Work Day 2....Wildcat extension

Date Worked	12/23/12
Weather	Snow cover
Temperature	25
Workers Present	2
Time Worked	2.5
Manhours Spent	5 hours
Distance Completed	50 yards
Total Trail Distance	100 yards
Total Manhours Spent	12.5 hours

Day 2 started off a little cold and snow covered but ended up being a very comfortable day of digging. Only 2 people showed up today but we still managed to make pretty good progress. Most of the day was spent building up this section with a small rock retaining wall to help bench this slight right handed turn at the bottom of what will end up as a pretty fast flowing section.

 

Can't really see the rock wall...........sorry!

At the top this turn there was VERY short section that required no benching, just raked the leaves.

 

 Now this is the view for next week.

 

 

 I know this picture looks great and everyone will have a hard time waiting till next Sunday to dig in but with the Holidays hear it will pass before you know it and we will all be able to have the fun we deserve. Hope to see you Sunday at 10am. 

 

Now on to another topic that came up today. While we were in the park we noticed the below picture posted on several of the trees in the areas we were working........Looks like the five-0 are after someone!!!!

 



 

 











Work Day 1......Wildcat extension

Date Worked	12/16/12
Weather	Sunny
Temperature	55
Workers Present	3
Time Worked	2.5 hours
Manhours Spent	7.5 hours
Distance Completed	50
Total Trail Distance	50
Total Manhours Spent	7.5 hours

This past Sunday we spent the first trail work day for the 2013 season working on the Wildcat extension that will bring the trail all the way down to the park museum/train.

Being the first day things went a little slow as we were not use to the digging that is involved. After we got swinging things picked up and turned out pretty good.

We plan on working this coming weekend, 10am.............hope to see you there.

 

Does anyone remember this blog???

Well I guess I have really been neglecting this blog for quite some time now but as you all know it is Winter and that means............Trail Building Season.

Plans for this Winter are to continue where we left off last year on the Wildcat trail. Starting our work at the second shelter on the right fork of the park and bringing the trail down to the museum/train area.

We scouted this area last year and we hope it will be achievable by Spring.

This Sunday, the 16th at 10am will be our first day of work. We are getting a little later start than usual and we will need all the help we can get to accomplish our goal. If you're free and can join us please do!!

Be on the lookout next week for a post with all the usual details including pictures of our work.

Thanks,
Chris

As Usual

Well, as usual our work season is over and I have quit posting on our blog with any noticeable regularity. My apologies,  I really am going to try and change that this year. I have a few things to talk about and update on.

First, the "drop out" section of the wildcat that comes out by the shelter is ridable except for one tree. It is very slick and absent of any benching, but ridable. We plan on cutting the tree and bench a little very soon. Hopefully a few hours of work and it will be in OK shape. Pitcures of that to be posted soon!

Next, the 2012 Wilderness Challenge has come and gone. Last Sunday the weather stopped raining long enough to get the race in. With all the rain leading up to race and the threat of rain on race day we only had 50 riders show up. The course was muddy but everyone was pretty understanding of the conditions and several racers commented that the race course was in better condition than they expected. The LMBA race team was there in full force (almost, one member was out due to a surgical procedure recently) but suffered a few mishaps that effected all but myself. William and Josh broke chains, Derek was battling a stomach bug and Dennis had to abandon the race to direct traffic at a missing sign that split the beginners off from the rest of the pack, as for myself I had a good race and managed to capture my first ever win (in my class of course).

Here are a few pictures to help catch everyone up on all the action:

Waterfall section of the Wildcat the first time it was repaired for the race, 2 days before the race a storm wiped out most of this work and we had to repair it at the last minute so it would be ridable for the race.

Last minute race course preparations on the Wilderness:





Just a cool view on a loop I have been riding. Leaving from my home, back rodes to the park, loop the trails in the park and return......usually around 25 miles.

Hope to be posting more soon!!!!

Race course

Just wanted to let everyone know that the race course will be ready for pre rides on thursday. The course is super fast this year.

Another Step Closer

We worked this past Sunday for about an hour clearing trees on the Lakeshore and Buffalo. We also smoothed a couple creek crossings to finish off the day. After the work William B and I rode a little, getting in about 15 miles. All in all a pretty good day. so hear is whats left for work on the race course

Cliffside- Huge slide with multiple trees. We will probably re-route and take this section out of the race     course.
Wildcat- 2 creek crossing to smooth and the waterfall section needs a good bit of work.
Wilderness- 7-8 trees to clear and one small mudslide
Woodpecker- 1 creek crossing and the slick rock section on the downhill needs fixed
Backbone- 3 tree to clear, 1 small section of road washed out and a small mudslide to clear.

I feel bad for not having any pictures to post today so hear are a few funny picture I stumbled across today.

Storm Damage/Wildcat Update

We finally got down to the park for a few rides so we could see the full extent of the damage that the storm left when it swept through a couple weeks ago. As I posted before there is a big mud slide with multiple trees down near the ranger station. Our recent rides have revealed the rest. All in all it's not too bad, there are a few new trees down, a small slide on the Wilderness, the waterfall section on the Wildcat is wiped out and almost every water crossing needs a little TLC to get them back in shape.

As for our work efforts lately we have decided to stop work on the Wildcat.......just one good day from finishing the "bail out" section that would complete this years leg. With all the storm repairs that are needed and not a lot of time before our race, we felt like we had no choice but to shift our efforts from trail building to trail maintenance. We went down this past Sunday and worked for 3 hours on the Rattlesnake and Woodpecker and got most of the areas on them cleared, just one more spot on the Woodpecker and that side of the park will be in good shape.

Cleared creek crossing

Logs that were in creek crossing before we started

Next we will be working to clear trees on the Lakeshore and Blackbear, hopefully that will happen this Sunday. After our race we hope to complete the "bail out" on the wilderness but for now that will have to wait.

In the mean time I did see a few interesting thing on my ride today, hope you enjoy:

Virginia Blue Bells in full bloom

Sneaky little fellow

 

Antique Archaeology (American Pickers) van hiding on the museum parking lot


As you can see the Antique Archaeology van was in Logan today and hiding in the park. As I finished my ride I saw the van drive up the park, after loading my bike I decided to go look for it. They pulled in behind a big U-Haul van and covered the decal on the door. I guess that's what showbiz will do. I did see Mike walk by but I didn't try for a picture. Thought I would respect their obvious desire for privacy. Pretty cool to actually see them and the van right here in Logan. I noticed a few other pictures of the van on Facebook from around the area, so be on the lookout and maybe you can sneak a peak too.

Storm Damage at Chief Logan

The recent storms in Logan have done a lot of damage to the area and Chief Logan has been no exception. Shortly after the storm the park was officially closed due to the road being blocked by water in several areas. This was quickly cleared and the park reopened but that doesn't mean all is good.

From a quick trip to the park we discovered this mess at the beginning of the Cliffside right by the ranger station.

The mudslide looks to be 3-4 feet deep and that tree at the top of the hill is huge. We will have a few riders in the park today to assess the rest of the trails. If they are anything like this one we are in for a mess. 

We will still be working Sunday as planned on the "bail out" trail at the end of the Wildcat. Hopefully we will complete this section of new trail and then focus our attention to any maintenance needed from the storm

Keep your fingers crossed and maybe the Cliffside will be the only trail affected in the park!!. 

Work Day 15

 

Date Worked	03/11/12
Weather	Sunny
Temperature	55
Workers Present	3
Time Worked	2.5 hours
Manhours Spent	7.5 hours
Distance Completed	65 yards
Total Trail Distance	1324 yards
Total Manhours Spent	167.5 hours

This work day didn't go quite as planned. On my way to the park my wife got called out to work and I had to return home to be with the kids. I did get to drop off the tools and the guys went ahead and worked without me. They managed to complete the next section that we had planned that included cutting a massive tree that was in our way.

Another big item on the agenda for the day was to decide how to proceed with the trail. This also has been decided........we are making a bailout trail right past the big tree that will bring us off the mountain exiting at the 2nd shelter on the right fork of the park.

We believe that this "bailout" section can be completed in one more workday IF we get a good turn out of workers for our LAST trail building day of the season. I would like to ask that everyone make an extra effort to show up this Sunday to help the last big push to complete this section of trail.......hope to see you there!!

Before



After

Before

After



Great Day for a Walk

I was out today for a walk with the family and it could not have been much better, clear sky, sunshine and evidence that spring is right around the corner.

 

Photo taken today, spring is almost here!!



Only 39 46 days till the Logan mountain bike race..........it will be here before you know it!!!

Work Day 14

Date Worked	03/04/12
Weather	Light Snow
Temperature	30
Workers Present	4
Time Worked	3 hours
Manhours Spent	12 hours
Distance Completed	100 yards
Total Trail Distance	1259 yards
Total Manhours Spent	165 hours


After 14 workdays completed it's time for a quick look at the averages. So far we are averaging about 12 total manhours worked every Sunday while completing about 90 yards per trip. This Sunday falls right in line with the averages as you can see above. As I mentioned last week, we are running out of time as race season approaches and our luck has not been that great as we  look for a place to make a connector trail to come out of the woods. Next Sunday we will be completing a difficult creak crossing and cutting the largest tree that we have cleared to date. After that it will be time to decide how to proceed; stop the trail as an out and back, bomb down the mountain at a less than perfect spot or push forward around the next point in search of an ideal location to come out of the woods. A big work crew would be great for next week, so if you can free up please come down and join the fun.

Before

After

Work Day 13

Date Worked	02/26/12
Weather	Sunny
Temperature	50
Workers Present	8
Time Worked	3
Manhours Spent	24
Distance Completed	150 yards
Total Trail Distance	1159
Total Manhours Spent	153 hours

Sunny, 50 degrees and 8 mountain bikers makes for a great day of trail work. We managed to complete 150 yards of trail and cleared 5-6 trees in our path. Thing are really moving along and with volunteers showing up like today we are making great ground. Roll call for the day looked like this:

Chris R, Dennis B, William B, Joey A, Ron S (Grand Master), Rick S (Pooh Bear), Josh W and Alan D. Big shout out for all the help!!!!!

Although we are making great progress we are running out of time as the Logan race is only 51 days away and the race season is right around the corner. We are now in planning mode to determine the best approach to finishing the trail for the year. Since we are pretty sure we can't quite make it to the Museum as originally planned we will be looking for a good place to make an "out" to come off the mountain and render the trail ridable without it having to be an out and back only. Keep your fingers crossed for a good location for the bail out.

Big Trees Before

Big Trees After

Before

After

Now for a little something not related to trail work.............I picked up my new ride on Saturday, 2011 Trek Superfly, makes me faster just looking at it!!