Hey all,
The Blackrock Freeride Association (BFA) is hosting a build day at the Falls City / Blackrock Mountain Bike Park on Saturday. Work gets going at 8:00 sharp, and there will be a lunch provided (with small donation) at mid-day. I think the menu is Thai curry chicken, etc.
If you live anywhere from Southern Washington to Eugene, OR, and haven't checked out the trails at Blackrock, Saturday would be a GREAT time to do so. You can get more info, including directions and what to bring, here.
The long and short of it:
2 new trails...! WORK STARTS THIS BUILD DAY - breaking new ground!!
John Barnes, with the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), who is the recreational coordinator for area where Blackrock Trails are located has approved TWO new trails! Todd who is building an expansion to the Sunday Stroll line continuing down along road has the approval to begin building trail. ODF just requests that only one tabled jump is built so they have an idea of dimensions - before they'll grant full approval to build all 14 jumps (yes, FOURTEEN jumps! They're planning on using a mini-excavator.) Todd/Travis are the masterminds behind this new extension... and they got their inspiration from A-line table jumps at Whistler.
The second approved trail is actually a complete re-build and re-route of upper part of Bonzai Downhill. But don't get this confused with the lower re-route which Corvallis Rob and friends already knocked out. This is an entire rebuild of the upper section - whole new route. It floooows. The plan is for primary trail with easy-to-intermediate features (similar to what is already on middle section of Bonzai trail - like the bridge, old log ride, and "tinkerbell" dirt jumps) - all will have bypasses, and burms will be built so it can be railed with SPEED all the way down. There will eventually be "side spur" trails that provide additional freeride stunts (think saturated with stunts - similar to how Basic Training was built with options for everyone) - these "side spurs" will re-join with the main line of the trail. It's kinda multiple trails in one, and it'll provide options for everyone (meaning, XC riders to advanced freeriders).
On-going construction... (quick summary)...
* Basic Training crew will be wrapping up build of jump line, doing some drainage work, and expanding a bridge section. (We're winding down construction, to begin focusing efforts on the re-build/re-route of Bonzai Downhill.
* Troy and the Santiam crew are pushing hard to get the lower section of Granny's Kitchen punched out. The second road gap requires quite a bit of dirt moving to finish jump/tranny/burm. GK continues to provide some challenging stunts for advanced riders - from top to bottom.
* Last, but not least, the group that founded BFA have been cutting a new trail that will provide a wild ride. Not sure they want to reveal exactly where it is until they're ready, so I'll leave that to them (watch the BFA and Santiam messageboards).
Summary: There's 4 separate trail build projects (2 new ones kicking off THIS build day!) going on now, and any help you can provide at the organized work days would be greatly appreciated! Always a core group of volunteers cutting trail, but these guys will never turn down an offer to help.
Contact rich@blackrockfreeride.org if you have questions regarding work day or any trail issues/suggestions.
The Blackrock Freeride Association (BFA) is hosting a build day at the Falls City / Blackrock Mountain Bike Park on Saturday. Work gets going at 8:00 sharp, and there will be a lunch provided (with small donation) at mid-day. I think the menu is Thai curry chicken, etc.
If you live anywhere from Southern Washington to Eugene, OR, and haven't checked out the trails at Blackrock, Saturday would be a GREAT time to do so. You can get more info, including directions and what to bring, here.
The long and short of it:
2 new trails...! WORK STARTS THIS BUILD DAY - breaking new ground!!
John Barnes, with the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), who is the recreational coordinator for area where Blackrock Trails are located has approved TWO new trails! Todd who is building an expansion to the Sunday Stroll line continuing down along road has the approval to begin building trail. ODF just requests that only one tabled jump is built so they have an idea of dimensions - before they'll grant full approval to build all 14 jumps (yes, FOURTEEN jumps! They're planning on using a mini-excavator.) Todd/Travis are the masterminds behind this new extension... and they got their inspiration from A-line table jumps at Whistler.
The second approved trail is actually a complete re-build and re-route of upper part of Bonzai Downhill. But don't get this confused with the lower re-route which Corvallis Rob and friends already knocked out. This is an entire rebuild of the upper section - whole new route. It floooows. The plan is for primary trail with easy-to-intermediate features (similar to what is already on middle section of Bonzai trail - like the bridge, old log ride, and "tinkerbell" dirt jumps) - all will have bypasses, and burms will be built so it can be railed with SPEED all the way down. There will eventually be "side spur" trails that provide additional freeride stunts (think saturated with stunts - similar to how Basic Training was built with options for everyone) - these "side spurs" will re-join with the main line of the trail. It's kinda multiple trails in one, and it'll provide options for everyone (meaning, XC riders to advanced freeriders).
On-going construction... (quick summary)...
* Basic Training crew will be wrapping up build of jump line, doing some drainage work, and expanding a bridge section. (We're winding down construction, to begin focusing efforts on the re-build/re-route of Bonzai Downhill.
* Troy and the Santiam crew are pushing hard to get the lower section of Granny's Kitchen punched out. The second road gap requires quite a bit of dirt moving to finish jump/tranny/burm. GK continues to provide some challenging stunts for advanced riders - from top to bottom.
* Last, but not least, the group that founded BFA have been cutting a new trail that will provide a wild ride. Not sure they want to reveal exactly where it is until they're ready, so I'll leave that to them (watch the BFA and Santiam messageboards).
Summary: There's 4 separate trail build projects (2 new ones kicking off THIS build day!) going on now, and any help you can provide at the organized work days would be greatly appreciated! Always a core group of volunteers cutting trail, but these guys will never turn down an offer to help.
Contact rich@blackrockfreeride.org if you have questions regarding work day or any trail issues/suggestions.