Trail Progress

We hit Corby full force this morning with Randy, Dave, and Jim. There was more work to do than we thought, so it took more than 2.5 hours to get through the South trails. They are all clear now, and are in better condition than before storm. Looking forward to the ice melting so we can ride them.

Afterward Randy and I hit the GSC Lower section. It took us till about 2:30 and I was toasted at the end of it, but we made it through. Jason showed up on his bike as we were finishing up. Wish I could say I went and rode with him, but it was everything I had just to get home and stuff my face with what ever food I could get my hands on.

At this point we only have the River Trails and Krug to get through. I'm going to ask the Parks guys if they can help us out a little, but I'm not thinking it will take us very far. I think with a big group, we could get through Krug in a day. It would be a tough day though.

I will be out of town till the 9th of Feb, so I will try to organize something after that.

Snow Riding - Trail Work

Snow Riding
Hit Corby Norte with Jason this AM. Pretty tough going, but we did two laps anyway. Didn't venture onto the South side, don't think it would have been very rideable with the snow at that point. We cruised the Parkway over to Krug, rode the parkinglot loop, then headed home. Nice ride - about 2.5 hours. Things were just starting to get sloppy with temps rising to about 48F at 11:10 when I got home.

Having some problems with either my phone or my email. I have a bunch of pictures that I have been wanting to post, but can't seem to get them sent... Don't have a clue why, except maybe that my phone is completely worn out and needs to be chucked in the river. 5 more months till contract renewal... Hope it lasts.

Trail Work
We'll be meeting at Corby South to get things wrapped up there at 8:30 AM tomorrow. Be good to see anyone that can make it. Right now we have 2 chainsaws for sure, maybe 3.

Corby should only take about 30 min, then we'll head over to the GSC trail to get the old lower section re-cleared. No-one has been down there since ice storm and there are no reports on how bad (or good) it is. If things wrap up quick there, I guess we'll move on to Krug. Randy has cleared a section to where the tree house was, but I don't think any one has touched the connector trails, or anything beyond that. I plan to call the parks dept next week to see if they can help us out. I'm betting that they have other priorities right now - but there is a chance.

F'in cold this morn

I've commuted the last 3 days to work. This morning aound 5:30 it was minus 8 at the Word-o-life church. It was one of the few times I can remember wanting an uphill and dreading the downhills. The windchill on the downs froze my eyelashes to my Bolle's...never experienced that one before.

Anybody up for some trailwork Sunday morning? RT

Sweet Honey Creek

Great day at Honey Creek yesterday. RT and I skied the A and B loops, nearly in their entirity. We figured that put us somewhere between 12 and 14 miles.

Ran into Jav snowshoeing at one point, although he was so bundled up I didn't recognize him until he spoke. It was pretty chilly at parts. I don't think we ever topped 20 F yesterday, and I bet at the tops of the hills wind chill was well below zero.

We saw one of the biggest flocks of turkeys I've ever seen. Randy thought maybe there were 50. I'd buy that.

Anyway, it was just a pretty great day to be outside. Think we might give it another try today. I'll try to get some pictures today.

LM

SNOW!!!

Skiing tonight!!! Probably start at around 6PM on the Corby North Loop.

Just a favor - if you ride or run on the trails - please stay off the ski tracks if you can.

Enjoy the snow!

Lansen

P.S.
Randy - you better be there.

Trail work day update/recant

I guess it's supposed to be bitchin cold and snowy this Saturday, so let's bag it for this weekend and make it another. If half of our workforce gets frostbite, well, it would likely be hard to get em back out before July. Keep the rubber side down! RT

Saturday for tril work at the GSC? anyone...Buehler

I rode Krug and the river yesterday. A chinsaw or 2 needs to make an appearance at both places. You know how the trees are real viney up high? Alot of places gathered ice and dropped the whole tangled mess flat in the middle of the trail in a few places. I was wondering if a decent sized group would/could get together Saturday morn for the final push with rough cutting the long trail at the scout camp? The saws are itchin to eat and it's a good time to get it done while the ground is frozen and Lansen has money for groupies and other tasty treats. Whaddya say...8:30 at the camp and let's do it! I'll spring for lunch if you are up for that. Peace.

We just hadta ride!

Dave C. and I just had to get out today and do some riding. The crusty snow was tough but do-able. I had to ride my new 96er/69er/whatever that I just built. I can't say it was better or worse than using a 26" front wheel, but it did seem to roll right along in the rough. We rode New Corby 1st and followed some tracks laid by 2.1 Motoraptors (I measured em). We then went to the new stuff at the scout camp area and these same tracks were there a couple of places also. I gotta believe we followed Mr. Jason , as he is the only one I know of currently running tires like these front and rear.
The trails at the scout camp were a bitch to ride most places. They are gonna be great once they get cleaned up and a track gets set. We need to be getting out there and finishing the rough cutting of the whole loop so it can be clean by the time the ground starts drying in the Spring. Soil compaction can't happen in the wet, but the rest can be done for when the time is right to ride the piss out of it and set it hard. This is gonna be our best trail yet! Peace.

Sunbridge

Sean and me Shawn (just to clear up any confusion) went out to Sunbridge yesterday morning to GPS and plan the first section to open. It looks like there is lots of potential there as it is and in the future for new sections. I haven't been there in the winter in a while and forgot how great the view is with the leaves off the trees. I see flow.

Mud, Mud, Mud, and Mud

was all we saw today. Met up with Dave and Randy on Belt Hwy, then headed out past Old Macdonald's Farm on the country roads. Met up with Jason in Amazonia, then did a loop up to the North in the hills. Randy split off and headed for home and we headed back to Amazonia to drop Jason off. From there, Dave and I headed back home on Hwy K. I think we probably slugged through about 40 miles or so from my doorstep to doorstep. Don't know what the other guys put in. It was one of the tougher days I've put in for awhile. The roads were soft, muddy, wet, and in standing water at times. It was good to be out though.

By far, the worst part was cleaning equipment when I got home - I'm sure the other guys felt the same way. Nothing like having a butt crack full of rocks and sand, nothing quite like it.

Hopefully we didn't scare Jason off. When he rolled into Amazonia to meet up, I about half thought he would see us covered in mud from head to foot, and just keep driving. He jumped in though, and we all proceeded to get even muddier.

It was a good day. They were a good start to the base miles that I need. Now I just need to stay with it.

Thanks for the good day of riding guys.

Whooo... I'm Whipped

After a long day of trail work - the GSC upper trail section is once again clear, at least to the point we had cut before the storm. We have still not touched either part of the lower section, but we think it is a one morning deal. Great turn out - 4 chain saws and 2 chuckers over the course of the day. I think we probably bladed through 3 miles of trail today, give or take. Thanks guys (Randy, Dave, Brad, Jim, Jason).



Spent some good time on the trails Friday. Last day of skiing for awhile. Honey creek was in good shape and the snow was fast. So fast in fact that I did not do some of the hilly sections.
Lovin' it!

One pole skiing - sucks when you drop a pole...

Gettin' dark, time to head in...

Even the Escort looks good with the right back drop - what you don't see is me cussing and kicking when it was stuck right after the picture was snapped. Piece of crap...

Maybe ride tomorrow???? Need to see how wet things are.... Probably would set out around 10AM. Post if interested. It's not a for sure thing for me yet.

Rushin' Out to XC Ski

Skipped out of work early today and headed to Honey Creek with the dogs. We did about 12 miles on the B loop. Out on the backside I got my directions confused and got lost for a while. Very hilly over there. Monster climbs and drops that I thought were going to kill me a couple times. Wednesday probably ate her weight in deer pooh - not your average chick!

After I finally got back to the lower parking lot I had about a 1/2 hour of day light to get 3 miles back up to the upper lot. I was toasted with a long climb to go. The skis were slipping on my kick offs because the snow was starting to ice up as the sun dropped. When we finally hit the crest of the hill I stopped and snapped this picture. I dropped back into the trees and headed the last 1/2 mile to my car. Pulled out of the parking lot as darkness hit and I turned my lights on.

I haven't felt this blasted for a while - feels good. Bet I can sneak out there tomorrow too, although I'm not sure I can make it up those hills again. Still, worth a try. Some of the best country in the world - just my opinion. I bet Lily here agrees with me.

Happy last day of skiing!

Lansen

Trails to clear!

Randy just called and reminded me that before we start riding, we have to clear the trails that are still trashed. Saturday is going to be 50 degrees and too sloppy to do anything but get dirty. Lets hit the GSC trail with a vengence at 8:30 AM.

So far we have 3 saws and an ass load of trees on the trail.

Lansen

Race Trainin'

Got this idea from Jason's comments (see below). I was thinking that it would be helpful to anyone on here who is thinking about racing for the first time. There are several of you who will be racing at some point this year or who have raced sometime in the past. Please share your training tips, racing stories, or anything else that may be inspirational and beneficial for anyone preparing for the upcoming season.

I remember my first race well, and here is TIP #1: always wear some type of eye protection. My first race was on a very rainy/sloppy day in the Springfield area. You'd think that it would be common sense to wear glasses, especially on a muddy course, but it didn't occur to me. By the time the race was done, my eyes were full of grit. But I can honestly say that I had a blast; met a lot of new people; and just enjoyed the atmosphere. So come on everyone, share your experiences...

Ski'n w/ Randy

Been off line for a little while. Pretty much been somewhere between busy and lazy.

Have skied a couple times since the snow fell. Once at Snow Creek (my knees and head still hurt), once on the parkway, and a couple times at Honey Creek. Honey creek is awesome for cross country skiing, and it is just awesome period. We saw a flock of turkeys today, which was pretty cool.

Snow was really good for skiing a couple days ago. It's cold now, so it is a little slow compared to when the temp is in the high 20's. We had a great time and ended up doing somewhere around 6-8 miles today. I did about 12-14 miles a couple days ago. Anyway, it was a great way to start of the new year.

By the way, happy new year!

Oh the SNOW

Not counting on there having been much of a workday today on the trails. I got a lot done at work though... The Man will be happy.

Really itchin to do some xc skiing. Got some other stuff that I need to attend to this afternoon, but you can bet I'll be up at the ass crack tomorrow looking for some snow to glide through.

Here's Wednesday's rendition of the little devil on my shoulder - "come on, no one will care if you disappear for a few hours - come on lets go jump in the snow!". Lily looks on in the background.

Saturday Corby Workday

For anyone interested in working to restore the Corby trails this weekend; Randy will be hosting a trail workday at Corby.

He is planning on starting on the Corby South trails at 8:30AM on Saturday.

Aaron has been working on the south side and made good progress. A new guy named Mike and I went out there tonight and made it through about half of the South loop. My recomendation is to start going backwards on the south side. If you start on the North side it doesn't matter where you start, it is a mess everywhere.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to help on Saturday as I will be working.

If I don't see you all before: Merry Christmas and Happy Trails!!!!!

Thanks for everyone's hard work!

Lansen

Scouting

Scouted some of the trails yesterday. Parked at corby south with the dogs, then skied up to the north side. Found the trails completely impassible by ski or bike. Then skied up the parkway to the Girlscout camp and checked out those trails. They are in pretty bad shape too, but don't seem to be as bad as corby. Didn't check on Krug. Skied back to corby south and started hiking them with a saw. Seemed like pretty easy going until I ran into Aaron and found out he had been cutting ahead of me. We worked together for a little while. Progress on clearing the trails is moderate, but there is a huge amount of down branches, limbs and trees. We didn't see any huge trees across the trail, but then again we only made it to the fire pit.

I'll be at corby south this afternoon some time with a hand saw. It's going take a lot of hours to get the trails rideable again.

Kind of a bummer this year for the trails. Between the floods this last spring and the ice storm this winter they have certainly taken their lumps. The good thing about this storm is that just about every branch and tree that could have come down in the next 5 years... did. So I guess that means once it's all clear again we don't have to maintain again for another 5 years. Heee Hee He, just joking - I'm just being delusional.

Hope all you folks have your power back by now. What a turd of a week for some folks here in St. Joe. I feel guilty to say I was one of the lucky ones this week.

Here's a picture of the bridge entrance to Corby North. Behind that tree leaning over the trail is just more of the same....

Ugggh.... Not Good

Hope everyone is okay, whether they have power or not. For the time being, I still do. Trees down everywhere in my neighborhood. Spent the morning cutting limbs off of a fence in my back yard. Neighbors took the brunt of the damage though. Also have some water in the basement.... Weird.

I shudder to think what the trails look like. Whatever you do, don't go out there until after the melt. It will be like a room full of mouse traps out there right now.

Good luck, stay safe, stay warm.

Snow and Progress

Crossed skis is no good.....

Well, you probably noticed there is snow on the ground... Just enough for skiing, barely. Went early Friday AM, enough melted Friday that skiing is no good till more falls. Maybe tomorrow, I hope. Corby North is pretty good skiing if there is at least 4". Less than that and it's no good.

Made some progress on the Girlscout camp today. Dave, Lance, Jim, Shawn, Adam, Tara, and I hit it for a couple hours. It was pretty cold up by the cemetary. We had a hard time figuring out a good line on the cemetary hill. We thought there was some danger of erosion with the line that was marked, so we had to figure out a new one. After that it started rolling pretty good until all three saws started having trouble. That was about noon or a little after, and I think most of us were toast anyway. I'm guessing that we knocked out between 1.5 and 2 miles today... but it's tough to tell.

Dave and Lance going to town on a helluva big fallen log - Dueling Chainsaws.....

Lance and I hiked what is left to do after we were done cutting. We were guessing that there is probably 2.5 or 3 miles to go still. Some of it will go very quickly, some will be a fight for every inch. Still don't know for sure, but it seems like the GS trail could pretty easily be 7 miles when finished.