The staff of Giant Bicycles in Newbury Park volunteered for a session of trail maintenance for their hometown of Thousand Oaks. CORBA worked with the COSCA (Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency) rangers who oversee the open space in Thousand Oaks to organize a work project.
Staff from Giant Bikes at the trailhead, ready to get to work on the new trail
The project was to build a new trail, about 150 yards long, to bypass a steep, loose and marbley fall-line segment on the Los Robles Trail West in Newbury Park, just above the Felton Street connector trail. That part of the trail has always been extremely challenging to climb for even expert riders, and no doubt many who tried the descent came away with a case of road rash.
The rerouted trail is just to the west of the marbley section and is longer and therefore not quite as steep. In December, COSCA rangers laid out the new route and cut down the chaparral to reveal the trail corridor. Fifteen Giant volunteers gathered at the Felton Street trailhead on the morning of January 16th and, after a brief orientation and safety talk by the CORBA trail crew leader, grabbed tools and made the short hike to the work area. The crew was shown how to dig out the new trail from the slope, working one after the other so that each widened the new trail as they passed, ending with a 4′ wide multiuse surface. They were careful to ensure that the trail had a 4-5% outslope so that rain water would run off the outside, rather than down the middle, creating a new rut. CORBA’s crew leader and a COSCA ranger were there to oversee the work, offer guidance, answer questions and generally pitch in.
With just 17 workers, it was uncertain if the trail could be completed in one morning. But the folks from Giant were really motivated, quickly learning how to build the trail, and got the job done so quickly that there was time to clean out three clogged drainages on the trail above the work area and build a new one.
COSCA and CORBA wish to give a hearty Thanks! to Giant and their staff for pitching in to help with the local trails!
You can view all the photos of this event in our Giant Bikes trailwork photo gallery.
