Can You Dig It?

dig can you

Mountain bikers of all ages come together to build new trails in Chapel Hill

By Michael Venutolo-Mantovani Photography by Cornell Watson

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Chris Francis sees dirt a little bit different than the rest of us.

Chris views dirt as an opportunity for connection, for adventure, for the chance to get outside and connect with the natural world around us.

It’s this kinship with the dirt that led Chris and his cohort – made up of Chris’ brother, Nathan Mills, and their cycling pal

Chapel Hill architect Rob Munach, McDougle Middle School student Vivienne Myers and Chapel Hill High School student Amelia Brinson look on as McDougle Middle School student Noah Brinson soars over a gap jump.

ABOVE The trails need regular maintenance from volunteers such as Culbreth Middle School student Finley Wild, Rashkis Elementary School student Callen Enverga and Culbreth Middle School student Grey Enverga as well as Rob Munach.

RIGHT Grey Enverga and Smith Middle School student Alex Nelson shovel dirt for the construction of new trail features.

and trail-building friend Jeff Knight – to start the group Trail Science, aimed at adding 10 miles of biking trails to Chapel Hill’s already abundant trail system.

Chris is a Chapel Hill native who grew up racing road bikes and was, at one point, a state champion racer. After what he describes as an “early midlife crisis,” he moved to the Dominican Republic for several years.

An entrepreneur by trade, Chris’ love of cycling was reignited when he moved back to Chapel Hill from the Caribbean.

“The cycling scene here is really, really strong,” he says. “It never stopped growing from when I was here in the ’80s.”

As he started new businesses, Chris would schedule his conference calls around his daily bike rides, taking a mid-ride break to enjoy lunch and catch up with his business partners.

“One day, I was in this particular place, on a conference call but thinking, ‘Wow, we could really do something with this land,’” he says.

About two years ago, after hearing of UNC’s plans to develop the nature trails at its Outdoor Education Center near the crest of the infamously steep Laurel Hill, Chris was in front of the Chapel Hill Town Council, asking permission to be the one to cut bike trails into the thick woods.

Knowing little about the formal procedures of a council meeting or the efforts behind such municipal works, Chris offered his services for free, a deep discount from the average of $30,000 per mile a professional might quote.

Still unsure of Chris’ bona fides, the town, along with local mountain biking group Triangle OffRoad Cyclists, which had been consulting with the university and its project lead, David Rogers, asked for something of a mud-caked resume. After Chris led them to two trails he and his friends had built on private land, the town agreed to award him the rights to construct his trails.

After a mid-2019 fundraiser in conjunction with Beer Study, Big Sadie Smoke Shack and local bike shops, Chris had the funds he needed to start cutting his trails.

A year later, Chris and his friends have assembled nearly two miles of trails throughout the Outdoor Education Center.

The group gathers at various times during the week, attracting a panoply of volunteers, from 5-year-old kids to men and women in their late 50s, and just about every age group in between. The

ABOVE Noah Brinson rides through a berm.

LEFT Chris Francis (pictured front with Finley Wild, Grey Enverga, Callen Enverga, Culbreth Middle School student Bertie Turner and Alex Nelson) says there is satisfaction in seeing all their hard work become functional art.

Raking leaves and removing debris from the trail comes before testing out its new features like jumps and corners.

biggest turnouts, though, generally happen on Saturday mornings and are filled predominantly with middle and high school students from local schools. Not only do the students provide sweat equity, they’re also the first ones to test out new trail features like berms, jumps and corners.

“Those guys are fearless,” Chris says with a laugh.

“The trails at the [Outdoor Education Center] are super sweet,” says East Chapel Hill High School freshman Tyler Roe. Tyler has mountain biked for years and turns up to help move the dirt with Chris as often as possible. Along with members of his own school’s biking team, Tyler regularly builds alongside riders from Carrboro High School and Chapel Hill High School. “It’s really rad that they’re building more trails out there.”

Every element of the trails is crafted by hand, using tools that are purchased through money earned via local bike shop raffles. Dirt is moved up to a half-mile with buckets and wheelbarrows, rocks are sourced and harvested from the forest around the trails. And after a hard day of digging, the group cooks out and shares a cooler of cold drinks.

To date, the group has completed the first two sections of trails, totaling roughly two miles through the Outdoor Education Center. Impressed by the strength of their work, the town and UNC awarded the Trail Science crew the third section of the trail, the construction of which will start later this fall.

“To bring so many types of people together in one spot with no judgement,” Chris says. “That’s the coolest part about it. If you’re willing to come out, to work hard and get dirty, you’re part of the group.”

You can follow Trail Science on Instagram at @trail.science or head out to a digging session most Saturday mornings from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at UNC’s Outdoor Education Center, 410A Country Club Rd. CHM