Trails riding is a way to ride
BMX and in some case
Mountain bikes. Trails are
dirt jumps, traditionally built by riders in the
woods. The woods are an ideal
location due to the
shade provided by the
trees and protection from
prying neighbors.
A jump generally is composed of two main parts. A lip and a landing. They are both shaped in a smooth transition going from flat to vertical (or almost vertical) for the lip, and back from vertical to flat for the landing. The rider then uses the lip to jump into the air, and the landing to *gasp* land.
Jumps can, however vary greatly from one another in size, shape, and length. Some jumps are the standard jumps described above, generally known as doubles because of the double pairs of dirt (the lip and the landing). Others are singles, where the lip and landing are the same mound of dirt. There are also rollable jumps, that instead of being forced to jump, the gaps between the lip and landing are filled allowing you to roll over it.
There are traditionally many lines in a set of trails, which are seperate jumps built in succession to one another. Often times these jumps will be close enough to transfer back and forth from one line to another by jumping sideways. They also merge and split frequently as the terrain allows.
Trails go back to BMX's beginnings in racing, but are now far more technically advanced then race jumps, in being that they are much harder to clear, or jump all of them successfully, then a race track.
One of the main hurdles that trail builders and riders go through is that for the most part, the land is not their own, and is often times used without the owner's permission. This often results in trails being plowed or destroyed, causing them to have to relocate or start over.
Trails are seen by many as just what they look like, piles of dirt between trees for kids to play on, but trails require much dedication and hardwork. Each jump can take up to a week to perfect, and then requires nearly daily maintenance, making trails not merely dirt, but art.