WMBC Trail News

We'll be cranking in one of the last of our connectors on the to do list this year. The new connector between the Oly and the Three Bears.The line is flagged ready to go. With a good turnout we should be able to get 'er done for the most part in a day.TRAILHEAD ATHLETICS-http://www.trailheadathletics.com/ The owners are longtime riders and WMBC supporters Derek Shiers and Nicola Mann. They will be keeping the crew fed with some up with breakfast goods and lunch for the day.Meet at Lake Padden Park south parking lot (by the ball fields) at 9:45 to consolidate vehicles for a 10:00 roll-out. If you're riding in just come to the North entrance to the Oly and you'll find us.We'll provide tools but bring a favorite if you have it. Wear appropriate gear for digging in the dirt-TEVAs aren't a great idea...See ya on the trails.

MP

Hey guys,

Got out in the afternoon y’day and met up with the fellas. Lots of progress and guys gettin’ after it. We’ve crossed the old Luge for the 5th and last time. Both Colin and Andrew have been pushing forward to reconnect with the old section today before the rains hit.

Not much in the way of pics, but I’ll get more today. Also, we did some reshaping on a couple of jumps and softened some trannies, but I want to reiterate that we’ll be dialing the entire trail long before it becomes open to the public . At this point, something gets shaped and the guys are riding it and tweaking as needed for shape and length…. Once that’s figured and things flow from feature to feature down the hill, then we’ll be making sure that everything is caseable.

I put some overlays on the map image. You can see a good approximation of the progress day to day. Just a reminder, that the exit for the trail will be further down (paralleling the road) than it shows on the map.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2743/4381777931_46b557e58a_o.jpg

Cheers,
EB

Quick update:
Well, I got out around 1 and we had a HUGE posse out there. I called ahead and knew we had 12 people out there, so I picked up lil’ caesars for the guys for lunch. By the time I got there, we had over 20 folks!! Because we were pretty much caught up to Andrew, I had guys concentrate on shutting down the old trail, transplanting ferns and we also totally blocked off the old section of Dan’s between the Luge and PT. I want to make sure folks don’t wander onto the new trail from there – which happened today when some dudes came over from PT to get to Atomic Dog. I’m gonna put a sign on PT that tells riders the Luge is closed.

Because we built a couple of big features today, we didn’t make as much progress. Roughly ~200 feet, but we’re about to round a corner to an old skidder road that won’t require as much initial clearing, has a killer dirt supply and should go faster. Andrew, Colin and I will be out tomorrow working on that section and the goal is to get Andrew ahead of the pack, so folks can concentrate on shaping dirt.

Some pics.

A table to a hip combo.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4372282310_eaf2d7fba8_o.jpg

Looking up at the same section.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2803/4371531919_72af8224f6_o.jpg

New table is so sweet.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4371531741_ea3a46daa8_o.jpg

Cheers,
EB

Hey guys,

A quick update. We had Spencer, Colin, Tyler B., Guy, Josh P., Brandon, Kyle N. all out helping Andrew y’day. As I was heading up, I ran into Spencer and he was totally blown away by the quantity and quality of the new work. He helped shape 3 berms that are works of art and said he’ll be out as much as possible.

Day 4 saw the completion of 4 jumps and a beautiful 3 berm chicane. I didn’t measure the amount of trail, but will do that today.

Today, Spencer was up with Andrew at 8:30 already shaping a hip we started yesterday. Colin picked up the plate compactor, so we’ll be able to do flow checks and figure out lengths of jumps now. Trent from Hertz rentals gave it to us for $100 for the month. I just secured it with my card….no biggie. Colin’s got the entire Plunder crew with him all day, Josh and Brandon, Kyle N. and Joel Spackman are also up, so I we’re gonna see some serious work.

I finally started taking some “before” pics, so it should be interesting to see how those sections evolve. A few from y’day of finished work.

Josh, Britney, Brandon and Kyle worked on a big set of rollers that can be doubled.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2794/4371165152_526e542d68_o.jpg

Exit berm of a 3 berm chicane.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4371165192_31e72ee01e_o.jpg

Leads into this section with pumpers and 2 big tables.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4370326259_224b8f4ee3_o.jpg

Josh shaping one of the trannies on a beautiful table:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4370314745_67a8dbb135_o.jpg

Cheers,
EB

Hey all,

We had the plunder crew in full effect. They’ve been busting their butts in a serious way and I’m totally grateful for their building expertise and efforts. We had Lorin B., another trailday regular (Chris) and a total newb (Andrew) helping out move dirt. Courtney came down during a ride to help transplant ferns for an hour or so.

The crew got a huge berm done, a couple drains and 4 jumps built. Day 3’s progress was roughly 250 feet of trail, but there was some gnarly stuff to get through….we’re averaging about 300 feet/day with a BIG crew to help shape. Today’s crew will be much smaller as a couple guys are working, everyone’s pretty beat from 24 hours of dirt moving, Thad’s celebrating his birthday, etc.

Things to note:
· I’m looking to find a Wacker (brand) plate compactor and walk behind toter for rental. No luck yet.
· The entrance section is super greasy still from Monday’s rain. That should firm up this week with the nice weather.
· Andrew and the crew are really hitting their stride and the line’s getting tighter and getting re-vegged really nicely immediately after things are shaped.
· There are two drains that will get re-worked.
· Once jumps firm up and we can figure out distances and then they will get filled in…..long before the line is open to the public.
· Grabbed the bin from Darren’s house. Gotta have to drain the water out of there! Lol.

A few pics:

A massive 180 deg. berm
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4366314661_867481d044_o.jpg

Which leads into this hip (before it got finished).
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4366314625_95cd0c67b0_o.jpg

Which leads into a couple of new jumps. This section was super gnarly with old logs.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2742/4366314483_4185720e64_o.jpg

Hey fellas,

Day 2 Update:

Huge progress yesterday with another killer crew. Hawk, Brad, Kevin, Andrew, Lorin, Brandon, Josh, The Plunder crew (Colin, Vaughn, Chris, Clayton and Thad) got after it again. I don’t have the total length of trail built, but a chunk of the day was devoted to clearing a gnarly section. Brad set his camera up for 3 hours on time lapse clearing that section, so that should be really cool to see when it’s sped up.

I’m going up around 1 today.

Cheers,
EB

Pics:

When those dudes catch up to the machine, Clayton, Colin and Chris got after it transplanting ferns and moving some organic in place to help tighten the trail in the first left berm. We’ll keep this going as the machine heads down the hill.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4365977632_7f4156f8c0_o.jpg

The 2nd left hand berm turned out SO nice. Most shaping is done here, so we’ll bring in the trail tread and transplant ferns on this asap.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2704/4365977886_a26c7c5e48_o.jpg

Thad, Colin and Vaughn shaping.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/4365248455_aff907982c_o.jpg

Which turned into this hip:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4365234227_7fb53aceea_o.jpg

Lorin moving after the hip:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4365977506_56a0ae4805_o.jpg

That leads to a flattish section, hits a berm and then goes into a two sets of pumpers that can be doubled. I love how tight this all looks after the guys have shaped and transplanted ferns.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4365234009_15ab285ac9_o.jpg

Hawk and Josh shaping the section after the rollers.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4365234383_2946d81fc6_o.jpg

Andrew working his magic where it crosses the old trail. There is a stepdown in this spot now.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2784/4365977988_3daa615e4b_o.jpg

Quick update from Day 1:

Odin was out all day along with Colin, Chris, Clayton, Matt and a few other guys. By the end of the day, there were 7 or 8 guys shaping and moving dirt.

Day 1 progress:

3 berms, 3 ½ jumps, 1 drain culvert placed and 340 feet of trail. The jumps will be filled in better and we’re going to rent a plate compactor today or tomorrow to go through and firm up everything. We’re going to focus on transplanting ferns and bringing other organic in to narrow the trail tread once shaping is dialed for every section. Our goal is to make it look like a machine never touched the hill.



Day 2:

Andrew was out at 8 AM this morning to get a jump (pun intended) on the shapers. We’ve got 10 guys out right now (Brad, Kevin, Hawk, Brandon, Josh, Colin, Thad, Chris, Clayton, Vaughn) shaping and Andrew is on the machine all day. I'll be out in the afternoon. Should have big progress.



Some pics:























Leads into the first right berm. Note the drain on the right side after the berm. Not an afterthought.

which leads into a little roller that can be hipped.

Berm 2 (left hander). This will get narrowed a bunch.

Leads into the first bigger jump that will have an advanced side and an intermediate side

2nd left berm getting shaped by Clayton and Courtney.

Colin and Clayton shaping the next hip.



cheers

The Luge is now officially closed. We got the mini ex on the hill yesterday and actually started down the trail a little bit to help keep the machine from getting messed with on the road. Matt, Colin, Thad, Chris and I were just watching in amazement as it yanked a few stumps out that would’ve taken us several hours and a couple of dull saws to get removed.

Work truly commences on Monday, February 15th.

A few pics.



Entrance cleared. This is not done by a long shot….just clearing so we could get the machine off the road.





Looking up the same section. This will have a ladder roller as a gate feature (i.e. you have to be “this” tall to ride this coaster) into a couple of pump humps that can be doubled for advanced riders.

YO! Work on the machine built jump line starts Monday, Feb. 15th!!!

The machine is getting delivered to the hill on Friday. We have received $300 in donations for this project so far. We need to raise another $700 ASAP to be able to pull this off! Head on over to the WMBC website and hit the Donate button on the home page and then the TOP PayPal button and give what you can.

We'll also be signing up volunteers to work behind the machine on the days it's building. If you have a day or two or 10 to volunteer, email me your name, number, and days you're available and we'll get you signed up. We are looking at a Monday thru Friday 9-4 work schedule: Feb. 15-19th and 22-26th.

Cheers, Hawk

bhawk1980@yahoo.com

Riders, the next FR trail crew day is coming up on Saturday, Feb. 20 and will be co-sponsored by Kona and Jack's Bikes. If the weather is good we'll focus on rebuilding berms, jumps, and transitions along with general maintenance on lower Mullet and Cheech and Chong's Wild Ride. If it's wet, we'll focus on general maintenance and shaping on those lines and leave the majority of the dirt work for another day.

Meet at the upper Lake Padden parking lot across from Galbraith Ln. around 9:45 and plan to roll out by 10. We'll have coffee and pastries as a light breakfast with Jacks/Kona providing lunch around 1. Bring water, work gloves, weather appropriate gear, and your bike if it's nice and you want to get a ride in after. We'll provide tools but if you have a favorite shovel or rake, feel free to bring it.

Cheers, Hawk

Here is a set of photos from the work on Lost Giants:








A small puncheon bridge at the other end of the bridge.








The completed new segment.


A small reroute around a low muddy spot.

Working on the Lost Giants is always a labor or love for me. It was the first trail I ever built on Galbraith almost 20 years ago now.... so it holds a special spot on my trail roster. But truth be told I've learned a lot about building trail in the past 20 years and like so many things so much of success comes down to location, location, location!

The LG is in a great area of the mountain-full of big trees, lots of moss and also a fair share of wet areas. If I were to do it all over again I'm not sure we would have punched a trail through where it is located now. Over the years it has become a classic and it's got some of the best "feel" of a big forest around. Now that the Mole Trap connects the LG and Rock & Roll, the LG is seeing a lot more traffic in years past. As a result the maintenance schedule had to be accelerated. So we keep working on it-draining where we can and bridging where we need to to make it flow sweet again.

This weekend we put in some serious work on the very south end of the trail-we added almost 40 feet of new bridging. It was great to use the available timber that was down and built a split log bridge. It's a bit narrower than some of the others-but we like that, as it is adding a bit of a challenge to that section.

The sections south of the bridging got the full on rake over (literally) and it is manicured and riding sweet. Some creative work at the exit makes for a cool punch out to the pipeline road instead of dropping into the big mud puddle that had appeared over the past year.

Thanks to the 12 folks that showed up and Whitney of WWU Cycling Team for motivation a few extra volunteers.