Seriously, Paul is out on our pre-existing trails daily keeping them shred-ready. Just go check Evergreen's calendar and see how many work parties he has up. When it comes to keeping the good great and the great better, Paul isn't just Evergreen's maintenance lead; he's Evergreen's maintenance genie.

It all began when Paul started working at Evergreen with (as Paul calls them) living legends Shawn Lorenz and Bryan Connolly. They told him... Well, we're not really sure what they told him, but whatever it was, it worked, so thanks guys.

And in his own right, Paul is becoming a living legend himself. Starting his mountain biking journey at 19-years-old, he rode a BMX bike as transportation to work at Greggs Cycle. Paul soon was invited by Connelly to ride his first downhill laps at Tiger. In classic 1990's fashion, Paul arrived with no helmet on head and cigarette in mouth (two habits he's happy to have kicked). He now runs Evergreens' entire maintenance department. Needless to say, Paul has come a long way. 

And done so much along the way. 

        Photo Courtesy of: Jack Lambert

Paul actually volunteered on CCDH's original build, flagging the line, etching in the trail, and hand-building sections. With that initial build, Paul was hooked. From there, he had the opportunity to volunteer with Bryan Connolly and Jay Gore on NOTG. And in perfect Northwest fashion, the build included snow, cold beers, a turkey fryer, and piping hot tamales. 

Although Paul is a professional trail builder now, he relishes the fact that he learned the ins and outs and complexities of trail building from start to finish as a volunteer.

It wasn't all volunteer work, and it certainly hasn't always been maintenance, though. Paul was a lead builder on E.T, and with Evergreen, he's worked on countless trails in our local systems. Paul has done everything from excavating new trails and cleaning the gunk on the old ones to working as a sawyer. And that's what makes him the perfect person to lead the masses in maintenance. Paul gets what it takes to maintain our trials, to make the old ones feel new, on a deep level, as a building professional. 

        Photo Courtesy of: Sean Sweeney

And that Paul is the gentleman and a trail scholar, the constant trail-building professional. Paul is the kind of builder at a work party to help you decide which end of the rake is up and also smile as he throws your bike in the back of the truck, next to the tools, so that you can take your ride out down the mountain after a hard day's work. 

And that's only considering the days you see him, help him out at work parties. It's an old adage to say trail builders are like gnomes, secret trail magicians deep in the woods, but with Paul, the old joke is a little closer to home. 

As Evergreen's maintenance lead, Paul cares for over about a billion zillion (don't check the math) feet of trail from Raging and Tiger all the way out to Darrington. And most of that work he's doing daily by himself while our other trail builders are being pulled to park work or in every other direction the wind blows (Insert the importance of signing up for work parties here, in your brain, for Paul's sake.. for all our builders sake.. please, if you're free of course). 

        Photo Courtesy of: Jack Lambert

But don’t get me wrong. Paul lives for the work. For the trails. When you ask him about what project he’s most excited for next, crack a cold one and take a long seat, because it's all of them.

“[I like] just taking the oldest trails and making them somewhat newer. I want to rebuild JoyRide, fix some of the exposure to make it more rideable. [I want to] update JoyRide to be more Joyful. Any of the older trails, really. I want to bring them back. Iverson, Preston, and Timber. [These trails] have been ridden a lot in 20 years in all seasons and to bring them back to their original character to make sure green and light blue riders can get their fill is what its all about. There are a lot of good trails out there.”

And he's not wrong. As much as we are taught to love the new and shiny, there are a lot of good trails out there. Shit, there are a lot of great trails out there! And with his help their aging more like that cherry 67' Stang in your grandparent's garage and less like the rusted bucket in your neighbors field.

        Photo Courtesy of: Sean Sweeney

Rain or shine, Pauls, the one out there on the ground working by himself (and with his dogs) and hopefully with you to ensure every trail for every rider, not just the new shiny ones, gets the love it needs. And we love that. We need that! 

And if you love that idea too, if you'd like to help him out, summer, winter, rain, shine, sleet, hail, armageddon, work party, no work party (... we promise you, he'll be out there), Paul has a message for you:

“Don’t be afraid to ask if you can come out for a day! People have to start somewhere and working a day in the life of a trail builder is one great way to learn the basics.”

        Photo Courtesy of: Sean Sweeney

Paul + Dirt = Maintanace.

Now cheers to us all blowing up Paul's email with work party requests!  And cheers to Paul Martin, Evergreen living legend.