Glen Jacobs – World Trail – Building the future of Mountain Bike Trail Towns #125Topics:

• How Glen got into Mountain Biking
  • And how he nearly quit and sold his mountain bike
  • Doing what they were doing in Australia
• The Importance of Trails to Glen
• How Glen got connected with the UCI
  • Bringing World Cup Mountain Biking Cairns Australia
• The importance of 1996 for Downhill Mountain Bike Racing
  • How Shaun Palmer nearly won World Championships and changed how people stopped racing Downhill in Lycra
• How Glen saw tracks changing in 1997 and beyond
• 2001 and how sponsorship funding was drying up and the sport was changing
• Pivoting from Building Tracks for Racing to Building Trails for the masses
  • Ego Trails…
• The Rating System for Mountain Bike Trails and how it was started in the 90’s
  • Green Trails according to Glen and the two types of beginner riders
• Starting Word Trail with Dylan Jeffries
• The importance of the Rating System Standards matching worldwide
• Air Flow Trails and what these trails are
  • Blended Earth Trail
• Three Points / Pillars for a Trail
  • Safety
  • Drainage
  • Predictability
• Blue Derby Tasmania
• The Six Boxes that need to be checked to be a Trail Center/ Trail Town
  • Connectivity – to an Airport / City (1.5 hours)
    • Connectivity – Compared to the accommodations (Lodging, Food)
  • Natural Features / Beauty (Lakes, Escarpments, Waterfalls, ect)
  • Quality Trails – for repeat visitation and something for every level of rider and diversity of trail types from gravity to cross country and variations of these types – and at least 85k of trails
  • Start with a Coffee & Finish with a Smile – Something for everyone
  • Room for Growth / Progressive Expansion (Trails, Businesses, overall Community)
  • The Ability to host a world class event (drop a circus on top)
• Why Mountain Biking has taken off for Australia
• Building a Trail Town in Høgevarde in Hallingdal, Norway
  • Trails and Summer Ops come first, then Winter Ops are built around the Summer Ops
• The Trajectory of Alpine Ski Resorts and Mountain Biking
• How Bikes are helping the Trajectory of Mountain Biking
• Glen and Ebikes
  • Changes in bike technology – 29er’s…
• Designing Trails for 1,000 riders a week
• Directional Trails…
• Words of Wisdom and Closing Comments by Glen