[seand]

So the parks/rec guys finally finished taking our trail down. Looks like they needed quite a few hands to undo our work. A request to leave the lumber was made and they halfway did...I assume that the parts they left will eventually be nabbed upon further cleanup...so we will have to get in there quickly and snatch it up. They did leave our tool stash though (which I asked them kindly to do).

So here are the before and after shots...

not our trail, but we used it to get to our trail...

the 180 degree bridge (it was quite fun!)

after the city got their hands on it...(niiice)

the berm after the 180 bridge

and after it was "fixed"

we cut off shortly after that to head to our trail but if you continue onwards, you find this gem...

to keep people from heading towards our trailhead, they decided that some living trees no longer needed to be living. great example guys!

okay, so we built a ravine bridge...it was even laser leveled for good measure

now this is what is left
from the on-side..

from the off-side...

There is a hillside that needed some help. We armored the hell out of it and bridged a sensitive area.

leading into the bridge

heading down the bridge

and looking up the bridge

now this is what is left

they were even nice enough to pile rocks for us after finding them in a berm! (it took me quite a few hours to lug those badboys from all over the place)

The real sad thing here isn't so much that we lost a spot to bike. Once we had the ravine bridge and the rocked in hillside with downramp, we started to see more and more hikers frequenting the trail. It was always nice to have smiling faces pass you by... oh well.

 

[Transfer]

Very disturbing. Looks like you guys did a great job.

 

[seand]

ya. I look at it this way. We had a blast putting it together and we got to ride it a few times. What is left we will go in and salvage as to not leave a mess in the woods.

The dudes who took it apart were not happy and had to do so all agro. It was win/win for us.

There were a few bridges we made that we had not taken any before shots so the after shots wouldn't have had any bearing in this post...

They did leave a couple bridges intact..which makes no sense to me....

we put that one in last winter. The nature con uses it so perhaps that is why they left it?

we never got around to replacing the onramp structure (it was there before we started in on our trail) and oddly enough, the dudes didn't take this one down either. *shrug*

 

[redFoxx]

Sorry to hear about and see your hard work wasted there. It sure look like a bunch of fun, especially that wood turn.

It's too bad that enormous greenbelt can't harbor a few trails just for us folks...at least you managed to salvage some stuff.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

It might be just me...but I don't see how tearing these "features" down and cutting down perfectly live trees to "block" something off is a good use of anyone's time, effort, etc.

I mean...turn over a couple wood bridges, put some sand down in a berm that won't help SH*T and call it a day?

Every day I spend a portion of my time wondering how the people who get to make decisions get so diluted and delusional to actually believe that they're "doing the right thing"...but then it pisses me off so badly that I have to start drinking. So then the next day, I don't remember what made me start drinking...and I do it all over again.

 

[bibs]

its funny, the state paid someone to do all that damage after volunteers made it nice and walkable.....I hate the government....and tree huggers that think we are Satan....

 

[FatalExposure]

I pretty much hate everybody and everything. Welcome to my world.

 

[skatetokil]

****ers.

 

[DBR X6 RIDER]

That totally sucks, Sean. Especially since they kept the features that they seem to use and nothing else. Although I find it odd as well that they didn't tear out the logride and the lead-in ramp.

It's really great to see our tax dollars hard at work on somewhat trivial matters when there's plenty of other things in the woods that should be addressed...such as meth labs.

 

[Borneo]

Just got back from some place else local like this that got the saw a couple months back. They've been up to the top and cut everything out now. Considering that I believe it was done for "liability reasons" it's way more dangerous now with all the debris all over the place than it was when buffed and smooth. As I told Redfoxx earlier off list, I don't see this as wasted time. We learned how to build better, got a lot of practice in and also got to ride it for several months. Gotta look at it from the glass half full perspective. Besides, for those in the know, Growler Creek still had a couple of stragglers.

Nice cribbing there. I'm impressed. Good work guys. (I'm sure Juice will want you to do some of that in the new lines at Colonnade and elsewhere once KingCo gets off their butts.)

We learn, we keep pushing for legal stuff, and we go farther back into the woods in the mean time and become more elitist by not blabbing where the trails are to everyone....

 

[greenhood]

Sorry to hear that is all gone. Not sure about the need for that 180 degree bridge, but the rest really makes sense. Bummer. Washington really does seem to hate mountain bikers...

 

[muddy beast]

Man that trail looks sick...what a bummer it got torn down though.

sorry man.

 

[BBTCJON]

I too am saddened by this... as I am anytime, any trail is destroyed. There's definitely a fine line between poaching an area and civil disobedience. Regardless of the case, I can certainly appreciate all the hard work that you put into this trail Sean.

And I know Sean, that you have some criticism of the BBTC and your one time meeting with Justin and I and though I disagree with your stance on a few issues, I believe that communication is essentially the ill culprit here. I'd certainly be more than happy to chat with you offline sometime to rectify the situation.

Cheers.

 

[dirtburglar]

looks (looked) like a fun trail, only other thing I can say is look for some place other than a greenbelt to build obvious mountain bike gnar.

 

[fuzzycatnuts]

I am sorry for your loss. Seams pointless for the city to do that, then to cut down live trees to block it is just stupid.

I just rode with someone down in olympia that has gotten permisson to build in a ORV park there. It would be shuttelable as well, and we could use there heavy machinery....I could put you in touch with him if you wanted.

 

[Skookum]

Current politics hasn't-doesn't favor mt. bikes. We all have to remember mt. biking didn't catch fire until the late 80's. Now it's 20 years old we've seen many stories like this. But we have opportunities now to make it better.

i've been on the Colonnade hype wagon since the get-go. i'm not getting paid for it, i'm not vying for any position in the club (doesn't pay enough anyways i'm sure...). i do it because i believe when you see a door of opportunity open you gotta bust thru it.

Anyways anyone and everyone who helped in the Marginal Trail (and the Tokul folks too), ya all deserve kudos for doing quality work. i'm real sorry to see it go, and i'm bummed i never got around to riding it. i frikkin love mt. biking and it really sucks to see stuff like this. Honestly... And i've been around long enough to see trails die, and it always sucks, but that looks like such quality work. Ain't it a shame...

Whatever it takes to get things right so we enjoy trails in parks, and in the backcountry, i'll be aiming my front wheel towards and lettin off the brake.

 

[fuzzycatnuts]

Word!

 

[Krosskountrykid]

Our bike club in eastern Virginia used the methods developed by the IMBA to create a partnership with several local land managers. The liability issue is generally their biggest concern. We submit designs for our work,take pictures,or visit the site to establish a level of comfort with local officals. In some instances they want to supply the materials in order to establish their ownership of the construction. Its a great feeling to know that what we build will last for years to come.
Judging from your pics, these items would become unsafe after a short period of exposure excepting the armouring of the trail. There is a certain thrill to building an illegal trail. But is it worth the disappointment of riding up on the aftermath of a visit by the authorities.

 

[Transfer]

Maybe ax the last nice little bridge so they have to walk in the mud next time out.

 

[seand]

Judging from your pics, these items would become unsafe after a short period of exposure excepting the armouring of the trail. There is a certain thrill to building an illegal trail. But is it worth the disappointment of riding up on the aftermath of a visit by the authorities.

And this is why one maintains their trail to prevent anything from becoming unsafe. The idea behind the trail was not the "thrill to building an illegal trail". We have enough of those in this neck of the woods. We wanted something short and workable (with all parties involved in the greenbelt) that riders local to the area could use and enjoy. All was going great until some braaaaap'ers ruined it.

The funny thing was...we walked our line with the parks/rec guys a few times over the course of the year+ we were in there digging/building. One of them even helped lug some rocks on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I know they were not happy to have to tear our work out but when someone higher up gives the thumbs down...things die.