for insurance reasons. I think this is part of the reason we dont have more kids down but then again I think the main reason is because there is a skate park nearby
Some of us ride big wheels which in itself brings an entirely new level of trails beef, on top of the standard no dig no ride culture. I fucking hate this tbh as I have spent the last 5 years of my life breaking my back with spades and wheel barrows to get a decent setup, yet live in fear of daring to head anywhere else because of the “MTB trails rapist” persona that riders have in the UK. This isn’t without justification, most big wheeled kids spend their winters hucking to death into a foam pit then rock up at the trails around April and expect a perfectly groomed setup for them to case the fuck out of.
I think the whole thing is intimidating which puts people off, there are certain spots here in the UK I know of but wouldnt dare turn up to because the locals are so unfriendly, and this is speaking as someone who has more than paid their dues in clay and sweat.
Bottom line is trails went well insular around 2000, no dig no ride etc and now we are reaping the rewards as a scene. We dont have as many nob jockeys rocking up and smashing the landers up but at the same time culture doesnt do much to get kids interested and involved, you cant have your cake and eat it.
Could do with more press like, as has been mentioned, but most of the trails spots I know like to keep it low key for fear of being ploughed / sued / raped which is something I doubt you would ever overcome
I feel that the older, more looked up to pros should get back to the trails. One of the reasons why trails thrive is the BMX media, I feel like Anthem II came out & trails & fast riding had a resurgence – I work at Back Bone BMX in Australia & the lead up to that & for a while afterwards dudes were coming in for brakes, building spots of their own etc. Even when we had your videos in store & the DIG Trails issue they always sold out instantly & had a big impact throughout the scene. Obviously there is the die hard trail fan out there buying it regardless, but because trails were a little more in kids faces & spoken about by the older crew, it makes waves & kids are more likely to emulate what the older guys & pros are doing.
Where I’m from, after several hidden spots being dozed, we have been allowed a space on government land without restriction of size etc – the area is less than ideal (bad dirt, no trees) but we have the opportunity to build trails nonetheless. We have had the spot for over a year & in that time have advertised on the store site/facebook countless times to have kids come up, help build & have a ride. In a town with a thriving BMX scene of what I would think would be thousands of riders, with a big portion of those riders trying to emulate ‘trail riders’ at the skatepark with stauffer & janis whips, we’ve probably had 20 riders come. Sounds like a lot, but this is in dribs & drabs over the whole year with most of them only coming to help once. Kids can’t see the bigger picture & can’t see that trails don’t just ‘pop up’ like a skatepark, so they lose interest pretty quickly.
So we decided that we’d just build the jumps ourselves & stop advertising digging sessions, thinking that if people ever asked if they could come & help then we would say ‘sure’. No one ever asked. But now we have a good line running that we built with more on the way & we are going to try our best to put out photos & videos to entice kids back into the trails scene – it’s working. We enforce the no dig, no ride ethos & now that kids can see that the trails are rad, they seem to be more willing to dig, which I like to think teaches them a thing or two about taking responsibility for something & having pride in their work.
What I guess I’m trying to get at is if any trails get publicized by having the pros ride them & just having more coverage, then kids will see how sick it is & want to be a part of that scene. When they do make it up to the trails & are encouraged to dig as well as ride & the diggers keep a positive attitude towards new people then the scene will grow.
I hope you guys get some rain soon – see you in August!
NO DIG NO RIDE !!!!!!
if you come to my trails will cut your brakes off so you cant ride.
nothing like a faceless retard
Hello fine chaps. Hang in there. Bet you trails are incredible. Let of old boy continue to pioneer your trails on all levels. I stated Bmx again after a twenty year! Break. John Dye took me to Epsom trails three years ago. This year I’m I’m hoping to tick off all the lines! To be honest it’s probably the best thing That’s happened to me. I will be 42 years of age this Friday 20thApril. We have same problems with the youth at Epsom as I’m sure Ross informs you. Whatever go or bad occurs keep your passion strong for your jumps. I wish you every bit of joy and pushing boundaries. Cheers Steve C( Alice) uk old bmx man. Boy!
Did not check spelling. Comedy! You get the idea. Trying to say how much the jumps mean to us and have work ourselves! and keep our enthusiasm high even when the youth seem to have very little time for a bit of work with a shovel and wheel barrow
what is the exact location of this mega track? Stuck in the street help me get out
Brakeless trends is what has killed trails. All these kids show up to the skatepark with brakeless bikes and zero skill because they think its “cool”. Without breaks, theyll never have the confidence to give a set of trails a try for the first time. Because “cool” is way better than “fun” nowadays.
I make a point to give people shit for not having breaks. Just doing my part in restoring the order.
Oh, and too many kids read TCU. Hop tricks and grinds on foot tall ledges are NOT cooler than trails.
I really like what these 2 posts have to say about what bmx has come to. No one wants to go out and dig anymore, its to much work and you cant stop to text or tweet every 5 seconds.
Also, videos recently (other than Anthem) have included very little trail footage, i guess trails just arent cool enough anymore.
Hopefully you guys get rain soon, its a shame that there arent any pictures up to keep motivated. I guess the 10 year anniversary vid will have to suffice.
http://dialed603trails.wordpress.com/
RIP another epic set of trails bits the dust.
After the spot i learned how to ride, build and maintain trails at was plowed almost 2 years ago i’ve had the hardest time finding more than 3 friends from our scene that are into building at a spot i’ve started. I’ve seen an entire new generation of kids at our local skateparks that wont even talk to us, or even show any interest in riding our trails or checking them out. Most all of them are brakeless and look at my bike as some sort of time portal to 2001. It’s a shame because i’ve never been a huge trail nazi so long as you help out when you do show up (help tarp, water and patch or even put some work in on the new stuff) but still we can’t even seem to interest these new riders in coming out to try trails out…
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