Trail Work - This Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trail Work on Saturday. We're planning on several chainsaws - hopefully 4. We'll need at least one support person per chainsaw team. Any one else that shows can run the leaf blower or weed whacker.

Shawn, can you bring the shop weed whacker and leaf blower?

Chainsaws I know of right now are Randy, Rusty, Jav, Bob, and Dave.

We can park in the grass clearings just off the parkway near the new lower section that is cut and rideable.

Meet at 8:30AM, or show up whenever you can. I'll have some refreshments and dirt work tools to keep everyone rolling.

Plan and dress for rain and crappy weather - which is good, because then no one will be tempted to ride instead of hack underbrush (that goes more for me than anyone else).

Can't wait to see you all there!!!!!

cold morning

I closed the loop today on the side closest to Lovers Lane. The run on the ridge next to the grave yard is nice. I only need to mark the return run back to the other side of the park and the marking is done, I'll finish that part tomorrow morning. Is anyone riding tonight?

New bridge/Heartland

Spoke with Roger from the city he said that he was working on designing a bridge to span the creek at the end of Corby North. This will tie the trail into a new section that runs up to Ashland Ave. for another 2 miles. He said that he could get the building material but the trail group would need to build it. Does anyone have any experience in building bridges? The Heathland race is rolling along I'm finishing the final paper work now. I know we are working on the girl scout trail now but we need to plan to start getting Corby ready for the race by spring. This could include several miles of new trails the new bridge I mentioned and some detail work to make everything flow better. The race loop will include both North and South Corby starting in the field by Noise school. If anyone has any ideas let me know we need this first race to be killer to keep Heartland up here. You never know we could be a good 12/24 hour venue later on.

Tuesday - Night Ride

Anyone in for a night ride tonight? Start with Corby South - see what happens from there?

6:00-6:15 ish start time...

Chainsaw Kenny

Went for a steady little jaunt this morning through the Corby's and Girlscout trails. Things were a little slippery due to melting frost, but it was a decent ride.

On my way back through the other direction I ran into Chainsaw Kenny and his buddy in Corby South. They tell me they have permission to cut down trees for fire wood. I said cool, and asked if they would be willing to do trail work too. Kenny said if there's wood in it for him, he's all over it. Anyway, sounds like we'll have another chainsaw for Saturday.

You never know who you're going to meet in the woods.

Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend Rides

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday yesterday. We have so much to be thankful for... like these new trails and getting HSP to host a race in our back yard!

Just spoke with Jason and we're planning on starting from Corby tomorrow around 1PM... hope to see several out there.

I'm still contemplating going to Crowder SP on Sunday... call me if interested.

Lansen at Waubunsie

I'm finally getting around to posting the only photo I took of Lansen during our trip last weekend. Those steps were VERY slippery... so much that Lansen didn't want to wait at the middle for me to pull out the camera and snap the photo... that's why he's so happy in this photo.

I'm ready for another another epic adventure. How about Crowder SP this Sunday... anyone? Hopefully I won't loose another pair of mtb shoes this time!

more marked and built

Jason and Randy rough cut another large section on top yesterday. I was boarded this morning so I flagged because the snow prevented me trimming. I ended up running out of flags about noon so I packed it in. I now roughly know how everything will lay in even though it isn't marked. Wow!!! this is going to be the coolest trail yet it will be challenging but fast with some steady climbing. We will need to bench a fair portion of the back side but some of that is already there as deer trail and old single track. I found another tent that looks lived in to the east. I plan to mark trail from now till the work day and get the rest of the planning out of the way.

Heartland!!!!

Everybody thank Shawn when you see him! He got the Corby loop on the Heartland series. Checkout the Hearland link to your right to see the details.

On another note: Dr. Adam did a rough map of the Girlscout section. We'll get some more refined maps for the Maps and Routes link. Thanks Dr. A!

Feeling Kinda Growely

Not really feeling the ride tonight. I'll be back in town on Saturday, maybe catch the gang then.

Hope everyone else makes it out tonight. Have a good time.

one mile down

Randy and I cut another mile across the trail. Just a little benching and its done so don't be shy to pick up a shovel. I discovered a large section of old single track already cut down the hill towards Karnes, it is awesome back there. We will have many miles of riding ahead.

Different Trails on a Rainy Day

Sooo Jav, what did you do today? Some rid'n? Cool.

Any hills on that ride? Oh, just a couple big ones huh?

See anything else? Oh, there was evidence of other trail use huh? Quite abit huh? Well, that's the shits, isn't it....

So we went to Waubunsie State Park in Iowa today. Left at dawn. Trails were different, so it was a good trip, although trails are more suited for equestrians and hiking. Still, saw some great vistas and rode some really fun downhills.

MWSU Speed Challenge

Rode the "woodchip" trail loop out there for the first time since this past Spring. I shattered my personal best by over thirty seconds. Did the entire lap in 9min 31sec... so that's over 14mph average for the entire 2.34 miles.

So the challenge is simply to do a lap and then see if you can beat your previous time. When I started out there I was in the 30 minute range... so don't be intimidated by my current time. Just go out there and do your best... it's really fun to see yourself go faster and faster over time.

Whoa

Just ran across this pic, made my guts churn, thought I would post.

Nice Work!

Shawn and Randy, I have to hand it to you guys; you really know how to build a nice trail. The Girlscout camp trails are looking pretty sweet. We rode Girlscout, Krug, Girlscout, Corby North today. Almost rode Corby South, but we were so shelled we called it quits. Shelled... and we didn't even ride all the trails in a 3 mile radius. That's a good problem to have, isn't it?

Trail Work Day!
We're still planning on doing the trail work day for December 01. We'll get started at about 8:30 AM and will wrap it up when ever. I'll have a couple hand saws, a polesaw/lopper, shovel, hoe, and a sythe. Sounds like we have a couple chainsaws lined up and a weed whacker or two. We should be able to make some pretty good progress pretty quick, I think. If enough people show, maybe we can finish the loop in one day. Of course, that assumes Randy and Shawn don't finish the whole thing before we can get to it.... Heee Heee Heee, just kidding.

BTW, if you aren't feeling lucky today - take a look at the Folks From Lincoln Blog. Our brothers up North are in the middle of another skirmish with the city. Makes me feel pretty lucky that St. Joe's parks & rec department is so cool about building and maintaining trails on city property. Other places are not so lucky, to be sure.

Saturday

Would like to ride Sat AM. Probably Corby, Girlscout, Krug. Any takers?

I'm looking for steady the whole way. Not much stopping, but not super fast either. Just cruising.

Meet at Corby, 9:00AM.

New trails done!!!!!!!!!

Randy and I have completed The next section on the Scout trail between the walking trail and the road. The entire area between the two have trail now. It needs some mild trimming to get sprigs , some bench cutting done and one small bridge. Randy says ride new trail to pack it in or else!! I have started new trail on other side of just follow the flags That needs loping and chainsaw work it will be a bear because it is really thick. Please come out and work on the trails in your spare time so we can make quick work of these new trails and we can get to riding them.

Good Showing Tuesday Night....

There were 5 of us in the dark last night, it was a good group by any standards for any time of year. No mechanical problems, smooth riding, and nice trails. The leaves are starting to pack and form what I hope is a protective, regenerative layer over the trails. I guess we'll see next summer. I'm still convinced that leave blowing the trails last fall did more harm than good. Wish I would have never done that.

Beautiful Sunset last night...

Got a call from Randy. He said that he and Shawn have cut most of what has been marked on the Girl Scout Camp trail. Not sure of the mileage so far, but Randy claims the trails are pretty sweet so far. Can't wait to see them and start mapping them out for the site.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE TRAIL WORK DAY 01DEC2007!!!!!

TNR - Tuesday Nite Ride

Well, I need to be home by 7, so I have about one lap, maybe. If I'm not there by 6, don't wait.

Have a good ride if I don't see ya.

TRAIL WORK DAY!!!!

Time to get the Girl Scout Camp trail going again this winter. Randy and Shawn have been busy marking routes and will be ready for a builder crew to start making some headway.

Here are the pertinents:

1. Date: Saturday December 01, 2007


2. Time: 8:30 AM


3. Meeting Location: Bike Path Trail Head on the Parkway


4. Parking Location: Park along the road that connects the parkway with Karnes Rd.


5. What do we need?: We need at least 2 chainsaws ; 2-3 Polaskis, shovels, or heavy hoes ; 1 Weedwhacker ; Everyone should have a folding handsaw if you can get ahold of one.

A cooler of water will be available, and I'll get ahold of some sodas and beers for a couple post work refreshments.

We'll probably work till 2 PM or so. With a good group, we should be able to get through most of what is currently marked right now.

SEE YOU ALL THERE!!!!!

New Group Ride Format

We have been struggling with developing a ride format that is both fun and challenging for all riding levels and goals. So far I think our group rides may have discouraged and turned off some, either because they are too fast or too slow. This isn't the intent of the group rides, and our goal is to have 20, 30, or 40 people showing up, and everyone feeling like they got a good ride within their respective capabilities. Here is what we are thinking we can do to fulfill this desire and goal.

Each ride advertised on this site will abide by the following format:

1. Ride will begin within 10 minutes of the posted start time.
2. The first segment of the ride will be geared to keep everyone together. The "keep it together" part of the ride will be between 1/2 hour and 1 hour in length, and will be chosen based on the group that shows up.
3. At the end of the first ride segment, we will stop and make the decision on what's next.
4. If everyone wants to continue on at the same rate and pace, that's what we'll do.
5. If there are diverse riding abilities and goals present, riders may split. One group will continue to be geared for a cohesive group ride. The other group will be geared for higher speed and a more "race pace" type of ride. The higher speed group may hit several different trails and will not be as concerned with maintaining the group structure.

We'll give this methodology a try on Tuesday night. Hopefully lots of people will be able to make it out and we can try out the format.

See you all at Corby - start the "keep it together" ride at 6-ish.

Saturday AM

Jim and I will be meeting at Corby, 9AM, Saturday AM. All are welcome to join.

The tentative plan is to ride Corby South, North, Girl Scout, and Krug. Should be a nice ride, if not a little leafy. I'd like to keep a smooth steady pace, maybe do Krug twice if the mood strikes.

See ya in the AM.

LM

I do believe...

it's a ride night tonight. The light is on the charger, and I'm ready for some Corby fun in the dark. Anyone else cruising with me?

Cold, Burrrrr

Went out last night, but was late for the 6PM ride. Knew I would be, so I took the dogs with me. Looks like Jason rode, but we never crossed paths. It was a great night, and even though the wind blew like crazy on Monday, not much was on the trail in the way of branches and trash.

The dogs had a great run, and it's not quite as spooky going through there in the dark when you have two mouth fulls of fangs on your side. They made it two full laps before Wednesday was ready to give up. Lily was still raring for more, but 2/3s of us were cooked.

Rode by myself on Sunday. Jim was out at the same time, but I think we both figured we only had time for a quick ride - and neither of us planned ahead far enough to make contact. Ended up riding Krug - what a great park. Here is a shot over the fence row on the Power Line trail -

Fall Trails

Had a great time on a ride this morning with Randy, Rusty, and Jason. Awesome ride!