After camping at Blomidon Provincial Park we headed into Wolfville, Nova Scotia to work with the Annapolis Valley Mountain Bike Association (AVMBA). Glenn McMullen, the president of the IMBA affiliate club, is also the owner of 52 acres just 10 minutes from town. The purpose of our visit with the AVMBA was to help design a trail network close to town with a focus on beginner trails, and to train some new volunteers to help build the trails. Glenn had done some scouting around the property and discovered that some corridors had been cleared, most likely from past logging operations, so he began to lay down trail in the open corridors. After consulting a map of the existing trails along with topographic maps and aerial photos we helped Glenn lay out a stacked loop system on his property so that there was something for everyone to ride.
With the help and enthusiasm of four volunteers we spent time designing, building and repairing trail to make a large section of trail more beginner friendly. At the end of the day everyone who we talked to and worked with understood the importance of beginner trails within the context of their trail systems and promised us to go back and rework existing trail. We left Glenn with enough ideas and work to last him a few more years but we hope to return to see how his trails have improved.
A big thank you to Glenn and his partner Angela for hosting us in their beautiful home and cooking us the most kick-ass scallops we’ve ever eaten.