Sideline Stories: Rob Lavoie, Gorham Trails

Before temporarily stepping down in 2019 to focus on my young family and business, I had spent the previous six years as the lead for the local group of trail builders and advocates in and around the town of Gorham.

I am now an advisory member of the Greater Portland NEMBA board. Although I’m already getting sucked back into trail building as evidenced by the fresh tread found behind the USM campus. And I must say… I may have started this thing in Gorham and have done most of the “project management” side of things… we have a solid group of people committed to the effort and a couple have stepped up in my absence.

I got into mountain biking for two reasons; I was fat and looking for a source of exercise, and gyms weren’t my thing.  Second, I remembered (like many do) what it felt like riding a bike as a kid. I wanted to experience that again. Once I experienced singletrack as an adult, I was hooked. Necessity got me into trail building. I moved to a town which has very few options for riding. I found myself traveling to other towns to ride. When I started a family, that just wasn’t an option for me anymore. So I started by asking the town how we could build more trail on town land.  That landed me on the Conservation Commission which manages the town’s open space.  Being a community chiropractor created relationships that connected me with several key landowners in town. Both avenues allowed us to create at 30+ trail network in a 6-year span.

Sometimes I feel like I’m a conductor for an orchestra when it comes to trail building and advocacy – making sure everyone is on the same page regarding where, what, when, and how we can create this trail network. It involves a lot of emails and in-person communications, planning, and constructing, and then maintenance and troubleshooting. You are also a motivator, you need to find what makes people tick, and then capitalize on their strengths. We have this one guy who is a gem. He can’t stand the policies and politics but loves to swing an ax at will. I’m not asking him to join a planning meeting but when a massive tree fells after a storm, he is the first person I call.

I’ve learned that progress takes time and not everyone is on your timeline, especially when it comes to municipalities. Ultimately, I’ve stuck by three principles; be persistent, demand progress, be kind and respectful. The biggest obstacles have come from the town’s policies and funding. Funding trumps all as trails are not seen as something of high value.

The two achievements I’m most proud of are taking a town with 4 miles of old road and turning it into a 30+ mile destination spot for mountain bikers in New England (again, with the help of many) and planning and creating Maine’s biggest pump track bike park.