A Couple's Ride to Success: Inside the World of Trail Building with Dirt Candy Designs

Imagine if you could combine your passion for mountain biking and nature with your entrepreneurial spirit and relationship goals? Our guests, Adam and Mica Harju from Dirt Candy Designs, are doing just that. As a trail-building couple, they took a leap of faith in starting their business, creating mountain biking trails across the United States while fostering trust, commitment, and inclusiveness in their partnership. Join us as we chat about their journey and the innovative and adaptive approach they bring to trail building, as well as the industry's exciting future.

In this fascinating conversation, we also explore the joys and challenges of working together as husband and wife in such a rewarding field. As trail builders, Adam and Mica emphasize the importance of getting more people out there, riding bikes, and enjoying nature. They share some of the greatest lessons they've learned from their work together and the unique projects they're working on. Don't miss out on this inspiring episode of Stories in Life, and visit dirtcandydesigns.com to learn more about the incredible trails this dynamic duo creates.

Transcript

Joe Boyle 0:04

Welcome to Stories in Life. You're on the radio with Mark and Joe. We share stories that affirm your belief in the goodwill, courage, determination, commitment and vision of everyday people.

Mark Wolak 0:19

Our goal is that through another person's story you may find connection. No matter your place in life. The stories we select will be inspiring and maybe help you laugh, cry, think or change your mind about something important in your life.

Joe Boyle 0:36

Join us for this episode of Stories in Life.

Mark Wolak 0:46

Welcome to Stories in Life and a second episode with Adam and Mica Harju. In the first episode we heard about how they built tracks in eight states a single track and they built their business from scratch. It was a big leap of faith. In this episode, you're going to hear how they set standards to build trails that are fit to the landscape that they're designing the trails in. You're also going to hear about how Mica brings her skills of building trust and commitment, learning from mentors and bringing a sense of patience and an inclusiveness. A person who makes good connections, as a partner to Adam help solve problems. They enjoy learning together. In this episode, you'll learn a little bit more about Adam and Mica Harju, the trails they build around the United States and their company called Dirt Candy Designs. We're back with Adam and Mica and we're visiting more about trail riding and building trails. One question I had, which this is my novice set here It is single track. Why is it single track?

Adam Harju 1:54

That's a good question. Imagine a natural surface trail. It's dirt or rock or whatever Mother Earth is giving us at that moment A path where the dirt itself might be anywhere from 12 to 36 inches wide. The corridor that we clear out with the trees is slightly wider than that, sometimes just barely wider than your handlebars, sometimes maybe more like six feet wide. It's a natural surface narrow path, continuous through the woods, follows the contours of the land and it just provides a pretty intimate experience in nature.

Joe Boyle 2:34

In other words, two bikers cannot go abreast, correct Yeah? Single track, single track.

Mark Wolak 2:42

And the traffic goes one way?

Adam Harju 2:46

You know more and more their trail systems are kind of like leaning in that direction, but oftentimes, it's, you know, there's this like code of ethics, right? Where you know, just like in sailing, you know you have certain rules of who has to like give right away to another one. Usually the uphill rider always has the right of way. When you do meet each other on a single track trail, yep.

Joe Boyle 3:08

That makes sense.

Mark Wolak 3:09

That's cool.

Joe Boyle 3:11

Now, do you consider yourself pioneers of the trail building designs, or has this been going on for a long time, and are there a lot of people like you guys out there?

Adam Harju 3:25

You know it has been going on for quite a while. I think. You know as an industry there's been professionals building trail, you know, since the 80s, you know clearly, for service crews and building trail you know, since the conservation core days, like. So trail building is not a new thing. I think when we got into it the idea that you could be kind of a specific mountain bike trail building company was still like sorta new. You know there was. We knew a lot of the people in the industry at that time. Nowadays, I mean I think it's just exploded and some companies have gotten really big. And then there's a lot of like, more like you know, boutique companies like us out there that might only have a handful of people working, and so The short story is that there's still way more work than there are companies to do the work, which is great. It's still just a very you know the industry is still expanding tremendously.

Mark Wolak 4:27

So I want to come back to that, because I think it's pretty unique when a couple can do something together. You guys started a business from scratch. There are going to be listeners who are thinking, hey, I've always had this dream to do this. How did you guys make that happen together? How did you do that? I mean, you did something. Each of you jumped off the cliff, most likely simultaneously. Tell us a little bit about that.

Mica Harju 4:56

Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, it's kind of a leap of faith, you know, and Adam had started trail building first and then asked me to come aboard. And, I loved the idea of being able to reinvents myself. You know, I'm like, wow, this is an amazing opportunity to work with my husband and, on top of that, to work outdoors and to create trails so people can have experiences in nature. And, so it definitely was a little scary, because you're going into business for yourself and it's, you know, you had to say goodbye to that steady paycheck that you were always counting on and just really trying to figure things out for ourselves. But I think we just kind of trusted in the risk and trusted that we would figure it out.

Mica Harju 5:52

And we had a lot of mentors, we had a lot of people that were giving us advice and we just, you know, kind of did the best we could day by day, and I think we, you know, we just kept the enjoyment of it, like, first and foremost, you know, like, if you know, we were learning together but also enjoying it. And as a couple, you know, i Adam already was head start in trail building and I came along. So there was that period of like that vulnerability, of like not being back in that kind of student mind frame, of like, okay, i don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going to learn on the job and I'm learning from my partner, which you know can add a whole dimension to that. But we were able to, like you know, work together and support each other. And you know for sure there was stressful days and but there also were many more like just beautiful and fun days.

Mark Wolak 6:49

Yeah, I think being outside, you know, with your partner, is just so cool, right? I mean, that's one of that's how I met you guys. You know, Julie and I were outside, we were sailing around Lake Superior.

Mark Wolak 7:04

I mean there is something about being outside and experiencing nature together. As a couple, you don't have to just do it when you're on vacation. Right, you guys picked a lifestyle and you picked basically your family career, your joint career, to build these trails. And you've been I hope I was accurate in the intro on the states you've been to. You've been in Idaho, Colorado. What did I miss?

Joe Boyle 7:26

Texas.

Adam Harju 7:26

Idaho.

Mark Wolak 7:27

Did I miss any states that you guys have?

Adam Harju 7:29

Yeah, i think we're up to eight states like Idaho, Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and, like you said, Aruba was our first international foray.

Mark Wolak 7:42

Wow, hey, thank you for updating that, because that's really cool. I mean, that's, you guys are moving around and you're. how do people find you?

Women's Mountain Bike Clinic

Adam Harju 7:51

You know, it's largely word of mouth, which is which is pretty cool. You know, we do get some inquiries, you know, via website and things like that, but largely it's people that we know or have a common connection with or someone else knows and they reach out to us. We've been very fortunate, i think, and I think kind of the key there, like you know, and part of taking this risk of doing a business, you know, our mantra kind of from the beginning, was consistency. you know, like it doesn't matter how big or how small your project is, like we treat everybody the same and inconsistent And I think that is really, you know, paid off for us and how the business has, you know, no-transcript.

Joe Boyle 8:40

Say, Mica, did I hear that you are part of like a women's clinic or something like that, a mountain trail bike for women or something like that? Could you explain that? Yeah, there's that sure.

Mica Harju 8:52

The Superior Cycling Association, which is the bike club up here in Grand Marais, Cook County, Minnesota. They put on a women's mountain bike clinic every year And I'm not a certified coach but I volunteer and I help assist in coaching And it's phenomenal. It's this wonderful weekend where women of all different skill levels get together and professional coaches come in and we ride the trails up here and just work on skills and it's a very inclusive and supportive time for women just to kind of just build up and expand on their skill set and their sense of empowerment on bikes. And it's really cool that the icing that you know on the cupcake is that we're out there on trails that I built.

Mica Harju 9:42

So, as a trail builder, it's like over the moon joy to see in action. You know how people are growing and expanding their skillset on trails that we built for that purpose. You know I like that's what you hope to see and it's just a real gift to be able to be a part of that.

Joe Boyle 9:59

So did it start as a more male dominated sport back in the day and then evolve into a much more inclusive?

Adam Harju 10:07

Yeah, you know I would say, like you know, back you know, in the 90s, when I was actually racing bikes and stuff like there was, there were like a lot of like hardcore women just hard charging bike racers. But I think what we've seen in the last, you know, 10 to 15 years is that it has, like Mica has said, it becomes so much more inclusive when we're seeing so many more like recreational riders, you know, of all genders, and it's just, it's just a neat thing to see And yeah, I bet you see a lot of people out there with their kids too, right?

Mica Harju 10:40

Yes, yeah, absolutely So cool to see these little rippers that, like you know, they're just getting after it and they're just having fun. And when we were actually we were in Ely, Minnesota, building a skills part And it was the first bike park there and trail system that was going in And like, while we were building this little skills park, the kids would just like come every night to see, like, can we ride it yet, Can we ride it yet. You know, they were just so excited and enthusiastic to get on their bikes and try new things. So it is really fun to see how. How young kids are, you know, starting to embrace biking. So do you?

Joe Boyle 11:19

have. Oh, go ahead, Mark.

Mark Wolak 11:20

Oh well, so I'm going to shift it to innovation. Yeah, An interview we did was with Darrell Mann, who's studied innovation across the world. One of his big beliefs is with innovation, don't make any trade offs, because in trying to make a decision without making a trade off, therein lies the innovation. So one of the things that caught my attention from you guys is your perspective of looking at the land and saying here's where a trail should go. And, Adam, with your intuition, your spatial recognition, as Mica had described it, that is innovation. If you believe that and if you accept that, you know that sort of standard that I'm talking about, how would you describe your trails from an innovation standpoint?

Adam Harju 12:12

That's a good question. You know, and I think that you know we've evolved with the industry And I think you know when we started building trails, it was like we'd look at some of these things on the landscape, we're like, ooh, that's a challenge, we're going to figure out how to get around that outcrop of rock or that cliff band or whatever. And as we've kind of embraced building techniques and expanded kind of our repertoire of what's possible and seeing what other people in the industry are pushing limits as well, we look at that cliff band and we're like, oh, we're not going to go around it, we're going to engage it somehow. You know, whether it's building the trail right up underneath the rock or trying to get up on top of the cliff or whatever. To your point of innovation, i think the industry is kind of like we kind of keep pushing each other to see like, oh, what's possible, what can we do? And it's really really neat to be part of that.

Mark Wolak 13:07

Cool. Thank you for that.

Joe Boyle 13:08

What kind of projects are you working on now or do you plan to do in the future?

Current Trail Projects

Adam Harju 13:14

Yeah, this summer we're actually going to stay like we're going to stay close to home. We're probably within four hours of home post of the season. Here We've got a design project over in Ely, Minnesota, that we're heading to next week, and we have a mountain bike trail project at Giants Ridge, a ski area up in Biwabik, Minnesota, and then we're going to be down near Cumberland, Wisconsin Nordic ski area called Timberland Hills, where we designed a 23 mile bike trail system last fall. And, we'll start doing the construction on that this summer, you're staying busy.

Adam Harju 13:48

Yeah.

Joe Boyle 13:49

That Biwabik area has really taken off in the last 20 years, hasn't it? That's a recreation hot spot, so I can see why you're in there, yeah.

Adam Harju 13:59

Yeah, yeah, that's great. That's a fun spot. We enjoy being over there, for sure.

Mark Wolak 14:05

So in the paper today was a report that 3M was selling their 700 acre property near Park Rapids. I think Park Rapids That's way up there. They're selling their resort community. I hope you guys could put some bike trails up there.

Mica Harju 14:21

That'd be cool. Oh, that'd be cool. Wow, that's a. keep an eye on that.

Mark Wolak 14:24

Yeah, keep an eye on that one, This whole effort that you guys have made as a couple. there can't be too many couples doing this. What's your sense of that in the business? I mean, how many people like you are out there?

Joe Boyle 14:40

If any.

Adam Harju 14:41

That's a good question. Like off the top of my head, I really can't think of anyone that we've worked with recently at all. That is a couple.

Mica Harju 14:50

And that are both builders. That are both builders. Like in the field.

Adam Harju 14:54

Yeah. Yeah, it's few and far between, for sure, yep, so we're kind of unique that way.

Mica Harju 15:02

Somehow we make it work. Yeah, and we still like each other after 10 years of being in the business together.

Mark Wolak 15:09

Yeah, that's. I mean that's that's part of the great story, you know. I mean that's one of the reasons we want to reach out to you. When you think of this time, the work that you've done, what's been your greatest learning.

Adam Harju 15:21

Our greatest learning. Yes, You know, I mean.

Mark Wolak 15:25

I should preface that a little bit, you know, because in our culture anything that looks like failure people see as a loss. Joe and I have had a lot of conversations about this. We see that's, that's a learning opportunity. So just share with us, what's, what's been your greatest learning as you've done this together?

Mica Harju 15:44

Well, i feel like every, every project teaches us something different. You know every, every build, but I feel like we've had to really exercise our muscle of being adaptive, because you, you never know what you're actually going to uncover when you start digging And you might think, oh, this is going to be this way, this, this kind of build, and Mama Earth, like shows, uh, uh, uh, like actually you're going to have to pivot and do something different, cause all of a sudden there's seeps that are just like you know, washing across the trail. So I feel like we've really learned how just to kind of be adaptable and to go with the flow, so to speak, like really like not be set in expectations but be open to whatever nature, whatever, like we encounter out in the field. And that goes not just for the build, but also, you know, we're out in remote areas and something goes wrong with an excavator.

Mica Harju 16:46

It's like well, we've got to be like we can't call someone to like, come out and fix the machine, like we have to figure out how to do that. And sometimes you know that that's, you know, hiking out to get reception, to get on YouTube and look up a tutorial, or call someone. or just like MacGyver it, you know, just like on a sailboat, you know something goes wrong and you just have to fix it. And so I feel like we have learned so much as a team working through those problems that might arise. that might seem like an Oh, but in the end it's like wow, it's a really very precious teachable moment.

Joe Boyle 17:26

So if our listeners want to get a hold of you, tell them what to do. Where's your website, what's your phone number, that sort of thing.

Adam Harju 17:34

Sure, yeah, our website is DirtCandyDesigns. com. That's usually the best way to get a hold of us. There's a link there that I'll send a direct email. Otherwise, the cell phone is always a good option too, and we're up north Minnesota, so it's area code (218) 370-1124.

Mica Harju 17:51

And we're also on Instagram that's: dirt candy designs, and on Facebook.

Joe Boyle 17:58

So dirt candydesigns. com phone number 218-370-1124 and you can also find you on Instagram. Do you have a Facebook page?

Mica Harju 18:13

We do.

Mark Wolak 18:14

Okay, so we're gonna come back to presence. It takes to stay in that moment when all hell is broke loose. You're in the middle of a job and something breaks and you have to hike out to get a signal, to look at the manual. I'm loving that. I'm loving that I want to stay there for a little bit, so a lot of people would give up. I think one of the things about your story that's so powerful is persistence, commitment ,And earlier, Adam, you talked about consistency, i heard. That is you have pretty high standards for how you want these trails to be, and so those standards are your personal commitment to consistency. I'm listening to it a little bit differently. I like that about your story. I think you've got some high standards that you're setting for your trails and that now that should precede the website identification.

Joe Boyle 19:15

Well, you can't give that kind of information enough, right?

Adam Harju 19:22

No, I mean it's interesting point that you brought up, because I mean, I do feel like we have this oftentimes personal connection or a friend of a friend who ever gets us kind of arranged with some of these jobs, And I feel like every time we go build a trail, it's like we want, we're invested, I feel like, oh, we're going to come back and we're going to ride this trail. The communities we get to go to are so cool and people are so good to us that we want to make sure that we're giving back 100% all the time. And I think that's really what makes it such a rewarding career. Is that it's just like, is that true personal connection? We're not just developing a product and sending it away and then you know, never seeing it again. Like it's a real, tangible thing that we want to go back and enjoy ourselves.

Mark Wolak 20:12

Yeah, i want to tell my grandkids to go ride these trails, you know, and they're starting to get a lot older, you know, so I mean they pretty they got to get out there. Joe and I are still landing on our traditional questions, but we want to come up with a set of standards ourselves, And, one would be, what's your hope for the future?

Adam Harju 20:31

I think one of the things I've always thought about biking and mountain biking is in, you know, particular is that when you're out on the trail, it really the experiences that you're sharing with whoever's out there with you, you know, i think you can just you can put like the whole political, you know things aside, you know, like things that we just wrestle with on our daily lives just can kind of just disappear. We can all kind of just be out there and join the trail, you know, and we have that like commonality on the trail And that's really neat. And then it's like it's not just specific to mountain biking, obviously, but it's like I think it's a good metaphor for for how we can maybe hopefully move forward, that there are things that join us together far more than what we're led to believe.

Joe Boyle 21:20

Absolutely.

Adam Harju 21:21

Yeah.

Joe Boyle 21:22

So you get back home It was a stressful day. You're getting ready to go take a bike ride, or you just got back from a bike ride. You open a bottle of good wine. What kind of music do you listen to?

Mica Harju 21:37

A go to is like bluegrass kind of folksy kind of, just like a little bit mellow, mellow tunes, just to kind of, you know, decompress, decompression tunes, yeah.

Adam Harju 21:50

One of my go to is like, wherever we're traveling, it's like you know we could be building anywhere on the side of a mountain, somewhere, but like if I, if I fire up, Trampled by Turtles, it's like the energy is good and it kind of reminds me of home. And like that's always kind of a cool thing, you know for sure. So that's that's like my, my number one. You know. Fail safe. Go to option.

Joe Boyle 22:31

And now it's time for Stories in Life. Art from the Heart, deep thoughts from the shallow end. Each episode, we bring you a poem, a song or a reading, just for you. The Thought for Today is a short poem. "Life is like riding a bicycle To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

Mark Wolak 23:08

Joe, that was another really great episode, a great story of a couple people living their dream building trails in the wild, learning to solve problems out in remote areas, setting standards on what bike trails should look like, getting more people to get out there and ride bikes. I just love that learning mind frame, right.

Joe Boyle 23:29

It was a, so I think they're so fortunate to be able to find their calling like that and be able to do that together as husband and wife. It's a special thing we heard.

Mark Wolak 23:38

So I think we should give our listeners their website again and then also share our website as our final closing for today.

Joe Boyle 23:46

If you want to contact Adam and Mica, they're at dirtcandydesigns. com. If you like this episode and you want to hear more of us or find out more about us, please visit us at storiesin life. buzzsprout. com