Continued from front page…
Oakridge mountain biker & trailwork legend Derrick Bell gave his usual safety speech to the crew and outlined our plan of action. With 16 of us sharing his vision, work proceeded quickly and the gain for day one was complete reconstruction of the fire damaged trail section. Dangerous trees were removed and rolled down the hillside to eliminate risk of falling debris in the future. Hillsides of shale were fortified to prevent slides. Roland brushed back about 3 years’ growth of greenery. New trail tread was laid in in such a way that this previously fun section now offers even more to smile about.
Day two started with about 500% more people than expected. Given Sunday was 2012 MBO Guide Thanks Day and started out raining and cold, the expectation was 2-3 people would show. However, Sunday’s count of 11 demonstrated that there is much love in the mountain bike community for Alpine Trail.
Building on the success of the previous day, the Sunday crew focused on tread work, waterbars, and a few trouble areas that have been on the radar for some time. The crew worked through the fog and rain to make huge progress widening tread, fortifying corners, and improving flow of the trail. Day two ended with the hardworking crew heading back to the OA Barn to enjoy a BBQ provided by MBO—thanks, Randy!
Now that the trail is finally open to bikes, you may want to slow down through the burn to take in the surroundings. There are rock formations that most of us have never seen due to previous foliage cover or simply because this is such a fast section that we miss the view. Believe me, it’s worth a look. That said, this freshly dialed section, once ridden in, will be wicked fast!
Thanks, trailworkers!
Report and Photos by Shawn Litson
Continued from front page…
Oakridge mountain biker & trailwork legend Derrick Bell gave his usual safety speech to the crew and outlined our plan of action. With 16 of us sharing his vision, work proceeded quickly and the gain for day one was complete reconstruction of the fire damaged trail section. Dangerous trees were removed and rolled down the hillside to eliminate risk of falling debris in the future. Hillsides of shale were fortified to prevent slides. Roland brushed back about 3 years’ growth of greenery. New trail tread was laid in in such a way that this previously fun section now offers even more to smile about.
Day two started with about 500% more people than expected. Given Sunday was 2012 MBO Guide Thanks Day and started out raining and cold, the expectation was 2-3 people would show. However, Sunday’s count of 11 demonstrated that there is much love in the mountain bike community for Alpine Trail.
Building on the success of the previous day, the Sunday crew focused on tread work, waterbars, and a few trouble areas that have been on the radar for some time. The crew worked through the fog and rain to make huge progress widening tread, fortifying corners, and improving flow of the trail. Day two ended with the hardworking crew heading back to the OA Barn to enjoy a BBQ provided by MBO—thanks, Randy!
Now that the trail is finally open to bikes, you may want to slow down through the burn to take in the surroundings. There are rock formations that most of us have never seen due to previous foliage cover or simply because this is such a fast section that we miss the view. Believe me, it’s worth a look. That said, this freshly dialed section, once ridden in, will be wicked fast!
Thanks, trailworkers!
Report and Photos by Shawn Litson
