I rode every trail in my backyard.
Here's why you should, too.
Words by: Greg Heil
I've lived in a slew of different states,
And even more towns within those states. Wisconsin, Montana, Georgia, Colorado, Oregon, Arizona… who knows what state I’ll add to the list next? Moving to a new town, while difficult and stressful, also brings with it an exciting new challenge: exploring all the local mountain bike trails.
I view it as a personal imperative to pedal every single one of the "local" trails in whatever town I live in.
It doesn’t matter how good or bad the trail might be — each one deserves at least one ride, and if one really sucks, I can choose to simply never ride that trail again.
But I believe they all still deserve a chance.
Lewis and Clark Syndrome
I've been told that I have a "Lewis and Clark Syndrome."
I’m afflicted with an insatiable drive to see what’s around the next corner, to turn over every stone, to explore every single nook and cranny of wherever I happen to find myself in life. So I’ll never understand the riders who’ve lived in a town for 30 years and might not have ridden a trail system located less than 30 minutes from their back door.
Believe me, this happens: as a mountain bike journalist, I get comments on my articles from riders expressing shock at nearby trails they’ve never deigned to ride. On one recent article, a reader wrote, “20-Year mountain bike veteran in my home state of PA, live 30 minutes from Wissahickon and never rode there.” Even as I chat with locals in my new hometown of Durango, CO, I’m amazed by the riders who’ve lived here for a decade or longer and still haven’t ridden some of the most iconic trails.
Where does this lake of curiosity derive from?
Why not get out there and explore your backyard trails?
Honestly, I think many riders get comfortable. They find a few rides they like, and they end up going back to those same trails and route combinations day after day and week after week.
Sure, those tried-and-true routes could be fantastic. But how do you know that the trail on the next ridge over isn’t even better if you’ve never tried it? And what if you rode your standard loop in reverse — would the downhill be even better?
Riding all the in-town trails in Durango, Colorado
I moved to Durango, CO, about two and a half years ago, and the expansive network of singletrack spidering out in every direction was almost overwhelming. Simply figuring out how the trails connect together and create fun and enjoyable loops took some serious time commitment, much less figuring out how to hit every single little connector or forgotten route that nobody rides anymore.
My job takes me out of town quite often, globetrotting to report on the next best mountain bike destinations. Getting to travel to ride is the highlight of my job, but during the middle of every busy summer, I long for the times when I get to hang out in Durango and start digging deep for hidden trail gems. Sure, riding in New Zealand, Switzerland, and Quebec is all great, but if I have stones left to turn over in my backyard, those trails will itch at the back of my brain.
Early this fall,
I finally completed the last obscure bike-legal trail segment in all five or six (depends on how you count them) in-town trail systems in Durango. For the purposes of my project, this includes the massive Horse Gulch/Durango Mesa Park/Sale Barn complex, the Three Springs/Spur Line trail system, the Fort Lewis trails, Test Tracks, Twin Buttes, and Animas Mountain.
These “in-town” trails form an expansive network of interconnected and convoluted singletrack. According to Trailforks, the grand total is around 140 miles of singletrack, but due to all the forking and branching, it takes many, many times more miles to hit every little spur!
My final in-town trail was Ollos, on Animas Mountain. Animas is little-ridden due to the mountain’s steepness and ruggedness, and of all the trails on the mountain, Ollos seems the most pointless. It doesn’t really go anywhere or create any interesting loop combinations, which is why I didn’t ride it until the end of my project. But I finally checked it off, and now this in-town objective is done!
More left to do
Durango boasts over 300 miles of mountain bike trails within 30 minutes of downtown, and while all the in-town trails are inside a tighter circle, I’m actively working to pedal all the routes that are further afield as well. To date, I’ve done substantial exploration extending deep into the high mountains of the San Juans and south into the New Mexican desert. Even once you’ve checked off the trails close to town, the to-do list circle can keep expanding outward in a never-ending spiral of epic trail systems. I still have plenty of trails to sample in trail systems like Log Chutes, and while I’ve tackled all of the well-known high mountain epics, there are plenty of obscure (and potentially very overgrown) trails to dig my tires into.
And that, I think, is the beauty of a project like this one. There’s always something new to see, always a new trail (or road, or path) to explore.
Exploration is the spice of life. Once you’re done chasing, once you’re done exploring, once you’re done changing and growing, life quickly becomes stagnant.
But with a new trail around every corner, there’s always something to look forward to. There’s always a new challenge to chase.
So take a look at your local trail map. Chances are, there’s a trail out there you haven’t yet pedaled down for one reason or another. Make a plan to hit it this weekend.
You can thank me later.
