031 – Trail Maintenance And Why We Should Help with John Howard
Todays Guest
John Howard – Duty Manager for the Mid Ulster District Council – We talk Trail Maintenance
Ever wondered why your trail centres are always in great shape? Well it’s because of people like John and a team of volunteers lending a helping hand, taking time out of their day to help maintain their local trails. Have you ever thought of helping out yourself?
Well on todays episode number Thirty One, we talk with John about how you can do that, how the whole process works and why your help is needed to keep the trails maintained the way we have grown to love. We talk about everything from John’s role as a Trail Ranger to rider safety to what repairs are required the most.
This is a great episode were we get to find out what really goes into keeping our trails open all year round and what we as users can do to help. It doesn’t take a lot of effort or a great deal of our time to help out so we can enjoy this thing called mountain biking 365 days a year.
Please listen to the show, get involved and help out your local trail centre!
Davagh Maintenance Day – 21st April 2018.
Find Out
- What John’s role as a Trail Ranger comprises of
- What type of things can cause a trail centre to be closed
- Do and should riders give feedback on trail issues
- How often trail maintenance is carried out
- What are the most common repairs that are required
- What a typical day of maintenance volunteering looks like
- How many volunteers show up on average
- How the forest service can impact on the trails
- Why you should help as a volunteer
- How you can get involved and be keep up to date on volunteer days
I really enjoyed having John on the show, it opened my mind (and hopefully yours when you listen) to everything that goes on behind the scenes in keeping our great trails, not only opened but safe, maintained and fun to ride. In most cases we just show up, get our gear on and head out for a blast up the mountain but never stop to think why we can do that and what it takes to have that piece of mind and be able to enjoy such great trails for free.
John takes us through the complete process and gives us a great insight into our much loved local trails. And remember wherever you are listening to this from, may it be the US or Europe, your local trail centres most likely need a helping hand also. So why don’t you get in touch, say hi and find out how you can volunteer and help. It benefits us all.
It was great chatting with John to get the low-down on what it really takes to keep our trails in great condition. And at the end of the day it is for our benefit so why should we not lend a helping hand.
To Connect with John and find out more:
Website: mountainbikeni.com/mountainbikeni-trails-team
Facebook: MountainBikeNI.comTrailsTeam
Website: mountainbikeni.com
Facebook: MountainBikeNorthernIreland
Instagram: mountainbikeni
Twitter: MountainBikeNI
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Special thanks to John for coming on the show, it was great to have you as a guest.
Thanks for Listening!
Join me next week for another episode of the MTB TRIBE Podcast show!