By Katy Savage
Before Gavin Vaughn was the head trail builder for the Woodstock Area Mountain Bike Association (WAMBA), he was just a kid digging in the dirt behind his house. Like many in the mountain biking world, his passion started early—and close to home.
“I grew up with bikes,” Vaughn said. “I learned how to ride as a kid, but what really got me into mountain biking was my dad. He picked up a Specialized Stumpjumper in 1999. He was road cycling before and he started cross country mountain biking. I thought that was cool.”
That early influence lit a fire. Vaughn dove into racing himself, starting with cross country events and gradually expanding his love for riding into a love for the trails themselves. Over time, what began as a thrill-seeking hobby evolved into something deeper—a connection with nature, a love for exploring new places, and a sense of belonging in the biking community.
“When I was younger, it was about the speed, the flow, the fun of flying downhill. I snowboarded a lot, too, so I loved that gravity-fed movement—just being pulled down the mountain,” he said. “But as I got older, I started to appreciate just being outdoors, seeing new stuff through mountain biking. It’s a really good community.”
Vaughn started volunteering with WAMBA in 2016. By 2022, he had stepped into the role of head trail builder. These days, he’s the one guiding the shape and feel of many of the public trails around Woodstock.
He still remembers the feeling of his first trail work projects.
“There’s just something about it,” he said. “The appreciation you get from riders, seeing people get stoked about something you helped create—that’s really rewarding.”
Although most of the trail system around Woodstock is now built out, Vaughn and the WAMBA crew are still hard at work, focusing on maintenance, improving drainage, and making trails more accessible. One of his proudest recent projects was the transformation of two miles of old-school singletrack on the north end of Mount Peg.
“It was this narrow, rocky, rooty trail that had been there since WAMBA was founded,” Vaughn said. “Last year, we came in with a two-ton mini excavator and turned it into a smoother, modern, four-foot-wide trail that’s much more beginner-friendly.”
The trail is also being assessed in partnership with Vermont Adaptive to see if it meets standards for adaptive mountain biking, with potential for more accessibility improvements ahead. The feedback so far, Vaughn said, has been overwhelmingly positive.
“I’ve had mountain bikers tell me they got their spouses into riding because of that trail,” he said.
While Vaughn appreciates the role of machines in modern trail work, his heart still lies in reading the land and finding the perfect line.
“I used to do cross country racing, but I really got into downhill,” he said. “I don’t mind climbing, but I like a natural, technical downhill. That’s the stuff I like to build and ride myself.”
At the same time, he admits there’s a unique satisfaction in machine-built trails too.
“It’s kind of like a video game,” he said. “You’re sitting in the machine, making shapes out of the earth.”
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