He has given the mountains everything – including, even, his knees.
Lynn Valley resident Todd Fiander, also affectionately known as “Digger,” has spent the last 30 years building, developing and maintaining the North Shore’s mountain bike trails.
To those who ride or explore the trails that snake along Seymour, Cypress or Mount Fromme, Fiander has been a mainstay on the routes for decades.
The nickname has been around for that long too.
“A friend of mine, Mike, he used to come up the mountain all the time and ride real hard. We called him ‘Mountain Bike Mike,’” Fiander explains. “A bunch of young kids rode by me, I had a beard, and they went into a bike shop and told my friend, ‘We saw that burly guy out digging again.’ And then they went, ‘The Burly Digger.’”
This was several decades ago, when mountain biking was more of a niche hobby for the hardcore adventurer rather than an everyday activity enjoyed by scores of people.
After Fiander shaved his beard, the “Burly” part was dropped. But the “Digger” nickname remains.
Digging is a crucial part of trail building. It often involves a shovel and a lot of hard work – trail builders will move earth, plant shrubbery, and compact dirt, and essentially clear a path that gives riders a safe, fun and environmentally friendly passage down a route.
Fiander said he has always liked building fun and exciting trails for riders. “They ride down it and go, ‘Wow that was like a ride,’” Fiander says.
He started trail building in his 20s, when he and his friends would bike the North Shore mountains.
One day, he and some friends were around Mount Fromme – before there were proper bike trails – and decided they didn’t want to bike down the usual paved road in the area. So they headed for the St. Georges hiking trail.
“Instead of riding down the road we found a trail. This was the only trail that was up there, so we rode down it and then made a little short cut over something we couldn’t ride over and I thought, Oh, that’s cool – now we can ride down the whole way,” he says.
Fiander was thrilled at their discovery, but ultimately decided he didn’t want to bike down hiking trails – those paths were for the hikers. Mountain bikers needed their own world.
Far up Brothers Creek in West Vancouver, Fiander first built that world, near a logging road that trucks used.
“I just made a little trail across,” he says.
The trend continued. For decades, Fiander dug, planted and forged trails all around the North Shore.
He says these days the North Shore doesn’t necessarily need new trails but properly maintaining the existing ones is still required.
“It just takes so long to build a good mountain bike trail – and one that will last and is environmentally friendly. And we have enough trails now. I would say join the North Shore Mountain Bike Association in order to maintain trails,” he says.
Mountain biking enthusiasts, the public, and the NSMBA are also looking to help Fiander with a bit of maintenance for himself.
After years of putting his body on the line doing what he loves, Fiander is going in for the first of two knee replacements next month, putting him out of commission for the foreseeable future.
A GoFundMe page has been established to help support Fiander during his recovery time off -- and thank him for his years of hard work -- that has already raised more than $35,000. A link to the page can be found by going to gofundme.com/digger-kneeds-knees.
Fiander is humble about it. “I love the people and that they can do that for me,” he says. “It’s great.”
He insists that after three decades on the trails, he loves to see how mountain biking has evolved.
“Since we have changed a few of the trails and made new trails that are beginner and intermediate trails, it’s nice to see families riding,” he says.
He can’t wait to recover from his surgeries and get back out there again.
When asked if “Digger” plans to keep on digging his answer is clear:
“Oh yeah,” he says.
