On Saturday, ten mountain bikers and three members of the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council trail crew fixed the drainage on 0.6 miles of the Wood Canyon Vista (Backbone) Trail in Pt. Mugu State Park, about one third of it’s length. We concentrated on the area that was most likely to be damaged by the winter rain. Running water does by far more damage to the trail than anything else, so we were building rolling dips to get the water off.
Building a rolling tip to divert water that would otherwise run down the trail and create a rut.
While we were working on this trail, a few dozen mountain bikers rode by, mostly downhill but a few were riding up. The vast majority slowed to thank us for our work in keeping the trail in top condition. Sadly, one small group and a few individuals sped through our work area, twice as fast as the other riders, despite our admonitions to slow down. It’s easy to understand why some hikers and equestians don’t like mountain bikers when irresponsible riders are encountered on the trail. Riders like these are the ones everyone remembers, not the great majority who are courteous and respectful to other people. Keep in mind that when you are traveling at say 15 mph down a trail and see hikers coming up and slow to say 5 mph to pass. This may seem really slow to you but to a hiker that is standing still on a narrow trail 5 mph still seems pretty fast.
A couple of riders complained to us that we were “ruining the flow of the trail.” Hopefully they will read this article and come to understand why the rolling dips are built the way they are.
I would like to thank the riders and hikers who came out to help fix up this trail. Everyone did a great job!
Finally, here are the winners of the prizes we had for mountain bikers who came to help out:
– $100 gift certificate for Helen’s Bicycles: Hector Ancheta
– Buff headband: Milind Mahajan
– Ergon grips: Paul Trinkkeller
– Mountain bike inner tube: Charles Cohen
Visit our photo gallery to see the work in progress.
