Unsanctioned: A Series About Rogue Trail Builders - Part 3: Netherlands
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?
Because, as the logic goes, these trails will often be formally adopted at some point anyway. Rather than wading through the never-ending red tape of bureaucracy, the rogue trail builder, again, quietly slips into the forest to build new trails. I also continue to hear from many non-profit trail stewardship organizations adopting these kinds of trails and thus making them official … “sanctioned.”
Over the weekend, I attended an event to celebrate the opening of a new trail system in the iconic Columbia River Gorge. While I’ll share more about this amazing event soon, one of the storylines was the decade-plus effort just to begin working on the trails. For many rogue builders, waiting that long for the bureaucratic logjam isn’t appetizing, and thus, this is why we’re having this conversation.
One of the points of emphasis in this interview series is to hear from the rogue builders themselves and for this to be insightful and educational. Not only that, but I also want to explore the nuances of how this conversation shifts and is shaped from region to region and country to country. That’s why we’re journeying to the Netherlands for today’s interview.
Sean: Where are you located (generically)?
Builder: The Netherlands.
Sean: What prompted you to begin building unsanctioned trails? Have you tried to go through the due process of building legal trails?
Builder: I started riding dirt jumps and, later on, BMX. In these subcultures, it's very common to build illegal trails. I didn't even consider the illegality, despite studying law at that time. The reason for building was simple: there weren't any trails close to home, so we built them. As for the MTB trails, it's a case of necessity – no challenging trails mean either driving for hours or picking up a shovel.
Sean: What is the process in your area for building sanctioned trails? (what is the legal process for building sanctioned trails?)
Builder: Either get permission (usually takes 2-4 years) and have them built by professional builders who only build cookie-cutter stuff, or join an existing trail organization and try to push things in the direction you want. I've been involved at the local trail organization since pretty much the start 10 years ago and build moderately tech trails there, keeping the wilder ideas for my unsanctioned trails.
Sean: What is the ratio of sanctioned vs. unsanctioned trails in your area?
Builder: I'd say 80 to 1 in terms of length. There are few unsanctioned bits and bobs here and there versus four 8 – 12 km long official routes and a little bike park.
Sean: How are illegal trails perceived in your region/state/country by the outdoor community? By the MTB community? Is there any recognition of legal bike-specific trails in your area outside of established bike parks?
Builder: Outdoor community: Trail runners are usually ok with them, unlike hikers, who are often not that fond of mountain biking in general. MTB community: mostly ok/happy with unsanctioned trails as long as they don't ruin our sanctioned trails. When the new land owner tore down the Netherlands' biggest freeride spot (Stammenderbos), there was quite a big outcry from the bike community, including XC riders who wouldn't even hit the smallest jump there. It seems like people in the south are a lot more open to unsanctioned trails or riding hiking trails than people in the northern part, which is probably a cultural thing. We have quite an extensive network of XC trails that gradually become more and more technical but are still a long way from the kind of trails you find anywhere else.
Sean: Whose land are you building on? Have you ever been caught?
Builder: Only on plots of wasteland along the highway or railroad, so officially owned by either the railway company or the local council. Never been caught. At my old BMX trails, we sometimes had the police dropping by, and they had no issues with them. My girlfriend works at the police force and told me they'd rather see people riding bikes there than paint graffiti or worse.
Sean: Do you work with your local trail organization? Why or why not?
Builder: Not for the unsanctioned ones, which are in a different area, although most guys are aware of my other building activities. There's not that big of a divide between official and rogue builders, at least in my area. In some other parts of the Netherlands, people seem to be more uptight about unsanctioned trails, though, I guess that's the difference between a rough post-industrial city and fancier areas.
Sean: Any crazy stories you want to tell?
Builder: I could write a book. Because most unsanctioned trails are built at the kind of place where you'd dump a body, we did come across some questionable characters. Just to name a few, someone tried to ambush me, a naked guy ran across our trails, someone kept sneaking around us in the middle of the night, I heard voices in the woods when digging after dark, we chased off a guy sleeping in an old caravan we parked next to the BMX trails which were of course set on fire the next day, and more ...
Sean: We have all kinds of readers here at Trail Builder Magazine ... those who work for city, state/provincial, and federal governments, non-profit trail stewardship and advocacy organizations, professional and volunteer trail builders, and more. What message do you want to share with them?
Builder: Try not to polarize things between sanctioned and unsanctioned. At the end of the day, we're all builders. Try to see things from the other's perspective, and don't assume they don't give a shit about your advocacy work. Ask them what they want to ride and see to what extent it can be incorporated into your trails ("We want big jumps" ... "What if they're tables instead of doubles?"). Don't see their wishes as demands but as needs. People need challenging trails to compete or to push their limits. If their wants or needs are irreconcilable, direct them to a spot where they won't harm nature or other users/your advocacy. I've told a bunch of young kids they could build at a place where there used to be old BMX trails.
Sean: What is one thing that is important for our readers to know about what you do and why?
Builder: I'm 39, but I still try to push my limits on technical terrain. After having ridden everything from BMX to DH, I try to blend all those experiences into building and riding the steepest, most tech yet flowy trails possible. I also use unsanctioned trail building as a sort of sketch phase for sanctioned trails, if necessary, in a slightly watered-down form. Building trails is a way for me to use my creativity and drive to make something physical and to contribute to our sport's progression, which is pushed forward by bike technology and rider skill but also largely by trail design. I think that feeling part of something bigger contributes to a person's well-being – in my case, building trails makes me feel "rooted," for lack of a better word.
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That concludes our interview. If you have a story to tell, drop me an email.
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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.
