Where a Country Boy Can Stay
User Story
By Dylan Pitman
The Edmonton river valley is what makes Edmonton a city unlike any other, a city a country boy can live in and stay sane. I grew up in northern Alberta on a farm and moved to Edmonton to get my education at NAIT. When I was studying at NAIT I discovered two things that kept me in Edmonton: CKUA radio and mountain biking in the river valley. These things define what make Edmonton great: community, art, nature, and freedom. The centre of Edmonton is home to a chunk of parkland that allows me to escape the cityscape and feel at home in the bush.
One day when riding in the river valley I learned about a local club that was working towards fixing the trails and advocating for mountain biking in Edmonton. When I joined I found a great group of people who understood that you have to give back to your community to keep making it better. The EMBA (Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance) taught me about how to maintain the single track I ride. It started small but the club is growing and I now sit on the board. With much help from the many volunteers and the City of Edmonton’s collaboration we now have regular trail days to make the river valley a better place. Now once a month or so I get to reconnect to the earth and my roots by fixing trails in the river valley.
