Jane Emerick
Special to The Chief
You know the trail you ride on every weekend? Well somebody is looking after it and according to Chris McCrum, Squamish Off Road Cycling Association's (SORCA) man in charge of trail maintenance, that somebody should be you.
"We are always looking for more volunteers," he said. "The more the merrier."
McCrum organizes "Rake and Bakes" where people meet to have coffee, muffins and cookies (provided by McCrum), and fix Squamish's mountain bike trails.
McCrum said the group works on trails used by all levels of riders, rather than trying to clean up the more technical tracks."Right now we are focusing on putting back logs, sticks and rocks that have accumulated over the summer," he said.
While many people use the trails McCrum works on, he said so far only around five to eight people have volunteered, making the work slow.
"There is only so much work a handful of people can do," he said.
People on bikes often pass the volunteers while they are fixing the trails but McCrum said he doesn't think they are interested in helping.
"Trails need maintenance and it is everybody's responsibility. It doesn't have to be a lot, people could come out for just one or two trail maintenance days and it would help," he said. "Without trails there would be no mountain biking."
McCrum got into trail maintenance 10 years ago and now makes a living off it by operating a trail building company. He said last year the International Mountain Bike Association offered trail building lessons in Squamish and he would like to offer something similar this spring.
"I would like to duplicate that," he said. "To give people an idea on how to build a trail so they do a better job."
He said a poorly built trail with unsafe features can give the sport a bad name.
The first "Rake and Bake" will be held on March 11 and will continue every Saturday until June 10. This weekend meet in the Garibaldi Highlands, at the top of Perth Drive at 10 a.m. Bring water, lunch, gloves, boots and a shovel or rake. For any questions about the "Rake and Bake," trail building lessons, or for upcoming trail maintenance locations email McCrum at:
