Trail Nutz: Where the Love for the Ride Begins
Whether I knew it or not, Trail Nutz has been a long time coming. I’ve been riding trails for over 30 years now, which puts my starting point somewhere around age 10 or 11. Back then, it was mostly just a bunch of kids in the woods up to shenanigans—cutting trails with no idea what we were doing, building jumps out of awkward chunks of 2x4s, rocks, and mud, and riding bikes that were held together by duct tape and sheer determination. The “trails” weren’t really trails, though; more like flattened-down grass at the back of an old abandoned farm field. But to us, it didn’t matter.
One spot, in particular, stands out in my memory. The “trail” started at the top of a hill overlooking the Saint John River. You can imagine the views on a late summer day. The trail went straight down, no turns, no obstacles—just steep enough to get the adrenaline pumping for a few pre-teen kids on ill-equipped bikes. It took maybe 45 seconds to ride, and we’d loop it over and over, timing each other to see who was fastest.
That simple thrill led me to want more. We started branching off that trail into the woods beside the field, and I began exploring nearby trails at home. Eventually, I upgraded my bike—a Giant Acapulco circa 1995 or so, a rigid hardtail. My parents helped me get it when I was about 14. We bought it from a place called Alternatives in Saint John, NB. They had a great selection of bikes, but they also sold things like furnaces and air conditioners, so it felt more like your dad’s bike shop than a biker’s bike shop.
Me on my Giant Acapulco ~1995
The bike itself was great, though I was hard on it. I still had a lot to learn. I was breaking parts weekly and mowing lawns as often as I could to scrape together enough cash to replace bottom brackets and busted rims.
Being a kid with no cash was tough. I had a subscription to Bicycling and Mountain Bike magazines and would drool over images of awesome bikes from Gary Fisher and GT. I was particularly obsessed with the carbon-framed GT STS of the time and had a cut-out of a Gary Fisher Big Sur on my wall. The Big Sur wasn’t anything spectacular, but it seemed moderately attainable for an unemployed kid. I figured if I could just mow enough lawns and babysit enough kids, I’d be able to scrape together the cash. Of course, it didn’t quite work out that way.
A couple of years later, in high school, I strolled into a shop called Bike Works. Now, this was a biker’s bike shop. The shop guys were riders, and the place was packed with great bikes. My eyes locked onto the GT line, and I couldn’t see anything else. They had a leftover model from the year before, marked down a little, but still a bit out of my price range. My parents helped me out again, and I brought home the green machine—a GT Timberline equipped with old-school RockShox. This was my first real mountain bike, and I rode it literally into the dirt.
This is when things started getting serious. I began joining the weekly Wednesday night shop rides with Bike Works. These were guys who were a little older than me, racing XC and downhill, riding at night with old-school Cat Eye lights powered by batteries that took up an entire water bottle cage.
It all spiraled from there. I got into racing across the Atlantic provinces, worked at Bike Works, and later at a shop called Smooth Cycle when I relocated to PEI. I evolved as a rider, even picking up a road bike that I only recently retired. Eventually, I moved to Ontario for school, which led to work, family, and a bit of a break from biking.
Fast forward about 15 years, and this is where the story really picks up. About three years ago, my youngest child started taking a shine to mountain biking. I began taking him on easy trails, and he showed a natural ability that I wanted to foster. He quickly became my go-to riding buddy. We’re also a dog family—I’ve always wanted a dog that could tag along for a ride. Enter Blueberry, the Australian Shepherd. She became riding buddy #2.
Last summer, I set a goal that on every camping trip, we would find and ride local trails around southwestern Ontario. This summer, we upped the challenge. We had an East Coast family vacation planned, crossing Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, PEI, and Nova Scotia. We rode trails in all the provinces, and it was incredible.
As we rode, I started thinking more about my love for riding, the great trail networks we encountered, the organizations that maintain them, the events I’ve been to, and the passionate people who’ve kept these traditions alive for decades. I wanted to share my passion, promote the sport, and help areas with potential for great riding get started. I thought it would be both fun and fulfilling to interview people and get their perspectives on why they maintain these events, how they worked with local municipalities to establish club-maintained trail networks, how you can start a grassroots weekday race series for kids, or hear from the old guy who looks older than your grandad but still tears up the trails.
I want to know what drives the love for the trail, and that’s how the Trail Nutz podcast was born. Join me as I have conversations with real riders about real trails and the stories behind them.
