This article is the twenty-first and last in a series profiling the varied and amazing nominees for the 2008 Alice B. Toeclips Awards, which will be presented to five winners at the Alice Awards & Auction tonight. (We tried to interview everyone but we fell sixteen short – read their descriptions online.) This profile was written by BTA correspondent John McLaren.

Mountain bikers who ride the trails around Scappose owe much to John Joy. As one young admirer says in a posting on MySpace, “John is single handedly responsible for making this whole trail system a reality. Everyone loves it and it doesn't take them long to meet the trail's Daddy (Joy). I want his kind of energy and stamina when I'm 62!”

Joy, now 63, has lived in Scappose for 35 years and been involved in trail building for the last ten years. Among the trails he has developed and maintained are the Scappose-Rocky Point, L.L. Stub Stewart, Firelane 5 in Forest Park and Banks-Vernonia trails. Now retired, he spends time every year helping the Molalla River Trail and Tillamook Forest trail crews repair winter storm damage, as well as participating in numerous rides with the Portland United Mountain Pedalers (PUMP).

Joy also teaches a “Mountain Biking 101" course to help beginners learn technical riding skills. The annual trainings serve up to 12 learners, ranging in age from teens to 50s and 60s. As a teacher he is known for patience, persistence and kindness that, says his friend Ann Spencer, “are in the best spirit of cycling.”

He does all of this as a volunteer, saying his rule is to “refuse to work for anybody who wants to pay me.”

A PUMP director, Joy began trail building as part of his work for a timber company. Then he expanded to do-it-yourself trail development so he would have places to ride near his home in Scappose. “I got started in mountain biking, and enjoyed it, but I had to drive a considerable distance to get the type of trails I really enjoyed riding,” he says.

At first he cut trails for his own enjoyment, but in time “the word got out that there are very nice trails to ride just outside Portland,” and more riders and helpers began showing up. Besides a lot of trail work, he also helps organize events like PUMP’s annual Ides of March ride, which depending on the weather draws 30 to 100 riders.

Joy is a member of and assisted the Portland Wheelmen Touring Club, serving as a mechanic and support vehicle driver on the Seattle To Portland ride in 2007. Joy also served as SAG support for the Cancer Survivors camp and bicycle ride in Vernonia last year.

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