My love of Mountain Biking Meets Soils
Soil + MTB = Fun
David Shuhltz and I had a short interview where he asked me about some of the best mountain biking trails in the US. I rambled on about soil taxonomy and soil pedology and biking influences on soils. I referenced SoilWeb in our interview, a website where you can discover basically anything about the soil you’re standing on (except who’s homelands it is, but maybe that’s in a future update). Want to know if your soil is good for septic tanks, blueberries vs douglas-fir production, rock content, or even suitability for building construction? SoilWeb has the answers, and a little infographic of what color and how deep the soils are! [Caveat: the programmer is only as good as the data they have available. Since most of the soil mapping, and descriptions, and samplings occurred on agricultural-focused lands, not everywhere has soils information. Large swaths of the deserts, many forests, tidal areas, etc.. do not have soils information.]
Soil Science Society of America Journal has a science communication arm, where they helped to put David and I in touch. You can find them advertising this mountain biking story here, and you can follow David on Twitter.
Adrian C. Gallo
PhD, He/Him,
Climate Campaign Coordinator
I’m formally trained as a terrestrial biogeochemist (aka I know a lot about how dirt controls ecosystems). My current role involves the intersection of energy and environmental policy, and trying to get the renewable energy transition to hurry up in the most equitable way possible. Outside of the office you can find me running, mountain biking, rock climbing, or playing soccer.