Then and Now,

Got back up to the Pisgah Project today. I think the break was needed, in a retrospective kind of way, but I am certainly ready to get back on it.



The tree stand above marked a trace of people from the recent past. Check the galvi screws for ladder steps.



We talked to the owner today about skipping the "back nine" build and doing a really cool rustic skills area that doubles as benches for a huge fire pit. I think that will be fun. Tomorrow is a real work day. Depending on my mood it may be New Years before I post again, if it is. I hope everyone the Happiest.

No-job site this week...

Well we headed up to the Pisgah Project to see how it was looking. It looks like they got a boatload of snow, is what it looks like.



Well, looks like it is Christmas time. We will be cutting corridor in the snow come Monday...it will be cool to do that, been a while since I have worked in the snow.

Time for some changes on here.

Well, things have gotten a bit stale on the old Blog, as far as appearance goes. You will see a lot of changes in the coming days as we wait for the world to thaw so we can start clearing corridor on the Pisgah Project again. I will be adding more info to the company Phylosophies pages and also will be trying a few feedback pages. Have a suggestion for something you would like to see on the site? Fire it over via a comment on this post. Hope everyone is doing well and that a Happy Holiday season is had by all.

Ben

SNOWWAY!!!

Yesterday it started snowing.



Today it stopped.



That patch of woods belongs to the Blue Ridge Parkway...looks like we will have a National Park all to ourselves this weekend..ROCK ON !!!

The balancing act...

Well today we split off the job a little early because I think I am getting sick. The balancing act refers to the balance of pushing to meet deadlines, versus pushing too hard and loosing sight of the big picture. I have a few things I can do at the house for the accountant and for potential clients for next year, so get ahead on these things now and maybe behind on the project at hand, but if I were to get really knocked down the project may be weeks instead of days behind. We will see how it goes. More saw work on the mountain with no real changes. Hopefully will get the machine and break ground next week, but no hurry, it will be the christmas week anyway. Enjoy the photos for now of more endless saw work and of the base camp for the couple hours today.

The Stash..

They are being patient, they promise. It has been a while since I have been on a full blown production job, these tools have been just sitting unless chopping firewood in their spare time, can't wait to start digging! To give a little background, this particular project sits on a private 37 acres that is nestled, literally, nestled up against Mount Pisgah. We will be ptting around three plus miles on the proerpty. We have finished the lower loop clearing today and tomorrow will be flagging the final segment behind the house. Had to work around the septic instalation, there will be a lot of those types of things in some of the projects this year, hurry up and wait, but stay busy otherwise, you know? Anyway, we will finish the flagging tomorrow and the plan is finish clearing by the end of the next week. So that means the digger will be here soon, it will be like my own little Christmas present. This trail system will be AMAZING, I can't wait to get you guys great action shots. Until then, the suspense will keep building.

Fighting...

Life and Branches of Rhodo are very similar things. I think this is where the old timers wisdom comes from is thought and processing, something missing in today's world. God love camping for months on end...Ahhh. So anyway, life and Rhodo. Both have branches that bump into each other and block progress, both have additive pressure problems, the more you push the harder things get. Buddha this one is your department. The photos are of the Rhodo, I look at the before and after and simply think that life too in time will be moved aside and the next Rhodo will await. Pete Webber, I think it was, asked me a while back the best way for clearing Rhodo and Laurel, Pete, this is the answer...

Pisgah Project Week 2...Tunnels

Well, it is the end of week two on the little hibernation gig, we have doing outside of Pisgah. We cranked the saws yesterday, to much disagreement from our Stihl's. My saw was particularlly pissed. It was a bit of a hard emotional and mental day yesterday, then juxtapose that to the hard physical day we had today. Rhodo is a beast. If you resign yourself to slow pacing and being patient, you can get through the stuff, and the pay off is amazing, nature regrows in amazing deep tunnels. If you have done some riding around the mountains of the east coast you know what I am talking about. The feeling that you are being wrapped in a damp little nature cocoon, the beautiful opposition to this is when you bust out into the open hardwood canopy that is southern facing slopes, you enter the room! There are a couple of these spots in this project, we did our best to design these with accordance to views of the cool house that sits on this property as well. Including extra thought in a project like this is one of my favorite things to do. Enjoy the photos and imagine the tunnels closing in on you, enjoy that through the weekend.

Design almost done, saws crank Thursday

We finished up most of the design today and will be starting on the corridor Thursday. Above is one of the many turns that we have been laying out over the last few weeks. This loop will have around 14 dedicated switchback-ish turns that we will have to contend with. About five will be real bears, the rest should be fairly straight forward. Below is a picture of Otie standing on one of the cooler features we found deep in the Rhodo glades. This tree must have had quite the story to tell, the trunk is imbedded in the ground for about five feet then begins its turn skyward. I don't know exactly how the trail will pass this yet, it will develope as we clear corridor and comein with the machine. Should be cool though.



Tomorrow is heavy on the computer time, I am working on a few bid packages and proposals right now, from the looks of it 2010 will be a banner year.

And away we go ..!

Well, the new project has begun. I went to the site yesterday and walked all the property lines. This place is amazing, imagine all of the great things about WNC riding, then put it out your backdoor. That is what these folks will have. We are shooting for about four miles total after the project is done.

Today we were able to lay out the "right side", and got about half of the "left side" rough flagged. Tomorrow will be the linking of the top and the bottom of the left side, then hopefully we will be able to dial that line.

The right side will be mostly open hardwood forest with a 5% drop and around 7 nice turns to get you traversing the slope. It should be a mix of DuPont style trail with Pisgah style forest. Then, the left side will be like Laurel Mountain for a climb, but without the nasty slick sideslope rocks, yeah seems pretty good. The "back nine" is a whole different story, that area has the largest Hickory I have ever seen, 6 ft DBH, no joke!

Things in the developement front have been crazy this week too. I expected this week to be quiet with the Holidays and all, but turns out everyone is cramming a weeks work into three days. Yikes!

Dreaming...

Sometimes the universe aligns and you get the opportunity to have great things happen. When we were in Charlotte this Summer the White Water Center gave us the place to rest and relax, but the whole while ideas were circulating in my head. The place represents the "ski resort" mentality and culture that is replicable ANYWHERE. Imagine a resort type environment where you have water, riding and good food and beer. Seems about like heaven to me. Well, the USNWC represents this kind of place. Today we went down and looked at new potential that can be reveled. Here is to fingers crossed!

Tomorrow? Well, first a few hours on Valmont stuff, then answer some emails and work on whatever those call for. Finally, the goal is to get back out on the moto to clear the head in the afternoon. Maybe a fire in the conference room after that.

Great weekend...now to git2werk!

Being back in WNC without getting to ride for a week was a hard fought battle, but worth it. Last week I knocked out a ton of work, now it is time to focus on the projects immediately at hand and to get reinvigorated, night rides in Pisgah here I come. Here are photos from the m-loop North Slope pedal on Saturday, then I went for a moto ride on the new tires...fuu--uun!

The Stairs and Boone...No CLT...Oh well

I guess Boone first. I am going to keep the name on this one secret to help from getting bitten (ie. biters) for a little while. But here are some pretty pictures.




Now the stairs. Here is the build, below is the texture. CLT got called cause rain and red clay don't mix. Next week looks like.

Office day with Ida...

Well, today was the first chance we have had in a very long time to sit and get the office caught up. I think we got about half way through. Thank goodness this storm came through dropping ridiculous amounts of rain or I probably would have put off the boring computer and jumped on the bike. Tomorrow we head to Boone to check out a new county acquisition then to Charlotte to see some old friends and see what they got going on. Office day number two will be Friday, finally Saturday it is RIDE TIME!

If I get any cool photos from either site visit they will make it on the blog so the week probably won't be a total wash, pun intended.

CoooooL......!

A new spot that OGT is managing in North Florida. I went up there today to take a look at the "potential" of this place. I will just refer you to the title of the post.

What the....?

Well, it has been a busy weekend. We spent some time in Tavares on Halloween and then headed to Orlando to check some stuff out on Monday, photo at the bottom. Today, I finally made the ride out to the Land Bridge at Santos, and it was really cool! The photo above is of the crossing, you are in the woods and start climbing a hill that seems way too big for Florida, then look to your right and there it is I-75, in the photo below. It was an excellent ride and everything I needed right now.



Orlando Woods.



Tomorrow we head to Gainesville to chill with some of Jenn's friends and for me to try and get caught up on some paper work. Then, I head to check out a cool property with some Florida folks on Friday. Enjoy your day and GET OUT AND RIDE!!!

Rippin' and Packin'

Well, it is flowing. The whole day was spent riding in the pump track and doing a bit of final dialing. The photo above is of one of the kids helping pack things in. Below is fresh tracks on the yet to be full packed berms, then the very bottom is, well, this is the fun stuff.

The Rythm of the build

Well, we are into the home stretch, I should be riding this beast by the end of the day. Above and below is a photo of how these things really get done. It is all about hard work. One of the best things about digging is it requires repetition and a zen like efficiency. Below Rob, the lot owner, gives a berm his touch.



The results are sculpted packed lines ready for tire packing and final rake downs. How many options can you count coming out of this berm?



The day ended with this great sunset in the background over the lake. Great Day!

Making it with the machine

Here is the typical start to many a pump track. Beautiful piles of soft pliable soil. The process from here still has many options to go both the right and the wrong way. Below is what I have done with it on this particular lot. Just because it was done this way here does not mean it is necessarily what you should do for a pump track you are building. These things are an art and each one should be a creative extension based on a number of factors.



Then after the dirt is placed the detailing and "finish carpentry" begin. I always start with the clean up of the piles first, it feels like it closes a chapter and allows you to concentrate on the big goal in front of you...the digging, the packing and the repeating.

Florida flowbuilding...

Outside of Ocala and Orlando is a buddy who has a pumptrack in the backyard. He has spent the last couple months trying to build a flowy wonderful escape in his backyard, but alas it wasn't working so "who ya gonna call?" PUMPTRACKERS!!

We spent the first day simply tweaking what looked close and will spend tomorrow in the machine dropping new dirt and tweaking the "upper" two-thirds of the track.Hopefully we will be riding it by Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.

Back to work...

Well, the west was a great trip, I will give a nice little wrap up some time in the next couple weeks. But, for now it is time to get back to work. We are in Tallahassee to look over a project that the city wants completed on an urban trail system in the heart of the city. The pre-bid conference was yesterday and now it is time to do some creative writing...remember that class in school? We also head to a private pumptrack tomorrow to crank out some great backyard lovin' for a friend. I will try and update that one daily if I can, should be a cool little build. So for now, I guess we are back to work. But, how seriously can you really take Florida when people are driving around like this!