MTB Trailcare

It seems like forever since we last posted on the site.  Family, work and other commitments have kept Ashley and I busy.  Whilst we have been working on stuff for the trail system, it has been "on paper" rather than with dirt.  

I was looking forward to a ride today (tomorrow's will be more satisfying now), but last night's rain presented the opportunity to take care of a job necessary to harden a very sodden part of Brett's; not that it has been seriously sodden since the Summer rains ended.  This is not the final cure for the site.  Ideally, another layer or two of stones will be added to really reinforce the area and enhance durability.  You will recognise the site from these "before" pics

The next pic shows how wet it is below the surface despite only minor rains in the last few weeks and a tread that has had months to set after building.  There is water slowly oozing through the tread.  Underneath the log ride, the ground is slop

On nearby trail, our last work has been mostly successful.  Apart from one spot where subsoil water flows heavily into the face of a berm (fixable), things look good in this section of trail

On with the job.  Embedding stones into soft trail sounds easy.  It isn't.  First you need the trail to be receptive, but not too soft or hard.  Then you need a supply of stones of the correct size, free of excessive organic and soil contamination.  Then they have to be embedded, or tamped into the trail, without leaving too many loose stones, or turning the tread into vulnerable jelly.  

As we have not yet had any trailbuilding materials supplied, harvesting the raw materials for this work is probably the hardest job in routine trailwork.  Today was too wet to rake pebbles from the fire road, or the banks along it.  It was impossible to sort pebbles from the soil and vegetation that came with them.  It was a long time bent over, collecting the correct stones individually by hand that gained what was needed.  

What cannot be seen in the pics, as 200-300m barrow rides vibrated them to the bottom, is the tiny, gravel-size stones required to lock the larger stones when being tamped and when being ridden.  Lucky for me it was not a massive job like Lower Pete's will be.  

For that reason, next time we do this sort of work, we need your small children!  They are closer to the ground, they have smaller hands and fingers for gathering pebbles and they scuttle around faster than old farts like me.  Send us your childrens.....

Sorry, I'm tired because I then had to spread and embed the stones.  Embedding stones is anaerobic ++

This is how it ended today.  The trail surface had that stabilised, jelly-like feel.  You could try to bash more stone in, but that would leave a surface so jellified that wheel ruts would be a problem.  Better to add more stones another day after more rain.

Chatted to quite a few riders today.  Everyone was happy and thanks for the interest in volunteering.  I guess it's time we started posting more work on the calendar again.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Louis