Words by Mathew Bond           Photos by Jenny Lee-Silver

For those of you that are thinking, "Hey! I thought this was supposed to be a Ned's Trail Day! Ned's is my favourite trail! I wanted to build some sick berms!" I guess we owe you a bit of an explanation.

In the middle of winter, when most riders are pulling chunks of mud out from between their teeth after a cold ride through sticky sludge, the NSMBA Trails team sits down over a couple of beers and plans out where our trail days are going to be for the coming year. While some may think that selecting dates and locations is a simple as opening a map, closing your eyes, and placing your finger randomly on a trail, the truth is that a lot of thought and hard work go into this process. Dates are carefully selected to avoid holidays and major community events. Trails are even more carefully selected, based on an evaluation of the trails condition (structures, trail surface, erosion), maintenance activity, level of use, and consultation with the land managers.