The Philadelphia Mountain Biking Association - trail etiquette...for visiting riders

Trail Etiquette... for the visiting dirtjumper

Et'i-quette" (et'i-ket") n. the conventional requirements of polite behaviour; properties of conduct; good manners

To say dirtjumpers are sensitive about their trails, is an understatement. Dirtjump trails are their very private, personal work of art. Like a HotRodder who's spent years building up his car, if you sit your dumbass on top of the hood of his '65 GTO with your wallet chain hanging from your pants scratching his paint job, you WILL die a horrible death. The same holds true for messing up someones dirtjumps.
If you're lucky enough to get invited to someones trails, or you by chance find a trail on your own, you have to realize that someone spent a lot of time, a lot of hard work, a lot of coming back day after day maintaining them, redesigning them, and putting their heart into creating those jumps, so be respectful. You could probably break a dirtjumpers bike, and it wouldn't upset them nearly as much compared to trashing their lips. So before you start cranking to the first jump, here are some things you should know, and ways to act when visiting someone elses trails.

BE NICE TO THE LOCALS... If you were not invited to a trail, and wander into one without knowing anybody, don't just get on your bike and ride. Talk to whoever is there, ask who built the place, talk to the locals and befriend them before you ride. Don't be shy to ASK if you can ride THEIR trails, locals will rarely say no when asked, they just want to be recognized for what they built and want to feel secure that you're not going to wreck the place.

BRING A SHOVEL... There's nothing that locals like to see more, than a visitor who is willing to dig. Bringing a shovel with you says that you've got some dirtjump experience, that you appreciate what it takes to build a trail, and that you'll help the locals dig. Also, it's good if you can dig before you ride, for the locals will be more forgiving to you when you mess something up after a crash knowing you've already put in an hour or so of digging for them.

DON'T SHAPE A JUMP... Bringing a shovel with you may bring a smile to a local's face, or it may strike fear into their hearts. The last thing a local wants is someone to reshape their jumps, so don't start modifying anything. Even if you're good at it, it may not be the way they like it done at their trails. The best thing you can do, is have your spade shovel ready to move large piles of dirt when they ask you to, not to shape anything. Let them do the fine work, while you stick to the laborer work.

IMMEDIATELY FIX WHAT YOU BREAK... If you're visiting someone else's trail, and you're not as good as Fuzzy, you'll probably crash, ghost your bike, or simply case the jumps for awhile before you get the place dialed (or like me, do all of those at the same time). Whenever your bike takes a piece out of the jumps, make sure you immediately fix it. Don't wait until after another run, fix it immediately, and do a good job.

DON'T ABORT A JUMP ON THE LIP... If you just overjumped a landing, and know you're not going to make the next jump, either stop quickly in the pit without skidding your tires (having a front brake makes this easy), or sacrifice your bike and ghost it, or go for the jump anyway and bail in the air. Whatever you do, don't stop on the takeoff and roll your tire over the lip, or worse, plant your big feet on the lip. The main priority is to protect the lip at all costs. No one cares about casing a landing, what they care about is the takeoff lip, so protect it at all costs.

NEVER FILL IN A DOUBLE... This obviously applies only to beginner riders who are scared of jumping a trail. Sometimes when the trails are empty and no one is around, they'll 'fill in' a small double with a sheet of plywood or something, turning the double into a tabletop. The problem with this is that they'll end up 'rolling over' the takeoff, destroying the lip, and forcing the locals to spend hours fixing what they ruined. If you can't jump a double, then go build your own tabletop somewhere else, don't be a trail vandal just 'cause you suck.

NEVER RIDE WHEN IT'S WET... If it has rained recently, and the ground is still wet, don't ride the trails. Even though you may be able to ride them, you'll be grooving up the jumps, basically ruining them. This is the number one way of getting locals to want to kill you. If the ground is moist, go ride street instead.

DON'T ADVERTISE THE LOCATION... Dirtjumps exist because locals built them. Dirtjumps continue to exist because their location is kept a well guarded secret. If you're lucky enough to find out where a trail is, keep it to yourself. Don't put up a webpage listing the location of a trail, unless you want the locals to hunt you down and make you eat your computer.

DON'T LITTER, AND TAKE YOUR GARBAGE WITH YOU... I know this sounds all too obvious, for if you ever litter anywhere, then you're just a loser, period. But even if you see garbage cans at the trails, do the locals a favor and take your garbage out with you when you leave. Don't add to their garbage problems. This of course doesn't apply to cracked forks and other broken bike parts, which may be publicly displayed hanging from a tree, a warning to others of the war between steel and dirt, and the helpless victims killed in battle (that being your bike).