Long before riders work their way down a mountain, trail builders and volunteers spend hundreds, if not thousands of hours doing trail work. That work isn’t cheap, either, and continued maintenance is required as well. According to Shimano, creating trails for mountain biking can cost over $10,000 per mile.
The money pays not only for the materials, tools, and labor but also permits and costly environmental impact studies often required for building trails in wilderness areas and parks. So it’s no small thing that Shimano just announced a $10 million commitment over the next 10 years for MTB trail building. It’s part of the cycling brand’s new Trail Born Fund, which aims to improve bike trail access worldwide.
While an expensive endeavor, the return on investment is “priceless,” Shimano said in a news release this week.
Supporting trail building and trail advocacy helps protect and expand trail access,” the company said in a statement. “And that means more places for all of us to ride — and more opportunities for new riders, like kids, to discover this amazing sport.”
Shimano Trail Born Fund
The Trail Born Fund will first focus on select areas in North America, Europe and Oceania and will further expand across these regions through 2025. By 2026, Trail Born aims to effect change across the mountain bike riding world, with the addition of Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. In all cases, support will be earmarked for legal and sustainable trails, and funds will be allocated only after a thorough review of the advocacy organizations and proposed projects.
Shimano will also help promote these chosen projects, telling the stories of the people and places behind these critical efforts. We’ll also aid in the identification and acquisition of additional funding from other sources, such as private donations and government grant programs.
After the program’s initial launch, Information on selected trail organizations and how future organizations can get involved with the Trail Born Fund will be shared.
