Trail Upkeep

[dennis porter]

Hi All,
I just wanted to throw out that if people would like, they can certainly do some sight line trimming on there own time. Just add to this thread asking what is needed or what you think is needed. I will then reply with comments or the okay to proceed. The reason that I should okay projects is that I have worked to build a good relationship with Bloomington Park staff. We want to make sure we have approval with anything being done on the trail.
Now, the trail needs trimming east of Lyndale/35w on the hill heading up to the picnic table. We need a volunteer to trim the north/slope side of the trail. The brush needs to be trimmed about two feet in. Here's a suggestion. Stand on the trail and look about 20 feet down the trail. Could you see someone coming at 10 miles a hour? No? Then trim the brush until you can. If you have a weed whip with a strong blade attachment that would work best. Anyone up for this task?

Thanks, Dennis Porter
River Trail Steward

[Don Youngdahl]

I'd like to add one other important part of the volunteer work you do on the River Trail, or any trail for that matter. That part is to record your hours on the link for hours reporting on the Trail Work section of the MORC web site.

It's important to individually log those hours for a couple of reasons:

1) MORC wants to be able to recognize and thank it's volunteers.

2) Credible data to show land managers our large volunteer base is valuable in selling them on building new trails. Both total hours and number of volunteers who worked is important. If you and two buddies take an hour out of your riding to do some trimming, it's more important for the MORC record to show three people at 1 hour each than for just one to log three hours.

Look at this request as a just another variation of the old adage "the job isn't complete until the paperwork is done".

Don Youngdahl

[SuperClydesdale]

On Sunday, I rode the RB trail from the Bloomington Ferry trailhead to the raft and back. It had rained earlier in the day, and there was a lot of puddled water on the trail. Is it acceptable to get in there and de-berm the puddles so they drain better? Or, are we limited in the type of maintenance we do because of the land status?

Also, are trail workers actually reporting hours worked? Nobody has ever mentioned doing so at trail work sessions, so I have never entered any time. But, if you need this data to show the powers that be our membership's commitment to trail building and maintenance, I will start doing so. If you truly want this data, I suggest that the tail bosses mention, at each work session, the need to report hours spent on trail work.

Less than 5 hours to the xx loop!

mark gavin

[gopherhockey]

My apologies for not mentioning hourly reporting more often during trail work sessions!

Normally a "dirt boss" isn't just a funky name, its a title that requires a person to try help keep track of this information. We should be promoting using the reporing tool, or doing some of the math ourselves.

I have a good idea of how many people have shown up to our trail work sessions and for how long, but that doesn't help each individual keep track. (work toward that 20-20-20 club!)

Don, thanks for reminding me. I'll try not forget this important issue from now on.

[dennis porter]

Deberm puddles? I don't see why not. That may even help to keep the trail single track instead of double track. We still could use a volunteer to do the sight line trimming on the way up to the picnic table. I would even say that the trimming should take priority. Why, because the River Trail is still "grey area" for mountian biking. That means if there's a nasty collision mtb riding on the River Trail could be in jeopardy. I don't think we need to sanitize the Trail but, consider the people you see down there that are new to the sport. They just don't have the skills and knowledge of mtb riding. A sight line can hopefully prevent some accidents. Who's up for it?
Dennis.

[Don Youngdahl]

Deberming puddles? - Yes, it's important and valuable to keep deep potholes from developing. Even when the trail is otherwise dry enough to responsibly ride, puddles may remain, and every time you ride through a puddle (sometimes necessary) it splashes out a bit of mud & makes the hole deeper.

The problem is, sometimes there is no adjacent side-slope to drain the water off to. In that case, the solution is to fill and pack the hole when conditions are dry, leaving a slight crown.

As you may have gathered from various forum posts, and from observations on the trail, the trails we ride didn't "just happen". Their existance and maintenance as viable trails are a product of many hours of volunteer work, impromptu and planned, by many riders. If you're not already participating in this volunteer effort in some way, you should consider sacrificing a small bit of your riding time to share the load of maintaing our trails. This can be something as easy as stopping to remove a broken branch that is a face-slapper, or breaking or cutting away a vine near or on the trail that could take down a rider down.

If you have any doubts about what's acceptable trail work, ask MORC or pose your question on the forum like this guy did.

Don Youngdahl