Courtesy of SORBA
Trail Training Class - Feb. 24
- Thread starter bizutch
- Start date
Do they teach you how to operate the dingo? I mean I could really use some more fireroads to ride up here.
Just kidding but i'll take 8 hours working on my trails as opposed to taking notes on how to do it better.
Just kidding but i'll take 8 hours working on my trails as opposed to taking notes on how to do it better.
YOU GOT THAT RIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah...and your trail will be found like it has been every time you've ever built one...and it will be shut down...and no one will ever ride it again.
And you'll come back to Pisgah...and ride the trails you could have made cool features on but made up lame excuses not to. You're trail will be gone before you ever graduate college bro.
Woody doesn't teach how to bulldoze a trail. Most of his classes are strictly educational about water, erosion, angles and proper long term armoring...so you don't have to work on a trail 10 times every year. And usually with hand tools.
Greenslick and Dupont are both formerly fireroads converted to singletrack. That's why they use the dingos and other heavy stuff. He's even built a downhill trail at Tamarack in Idaho....you know..the stuff Voreis rode in Kranked 6. The DH masterminds thought so much of Woody and crew that they listed them in the credits of the movie.
If you're not there to shape the trail, how do you think it will turn out? Woody only did Greenslick...NOT ANY OF THAT OTHER DOZER crap in Bent Creek. That was done by a FS company called Trails Unlimited, not by Trail Dynamics...Woody's company. Woody's company actually went to the FS and put a stop to some of their poor techniques and the FS agreed with Woody and kept them from doing more damage.
Not roasting you personally bro...but everybody has to change their mindset. If you're not involved in the shaping of the trails, they're not going to be what you want. If you get involved and learn proper techniques...then you get to make trails that are legal...and have TONS of cool features.
IMBA has a freeride guide for crying out loud. They're all about the adrenaline.
Someone post a link to that old thread about Jeremy's favorite loop in Spartanburg.
So why don't you quit school and go to work at McDonald's. Wouldn't you rather be working than learning how to do something better?
man.
up here we're shaping more than ever before.
it ain't easy by any means. actually it physically wears you down.
but we're in an area that we can bring the trailbeds across the mt. side more than ever before.
and that requires tons more effort per trail foot.
but the results will be a relatively maintanence free trail, other than weedeating.
it's been a rather dry winter so far.
but the water runoff we've seen on our new stuff has been just the way we've planned it.
and we'll be going back up the windmill trail next month and "retrofitting" some new building techniques on a few problem areas that trail has.
that trail (and all the future spurs off of it)will be around solidly for many many years to come.
bottom line is,
that when there's just one or two folks maintaining this stuff.
you have to think of building right the first time.
that way when it's time to open up and ride, you can stash the tools for the rest of the year and rip.
for me, trailbuilding is a craft that i (and brian)keep improving on every winter.
none of us are so good at this that we can't be shown a better way to do things.
that holds true for the folks at imba too.
my first post mean't no disrespect to their effort.
when i first rode pisgah back in the late ninties my first thought was, "my god look at the work that went into this place."
i have no doubt it's better now than it was when i rode there last.
up here we're shaping more than ever before.
it ain't easy by any means. actually it physically wears you down.
but we're in an area that we can bring the trailbeds across the mt. side more than ever before.
and that requires tons more effort per trail foot.
but the results will be a relatively maintanence free trail, other than weedeating.
it's been a rather dry winter so far.
but the water runoff we've seen on our new stuff has been just the way we've planned it.
and we'll be going back up the windmill trail next month and "retrofitting" some new building techniques on a few problem areas that trail has.
that trail (and all the future spurs off of it)will be around solidly for many many years to come.
bottom line is,
that when there's just one or two folks maintaining this stuff.
you have to think of building right the first time.
that way when it's time to open up and ride, you can stash the tools for the rest of the year and rip.
for me, trailbuilding is a craft that i (and brian)keep improving on every winter.
none of us are so good at this that we can't be shown a better way to do things.
that holds true for the folks at imba too.
my first post mean't no disrespect to their effort.
when i first rode pisgah back in the late ninties my first thought was, "my god look at the work that went into this place."
i have no doubt it's better now than it was when i rode there last.
Well, the tough part of seeing the trails in Pisgah as they are now in certain areas is that they are now drier, harder and more resistant to erosion than before but at the same time "tamer".
But the big picture is that people can't visually see the trail in 5 years and it will be vastly different than it is now. Greenslick when it was first done was a BMX track that you could put in a hot lap on a full rigid.
But as it's bedded in, the ground has solidified and distrinct drainage patterns have essentially "rinsed" it, it's becoming more natural daily...BUT...it's now staying bone dry 95% of the time. Only 8-10 months after it was built, taking a full rigid down it will rattle your teeth out and a hardtail is SUPER entertaining on it.
Chatter, rocks slowly pulling up through the dirt, the occasional root resurfacing are pepping it up little by little. In the spring, underbrush will begin to creep back in on the sides where they've blocked it off to allow just that. In another year, that thing will be full on singletrack again...only it won't BLOW OUT and erode quickly.
Joey, what a lot of people are refering to at times is the trailwork of the FS company that came into Bent Creek this summer. They had something like a 30-60 day contract on about 4 times the length of trail that Trail Dynamics did. They used similar equipment, worked way more quickly...and on a lot of unnecessary things. They neutered an already tame trail system...quickly. It's had the community upset b/c they turned slightly bumpy trails into paths.
That's where a lot of the hostility comes from.
But the big picture is that people can't visually see the trail in 5 years and it will be vastly different than it is now. Greenslick when it was first done was a BMX track that you could put in a hot lap on a full rigid.
But as it's bedded in, the ground has solidified and distrinct drainage patterns have essentially "rinsed" it, it's becoming more natural daily...BUT...it's now staying bone dry 95% of the time. Only 8-10 months after it was built, taking a full rigid down it will rattle your teeth out and a hardtail is SUPER entertaining on it.
Chatter, rocks slowly pulling up through the dirt, the occasional root resurfacing are pepping it up little by little. In the spring, underbrush will begin to creep back in on the sides where they've blocked it off to allow just that. In another year, that thing will be full on singletrack again...only it won't BLOW OUT and erode quickly.
Joey, what a lot of people are refering to at times is the trailwork of the FS company that came into Bent Creek this summer. They had something like a 30-60 day contract on about 4 times the length of trail that Trail Dynamics did. They used similar equipment, worked way more quickly...and on a lot of unnecessary things. They neutered an already tame trail system...quickly. It's had the community upset b/c they turned slightly bumpy trails into paths.
That's where a lot of the hostility comes from.
I dont care what they used to build Greenslick. Thats by far one of the most fun trails in NC.
You think that Greenslick is fun...I need to take you to Wayehutta. Imagine 30 minutes worth of that..only on serious steroids. With WAY...WAY bigger berms.
Yah and 30 more mins of driving for him and he chould be at Windrock. That is the only reason he has not made his way over there yet to check it out.
In the spring, Ill load up my camelbak and do a shuttle of it from the PK...only it won't involve 6 miles of climbing.
From the SORBA group:
i was actually going to bump this up yesterday.
i was just wondering what kind of turnout happens during these seminars.
i understand why (as isolated as i am up here) there's not more trailbuilding help up here.
but for as many people that ride dupont and pisgah etc...
you'd think you'd have to turn away help.
far too many coat tail riders out there.
i was just wondering what kind of turnout happens during these seminars.
i understand why (as isolated as i am up here) there's not more trailbuilding help up here.
but for as many people that ride dupont and pisgah etc...
you'd think you'd have to turn away help.
far too many coat tail riders out there.
Joey...you're welcome to attend. You'd love those guys. They're all diggers. It might help you guys out. Plus, I'd bet they'd love to learn about how you guys construct up there.
Oh..and in reference to turnout...ironicly the trails themselves are what keeps the classes from being packed...you know.."ride" or "dig"...
The people who have the biggest foothold around here are the Carolina Mountain Club. They're a massive group of like 300+ hikers who adopt a boatload of FS stuff...some shoddy work...some very impressive...none MTB friendly.
If we want people working on the trails and keeping them MTB friendly, I recommend showing up.
The people who have the biggest foothold around here are the Carolina Mountain Club. They're a massive group of like 300+ hikers who adopt a boatload of FS stuff...some shoddy work...some very impressive...none MTB friendly.
If we want people working on the trails and keeping them MTB friendly, I recommend showing up.
it's all about time.
i'm beyond obsessed with this new trail that' brian and i have going on.
i was at work today doing a killer tile/stone job.
lots of cutting and very technical.
something that requires alot of concentration.
and all i could think about were trail details to be worked on this weekend.
it's a drug.
Lets keep feeding you that drug.
well atleast im remotly interested. it would be nice to be able to do maintenance on some of our local dh trails. butch ill see if anybody else from my crew is interested in spending all day out there, but since i dont gotta work i might make the trek out there to take the class. who knows you might see me and my boys doing some work around these parts finally. thanks for the info.
i don't want to step up on the advocacy soap box or anything but
XC guys (and some roadies in disguise) are typically the only people that show up at work parties and they will continue to build dirt highways because that's what they like, and that's all they know, and there's no one else there to tell them otherwise.
I've taken the cert. course.
I recommend it to anyone that's building you will learn something.
And why not take it from the guy that helped write the IMBA book.
When you see a feature I build into a trail, you'll either say
i don't want to step up on the advocacy soap box or anything but
XC guys (and some roadies in disguise) are typically the only people that show up at work parties and they will continue to build dirt highways because that's what they like, and that's all they know, and there's no one else there to tell them otherwise.
I've taken the cert. course.
I recommend it to anyone that's building you will learn something.
And why not take it from the guy that helped write the IMBA book.
because it will be blatantly fun or you'll be like
because I'll hide it off to the side....heh...
I wanna spend a week with woody and a shovel at Dupont. He's told me he's okay with adding features as long as they're legal and maintainable, and I drool over that terrain every time I ride there. I might live in Brevard this summer so it might need to go down.
that trail's name isn't set in stone yet.
i'm thinkin "mainline"
built to the lowest common denominator.
i don't want to step up on the advocacy soap box or anything but
XC guys (and some roadies in disguise) are typically the only people that show up at work parties and they will continue to build dirt highways because that's what they like, and that's all they know, and there's no one else there to tell them otherwise.
I've taken the cert. course.
I recommend it to anyone that's building you will learn something.
And why not take it from the guy that helped write the IMBA book.
that's a huge problem around here, and just about everywhere it seems.
there's a fine art in knowing just how much to shape as opposed to riding natural terrain.
it's better to err on the side of natural terrain.
you can always go back and make small mods.
but once you bench the soul out, it's gone forever.
How about "hair on fire"?
I vote for Motorhead.
I think Keystone already has a trail named that.
Megadeth?
Pantera
Dio?
Ministry
GWAR
Slayer
Feral
Hatebreed
Portishead
Iron Maiden
Pantera
Dio?
Ministry
GWAR
Slayer
Feral
Hatebreed
Portishead
Iron Maiden
that's their problem.
I said Motorhead because I first met Joey, this is what crossed my mind:that's their problem.
Can't take the hating mstar? haha enjoy the that brah and give me a call sometime.... Don't be ghosting like some
James. Ring me brah!
Dude, you have hit the nail on the head. Some of the guys from Chattanooga have been killing it up on Raccoon Mountain and making some excellent XC trails. I was talking to the guys building the trails about it and they basically said just what DVNT said "We're building and we like XC, so that's what you get". The terrain is there for some sick FR/ DH stuff and Sorba Chatt is open to it, but no one is stepping up to help lay it out and make it happen.
i don't want to step up on the advocacy soap box or anything but
XC guys (and some roadies in disguise) are typically the only people that show up at work parties and they will continue to build dirt highways because that's what they like, and that's all they know, and there's no one else there to tell them otherwise.
I've taken the cert. course.
I recommend it to anyone that's building you will learn something.
And why not take it from the guy that helped write the IMBA book.
I know I can't say much, either, 'cause I'm the worst. If I am lucky I get on the trails for an hour or two each weekend and, honestly, I'm too selfish to give that up to run a shovel. It's a shame, too, cause if a clan of us gave up an hour or two for a few months we could probably lay out some great trails.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel like a real dirtbag when I see folks working hard to build trails and I've done nothing but reap the fruits of their labor.
Tomorrow is the class. Anyone else coming?
I am there if I am not too hung over butch... I will hit you up tomorrow morning
Yo you been shovellin at all lately?