Tom Cole, CRC Trails’ Lead Trail Designer and Project Manager, has dedicated his career to creating some of Scotland’s most beloved mountain biking trails. From grassroots beginnings in rural Scotland to designing iconic routes, Tom’s passion for sustainable, rider-focused trails shines through every project. In this interview, Tom shares his journey into professional trail building, the challenges of creating with nature in mind, and how innovations like adaptive bike trails and e-bike networks are shaping the future of the sport. Whether it’s hand-cut paths or machine-built flow lines, Tom’s work embodies a commitment to creating unforgettable riding experiences.

Last Saturday was a vivid reminder of why coffee matters. No, that is not hyperbole or an understatement. It matters A LOT. The temperature was in the low 40s, and the rain was constant. I was shooting photos of a volunteer crew re-routing a trail that had been washed out. The whole time, I kept thinking of two things ... (1) I need rain gear like Alaska crabbers being bounced around in a small boat in the Bering Sea, and (2) I need coffee.

It sounds strange to talk about hand tools when we’re primarily working with excavators and earth-moving equipment and try to do 95-99% of the work with a machine, including most of the shaping and compacting. It is always more effort when the shovels and rakes get pulled out, so when we pull them out, we really need them to work well for what we do. Here are my top three tools when I am utilizing them along with a machine.

In Aztec lore, Axolotl is the god of fire and lightning. Legend has it that he turned himself into a salamander to avoid being sacrificed. If you Google the word “axolotl,” you’ll find all kinds of articles on the Aztec god and the namesake salamander, originally found in several lakes underlying what is now Mexico City. Someday, if you Google that name again, the search engine just might point you to a mountain bike trail outside of Portland, Oregon.

Winters in the Pacific Northwest are dark, damp, and bone-chillingly cold. No, not cold in the sense of snowy climates with sub-zero temperatures. But the cool temps plus all the rain has a way of chilling you to the core. A day out on the trail, whether building or biking, means layering up.

When it comes to mountain biking, I'm first and foremost a shorts guy. While my favorite is a good pair of jorts (jean shorts), I know that most of you are probably looking for something with a little more performance than a pair of Old Navy jeans with some stretch in the fabric that were converted to riding shorts at the end of their life.

While I love my jorts and their functionality for both mountain biking and gravel riding, they are not the best for the winters here. Therefore, when NAR Supply Co. reached out about sending me a pair of their 3/4 tech pants, I knew it was time to address my winter riding gear.

I recently caught up with the president of a non-profit trail stewardship organization as we talked about their plans for the upcoming year. One of their goals? Work to officially adopt a beloved unsanctioned trail system that is on federal land. When he first shared that with me, my first thought was not only about this interview series with rogue trail builders but also about why and how conversations like this may encourage more unsanctioned trails. Why?

This past weekend, we participated in a fundraiser for the 44 Trails Association, about two hours east of Portland. It was a day of free shuttle runs by Oregon Territory Outfitters and Fat Tire Farm and free coffee from Loam Coffee Roasters. Not only was I serving coffee out of Nacho the Van, but I was giving away free issues of Trail Builder Mag. Why? To help raise funds for 44 Trails.

Why is that important?

Seemingly, “most” trail building efforts focus on front country trails. These are the trails that most of us ride. We might be considered “day users.” On any given weekend, we load up our bikes, drive 30-60 minutes, ride for a few hours, and then drive back home. Most of the trail work I see focuses on these kinds of trails. But what about backcountry trails? More than that, what about building and maintaining trails focused on bikepacking trips?

I reached out to Gabriel Amadeus Tiller of the Orogenesis Collective to get his perspective on building and maintaining trails for bikepacking purposes. In this interview, I ask Gabe about building and maintaining trails, with a focus on bikepacking. Let’s jump into this.

When I show up for a dig day and pull into the parking lot at the trailhead, most often, the three things I unintentionally notice and pay attention to are (1) what people are driving, (2) how they're carrying their bikes, and (3) what bikes they brought.

I know, call me weird.

It's only been recently that it finally dawned on me that this is something I observe. I love seeing all of the vehicles that trail builders drive. So, why am I writing about this?

Over the past several years, I have been invited to various trail building events to photograph and document what’s happening. That includes many women-only events ranging from teaching trail building basics to opening a women-designed and built trail to bike shop maintenance clinics and more. I was intrigued by these events because of the excitement from the participants and what they shared.

This article reflects Part 1 of this study. I actually published it in Volume 1, Issue 1 of the magazine last year. As I’m writing my findings for Part 2, which included a survey component, I want to bring this article from behind the paywall of our magazine and share it with more people.