First three new sections of trail now open

[johndahl]

Well we completed the finishing work on the first three new sections of trail that were rough cut. The Burnsville Parks Supervisor wants us to do the reclaimation work on the abandonded part of the trail before cutting any more new trail.

I've asked him to do a walk-thru with me to get his blessing on our work thus far. At that time I hope to find out when the City of Burnsville will haul in dirt and furnish us some seed mix and grass mats so we can begin the reclaimation work.

Thanks once again to Wade Strop, Brian Madden, John Mette and Rick johnson for their hard work last Thursday.

Let us hear what you think thus far. I admit it ain't much yet but it's a start.

No trail work this Thursday. The next step as I said is up to the City of Burnsville to get us the fill and seed we need. Stay tuned!

John Dahl

[cheese4brains]

Originally posted by johndahl
Let us hear what you think thus far. I admit it ain't much yet but it's a start.

John -

I rode the new section last Friday, and I must admit it is a HUGE improvement over the section it replaced. Anytime you can replace a wide washed-out up-hill section with a gradual, winding single track section (with a small rock garden to boot!) it's a win. The section still needs to be packed down, but things will certainly improve as the weather and riders do their thing.

I'm unsure where the other 2 sections are, but I have an idea. One area must be the rutted out downhill section on the far side. I pray to my maker every time I head down that hill hoping my wheels don't decide to go sideways. Much like Lebanon, I'd like to see the gravel ski trail routed around as well. The last area is the advanced/expert loop downhill that has become very washed out and rutted. I was under the impression that this was new singletrack within the past year, but I'm guessing that I must be mistaken.

I appreciate your hard work and persistance with the City of Burnsville, John. I really believe that Oaks has the potential to be a "baby Lebanon" given the chance, time and sweat. I'll try and provide some more sweat if you can continue to give us the chance :)

[homebrewbiker]

This is one of my favorite trails in the cities (short but sweet with great flow). I can't wait to try the new sections! Was going to go Saturday but Mother Nature took care of those plans.:banana:

[johndahl]

Brian and Will, hey thanks for the kind words. I gotta explain that when we're talking about the first three sections they are what you see thus far and no more to date. We refer to the three sections cuz we've crossed the old trail three times. In total we are projecting work on eleven sections. There may be even more as we go forward. You mentioned the expert route; we have scheduled three parts of it for repair or rerouting. And keep praying to your maker even after we get that back section done...can't hurt! :)

[homebrewbiker]

Looks like I will be able to make it out for a short ride Saturday, no place betetr for a short ride than Terrace Oaks. I am looking forward to seeing how the new trail looks!
:cool:

[daveyp]

In fine, antiquated, bureaucratic fashion, the city has seen fit to close Terrace Oaks for the season already. Just when the trails are at their finest ever. Guess they haven't seen the climatic trends of the past 40 years. Oh well.

[gopherhockey]

Closed.. already? Wow - I could understand December 1, but mid October? It was like 80 degrees out there today.

Perhaps our Trail Steward could get the final word on this - why did they close so early? My guess we won't see biking there until May 1, 2004... :cryin:

[homebrewbiker]

Yes, this does suck. Guess we'll have to wait till next year. At least Lebanon is still open for riding.:shocked:

[jeffgude]

For many years Terrace has been opened around May 1 and closed September 30. We really should push for a November 1 or November 15 closing date.

[gopherhockey]

Yea, Nov 1. makes more sense - even Dec. 1 the way things have been the past many years.

Perhaps they would be flexible if we (MORC) offer to take care of the opening and closing of the trails for them like we do at Lebanon.

There really is no reason a trail should close until significant snow flies that would mean we're in the way of skiiers. I'm sure if we offer them help it would go a lot further.

Maybe next year... oh well, one battle at a time I guess.

[devon]

I have a question for you guys. I used to ride terrace quite a bit but found it pretty boring once lebannon became what it is now. And since riding lebannon and having my exposure opened up I would like to see more. My question is this, I would like to see a little more freeride-style places in the cities and do you guys know if there will be anything built?? I'm a pretty big advocate for the freeride movement and understand the implications, both negative and positive, that freeriding provides. You can already see new trails being built in exisiting areas to facilitate this style of riding (ie - Theo) and this will only get worse if places don't get built.

Devon

[gopherhockey]

The question of "freeride" is a tough one. IMBA, the organization that we (MORC) follow for trail design has been trying to embrace the freeride movement but still apply proper trail building ideals.

I think in the metro you'll maybe see more "XX loop" style sections pop up here or there, but you probably won't see any (legal) true freeride areas.

We have a rather large mix of riders. We did a lot of XX stuff in 03' at places like Lebanon, but will most likely be concentrating on more Intermediate trail in 04'.

I'd suggest becoming a MORC member (if you aren't already) - come show up at trailwork sessions and give your input... at least that way you can help influence what happens and maybe put your own ideas into the trail.

[devon]

Thanks for the feedback. I've actually done a little trailwork last year with morc and was fairly pleased with the feedback that Jan gave to me regarding freeriding. The only thing that I didn't like was how "structured" or limited the building of things like bridges were. I understand that these trails are built in public areas and do need to abide by certain guidlines. I guess that my main concern is that if more technical areas are not being built, people will force it onto themselves to make the areas more technical. There is an excellent article Mountain Bike Action a few months ago and goes into depth regarding the negative and positive aspects regarding freeriding.

Also, I'm looking for some people to nightride with if there are any rides that you know of, please let me know.

Thanks
Devon

[Crash]

Originally posted by devon
Also, I'm looking for some people to nightride with if there are any rides that you know of, please let me know.


Look here: http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9738&forumid=58

Not sure what time tommorow night, but it is a good ride.

[devon]

Cool. Thanks. I've only got my tank running at this point and I have not ridden it at Lebannon yet so we'll see what happens.

Devon

[homebrewbiker]

OK, I guess I am new to the lingo, but exactly what is "Free riding"? I get the impression it is people building their own trails on their own? Possibly adding log piles and things to trails without any official sanction or invitation from the people managing an area?

[devon]

Pretty close. Freeriding is more along the lines of people pushing their limits a little more on trails and urban riding (jumping off walls, etc) usually on a much bigger bike. The problem isn't neccessarily how dangerous the riding is cuz let's face it, if someone wants to jump off a 10 foot wall or something of the like and break their leg, they knew the danger before they attempted the stunt just like in anything else. The problem is the environmental factors (ie - trail erosion) that come with making new trails especially on trails specifically designed for mountain biking. Also the problem is in how outsiders view freeriding. It has gotten poor publicity in the media lately because people usually do tend to go a little faster and a little more out of control. I guess it's a huge problem in California and looks like it could happen here.

If you have an email address, I can send you an excellent but lengthy article on the subject.

Devon

[devon]

I just figured out how to attach this file. It's good but long. It's a text document. Open it into word otherwise it won't be fun reading.

Devon

[gopherhockey]

I haven't put a ton of thought into freeriding... but, I guess I tend to think that something should be available - otherwise these individuals (not all, I realize that would be adding to the reputation) start to look for their own trails and/or ride where they shouldn't.

I saw some guys once with the larger suspension bikes fly down the hill at Battle Creek (where that cool long climbing switchback is) - they didn't bother sticking to the trail but just bombed straight down. My first thought was how inappropriate that was, how it wrecks the trails we already built as well as how it makes it that much harder to deal with land managers. Those first thoughts I have are what many people have when they see that kind of thing.

I think if there were places to ride, some of that wouldn't happen. Its still no excuse though. I'm concerned what the freeriding movement will do to the sport if we don't all get together on it and find solutions (as you suggest). Otherwise a hiker seeing someone bomb down a hill where there is no trail labels us all as a group.

You sound like one of the more responsible riders though. I'd be interested in more thoughts on what types of things would need to be built in order to be "freeride" worthy (and how they could be done without causing erosion or liability concerns)

[Kingbozo]

Originally posted by devon
I just figured out how to attach this file. It's good but long. It's a text document. Open it into word otherwise it won't be fun reading.

Devon

Here is a link to the same article-

http://www.mbaction.com/detail.asp?id=713

[noise_is_life]

Good Article...

It seems like this is a place where Ski Hills could step up to fill a need like Whistler Park did in BC.

How big is the freeride/urban community in the cities? I know I see big bikes once in a while, but not that often.

I'm really split on the whole freeride thing, some of it is very fun to watch and there is a small desire in me to have a big bike and try some crazy stuff, but at the same time I see some of the images (like in the latest BIKE magazine) of guys doing their thing on pristine terrain and I find it very disturbing. I know I would be really bummed if came across knobby tracks on some beautiful feature in the wild (like the portal in BIKE).

[devon]

It's fairly big here. There's a group that goes out every Sunday night that are a part of Erik's Bike Shop. Ski places like Lutsen etc don't really want to deal with the insurance issues that some of the BC style riding would - understandable.

I agree with all of the environmental issues like the knobby tire one you said, but please realize that no matter what is said or done, people are always going to push any "extreme" sport to that limit. As much as it sucks, it's true.

devon

[noise_is_life]

I would think that Ski resorts would already have to deal with those liability issues anyway since skiing tends to be an injury prone activity. Couldn't they just have riders sign a waiver like skate parks do.

[devon]

You'd think but that was the answer that I was getting. As the bike parks get bigger - and they will - I think that they will have to put in stunts and more technical runs.

[BrightYellow]

I thought this was a good quote from the article:

The freerider’s code of ethics could be stated in one sentence: you can be free to ride how you want or where you want, but you aren’t free to ride anyhow you want anywhere you want. All outdoor activities on public land are shared activities. We have a responsibility to leave the land as we found it so the next person who passes that place can have the same experience. We have a responsibility to give other users the right to enjoy the same resource in completely different ways, and we have the right to expect the same in return. This is “compatible use.”

[homebrewbiker]

As luck would have it, this afternoon I saw some clips of freeriding from some contest they are having in Utah that they were showing on CNN. It looked relatively insane. These guys were going a hill with a lot of loose dirt, that was only slightly less steep than a cliff, with a few bumps. Saw quite a few guys flying over the handlebars. The riders good enough to make to the end got a 20 foot drop off to make it through. The few who made it this far just dismounted from the bike (probably trying to avoid a broken leg I guess). All were wearing motorcycle helmets and padded pants.

[devon]

Yeah, it's called the Red Bull Rampage. Those guys are crazy. That's a little....wait...a lot more on the crazy side of freeriding. I've seen lots of videos and read lots of literature on it.