MTB Trailcare

What a week of progress we have seen on Pete's track.  Thanks to a diverse and hard-working group of volunteers, we have been able to turn the planned line of Pete's below the North Street Fire Road into a showcase section of trail.  All that is needed now are some rainfalls to allow more serious tamping/sledge hammering of what has beeen built.  This section of Pete's is on rocky and stony terrain.

According to Ashley, the result of digging reverse grade dips and using the rocky fill on high points, is that we haven't actually moved anything!!??!!  That's why all the pain I am feeling isn't hurting a bit!  Not one bit, brain, hear that?

The push has been on to get this trail ripped-through and opened ASAP, so QPWS Rangers and other staff involved in the Nerang MTB project can see what an effort has been put in.  However, even in trailwork, conflict can develop.  It was my mission that progress, which was being measured in metres, changed to measures of trail quality.

Ash and I represent a group of volunteers who work their butt off in Nerang.  We all want to stand proud when those Rangers come and inspect Pete's trail.  We want them to go home saying - "That is amazing trail", not because it is amazing to ride, but because it is sound, respects the bush, protects the bush from the public at the same time and justifies all the time and expense QPWS has put into getting this whole project going.  Hosting the QORF (Qld Outdoor Recreation Federation) conference at Nerang, arranging for Marty Krieg from IMBA to host a day of education and building, planning for Gillian Duncan to inspect and log all trails, including way points for modification, has been a massive commitment to our sport of MTB.  When we offer Pete's and Mongrels trails up to them for review, they deserve our best effort, not just a trail that is rideable at best.

So, let's have a look at Pete's trail using before, intermediate and latest pics, starting up near the fire road and going downhill.  This is the first bit built below the fore road.  it's a bit hard to see the grade reversals in the bright sun.  It's pump track-ish and leads through trees into a flowing right-hander

This section was started using an old-style trailbuilding method that does not work.  Let's be really clear about this: just because scratching stones to the outsloipe made a trail 10 years ago, does not make it right.  Loose stones on grass is a lazy and inexcusable way to build trail.  

This

cannot be made like this

Dirt scrached over loose stones on grass would be lucky to last 1 week in Nerang because of our heavy rains, the huge rise in users and good luck to riders who find the trail limit using their body parts!  This line of pebbles is as much of a problem as bits of stick used to "reinforce" trail edges.

Rolling grade dips allow water to drain from trail that is fun to ride

The advantage of scratching out a line is that you don't commit to the wrong line.  All materials can be harvestred and used elsewhere.  This section of trail changed even though we thought it was good to go

It was impossibe to turn below the skinny tree trunk (it is a dead tree), so we dug it out and made this.  The rocks will be exposed after rain washes the remaining fill off the riding surface

The next bit leads to the entrance of an omega, switchback turn.  It was designed to be technical rather than fast and we wanted the trail to help riders find their coreect speed.

Here's how it started

and how it looks now

The switchback has also receiverd further attention with the dead tree being cut down and some more armouring being added near it.  Before this turn is ready to open, we need to cover all of the rock features with small pebbles to help everything set and feel grippy to ride.

We thought that by the time we completed the drainages and features above the turn we would run out of volunteers and time.  However, we managed to get a fair bit more done.  Here's how the line out of the switchback looks.  It is not completed yet, but close.  This section will get some love on Wednesday afternoon

A little farther down we faced this

and this was what appeared and how it changed

Funky wood art made by nature and now part of the trail

But wait there's more.  Some really fun turns connect the last pics to the next ones.  It is so cool to ride.  It started like this

and is turning into this

It won't be long before this trail connects to the original Pete's track across the fire road, plus the lower section of Pete's that opened after the old Downhill Trail was closed.  We are very happy no-one has been pushing through the closure to ride Downhill again.  It isn't just the quality of the closure, which is good and has been featured in a past trail news, but also that riders seem to really like the lowest section of Pete's and want to ride it instead.  Even dudes with DH bikes say they can have fun on it.

More trail news to come after Wednesday's dig afternoon.  

Louis