A serve of Rice: 'The Barking Dog'

A couple of years ago I had some experience in helping to carve virgin MTB single track into East Kowen Forest with the Kowalski Bros trail builders. It was a great insight into what goes into making lovely flowing trails from some of the best builders in Australia.

Ever since then and especially once we bought our lovely 4.7 acres in Murrumbateman, I have imagined of what I could do on our own land! What a luxury to be able to design and build from scratch legitimate trails quite literally on my doorstep!

I tried and tested a few different techniques with tools used and found to make the trail ridable and last, I had to completely dig off the top layer of grass with a shovel about 3-4 shovel widths wide. Let me just say it is back braking work, but with a ridiculous desire to finish the loop and seeing the trail that is all yours evolve in front of your eyes, that kept me plugging forward week after week. A reckon it has taken me around 2 - 3 months of fairly intense weekends and spare time digging. I didnt have a real plan on where I was going with the loop, it kind of just grew. The main problems initially were berms that were too tight, track that was too narrow and dirt too rutted. Learning as I went I soon figured out the best and most productive way unfortunately for me just happened to also be the most labour intensive.

With around 50 metres to go on Saturday to link up the two ends, Rich just happened to be in town and gave me a much welcomed hand to finish it off. I dont know how many shovel loads of dirt and grass I stripped off all together, but seeing the first loop pretty much finished, it was well worth it. I have pretty much exactly 1km of my own trail, complete with jumps, berms, bridges and rollovers.

Heres to many rides of my home loop 'The Barking Dog' (named after what the loop looks like from above on Strava) and to coming up with some more ideas in home trail bulding on the Rice Ranch. Watch this space!

Simple tools are always the most practical, durable and easy to use. (I did dream of having an excavator on site many times though!) All I used for a majority of the time was a shovel, a wheelbarrow and occasionally and wipper snipper. Blisters, calluses and stiff muscles were a small price to pay.