Building Trails for EveryBODY

Vermont Adaptive, a nationally-recognized organization that empowers people with disabilities to recreate outside, believes that “everyBODY” should be able to enjoy the same physical, mental, and social benefits that time in the outdoors can bring. By supplying individuals with adaptive equipment, education and experience, Vermont Adaptive is able to cover half of the equation—but what about the trails themselves? /wp:paragraph wp:paragraph With networks ranging from Burke to Bennington, there are over 1,400 miles of mountain bike trails in Vermont, but few of them are adaptive-friendly. Through a partnership with Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA), Vermont Adaptive has been actively assessing trails throughout the state, rating each trail’s ride-ability in terms of pass-ability, fall consequence, and level of adaptive support required. /wp:paragraph wp:paragraph Assembling this incredible body of knowledge has been the first step toward making Vermont’s trails adaptive-friendly. With grant funding from the Kelly Brush Foundation and OGE’s latest Everyone’s Wilderness Fundraiser, making the changes necessary to upgrade them can soon become a reality.

What makes a trail adaptive-friendly?

According to the Kootenay Adaptive Sport Association (KASA)’s Adaptive Trail Standards, an adaptive-friendly trail’s design and construction accounts for the wider, longer, and heavier nature of adaptive mountain bikes (aMTBs). "There are a lot of misconceptions as to what making a trail more “adaptive-friendly” really means,” says Nick Bennette, Executive Director of VMBA. “Many trails—including highly technical ones—would be perfectly suitable for adaptive bikes barring one or two issues that make them unsafe or impassable. These are typically either ‘pinch points,’ like a narrow bridge or tight rock passage, or specific orientations of rocks or roots that can cause adaptive bikes to tip.” /wp:paragraph wp:paragraph Addressing these issues often has no bearing on how the trail looks or rides to the everyday user, but can open up whole new recreational opportunities to adaptive athletes. Even small changes to a trail—slightly lengthening the spacing between rollers, for example—can make a huge difference for trail equity. Accounting for the increased width of aMTBs during trail planning is one way to make sure they are adaptive-friendly.

It takes a village

As another Vermont organization dedicated to adaptive sports advocacy, the Kelly Brush Foundation (KBF) sees leaning on community partnerships like the one between VMBA and Vermont Adaptive as a means of enacting lasting change. Bruce Downes, KBF’s Marketing Director, feels that the kind of collaboration that he’s seen so far in Vermont is “...a test of what we can do nationally. Shops, do-gooders, and well-intentioned individuals don’t know how to put it together yet. We’re lucky to have partners like VMBA and shops like OGE, to have all of the puzzle pieces to make it happen.”

Greg Durso, Adaptive Athlete and Programs Director for KBF, notes that, “...building [adaptive trails] collaboratively—with a bunch of groups coming together to make it happen—hasn’t happened before.” In other words, it takes a village to make a trail network adaptive-friendly.

Be a part of the change

At Outdoor Gear Exchange, we share the belief that everybody should be able to recreate in a way that works for them, and this spring’s Everyone’s Wilderness Fundraiser will be aimed at supporting Vermont Adaptive’s ongoing trail assessments and their efforts to make meaningful improvements to trails statewide. Like always, we’re teaming up with our brand partners to offer a stellar gear prize package for community donors—every donation you make will count as an entry to win, with every dollar going directly to Vermont Adaptive.