Lockdown.

That is the biggest problem these days, a lot of guys don't seem to understand how frustrating it can be. This is why I don't take people scouting or digging with me anymore. You put so much time and effort into an area...to have someone find it or hear about and come poach it just grinds my gears. I mean, it's not like you own that land where your zone is, but when you start developing that area and putting in the time and effort, you sort of stake a claim. Just because you're digging on one thing doesn't mean you're going to dig on another in that area. So when someone comes into that zone and starts building something a few yards away or starts digging ON your line or even just full-on poaches what you have built, it's very frustrating.
     There are a lot of poachers out here, scavengers, coyotes, whatever you want to call them. I've had people even film and take photos on my lines before I even get to shoot them, which then makes that line pretty much unusable for me. It really sucks to see hours and weeks of hard work get raped like that, It's one of those unwritten codes that you just don't break. There are alot of riders out there today that have coasted off of others vision and hard work.


That's an excerpt from an interview with Graham Agassiz over on Vital.I'm psyched that a pro can come out and say that,believe it or not there are probably people getting slightly offended over that.I'm currently dealing with a massive quanity of poachers on a trail that i've been digging on for roughly 10 years on and off.This trail runs near an XC trail and through some space that's owned by a logging company.It's a good little spot.Mainly off the beaten path,good dirt,lots of trees,and is shuttleable.She was kept pretty damn secret up untill about 3 years ago.Word of said trail spread from friends,to friends of friends,to friends of friends of friends,all the way to that all knowing,all seeing bastard the internet.Before I know it,i'm running into groups of dudebros on Konas putting down my trail.There's mutiple trucks of people shuttling my trail.There's shotty jumps being built on my trail,and worst of all there's people tearing down MY work on MY trail because it's too hard for them.There's no fucking worse feeling in the world then hiking up a trail only to see the sweet,perfectly gapped double you built 3 days ago turned into 2 piles of dirt and logs with Kenda Nevegal prints all over the place.It's this weird mixture of anger,dissapointment,sadness,and hopelessness.You rebuild anyhow,but deep down inside you know it's a futile attempt.You know it will be destroyed once again.I guess people don't relize how selfish they're being when they do that to a trail.Let me break it down from their point of view...
-I can't clear this double.
-Somebody else built this,and they built it for their skill level.It doesn't work for me.
-I want to keep riding this trail,but do not want to deal with this jump.
-I will tear this down so I can ride this trail.
-Success,the jump has been delt with,now I can ride this trail.
-The Kona stinky is the best bike ever.Also,this Giro Remedy is very comfrotable and stylish.
Basically,think of it like this,somebody goes through all the trouble to make reservations at a nice restaurant and buy you a nice present.When the 2 of you get to dinner you open the present and proclaim you don't like it,on top of that when the food arrives you say it's shit and insist on going to Taco Bell.That's what people fucking with your trail feels like.All that time and thought and goes to waste.

Now I don't really mind people riding stuff i've built or had a hand in building.In a dream world only I and a few select others would get to ride the fruits of our labor,but this is real life and that's never gonna happen.I just wish people would leave well enough alone.If you do wanna pick up a shovel,do helpful sutff.Clean out berms,pack the back and sides of jumps,fix bomb holes and keep brush and weeds from intruding.

As Graham said,it's an unwritten law.
Don't fuck with my shit.



Trail poacher,example #1.