Dig stoke, who else likes to play in the dirt???

[raisingarizona13]

I hear you on complainers and generally ignore them as well. This guy was notable because he complained then you see him riding around all the hard stuff as he rides away.

Also agreed on MTBers being annoying as a group. I'd add the word entitled.

Speaking of "that one rock," I've been removing some of them lately because of the trail widening they always lead to here. This used to be narrow singletrack, but a rock starts to poke out of the dirt and all of a sudden people have to take the low line around it, doubling the trail width. But remove it, and someone will get outraged for dumbing down the trail. lol

Attachment 401795

Haha! Yup, I've seen all of that as well. In the end, if you're the guy doing the work then F em really. Do what you like and feel is appropriate and truthfully most riders don't know anything about trail maintenance or construction but man do they have opinions! The really experienced riders that have done work generally aren't going to complain and know how hard the work actually is.

[rudy]

All I've got to say is I'd love to ride that shit that evdog is building. Keep doing what you're doing, only wish I lived close to take advantage of it. Looks rad.

[raisingarizona13]

All I've got to say is I'd love to ride that shit that evdog is building. Keep doing what you're doing, only wish I lived close to take advantage of it. Looks rad.

x2.

Those rocks are very cool, it's always fun to work with perfect, rollable geology. Thanks for your work evdog!

[schuss]

I know, it's quite strange. The Pease trails have an old dump in one area. It's disgusting. The amount of broken glass on the surface is disheartening. I cannot imagine how the wildlife avoid cutting the paws/hooves whatever wide open. I wish the PDA would go in there and clean it up. I also think a lot of trash just gets blown in the wind and the leaves bury it...year after year. I have certainly pulled a lot of trash out of the woods over the years building trails. I'm not sure it offsets the damage I've created in the woods by building trails. There's a fine line and I do struggle sometimes with disrupting habitat. Not on purpose or knowingly, but I know I'm messing with nature and the natural order of things. But hey, the deer definitely love our trails! We see their tracks all the time.

Based on the volume of deer droppings I'm already getting on my raked out trail - they approve. Also sounds like if it isn't getting that much traffic, likely a hard, deep rake/till is called for - especially given this area has a ton of biomass everywhere with a big organic layer (Right next to a swamp with easy capillary access to water and a ton of diverse species moving through).

[jackstraw]

x2.

Those rocks are very cool, it's always fun to work with perfect, rollable geology. Thanks for your work evdog!

I mean yeah I agree, but it looks too easy

[evdog]

I went back out today with a water sprayer to see if I could get better results with the graffiti remover. This is how I left the first section I tested a couple weeks ago.

Attachment 401683

This is how they look when dry. Not bad. You can still see them but they don't pop obnoxiously like they did before.




Scrubbing then spraying. The sprayer easily rinsed off what the scrubber dislodged. Once dry it will still be very visible though. I tried another round of graffiti remover and scrubbing, but it didn't help. Problem is the brush isn't getting into all the nooks and crannies of the rock texture so there is lots of paint left. Maybe stronger graffiti remover would help. Spraying the grey residue only makes the white pop more, so the better solution seems to be skip the water and just scrub and leave it like the first pic.




Decided to try one more thing... throw a bit of dirt on each dot and work it into the granite texture. Dirt is good camouflage and you expect to see it, so you don't notice them as dots. The dirt will wear off but should leave dust/residue in the same spots the scrubber can't reach the paint which will help hide them. As tires wear any dirt/sand away this should also help grind away the paint. Hopefully between that and scrubbing them first they won't be noticeable.


Before - dots in the wet area have been scrubbed and rinsed




After. We'll see how they look after some riders have come through.




Another section that had 3 dots in view. Can you spot where they were?

[climberevan]

Good for you, man. I really hope those assholes don't return and re-graffiti your rocks.

[jackstraw]

Some asshole has painted the shit out of one of our areas. I've built 95% of the trails and its so irritating to ride there now, I almost never do...and it's less than a mile from my house. He used at least 5 different colors, painted huge arrows on trees, rocks, boulders. It's unbelievable to me. It's so obnoxious to be in the woods and see all this f'n paint everywhere. The other thing is I cannot imagine how much paint he/she actually used. The cost alone is a small fortune.
I've tried to grind if off the boulders and it didn't work. So I've ended up painting flat black over some of it. They came back and painted what I hid. I'm trying to keep calm and realize this person is complete moran and just needs a lesson on life, but it's hard, real hard.

[VTskibum]

Was going to bump some of the ancient pumptrack threads, but figured this thread works. Decided it’s finally time to build a backyard pumptrack, going to hire a local pro landscaper turned pro trail builder who’s built a few, plus a number of jump lines etc. got first cut of design we came up with and looking for feedback on design.

I have an out of the way/sight space in my backyard, dimensions are a 60x60 very gently slopes, but do have to build on top, not down bc of drainage issues.

Have 8 & 10 y/o, younger daughter is super into it, but sucks driving almost an hour to closest tracks. I wanted lots of corners, especially the left/right/left as that float between corners is one of my favorite things about skis and bikes. So heart shape was my suggestion. Builder came back w this layout, which looks pretty fun and tech w plenty of options while still keeping relatively kid friendly outer loop.


Thoughts?


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[grskier]

1) rad
2) they are a decent amount of work to maintain.

[forty]

Was going to bump some of the ancient pumptrack threads, but figured this thread works. Decided it’s finally time to build a backyard pumptrack, going to hire a local pro landscaper turned pro trail builder who’s built a few, plus a number of jump lines etc. got first cut of design we came up with and looking for feedback on design.

I have an out of the way/sight space in my backyard, dimensions are a 60x60 very gently slopes, but do have to build on top, not down bc of drainage issues.

Have 8 & 10 y/o, younger daughter is super into it, but sucks driving almost an hour to closest tracks. I wanted lots of corners, especially the left/right/left as that float between corners is one of my favorite things about skis and bikes. So heart shape was my suggestion. Builder came back w this layout, which looks pretty fun and tech w plenty of options while still keeping relatively kid friendly outer loop.


Thoughts?


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sounds like fun!

looking at the sketch, first thing that i see is the upper section of 180 - 70 - 180 corners being difficult to hold speed through, my guess is this would turn into a pedaling zone for beginners

any corner over 90 will slow you down, having multiple in a row really brings momentum down in a hurry

common approach is to take a 180 and split it into 2 x 90s with a roller between to help keep pace up

can also do a longer rhythm section into a 180 and then another momentum building section after and use the 180 as a reset spot

is it possible to create a diamond shape around the upper two trees and open up the 2 x 180s?

also, i dont see a jump... every pumptrack needs a jump, tabletop platform in the middle section or on the long straight seems like a must

a note on "pro" trail builders...
often the final product will look nice and shiny, but due to their budget and time constraints will rely on machine finished packing which generally fails rapidly leaving the customer to do unexpected finish work

my opinion is to treat pro trail builders less as providing a finished product, and more as a machine and operator rental company who does your bidding to rough in what you want to finish yourself

but mostly, have fun playing in the dirt with the groms!

[VTskibum]

Thanks for feedback forty. Definitely will need to consider the speed maintenance for that back section. May need to become rhythm section. Will need to figure out some jump, maybe the intersection in middle becomes a table?

As for diamond shape, it’s a possibility but there are some other complications for going that way.

I’m realistic that this is probably not the absolute final shape, though I know a guy who built one 5-6 months ago and he’s been quite happy w it so far.

Will post more as design and build progress, probably mid/late March.


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[evdog]

Back out to the mountains for the first time in a few months to continue working on a reclamation project

[SkiLyft]

Back at it!




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[jackstraw]

I need a berm just like that one, but all I have to work with is super rocky dirt. I may end up with a two tire width berm. You either connect or lose. Waiting for the snow to melt.

[SkiLyft]

Nice few days of digging before the dirt locks up next week with frigid temps again.








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[evdog]

Good for you, man. I really hope those assholes don't return and re-graffiti your rocks.

Well fuck, clear trail lasted for 2 weeks.

Went out last week and scrubbed dots on the upper 2/3 of the trail. Went out today to cover those up with dirt and scrub the lower 1/3. Got down to the bottom section from my pics above where I tested this out and shit head has re-painted there, with extra new dots for emphasis. And of course re-opened the cheater line at the bottom.

I have a tendency to be stubborn and want to keep fighting this, but don't really have time for that right now. Might go out and leave a "please respect trailbuilder's wishes" type note. A few people out there still respect builders.

If I get motivated, maybe I'll put a game camera up and bait him by cleaning dots within view of the camera. Would be awesome if I could identify him that way. Do some community/social media shaming/peer pressure if he keeps it up. Everyone I've talked to hates those dots. More realistically, just find out if he rides out there at a regular time and try to track him down on the trail.

Any one got recco's for a game camera? Something with good enough quality I can put it further away would be best. Won't have budget for one that uses cell signal to send real-time pics unfortunately.

[jackstraw]

^what a nitwit! I don't know one mtn bike rider that likes the painted shit in our area either. So frustrating. The worse part is these idiots probably think they're doing a good thing for all the riders. Pure ignorance.

[bonewrenched]

The worse part is these idiots probably think they're doing a good thing for all the riders. Pure ignorance.

"It's the darndest thing, my guide marks keep getting washed away in the rain.... but we haven't had any rain in a while.... maybe it's the wind??"

[Clownshoe]

All you guys out there getting after it all ready have got my inspired!

Went for a look at my local project. About 12 linear feet of my trail have melted out so far, with the top of the trail under 4 feet of packed snow...

I guess its time to go and do some maintenance on those 12 feet.

[Andeh]

Still no real rain here, so we can't do any real trail work.

There's a little trail in the local park that must have been originally dug by kids a decade or more ago. It kind of comes and goes, as it gets overgrown by scotch broom and other weeds. It's mostly ridden by kids because it's so short (like 30 sec), but it's kind of nice to have because it's really close to the entrance of the park, so you can bang out a lap in 5 minutes when you're waiting for someone to show up. A buddy and I decided to rehab it in the process of clearing back the brush. Adding a few sweeping turns rather than just making it go straight. Keeping it off-camber to preserve the rough feel. Going to fix a couple of the shitty "jumps" that some kids put in to proper little booters. Surprisingly satisfying.

[jackstraw]

Still no real rain here, so we can't do any real trail work.

There's a little trail in the local park that must have been originally dug by kids a decade or more ago. It kind of comes and goes, as it gets overgrown by scotch broom and other weeds. It's mostly ridden by kids because it's so short (like 30 sec), but it's kind of nice to have because it's really close to the entrance of the park, so you can bang out a lap in 5 minutes when you're waiting for someone to show up. A buddy and I decided to rehab it in the process of clearing back the brush. Adding a few sweeping turns rather than just making it go straight. Keeping it off-camber to preserve the rough feel. Going to fix a couple of the shitty "jumps" that some kids put in to proper little booters. Surprisingly satisfying.

Thats funny. We have a small spot right where we park dubbed the "roller coaster". It has multiple lines to rip around when we're waiting for people to show up for the ride.

[skiing2skiing]

Anyone here build dig and ride UK style trail?

[californiagrown]

Anyone here build dig and ride UK style trail?

You mean rake n' ride loamer lines?

[skiing2skiing]

Yeah like the kind of stuff in the British pie video series.