Barntown...

This morning I went up to the project North of town and looked over where the excavator has gotten to and took a few photos. I also ended up on the ridge looking at a bit of alignment there. Next time up it will be time to flag the upper loop.

Tomorrow I think it is time to just get in some riding and work up at mom's this Saturday. I will do some tree work with Tavis, then go for another ride with PAS on Sunday.

New Videos for NTD...

Yesterday was spent mostly in the office and running errands around a beautifully dreary Asheville, I believe the technical term is "sublime". But, in process of doing some hunting on the web I came across two videos from Allout Productions. Check them out.

Stars and Bars:



Floatin'



I hope Nate and Jimi come through on the sponsorship for showing these at the National Trails Day Festival. I also have been working on the flyers for a few different things and have been really spending way too much time in front of the computer. But, it is all stuff I want to get ahead on.

For now it's back to it and look for updates on the Barntown trails and the new pumptrack and jumps.

A nice warmup into the grind.

It's been very nice being able to just step back from things the last few days and enjoy seeing my little brother and my friends over Thanksgiving. A nice relaxing Thursday. Then a REALLY chill Friday. Finally worked outside around the house on Saturday.

Today, however, was a day back in the working mindset. I went up to Green's Lick and walked up and down it looking at what sections it can be split into for planning. So if you are on the trail and notice a few pink ribbons it will be my "section" delineations. Things seem like they will work out fairly well. I included a recent video off of YOUTUBE to show some of the chunder and flow death that has been morphing on that hill. Keep an eye on the site as I will be using this as an update area for what will be happening.

Project begins anew...

Today was the first day of a new pumptrack and jumps design. The time was relatively quick. I had most of the design in my head already.


It will feature a beginner line that hips into an intermediate line that feeds through a berm in to the 50 x 80 pumptrack which will have a full circle incorporated into it. Also it will have two teardrop direction reversals, curious how well these will work out.


Here are the photos of the site, I will try to keep up to date with progress photos. For now, I will be hanging out for the holidays. Sunday it is up to Green's Lick to look that over and start a plan there. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

You just can't stop yourself sometimes.

I don't usually like to ride during hunting season, out of both respect for the hunters and for self preservation. But, today was different. I had a preplanned ride with Andy and Tavis out in Bent Creek. However, yesterday, I found out from Nate and Jimi that hunting season had started....DOH!

But, we still went out. I mean, how do you say no to a day like this.



It lead me to think alot about the concept of hunting as a recreational activity. I really don't know the answer to some of the issues inherent in rifle hunting in crowded woods. I think this is something I want to address with public recreationalists being more informed and being able to be better members of the outdoor community as a whole. Wildlife management is a real issue that needs to be handled in urbanized woods. Hunters are a great, free, way to handle this. I hope the discussion becomes more regular among my peers.



The ride was great. We cruised up North Boundary to "Five Points" and out Little Hickory Top to Sidehill. Then, dropped down the road to Lower Sidehill...Man I love that tree....Across the lake then up to Deerfield and popped out on Pine Tree. Back to the car and happy day.

Philpott Two ... Electric Bugaloo....

Philpott, Virginia again?

Yes. Last weekend Rich and I worked with the local club and the Army Corps of Engineers, at Philpott Lake, teaching an introduction to trail building and design. This week, it was all about the horsepower. The Army Corps., as well as a local contractor, Jim Frith, have both purchased Ditch Witch SK500s to be used on the trail project around Philpott. It was another great weekend working with all the fantastic individuals around southern Virginia.



Saturday was spent in the classroom, in the morning, then we moved to a borrow pit at the base of the dam to do some hands-on work. Everyone got a little "stick-time" and really seemed to be picking it up.



Then, Sunday, we all headed back up to the Jamison Mill area to put some trail on the ground. All-in-all another great event.



Everyone in the area seems to be coming together to create a plan to build Philpott into a destination with around 40 miles of multi-use trail. This will be a huge asset to those mountain bikers and outdoor enthusiasts in the Greensboro and Winston-Salem area. A destination for the triangle of North Carolina.

Some of the contributors.

The Philpott Page

The Mountain Bike Club

The Friends

New compruuuter.....

Yay! I own a new computer. It's sweet. A Toshiba that is crazy fast with loads of storage. Here's to loads of photos.





Well, tomorrow I am back off to VA. Today, I went back up to Barnardsville and checked on my trail project up there. George has been punching through some crazy stuff. He also built a pretty nice little bridge across one of the stream crossings we are dealing with. When I head back up there after the Virgina trip I will be finishing the micro design on the second section of the access trail and starting the macro design on the upper most loop. I hope to have some new pictures of the project next time I go up as well. For now here are a few more of the project.



Next week will be the start of a new pumptrack as well. Look for photos of the before coming up.