Cycling firm spends time building trails in Truckee

Global sporting goods and bicycle product leader Shimano partnered with Gooddirtyfun, a joint trail maintenance program by the Truckee Donner Land Trust and Truckee Trails Foundation, to improve multi-use trails in Truckee as part of the company’s weeklong visit to the area . Shimano has made advocacy a priority while in the Lake Tahoe area for a mountain bike-related event by harnessing the manpower from its group totaling 70 global media, professional athletes, and company staff to help improve trails along with Land Trust staff.

“We selected Lake Tahoe as our location for its incredible bike trails, and we are thrilled to be leaving local trails in better condition than we found them,” Dustin Brady, of Shimano

Mountain bike journalist Richard Cunningham, left, and Shimano PR Manager Devin Walton move lumber as part of their group’s June 19 trail work at Waddle Ranch in Truckee. Photo/Sterling Lorence

American Corporation, said in a press release. “Advocacy is in line with our company credo and it’s also part of the outdoor and adventure experience we wanted to create for our group in the Lake Tahoe area.”

The Shimano and Gooddirtyfun group worked on trails in Waddle Ranch Preserve, a 1,462-acre, $23.5 million acquisition that was initially slated to be residences and a golf course, but became one of the Sierra Nevada’s largest and most complicated conservation efforts in recent history. The Truckee Donner Land Trust has expanded trails and picnic sites at Waddle Ranch Preserve for hikers, bikers, and wildlife watchers.

The Gooddirtyfun and Shimano group helped bring portions of Erika’s Trail to IMBA and U.S. Forest Service standards of being constructed sustainably with full-bench construction. Erika’s Trail was developed and already “roughed in” in fall 2010 by Gooddirtyfun.