WMBC Trail News

Today, the 31st of January was the scheduled work day for the dirt jump park for the month. There are crew work days scheduled every month, and do not conflict with any other trail crew dates. Today was a slow day for work as only two of us were working (due to too short of public notice about the planned day, most likely...). However, we made progress. A bit of fine-tuning was done on some of the drainage, and the dirt that was removed was then used to help with other projects. A new, smaller roll-in for the little tabletop line is nearly complete, so that the beginners do not need to start at the top of the big roll-in, which used to provide too much speed for that line. Also, the fifth jump in the medium doubles line was reshaped and finally looks like a real jump. More riders showed up, and we then decided to join them on our bikes.

Photos from the day:


The new smaller roll-in.


Fifth jump in the medium line, now looking like something more real.


A friend throwing a 360 on the sixth jump.



Hope to see more people show up to help on the next crew day! The park is looking better all the time.

Just got the bad news from EB about his Friend Baker.

Hey all,

After several days without food and many trips to the vet, we decided that we couldn’t prolong Baker’s suffering any longer. He was diagnosed with bone cancer in his hip over 4 months ago and we’ve done all we could do. Since September, he’s been on a ton of bike rides and trail days and we really tried to make the most of the time we had with him. Because he wasn’t feeling well enough to go on trail rides recently, he helped me scout a new trail on Galbraith in November and December that we named in his honor – Atomic Dog.

Beyond being a fantastic companion and brother to Shasta, he’s been an integral part of our mt. biking and trail building crews over the last 6 years. He’s gone out building with me in the absolute worst of conditions and never once complained. If you get a chance, please raise a pint to our fallen trail buddy this week. Courtney and I are, of course, totally devastated.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnash/sets/72157622316663535/show/

R.I.P. Baker Bake

we all love our dogs

With a crew of six Cedar Dust saw some love this weekend. Check it out --Dc

I've been sitting on the Parks board on and off now for what seems like like ten years. I guess when it's all added up, between my time off the board and my time on I've been a member of the Bellingham Parks and Rec Advisory Committee for nearing a decade.

Still it was a bit of a shock when it came to vote as our current Chair's term was expiring in 2010. When that particular point of business came up in the agenda in January and it was announced we needed nominations for a new Chair, all eyes turned to me. It was pretty clear what all these gazes meant. They expected me to accept the position next. Ask me in a year if all those gazes are a good thing or a bad thing.

So instead of wondering why would a guy like me with a full time job, 3 kids and an unruly 60 lb puppy would say yes to such a thing, I bowed to the pressure of 12 different sets of eyes. After probably not enough thought I said, "sure I'll do it"

Crazy-me the Chair of the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Advisory Committe.

Mountain Biking has come a long way.

MP

The Indie Series is back and rolling strong for the 2010 season and we’re ready to bring on the great races and good times for our 5th year in a row. We’ve been working hard in the off-season to find venues and replace ones we’re losing and it’s been a bit of tough go. Our hope is to maintain our Greenwater venue and also add a new event at Silver Lake-near Maple Falls on HWY 542 with dates in early May and Late July.

Our core events anchoring the series are in place and we are able to announce those dates now. We’re confident our other races will work out and we’ll be able to announce all the details soon.

Thanks for all the support over the years and we’re looking forward to another great year of Indie Series Racing.

INDIE SERIES 2010

May 23rd, 2010 Whidbey Island Mudder-Whidbey Island, WA 2010 Indie Series EventIndie Series Event, The Whidbey Island Mudder returns May 23rd, 2010. Riders from around the region will converge on Whidbey for a day full of XC mountain bike racing, food, music, and fun.
THE COURSE: The Mudder course features terrain for every racer: climbs, tight single-track, berms, switchbacks, and plenty of room for passing thanks to some extended double-track sections. The course will clock in at about 6 miles this year.
RACE CONTACT:Matt Hickman - matt@pedaldynamics.com

Website-www.indieseries.com

June 5th Bavarian Bike & Brews-Leavenworth, WA 2010 Indie Series EventJoin us for a day & night of family fun, spectacular racing, great beer, and music. Kick off your bike shoes and relax by spending the day with us.
THE COURSE:The cross country race features a spectacular, but rigorous 8.6-mile loop with 1800-ft. elevation gain per lap. Each lap has four creek crossings, challenging single track, and plenty of water bars interlaced throughout the most spectacular scenery you have ever seen. This is not a course for the timid soul, but will challenge all who commit.
RACE CONTACT:Race ContactJames & Christine Munly - info@dasradhaus.com
Website-www.indieseries.com or www.dasradhaus.com/

June 26th & 27th Methow Mt. Challenge-Winthrop, WA 2010 Indie Series EventBack for the 5th year, with the support of Methow Cycle and Sport and the Methow Valley Sport Trail Association. Come spend spend your day racing in the sunny Methow Valley.
THE COURESE:A classic mix of fast open open trails, steep climbs and impressive views make racing in the Methow Valley some of the finest around. Separate loops for beginners and advanced riders keeps everyone challenged and smiling. The extensive network of trails in the surrounding area make for a great reason to stay and extra day and spend more time taking in the dry heat and riding the fast trails. 2010 Indie Series Event
Joe Brown - oeb@methowcyclesport.com
Website-www.indieseries.com or www.methowcyclesport.com/

July 18th Padden MTN Pedal-Bellingham WA-2010 Indie Series Event
-2010 Indie Series EventFor 18 straight years the Padden MTN Pedal has been a cornerstone of the Pacific Northwest mountain bike racing calendar. It's the race that keeps on racing. Top notch park amenities create a scenic and convenient venue and the legendary course lures riders back year after year.
THE COURSE:Padden is known to be one of the best spectator courses- riders doing multiple laps make for great viewing and raucous cheers. So it's a great place to come cheer on your friends, family and fellow racers-they’ll need it. The Padden course is known as one of the most challenging yet rewarding courses around. Steep climbs are rewarded with technical descents that keep the adrenaline pumping.
RACE CONTACT:Mark Peterson markomtb13@comcast.net
Website-www.indieseries.com
For general series inquires contact Mark Peterson at markomtb13@comcast.net

See you at the races!The Indie Crew

The WMBC is pleased to announce that we are going to build 2 machine-built jump trails on Galbraith Mountain in 2010. Both of these projects are a couple years in the making, so it’s very exciting to see our plans coming to fruition. The WMBC has partnered with a local machine owner, and a local machine operator, and will also be relying on volunteers to help complete this project.Which trails are going to be built with the machine?The LugeThe current Luge route is an old moto trail that does not use the available terrain well and, as a result, is a very quick trail that has major erosion issues. The plan is to have a dramatic reroute of the Luge to use the hillside much better, extend the trail’s length, address the drainage issues, and build berms, table-tops, step-ups and step-downs. Map: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/4188590737_df593e7886_o.jpgUpper Mullet (future name TBD):This will start where an old trail called 12 Monkeys used to start near Wonderland and the view spot near the top of Evolution. It will end directly across from Mullet and help our goal of connectivity on the mountain. Our routing challenge was to avoid several boggy sections, a good-sized ravine, and to avoid any conflict with the Wonderland Trail. The new trail will roughly have 12 big berms, some pump rollers, and 15+ jumps.Map: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/4189352232_8cd637fdd9_o.jpgWhy use a machine instead of building by hand?By using a machine (specifically, a mini excavator in this situation), we’ll be able to build the trails significantly faster with far less volunteer manpower. These essentially are new lines with many features that would take a very long time to create by hand. Additionally, they allow us to better use the terrain and easily create table-top jumps, step-ups, and step-downs and big berms to help the progression of local riders.Who’s doing the work?WMBC Trail Crew Leaders Bill Hawk, Matt Durand, Colin Tobin and Eric Brown are leading the build process and have scouted, flagged, and cleared the two new work zones. We are very fortunate to have a local trail builder named Andrew Fletcher-Love, who has thousands of hours building trails with a machine, willing to volunteer his time. Andrew will be running the mini-excavator the bulk of the time and also was present during the routing process. Also assisting us was Duncan MacKenzie, who is a friend and fellow trail builder from Whistler. Duncan has lots of experience designing and building these types of trails as a builder in the Whistler Bike Park and helped us route our lines appropriately. The good news is we weren’t too far off with our initial line choice, but it was very helpful to have his expertise.Where are we getting the machine?Mark Salisbury of Fanatik Bike has graciously donated his personal mini-excavator for both projects. He also will trailer it and bring it to and from Galbraith for us. What can you do to help?1. Donate some $$$ to the cause! We set up a PayPal account at the WMBC website (http://www.whimpsmtb.com) specifically for the funding of this project. While the labor and equipment are being donated (estimated $5,000 value), we’ll need to pay for diesel fuel, grease, oil, drainage culverts, and a tune up on the machine before we return it. We estimate these costs to be around $750-1500.2. Volunteer your time! During the build days, we would like to have 1-2 extra people be out there to help cut up timber, re-vegetate an area, do some clean up work behind the machine, and some finishing work shaping jumps. The goal is to keep the machine building trail and features, and not having to do as much of the cleanup work. We’ll be creating sign up sheets for people, as most of the building will happen during the week.Thanks for your help with funding and building these two new jump trails!Cheers, Hawk

Well today EB, Bill, Mark & Myself hiked and reviewed the new freeride lines to be worked on over the next few months. The is a well routed directional trail starting just west of the exit of the luge. The intent is to have a good fast and flowy trail to act as a "cooldown" after a long day on galby. Nothing to big but lots of mid size features, all dirt to keep it fun. After hiking it with the crew leader it has all the potential in the world to satisfy it's intent. My hat goes off to EB & Hawk and crew for the good work.

The second trail we hiked was the luge reroutes. The Luge originally was a fall line trail rutted beyond any acceptable amount and is in need of a true repair not some patch work. This will also be the first Trail the WMBC will be using a mini excavator, thanks to Mark Salisbury, and a professional operator, The luge is going to get a face lift to an extreme, berms and tables will be the norm. During our hike the term "bigger wider". Meaning bigger features and wider trail bed, including a proposed 26 tables and 19 berms all in the whistler category. The reroute alone will add 4 times amount of trail. It should be one of the best built trails in the county when finished.