Q&A with Josh Blum of Trail EAffect Podcast
One of the aspects of Trail Builder Mag that I love, and I’ve received affirmation from a few of you in a recent survey, is that I get to geek out about data. Trail building is becoming more sophisticated. We want to make data-driven decisions. Another aspect of data I’ve been diving into of late is not only about social media usage and which platforms are gaining momentum but how we continue to consume media digitally. Podcasting is one of them. I have the data in front of me as I type this. Sixty-four percent of Americans (183 million people) listen to podcasts. I do. You do. The challenge is always finding ones that we’re hyped about.
My favorite podcast (by far) is the Trail EAffect podcast, hosted by Josh Blum. During the week, I hit up the local bike park in Portland for lunch laps. It’s a 20-minute pedal from home. What do I do? I listen to a Trail EAffect episode each time (I have a lot of earlier episodes I’m catching up on). If you haven’t listened yet, hold on because you’re going to want to start. Why? It’s all about trail building. Yep, that’s it.
I couldn’t be more excited to feature Josh as we do a little Q&A for you to learn more about the voice behind the podcast. If you have subscribed to the Trail EAfeect podcast yet, you will. He’s interviewing trail builders from all over the world, so he has a great perspective on trails and the changing landscape of trail building. Let’s do this …
Sean: Tell us about your background. What do you do for a living?
Josh: My background has been a career at WisDOT (Wisconsin Department of Transportation). I was at WisDOT for 22 years full-time. At WisDOT, I worked as a Project Leader in Design and Construction in my region (La Crosse, WI) and as an Area Maintenance Coordinator and Plan Production Coordinator.
Working in highway maintenance for six years brought my biggest growth professionally, as there is so much that goes into maintenance that most don’t know, and it almost always happens on a shoestring budget. Through my work at WisDOT, I learned a ton about working with contractors, design consultants, and elected and hired public officials through various levels, from local townships to federal highways. The work at WisDOT also gave me a ton of exposure to working with the general public, both one on one and at public information meetings.
I left WisDOT in May of 2023 to take a career at Rock Solid Trail Contracting in the role of Trail Planning and Design. Initially, my goal was to retire from WisDOT in 10 years at the age of 55 and then transition into trail planning and design, but when this opportunity came up at Rock Solid, it was something I had to at least take a shot at. Luckily, I got hired for the position. For me personally, Rock Solid, more specifically, Aaron Rogers, the founder of Rock Solid, has had an incredible impact on how I view trails. I still remember my first time riding a flow trail aptly named “The Flow Trail” right after it was completed by Aaron in 2011 in Copper Harbor, Michigan. My mind was blown. That was probably what I would consider the first bike-optimized purpose-built trail that I had ridden. The Flow Trail changed how I looked at the landscape and the benefits you get out of a flow trail.
Sean: How did you get into trail building?
Josh: It all started with mountain biking. I found mountain biking relatively young (13 years old) in the early 90’s. I remember when the first Rock Shox came out and when the “Aheadset” became a thing. This led to helping with trail maintenance at our one local riding spot, Bluebird Camp Ground in La Crosse, to help get trails ready for races back then. I sidetracked out of mountain biking in the late ’90s / early 2000s, then found mountain biking again around 2005.
When I returned to riding, getting involved with the local mountain bike club, Human Powered Trails in La Crosse (now ORA Trails), was natural. For most, doing trail work is a selfish endeavor at first because you want better trails and more trails to ride. In reality, selfish endeavor becomes selfless as all trail users can benefit from simple trail work and maintenance. Human Powered Trails was also tied in with IMBA, and the IMBA Trail Care Crew passed through La Crosse multiple times. I attended the IMBA Trail Care Crew sessions as much as possible. As usual, one thing led to another, and I got more involved with volunteer nights and taking trail-building-related training. I also attended more public and government-related meetings to lobby for more access to mountain biking and funding within my local community and convince others to support mountain biking, access, and funding. Eventually, I became the volunteer trail coordinator for the local trail club.
Sean: Why did you start the podcast?
Josh: The simplest answer is that whenever I came across mountain bike media specific to trail building or advocacy, I was drawn to it more than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I am a serious geek in terms of bike technology and racing, but there has always been so much more coverage for mountain bike technology and racing that when a video or article came out that was specific to trails, I usually watched it or re-read it several times.
While I was working in maintenance at WisDOT, I had two counties of state highways to manage. I was driving a ton and needed something to listen to, leading me to podcasts. After listening to many different podcasts for a couple of years, I reached out to Ben from Mountain Bike Radio about starting a podcast called “Driftless Dirt,” which was specific to my geographical region. In August of 2020, I was on a solo trip to Copper Harbor and came up with the idea for a trail/community-specific podcast as I wanted to learn more and go much broader than the Driftless Area. While on that Copper Harbor trip, I recorded the first two shows for Trail EAffect (which didn’t have a name yet). One show was with Aaron Rogers of Rock Solid Trail Contracting, the other with Chris Guibert (a local Renaissance Man) who had lived all over the country for snowboarding and mountain biking. Chris ultimately settled on making the Copper Harbor Region (Keweenaw Peninsula) his home.
Honestly, I didn’t have any real plan for Trail EAffect (and still don’t) aside from just continuing to network and share the stories of the people behind trails. I’ve mostly covered advocates, trail builders, and leaders in the trail industry, but covering athletes has also been sprinkled in. Covering athletes is important because without trails, athletes wouldn’t have a place to perform, and often athletes are involved with trails more than we might typically see.
I never thought Trail EAffect would grow to what it has today, and I am continually surprised and honored when guests agree to be on the show. Guests connect me with new guests when people email or message about how they enjoy the podcast, and the networking / connecting other people in the trail world with each other. It’s still strange and surreal to me, but I enjoy it. The quest for continued learning through other people’s stories and experiences is incredible, and the ability to share these stories with the listeners has proven extremely important.
Sean: What have you learned about the state of trail building from your podcast?
Josh: It’s dynamic. There are some common themes, like access or maintenance issues, but ultimately every person and place is still unique. The need for more trails is also a reoccurring theme, especially since 2020 when many more people got outside again by bike or other means.
Due to the demand for more trails, there are more jobs in the trail industry as a professional. Trail building is coming into its own as a legit trade, much like any other traditional trade. I will say that it’s essential to learn how to build trails which usually means working with other professionals or even higher functioning local trail organizations because there is both an art and science to trail building.
Another exciting thing is that elected officials and public employees like Parks Directors are now recognizing that trails are a legit need and desire for communities to offer to residents like any other public infrastructure. Now more than ever, people are moving to communities based on lifestyles and what people do outside work. For communities to stay relevant, local leaders are starting to understand that trails and responsible access to the outdoors play a vital role here. That doesn’t mean every community needs a “destination-worthy” trail system, but they should offer what they can for residents to use after work / before work / on weekends / etc.
Sean: What message do you have for trail builders reading this?
Josh: Don’t forget why you became a trail builder. I will assume that we all became trail builders because we were trail users first (bikers, hikers, trail runners, etc.). Carve out time to ride or use trails. It’s so easy to get caught up in work and never take a break to enjoy trails. Force yourself to continue to use trails. It will help you to stay in touch with the craft of trail building. Unplugging and enjoying yourself is also necessary, hopefully not on a timeline. This isn’t something we can always do because work still has to get done, but don’t forget why you are a trail builder and enjoy your trails, especially other people’s trails. You might learn something or at least look at something from a different perspective.
Keep an open mind, and learn to listen to others, whomever that may be. If there is one thing that podcasting has taught me, it’s to be an active listener. It’s so important to do this and learn the perspectives of others. Active listening also helps to form a connection with others. It might even be with someone who is an adversary of a trail or trail project. If you listen to what that person or group of people’s concerns are, you can likely figure out how to address those concerns, or at the very least, mutual respect might be formed.
Sean: What do you see in trail building across the country (and world) (as far as trends and movements) from all of your interactions and interviews with those involved in trail building?
Josh: The most significant trend is the need for more miles of trail and diverse trail experiences. One trend that I’m thrilled to see is that gravity bike parks are becoming much more common in places you’d traditionally consider, such as at alpine areas and resorts, and in lesser familiar places now that shuttles and e-bikes are becoming much more common. I think gravity bike parks play a vital role in the broad community of trails. They offer experiences that may not be available in public access locations, and they usually (hopefully) have paid staff for the building and maintaining of trails.
Sean: What do YOU look for in a trail town?
Josh: Access to that ride-to-ride experience. Having your residence as the trailhead is what’s most important to me. Then comes the actual trails themselves. I prefer a diverse trail experience. Learning to mountain bike in the 90s meant that things were raw and rugged. I appreciate a good flow trail, though. Some days I might want to go out on a fitness ride; other days, I may be looking for more of a gravity/skills type of experience. I even book an AirBnB now based on the proximity to trails when I get to town. I just want to park and ride. You can never underestimate the power of a trail ride, even for 45 minutes.
Outside of ride-to-ride and trails, I look for bikeable towns. This is important to me from a transportation perspective and a quality-of-life perspective. If driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic is all a community has to offer, I’ll quickly not be interested in visiting again. Not everything should revolve around the ability to drive somewhere. Then there’s wood-fired pizza, quality Mexican food, and cider.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sean Benesh
Sean is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Trail Builder Mag. He is also the Communications Director for the Northwest Trail Alliance in Portland, Oregon. While in grad school, he worked as a mountain biking guide in Southern Arizona. Sean also spends time in the classroom as a digital media instructor at Warner Pacific University.
