Hey,  I have a buddy that just built a house in Jamaica and him and I was brainstorming about a couple of mountain bike trail builders getting together to survey the possibilities of building a world class trail in the st. Elizabeth area of Jamaica?
Anybody interested/ could afford to?
The whole goal would be to build and maintain a trail that people from all over the world would come to ride, even possibly holding major "invitational" events. 
Please share your thoughts.

Mark Hense wrote on 05/28/14 at 11:50pm:


I think it's an interesting concept and idea.  My concern would be A) Are there any mountain bikes available to rent? B) How could the trail maintenance be kept up with? Jamaica is a rain forest.  It will be over grown in a matter of weeks.

I wish I had the means to get involved, but unless I'm on a random over night there for work, I don't foresee my help being there. 

You're gonna need to find out a few things:

1.  How much land is available. People aren't going to travel to Jamaica for <5 miles of trail.
2.  What is your annual budget for maintenance?
3.  Professional trail builders typically charge from $5-$14 per foot depending on the topography.  That's a stateside number and being out of the continental US is gonna have to include food, lodging and travel.  Along with equipment rental and fuel if using machines. Machines will make the time frame much, much shorter.
4.  This should probably be #1. Local ordinances/statutes on liability.  If you're doing this as a non paying gig then the liability is much lower.  If this is a fee based endeavor than you're going to multiply your risk and will most likely need some kind of liability insurance policy.  Local statutes will dictate this.
5.  Are there any environmentally sensitive areas on the land or any significant archeological sites.  That will complicate things a bit.  And then there are land and water quality issues.  Local government would be the place to inquire.

And that's before laying one shovel to dirt...

Good luck!

BTW you should do it in St. Croix instead. 

420 everyday while building,,,I'm in...jk...Good luck, listen to what Mark said and go from there.

Funny we looked at this as a club when I was on the board of directors for a South Florida Club.  It sounded like a good idea, but the travel logistics just never made sense vs the amount of trail that existed or were being developed.

As a comparison we routinely 3/4 times a year chartered a bus from SFL to the Pisgah area for 26 riders.  There are just so many good continental MTB destinations that already have the trail and infrastructure to support such an endeavor.

Worst come to worst. Take you next vacation there and bring your bike!  12-18 miles of trail and beautiful white sand beaches. Perfect combination!

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I think you guys are on to something. Don't let the nay-sayers derail you.  Hope I get to help make it a reality.