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

[hick]

Started building an extension of the climbing trail at one of our local trail networks. Playing in an excavator is fun, but can't say I'm really looking forward to sitting in that thing all week.

Depends on the ground. If you’re butt is chewing a hole in the seat, the days can fly by. But, yeah get a bunch of good podcasts to listen to if it’s easy digging. Boring shit for sure.


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[rip]

Very true.. cut bench and grub across a 35 deg slope and it will definitely not seem boring.



Hopefully this before and after set will Stoke out any builders out there.. probably the worst section of rock we had to build thru.. lil Jerry has no idea of our toil and tribulation.





Sorry for some of the weird formatting and the repeat, this upload process is a pain

[jackstraw]

No dirt, but deadfall. My mo is to make a skinny or in this case a fat when deadfall hits the trail. Made round pavers [emoji3] for the damp section...and to test the battery. She can still cut quite a bit for an old battery.

[californiagrown]

We have a city owned 350' vertical forested hillside above an abandoned golf course about an 1/8th of mile from my place. I spent this past fall into early winter building a cool little trail with some blue/black level mandatory jumps and drops and awesome steep loam sections. It was totally built from scratch by me and my dog. I put a good amount of thought into keeping the trail fairly hiker friendly (as that will likely be the majority user group even though it is obviously purpose built for MTB), and i really made an effort to keep it looking natural and not disturbing more than i needed to e.g. minimizing and hiding my dig pits, making sure that anything i built was polished and not left halfassed, recovering things in stockpiled duff, and replanting removed ferns. Its a beautiful bit of PNW forest in there, and i wanted to keep that vibe.

Well, the first extended dry spell coincided with the Covid19 stay at home order which meant that i was able to ride and test everything for the first time... but also, so were a couple other folks in the neighborhood as everyone was out and about exploring the neighborhood forests for the first time. Unfortunately, those folks decided to put in a janky hip jump that blocks the mainline of the trail. They dug FOUR dig pits for the one jump (two of which in the mainline), but managed to still make the lip and landing of organics and clay so they are just mucky and soft. I had built a couple drains in this section and they destroyed those and have essentially turned this section into a bowl that does nothing but collect water. I dont want to be an asshole, but these kids took a moss and fern covered section of trail that looked beautiful (which is important for the neighborhood Karens to enjoy the trail), and built a janky half finished jump and created a mud bog.

Im giving them another week to fix their shit, and then im going in to totally redo what they did to my trail. How can i get the message to them to fix their shit and/or dont build shit on "my" trail? Leaving a sign for them seems like an asshole move. Or, should i just accept that i built an unsanctioned trail and now have to deal with idiots not knowing trail ettiquite?

[zion zig zag]

Triple posting aside....try to find out who it is and mentor them.

[evdog]

I find usually if you undo their shitty work they get the message and go elsewhere.

[jackstraw]

We have a city owned 350' vertical forested hillside above an abandoned golf course about an 1/8th of mile from my place. I spent this past fall into early winter building a cool little trail with some blue/black level mandatory jumps and drops and awesome steep loam sections. It was totally built from scratch by me and my dog. I put a good amount of thought into keeping the trail fairly hiker friendly (as that will likely be the majority user group even though it is obviously purpose built for MTB), and i really made an effort to keep it looking natural and not disturbing more than i needed to e.g. minimizing and hiding my dig pits, making sure that anything i built was polished and not left halfassed, recovering things in stockpiled duff, and replanting removed ferns. Its a beautiful bit of PNW forest in there, and i wanted to keep that vibe.

Well, the first extended dry spell coincided with the Covid19 stay at home order which meant that i was able to ride and test everything for the first time... but also, so were a couple other folks in the neighborhood as everyone was out and about exploring the neighborhood forests for the first time. Unfortunately, those folks decided to put in a janky hip jump that blocks the mainline of the trail. They dug FOUR dig pits for the one jump (two of which in the mainline), but managed to still make the lip and landing of organics and clay so they are just mucky and soft. I had built a couple drains in this section and they destroyed those and have essentially turned this section into a bowl that does nothing but collect water. I dont want to be an asshole, but these kids took a moss and fern covered section of trail that looked beautiful (which is important for the neighborhood Karens to enjoy the trail), and built a janky half finished jump and created a mud bog.

Im giving them another week to fix their shit, and then im going in to totally redo what they did to my trail. How can i get the message to them to fix their shit and/or dont build shit on "my" trail? Leaving a sign for them seems like an asshole move. Or, should i just accept that i built an unsanctioned trail and now have to deal with idiots not knowing trail ettiquite?

We have a somewhat similar situation going on. A guy is going hard building jumps on our trails and then posting on FB. We found him and he's a nice guy, but we asked him to take it down a notch and to kill the FB shit which he agreed to do but that cat is out of the bag. F'n FB sucks. The issue with jumps on rogue trails is the liability factor for the landowner. Natural stuff is fine, but once you start building manmade structures and the owner or conservation commission (which is the mix of what most of our trails are built on) is made aware then some liability creeps in and shit gets shut down.

[GiBo]

We have two five mile single track sections through town. Both on city property. One on a creek and the other on the river. Each one is 'managed' by a different volunteer group. Both groups have relationships with the city. They do joint park cleanups and an annual "Rec Fest". Kids build stupid shit all the time. They just go in and take it out. But they have a little tractor with a back hoe. I don't know how they get around liability though. The river section has a pump track with a bunch of wooden features. They've built jumps and berms all along the trail. Fun, but I keep waiting for a Karen to shut it down.

Californiagrown, tough to go it alone. If you have some other riders you can make a coalition with, seems like the way to go. At least it's working here. I can put you in touch with the guys who run these groups in my town if you want more info.

[LeeLau]

Im giving them another week to fix their shit, and then im going in to totally redo what they did to my trail. How can i get the message to them to fix their shit and/or dont build shit on "my" trail? Leaving a sign for them seems like an asshole move. Or, should i just accept that i built an unsanctioned trail and now have to deal with idiots not knowing trail ettiquite?

Having dealt with that before the best way to deal with it is to talk to them. At the very least you've tried.

[californiagrown]

Having dealt with that before the best way to deal with it is to talk to them. At the very least you've tried.

How do you get in contact with them though? I totally agree that just talking to them would work the best and they'd probably respond really well. I don't want to leave my contact info on an illegal trail, and i'm not going to just camp out on the trail for days on end interrogating anyone who passes by if they have been digging there till they finally come back though. They apparently brought in their own shovels too, because my stash spot hasnt been touched so i cant leave a note there either.

Ill probably just have to suck it up and hope i catch them in the act so i can talk with them. Ill post pictures later to try and make up for the anti-stoke.

[LeeLau]

How do you get in contact with them though? I totally agree that just talking to them would work the best and they'd probably respond really well. I don't want to leave my contact info on an illegal trail, and i'm not going to just camp out on the trail for days on end interrogating anyone who passes by if they have been digging there till they finally come back though. They apparently brought in their own shovels too, because my stash spot hasnt been touched so i cant leave a note there either.

Ill probably just have to suck it up and hope i catch them in the act so i can talk with them. Ill post pictures later to try and make up for the anti-stoke.

I made a BS email account and had it forwarded to my email. I used the BS email account address to post a notice on the trail. Very non-confrontational. "Thanks for the work! Is there any way we can work together?" Sympathies to you for doing the right thing; all you can do is try

[californiagrown]

*I dont know how to rotate the pictures*

Top 4' drop into berm. I need to rework the landing area this week to make it steeper. I put those stairs in climbers right for hikers and actually had an older lady thank me for the consideration a few weeks ago.



Loamy Forest


Sketchy clay chute into creek gap with uphill landing. This stays wet and snot-slick 7 months out of the year, but there is no other way to cross this creek.


Cool little hip jump using two big downed trees. Super smooth and flowy. Worked out really well.


Berm into a little 5' double with loam chicane turns just after



The unfinished hip jump i was whining about, with 4 different dig pits


The trail continues on for anther quarter mile or so, with no built features, but is pretty steep and fall-line.

[LeeLau]

californiagrown! Really nice artful work. I like the narrow footprint of your work - ie the cleanup of where you did your build so the trail stays narrow without lots of debris all over. It's the little touches that make it so worthwhile.

Quite the contrast between your minimal impact and the new work that has more impact.

[jackstraw]

californiagrown! Really nice artful work. I like the narrow footprint of your work - ie the cleanup of where you did your build so the trail stays narrow without lots of debris all over. It's the little touches that make it so worthwhile.

Quite the contrast between your minimal impact and the new work that has more impact.

Yeah, I agree. That is some great looking new trail. It looks like you had great soil to work with as well.

[LeeLau]

Been doing a lot of trailwork since ski season shut so abruptly

Reloamed an old trail. Fixed up the exit berm

[LeeLau]

Also been working on a flow trail that's used by all skill levels and all ages for the past few years. Never really able to do more than keep up to wear usually but this year I've had time to fix things properly

Old berm that wore through. Rock cribbed exit and dirt topped

[LeeLau]

Perpetually wet standing water section. Excavated a big hole and put in a water bar using the excavated dirt to top a rock crib.

Then placed two big flat rocks and dirt topped that.

Not pictured as I was running out of light. Small kid sized booter thereafter

[californiagrown]

Nice work. Are you grabbing those rocks from a nearby creek or something? Id love to have a few rocks available (but not too many haha) to help with drainage.

[californiagrown]

Yeah, I agree. That is some great looking new trail. It looks like you had great soil to work with as well.

The dirt has been a blessing and a curse. Its super clayey in a lot of spots which makes it really easy to sculpt, but also totally unrideable for the wet 7 months of the year... especially because it mostly appears on the steeper sections of trail. The rest is super loamy dirt with awesome mineral gold 12" down so dig pits are really easy and efficient though i try to only use the mineral soil for sculpted features and leave the duffy "loam" in as many sections as possible.

But yeah, the dirt has been super easy to work with which is why i was able to do so much solo with minimal hours put in. Glad i didnt have to deal with rocky or super rooty soil.

[LeeLau]

Nice work. Are you grabbing those rocks from a nearby creek or something? Id love to have a few rocks available (but not too many haha) to help with drainage.

The area I'm in has a good mix of organic topsoil, mineral and rocks. When originally built we spent a bunch of time routing on natural contours and next to or over big piles of mineral dirt.

That worked out cos 7 years later it's still a lot of work to maintain but at least the materials are right there.

[jackstraw]

I dig this thread. You guys have such different soil compared to us out east. Every once in a while we can hit a little honey hole of workable dirt, but mostly we have a lot of roots and granite rock. The amount of granite makes for really fun trial-type riding down here at the beach since we lack vert.

I have so many berms I'd like to add, but digging is next to impossible in many spots...or rather not worth breaking my back for one turn.

[forty]

ive been missing this thread greatly... damn grad school has kept me away from my shovel far too frequently these days
had a conference call today with city park director and bike park consulting firm, master plan revision time and we get a seat at the table so curious to see where this all goes

great seeing you all out slapping dirt and making people smile, thanks for contributions, keep your shovels dirty

[jackstraw]

Too wet to ride, but working some dirt on a new section. Speed is high coming into this and it's a wee bit tight. Either a 4' berm or widen this corner out toward my bike.

[LeeLau]

This perpetually wet low spot had bugged us for a while. Fixed

[CS]

californiagrown, that trail is a work of art man, very well done.

I have been hitting the backyard hard the last 3 weeks. What started as just a small little transition on the pump track turned into a winding and twisting new line that turned into cleaning up a big berm on the jump line that turned into setting up a long and low into the berm that turned into building a step on step off and alternate line of a couple rollers into a shark fin. Good times.

Pump track addition before and after...

This is first roller extension I put in. I figured I'd just do a quick inside line.....



Well.... "quick" turned into this...






I had been needing to reshape the big berm on the jump line. It just wasn't riding well and speed was lost.

Much better




Now that more speed was had coming out of the berm, this lone small jump just would't do...




So I got to work digging




And digging.....changing the little double into a double roller




And more digging and fine tuning






Until finally...





The main pump track now connects to the big berm and double roller to shark fin. I can't add any rollers next to the wood ramp as that is a driveway for folks who store their trailers here. That is the reason for the moveable wood ramp as well.
There are other ideas, but now warm weather is baking everything rock hard so digging will likely come to and end for a time. I guess I'll go ride now.

Before and after, from above