Jake Dore calls himself a “nonprofit dirt sculptor.” A trail builder for Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA), Jake loves doing trail maintenance on his backyard trails in South Lake Tahoe, California, because it’s a way to give back to his local community and make his own trails better at the same time. He got his son, Tyler, into trail work at a young age.
“I’ve been working on trails since I was strong enough to do so, maybe six or seven,” says Tyler, who’s 17 now and about to graduate from high school. “By the time I was 10, I was building trails with my friends, raking trails, building berms and jumps. It’s been my life since then.”
It’s a good reminder that we can all pick up a shovel or a rake and join a work day with our local trail building crew. (Find your local crew at IMBA.com.) “If every mountain biker donated an hour or two, think about how much trail work would get done,” Jake says.