Ingenious...sometimes we will deface the things that need to be touched up. then one must work to ride when we aren't around...
we typically build our stuff way out of the league of the punk kids. we never need to run them off since they are too scared to play to begin with......one thing that will bite you in the ass, is alienating the wrong people.....This is what happened after some punk kids got run off a while back....
truth has been spoken hereOur local dirt slinging hero, MT, instills fear. Works quite well.
I have a future inking along those lines.well i would be showing you my first pieces of a shirt that i am creating
Dig or Die
we put ours about 3 feet under and put a half bag of cement on each side. They are in there pretty well. You are forgetting something though. The people who would have to dig it up are people who arent aloud to be there for 1 reason THEY DONT DIG! They are lazy pieces of ****...they would never waste the time to even dig them up if they are in right.i've seen the cable (attempt) at a few places. the only real problem is that it only takes about 1 minute to forever remove the cable posts. i've seen 'em dug up, sawn off or simply kicked until they gave way...
still, 1 minute and a saw and they are done. i'd be willing to bet you put more time into them than that. not that i don't realize they do still serve some good, i'm just saying i've never seen them stay put anywhere...we put ours about 3 feet under and put a half bag of cement on each side...
This is basically the exact same situation i am in here. I have started about 5 different trails all of which have been destroyed by the county, myself (dont want others benefiting from hundreds of hours of digging and shaping by myself), or by locals that ride, but dont dirt jump and just want an actual trail to ride, which I dug myself (didnt build on a trail already being used). I now have a backyard trail that me an 2 other people ride.I haven't figured out a way to motivate the locals to dig.... and have given up on it and gone my own way.
Most say they will dig/help build, and typically they take the half ass approach, make a half ass jump/trail and like oh there we go let's ride it... and it's crap.
this is a subject that definitely hits home with me....
Another friend (who will dig) and I now have a spot at his house I've put in a good number of hours and this spring it should be really nice, I don't plan to change our stance on not letting anyone ride there. Basically he and I ride there with a few of his beer drinkin buddys from time to time and occasionally let a few of the locals come ride. We don't really even call anyone to help dig anymore because we both know it's a joke.
I resorted to digging trails by myself in the woods and not telling anyone where they were, as well as basically just losing respect for all the others who wont dig, so I don't even ride with them anymore and have no interest too either.
I don't have a way to motivate locals to dig, I wish I did, we would have some cool stuff to ride.. Same reason we don't have anything legally sanctioned to ride.
Castle . . . that's exactly what i've been thinking about.I haven't figured out a way to motivate the locals to dig.... and have given up on it and gone my own way.
Most say they will dig/help build, and typically they take the half ass approach, make a half ass jump/trail and like oh there we go let's ride it... and it's crap.
this is a subject that definitely hits home with me....
I have one rider in the area that would ride through what I was working on, as I was building/digging..... After that spot was torn down he would come by the shop I was working at with the nerve to say, "Noone builds around here" (because he had nothing to ride anymore) me thinking to myself, when I do build I wont tell you because I know you wont help and just want to ride it, tear it up and never fix it. Not cool!
I had another situation, lucky enough to have a friend obtain a crap load of land, only to take on the half ass approach as well. I bailed as soon as I saw the same approach was being taken, he is just not willing to put in the work. Sad part he even has access to heavy machinery.... I mean c'mon!
Another friend (who will dig) and I now have a spot at his house I've put in a good number of hours and this spring it should be really nice, I don't plan to change our stance on not letting anyone ride there. Basically he and I ride there with a few of his beer drinkin buddys from time to time and occasionally let a few of the locals come ride. We don't really even call anyone to help dig anymore because we both know it's a joke.
I resorted to digging trails by myself in the woods and not telling anyone where they were, as well as basically just losing respect for all the others who wont dig, so I don't even ride with them anymore and have no interest too either.
I don't have a way to motivate locals to dig, I wish I did, we would have some cool stuff to ride.. Same reason we don't have anything legally sanctioned to ride.
I hope some of them read this thread. Maybe they'll get pissed and do something about it! I wish I had a better answer for you in getting people motivated to dig stuff to ride. If I saw they were serious I would help but until then I'll just keep digging on my own.
You hit the nail on the head when you said All Talk and No Dig.
edit: sorry to be so long winded, like I said definitely a subject that hits home with me.
Sittingduck: that's beautiful! Looks like you are lucky enough to have some people really willing to put in time digging!
Mr. purple bike has been riding dh alot lately, he rode the reckless trails with me last week. His bike isn't purple anymore, its polished aluminum.I'd totally bunny hop that to get into the line. Not that I'm poacher... it's like me, WCH, and a few others that do the digging around here.
We try to just give people a hard time if they're riding, but not digging. I can think of one in particular that got blasted over on mtbr for not doing sh!t except showing up and expecting ride our hard work. He got the message, eventually.
Hey, what happened to Mr. Purple Bike anyway? I haven't seen him in ages.
Castle, I know where you are coming from. I don't even bother with most of the riders around here anymore. I'd rather work alone than be part of building shoddy lines.singing my song
All of the sickest DJ spots in the state of California are built by weed smoking fools. Straight up.If only the other riders in my small town didnt resort to smoking weed (i dont really care if they smoke as long as it is not around me). Now, after they smoke, which is multiple times a day during the summer, they just sit around watching TV. But if they actually cared and did something with their lives, we could have at least one insane dirt jump area. lthumbsdown: End rant
huh?I have a future inking along those lines.
khe means hes gonna get "dig or die" tattooed to himself
like the idea but it would be difficult to get going with out a core group of responsible riders.Good topic and a lot of really great posts. Castle's says a lot and you can tell he and a lot of you guys have been moving shovels for a real long time.
I always say trails are the most fun and fustrating thing I've ever experienced from bike riding. There is absolutely nothing better than good temps, clear skies, great friends and riding nice trails but there is also nothing worse than poached work, digging by yourself for way too many hours, getting tools stolen, and having your lines get hosed by the poachers, vandals weather, and other outside factors.
I'm always thinking about trails - what lines I should be working on next and in the future, what spots I'd like to hit this season, what place could be a backup spot, and so on.
One thing I thought would be cool and might work is a co-op setup. I think skaters have done it for private skateparks. Iif you could lease or buy a section of land (I'm guessing 2-3 acres would be enough for something decent) and have a crew of riders split the costs. Being on private land, you should be able to get machinery in there that would make things a lot quicker. People that dig can attach a price to their efforts and those who don't have to pay more. A lot would depend on land costs and number of riders and how much those riders are willing to spend to ride their own trails as well as what type of insurance and the associated costs.
As far as handling poachers? Cabling off the runs, tarping the lips and landings, No Tresspasing signs, and maybe even cheap survelance cameras. If new people really want to ride there charge an admission price (if possible) or have them join the co-op.
I'm not sure if it could work or would even be worth the hassle. But I would love to see sustainable trails that benefit the hard workers that build them and always thinking of what could work...