UPDATES and TRAILWORK SCHEDULE

UPDATES
Trail is in great shape - get out and ride before it gets muddy.

Check out NMB for the latest:
http://nationalmountainbike.com/board/showthread.php?p=99856#post99856

Latest maps update - I'd do a labeled map at the end of the season - but for now, here it is! The newest section is in red. 6.4 miles (plus about 0.3 back to the trail head on the road).

TRAILWORK
We're going to do some trail work soon to finish the last section that was opened up.

The first day is this Sunday (Nov. 14) after lunch (around 1 pm) - we'll meet at the parking spot to organize. This will be a little lower effort day since the Lock 4 6-hr race is the day before. I'm not getting the trailer, but will have weed wrenches, pruners, and pick-axes. Bring your favorite tool, some gloves, and SAFETY GLASSES - these are very important! If we have enough folks, we'll split into 2 or 3 small groups. I'd like to concentrate on finishing the last trail work. BTW - watching the Titans loose is not an excuse to not love your favorite trail - LOL - but if you must, DVR or tape it (Like Eric Fisher said he would do).

The next day planned is December 11 - it's a Saturday - and we'll meet around 8:30 at the bath house near the end of the trail (same place as the last work day). I should have the SORBA trailer for this day (if it's available). And if the forecast is good - we'll work out a cookout - I'll provide burgers and dogs - you provide the rest. I'd really like to know who can come out so we can plan the everything else part. If the weather is bad, we'll send out for some pizza like last winter. This day will be dedicated to more new trail cutting. Tommy should have the last of the perimeter section flagged.

I'll have a few more dates to post up in the near future.

Steve

Public Lands Day Success!

The work day went just as planned. We had a good turnout of 20 people, many first-timers. Firstly, the breakfast provided by chef Tim with the Bicyclette http://www.bicyclettecafe.com/ was awesome. Sausage biscuits and fruit w/ juice and coffee. The gravel piles section (Tommy's Folly) was completed, the trail extension was cut and partially finished, and some maintenance completed. Afterwards, we had burgers and a tour of the NWS office. Pretty cool place to visit. If your out riding the trail at 6 pm, you can see a weather balloon launch. It's done from the white building at the top of the hill.

The trail extension is about 1/2 mile long with a little bit left to flag and cut. The rideable part is 1/4 of a mile long. The remainder has been cut and cleared, but needs to be de-stobbed, weedeated, and blown. Part of this will be a challenge because of the size of the rocks. Some places will likely need 3 optional routes!

Here's a link to a slideshow from the weekend:

http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i118/TNcaveman/Shutes%20Branch%202010%20Public%20Lands%20Day/?albumview=slideshow&direction=reverse

Parking and Work Area Map

I talked with the Swankmotee to day and decided to make a parking / work area map. If you have a nice vehicle, you might want to park at the entrance (labeled Parking Area #1) to the park and walk, due to possible branches hanging into the old campground roads. This is the general area to park when riding the trail.

The back side bathhouse is very near the trail extension and is where I'll have the SORBA Trailer and breakfast - plus registration and orientation for the morning trail work (labeled Parking Area #2). This will be our central "command post" and is close to the picnic area.

Two rules on parking -don't block the road and don't park on the NWS road.

We'll have some signs posted that morning to help folks find us. We'll probably draw the gift certificates just before lunch.

Steve

Meeting time is 8 am

We'll be meeting at 8 am and eat, socalize, fill out COE and SORBA paperwork, and prepare for the trail work.

September 25th Public Lands Day

It's time to start building some more new trail! Hoping for a big turnout so we can finish the perimeter section. We have the tool trailer lined up, some door prizes, lunch provided by the COE (grilling burgers and dogs at our secret spot under the weather ball), a tour of the National Weather Service office after lunch, and bike rides after resting up.

The work day will start around 8 - 8:30 Saturday morning. Don't forget your safety glasses and gloves.

Here's a link to a PDF of my flier (thanks Darryl!)

http://sorbamidtn.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Shutes-Sept-2010-Trail-Work-Day.pdf

We'll be doing a little more trail buffing next week before the work day. If you can do some trimming, the middle section of the beginner trail could use a little work.

See you next weekend!

Steve

Hello

Hello - still here. Trail is a blast - check it out - Homer (Gary) loves it. I personally recommend a there and back ride - 12 miles total - about 1 hour and 30 minutes or so. Great workout! Thanks to all that are helping to keep the trails in shape.

This September 25 (Sat.), we're going to have a fun day will some trail work beforehand. It's Public Lands Day and the COE is going to sponsor a lunch for us. Afterwards, the National Weather Service is going to give us a tour of the weather station. And this will be followed by fun rides - we might even race each other (LOL). More details to come!

Steve

PS - I set the comments section to be for followers only - hopefully no more spam

Another new map and the trail needs love

Here is a new map with labels on areas. Click on the photo for full sized and ready to print. The trail needs some TLC - a great time to trim bushes is in the rain. I'll post up if I can head out there this Sunday afternoon.

SIX MILES

We have 5.9 miles of trail with a car to car loop of 6 miles! We're trying to get a little more built before it gets hot. Here's the latest map. I also have it at the link on the side of the page so you can download a fullsize image for printing. I think the current record is 39 minutes car - to - car. I did a 42 minute lap - great workout on the hillside trail.

Click on the map for a full size version that you can print (or just look at).

Two More Trail Work Days

Next Saturday (March 27) and April 10 will be our last "advanced scheduled" trail work days for a while. The trail is 5.4 miles long now and in really awesome shape. The hillside trail section at the end is a great addition to the variety that the trail has to offer.



This is the latest trail map. The green section is the newest and stays muddy for a while after wet weather, so be kind - don't ride when wet. It will improve after it gets packed down by the bike tires.

Hope to see you next weekend!

Steve

3 more work days

Spring is around the corner. I know it is because I found my first tick of the season last weekend.

We have 3 more workdays set-up for this winter / early spring. Next Saturday (March 13), March 27, and April 10. These might be the last trail building sessions for a while. And we need to finish what's been started.

Next weekend, let's try for pizza again. The next weekend, I'll try and get my wife to come over and do a little cooking (???). The April 10th date will have a COE sponsored cook out with Rangers Crystal and Amy.

If you haven't ridden the trail lately, you should. It's a real workout. I did the 4.7 mile end to start in 40 minutes today. It will be a little faster this summer when the ground is a little harder, and the new sections broken in and tweaked. The latest is going to be fast. The up-hill will be a cardio workout, and the return trip downhill will be pretty fast.

Some more good news I have a friend that is a State Attorney and he has contacted the Sherriff's Department and we're going to get Saundersville Road cleaned up. They are going to do a road side cleanup - this will really be good along the section where we can see the two blue kiddy pools and other junk. And the blue trap near the start of the rocky section.

Our recent cleanup has really improved the area. The dog walkers and older folks really like what we have done to the place. I'm hoping that they will get involved with us. I'm going to post up some work day signs and hopefully we'll ad to the friends list.

Summer Maintenance

We need to adopt sections of the trail for the Summer maintenance. I know Jeff W., Eric F, Scott S., and myself are willing to tackle a section - but to make it easier, it would be great to have a couple more people to commit to a section. Or to assist with a section.

Independent Trail Work

If you do trail work on your own, we need to record it for work hrs and helping SORBA with matching grants. Here is a link to make it easy. Make sure to do this or send an e-mail to me or Tommy.

http://sorbamidtn.org/volunteer-resources/enter-your-volunteer-hours/

Steve

PS - watch out for the dead possum in the Vietnam section :o)

Trail Work Schedule for Feb - April

Tommy and I looked through our schedules and found several good dates for trail building. We don't have much time before the weeds start sprouting and growing super fast - i.e. trail maintenance season! So mark your calendars and come out to cut some brush. These are basically every two weeks. We'll meet around 8:30 and break for lunch around 12:30 to 1 pm. We'll do pizza like last time. When the weather improves, we'll grill some burgers. For the vegetarians, we'll cook them some hot dogs ;)

Feb 13 (this Sat) - it will be chilly - dress in layers - and have some extra gloves in case your hands get wet.

Feb 23 (YES - a Tuesday work day - Led by Eric Fisher)

Feb 27

March 13

March 27

April 10

That will give us 6 days, plus we can add a Sunday afternoon or 2 extra. With our past trail days, we usually got 500 to 1000 ft max. So, 5 good days will give us 1 mile (if we get good turnouts).

These work days will get us to the top of the hill and get us started heading back down the hill! The next section is more open due to larger trees. So we have a little less to remove.

More good stuff to come - This is a potential Eagle Scout Project site.

Steve

New Trail Map (again)

We went over the new sections today - here's the latest map. The yellow sections that we recently finishe were about 0.4 miles long. One more trail work day and we'll be over 5 miles!

New Shutes Branch Video

Charlie and I did some videoing just before Christmas. The video was shot in HD and converted to SD (420p). It's a first attempt with the camera. The main footage is in the first section of the trail. We ran out of time for the rocky areas. This video will be lengthened with footage from the rest of the trail. The last shot was by E Fish and was from last summer.

Steve

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD6Ze2nPQQo

Trail Day Success!

We had a great turnout with a total of 16 people cutting new trail and cleaning up some slightly older sections. We cleared about 1000 ft for a little under 1/2 mile for the year. There is more to cut - just follow the flags. Thanks to Boy Scouts from Troop 150 and the regulars - plus 4 new volunteers!

Plus more pics at:

http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i118/TNcaveman/Shutes%20Jan%202010/?action=view&current=76c8a975.pbw/



Thanks Guys!!!

Steve & Tommy (Plus COE Rangers Cline and Tingle)

Trail Work Day - Jan 23 (Sat)

We're planning a trail work day for Saturday January 23, 2010 - we'll meet up and get started around 9 am at the bathhouse in the back area of the old campground. The gate will be open, so drive on back. We'll be cutting new trail that has been marked by Tommy. A couple of guys (mostly Jeff Witte!) have started cutting in one section. We need to get the sections completed so we can ride the new stuff when done. I'd like to get enough people out to connect with the section Jeff did with the current trail. I'm hoping for SORBA tools plus some COE Weed Wrenches. I'm also hoping for some new faces! I hope we can do several trail days before it becomes maintenance time this spring.

Also, Tommy will be hitting the trail this weekend for some initial cutting. Contact him if you can help - I'm not sure when - here is his E-mail Edwinhatcher1@bellsouth.net

Since we're close to Little Cesars (and they are cheap!), we'll send someone out for some pizza around lunch time. We'll cut trail until worn out (probably around lunch time).