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Trailwork Report
Middle Merrill Trail, Sunday,
April 9, 2008
by Steve Messer, OTB
Mountain Bike Club.
It was great to see such a good turnout today on the trail, and anyone who has
ridden Middle Merrill in the past month is gonna see a huge difference. A great
showing from STR, OTBMBC, Epic Riders, and of course CORBA. Part two to come in
April.
A few missed the time change and showed up late, some of whom
weren’t planning on riding up and never made it… next time guys…  . Several rode up from the bottom which took a long time but still
managed to put in a few hours. But any effort, great or small, is appreciated
and makes a difference.
We started out with Hans giving a
quick rundown of the basics of trailwork and safety for those who hadn't been
before, (or hadn't watched the vidoes posted on the
web site).
El Pres giving the orientation:
With
such a good turnout (26 people, I think) we were able to get lots done as
Brian Simms reported.
The first mile was in perfect shape and we did
virtually nothing:
The
one thing we did was a little rock work at the off-camber rock slide area where
most people walk. Now you'll have pedal clearance on the uphill side, and if you
got the huevos, it's easily doable. Many (including myself) were able to ride it
before, but now it should be a slightly more forgiving, but still technical 20
feet of trail. We looked at the option of a wood bridge or log ride crossing as
an alternate route for a future enhancement.
Below that, the "second
section" was virtually all brushwork. We trimmed back a nice comfortable trail
corridor, and removed yuccas along the trailside before they become a problem. I
shot a video of how we remove them.
Brushwork:
Yucca
Trimming on those too large or difficult to remove:
Yours
truly taking some Yucca Revenge:
We improved drainage and sight lines around some corners, built
a few berms and drops (sustainably), which should pack down over the coming
months, as long as riders remember to ride, not slide.
Berming the turns
(for drainage, of course  ):
Below that we cleaned up the two switchbacks that most
people (hikers included, we found out) cut, and also cleaned up the bottom of
the cut so that it should be slightly easier to ride without damaging the
trailtread below. The face itself is mostly rock and is holding up to the abuse
well, considering.
The rock face of the switchback cut:
Repairing/widening the switchbacks:
Beyond that we did drainage and brush trimming, banked a
few of the turns a little more, and improved the flow. I estimate we did half
the trail. The rest will be done, as Brian reminded us, on State Trails day on
April 19.
An alternate “high line” for the adventurous:
Many hands make light work:
Improving drainage with a small drop:
Those who rode back down afterwards all agreed that the section
we worked on had much better flow, no branches to whip you, and better sight
lines. We didn't remove any of the technical rocky sections, drops...this isn't
about sanitizing... it's about adding a sustainability factor to the existing
fun factor.
Steppie ready to enjoy the fruits:
Prodigy about to roll and do the same:
Riders at the bottom and hungry:
The
food brought in by Hans's wife Hope, and supplied by a grant from REI,
was welcomed, and really hit the spot. Thanks Hope!
Back at the bottom
and enjoying the meal:
A great day, and it shows how much can be achieved when enough
people have an interest in keeping our trails open, sustainable, and putting the
mountain biking community's best foot forward in the public eye.
Apparently some dh’ers who passed through while we were working got
hassled by some hikers near the bottom of the trail. They were easily able to
defend their right to be on the trail since 30 mountain bikers were up above
working on the trails, and not one hiker (even if they themselves weren’t the
ones doing the work).
For those who haven’t done trailwork… it isn’t
work. It’s a labor of love. Get out there.
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