That’s A Wrap

This past weekend was the last dig weekend on the Leaders Park singletrack project until next season. This season went amazingly well.

We’ve had almost fifty (50) different people show up to dig at one (1) or more (+ 1) sessions. In that time, we have nearly one half (1/2) mile of trail dug. My expectations have been exceeded on two (2) fronts.

First (1st), the speed and quality of the digging have far exceeded my expectations. Of the weekends we’ve been in the park, we’ve been digging for only three (3). Having multiple work sessions per weekend seems to work very nicely.

Second (2nd), we are getting much more trail in a given area than originally planned. Once we get going with the clinometer and looking at the possibilities, the trail just lays out so nicely to give many more feet than we first (1st) thought.

This coming weekend Falls Area SingleTrack is having one (1) last work session for the season. There will be no digging. Instead we’ll showcase what’s been done and explain what’s coming up next season. We’ll issue garbage bags to those who show up and we’ll do some light garbage pickup. There’s not a lot left in the park. But, many hands make for light work and it’s easier to see is now than after it snows or the vegetation returns.

This winter we’re planning a few fund raising movie nights. We’ll use the proceeds to buy a few more tools and the materials required to construct the ramps up the bridges, the stairs down off the bridges, the board-walk through the low area, and the wood berms on the more advanced sections.

I hope this is an easy and short winter. It seems like we just got started and now we need to be done. I’m looking forward to getting the first, easier loop complete and open. The estimate is we’ll only need two (2) weekends to get this done. From there we’ll get right into the harder loops.

Also this winter we’ll do some scheduling and planning. We’ll not have work sessions during some fat tire festivals in the area. Instead we’ll encourage attendance to those events and try to arrange car-pooling.

The other evening I participated in a conference call with other singletrack types. Toward the end, the idea was tossed out to have field trips to each other’s projects. We’d help build some, ride some, and maybe do some grilling. It’s nice to help others and get ideas for our own projects.

Ride On.