Comments on: Fixing a hazardous turn in Pt Mugu State Park

By: markmtb

markmtb — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:56:26 +0000

Great discourse, folks! One other point is that trail work and trails in general are dynamic. A newly worked-on trail is always going to look drastically different right after the work, compared to the months or even years it took for the trail to get to the condition it was in prior to the work. Also keep in mind that CORBA does not decide on the work to be done, we only assist. We feel it’s better to give back to the parks through this process than to not work on trails. Thanks again for your support of CORBA and shared use open space trails!

By: Julian

Julian — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:12:08 +0000

Steve, thank you for your reply.

We’ll be sampling the new trailwork done with a ride this afternoon!

I am totally on board with the idea that the trails are multi-use. However Sin Nombre and Two Foxes are primarily (95%, at least) used by mountain bikers. There’s various reasons for that, but I’m not sure smoothing the trailbed out is going to help bring hikers to the trail, primarily due to the increased speeds.

If something is done about the increased speeds, I would hope to avoid the issues that the rocks on Tapia have presented for mountain bikers. Particularly because, with a tandem, navigating a pinch point is much more of an issue…and the original incarnation of the Tapia rocks wasn’t rideable by single riders much more advanced than I.

Thanks again for the work and the reply. Cheers,

By: Steve Clark

Steve Clark — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:22:37 +0000

Julian, The work that was done on April 15th did not complete the needs for that trail. You have identified the problem – visibility of approaching trail users, or lack thereof. This past Sunday, as part of the Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days, we trimmed back the bushes next to the trail to improve the visibility. We paid special attention to the bushes on the lower (steeper) section of the trail that were on the inside of curves and blocked the view around the curve. We also did some treadwork to fix a couple of other issues. You can read about it here:

http://corbamtb.com/news/2012/05/01/report-on-and-photos-of-2012-santa-monica-mountains-trail-days/

Also remember that the trails are for all users, not just mountain bikers. While ruts may slow some bikers, they are disliked by hikers because it’s hard on the knees and ankles to walk on a trail where the tread is V-shaped.

If speeding bikers continues to be a problem, it may be necessary to install pinch points to slow them down, like the ones that have been installed on Tapia Spur Trail in Malibu Creek State Park.

- Steve

By: Julian

Julian — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:44:56 +0000

We appreciate the work done on that turn. The MBU has had more than a few medicals due to that turn. Now we can clean it on our tandem.

However, much of the rest of the work done on Sin Nombre has turned that section of trail into a freeway. The speed bumps Mother Nature had placed (aka ruts) have been removed and the resulting trail is very, very fast. There have been issues with some MTBers riding that section of trail as if it were a one-way DH trail, and the trailwork only makes this issue worse. If you’re riding north on Sin Nombre, you need to be on a constant, vigilant watch for singles and groups headed downhill at speed.

Normally this wouldn’t be as much of an issue since a few rains will help bring back speed-reducing features, but rain is pretty much over for the season, so this trail will be fast through summer, at least.