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Our Mission is:
Company Profile - "A Better Way"
Mike Riter has been involved with trails since his early years as a boy scout.
Throughout his adult life Mike has been determined to give something back to the
great outdoors, a place that has given him many hours of peace and recreation.
| In 1992, Mike started working as a volunteer with various mountain bike
organizations. By doing this, he
learned more about the basics of maintaining and constructing shared use trails.
It was at this point that he started to notice the effects erosion had on
different types of trail design. 1996 brought the Olympic games to Atlanta, GA
and the first ever Olympic Mountain Bike race. The event was held at the
Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, GA a suburb of Atlanta. Once
the race was over, Mike approached the park in hopes of allowing continued
use of the trails.
Permission was granted and he became the first Trail
Coordinator at this historic site. With the help
of the Southern Off Road Bicycle Association (SORBA), the battered course was
rebuilt and what was once used as an Olympic mountain bike course was now
open to the public. However, several design flaws became readily
apparent so in an attempt to stem erosion, standard water deflection devices
were installed. |
Mike Riter, trails educator. |
| While
these methods worked for a short while, they required quite a bit of maintenance
to ensure the continued desired effect on the trail. There had to be
a better way. |
1997 brought an invitation from the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA)
to start a trails
education program to travel all over the US and help solve common trail problems
such as erosion, user
conflict and overuse. Hence, the IMBA/Subaru Trail Care Crew program was born.
Along with his wife Jan
and their two dogs, Maggie and Chelsea, they embarked on a trail odyssey to
change the way they and the world looked at trails. During the first year on the
road, they realized different soil types had a direct affect on impacts and
erosion. Listening carefully to knowledgeable locals, they soon started to
gather the clues that would give them answers in the quest for, “a
better way”.
| After the end of the first year, Mike and Jan started testing many of the
different ideas they had learned during their travels. With time to devote to
learning and improving current trail design and maintenance standards, they
developed two important truths. First, most erosion and impact problems could
be directly attributed to trail design not use. For example, when a rut develops
in the middle of a trail
running straight down a slope the problem is usually attributed to user impacts
and erosion. In reality, poor design caused the problem and only through design
will the problem be solved. Second, when maintaining trails, it is imperative
you work with the natural surroundings rather than trying to control them. For
example, a water bar placed on a steep trail diverts water off to the side
causing an abrupt change in direction. |
When this happens, the water starts to eat away at the water bar or the dirt
holding it in place requiring the device to be frequently maintained.
Because water bars are an unnatural trail feature, they are noticed and
avoided by trail users of all types. This results in unintentional trails
being created around one side or the other of this unnatural device
rendering the water bar useless and requiring even more maintenance. A better way would be to incorporate
grade dips that are more natural and ease water off the trail rather divert it.
Users rarely notice a well-built dip and therefore do not affect it nearly as
much. A better way was developing.
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A fine example of a rolling grade dip. The
water is directed off the trail down the slope. |
In 1998, Mike and Jan started the first trail school devoted exclusively to
the design construction and
maintenance of natural surface trails and later the same year were awarded the
Advancements in Trail
Technology award from the American Trails Association for new innovations that
helped bring trail design
into modern times. Three years on the road had taken them to every state in the
continental United States, Canada, and several European countries where they
worked on trails or taught others what they knew. In 1999, they decided it was
time to retire and started their own trail consulting business while continuing
research on the “better way”. Mike was also hired
as Georgia’s Trails Education Specialist through a Recreational Trails Program
grant that was written by the Southern Off Road Bicycle Association. This
position has allowed him to continue educating (and learning from) others so
they too can start to see “a better way”.
Mike Riter, center front, keeps his students
laughing!
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