MTB Trailcare

Volunteers present: Kurt, Neil (aka: Milo), Andrew, Myself.

All the recent bad weather and my on/off, on/off antics sent most of our volunteers in other directions for the day.....hehehe. We cancelled the last 2 scheduled work days due to rain, to wet to be productive without causing unnecessary damage within the park.

Yesterday we decided to upgrade an existing Wimps trail link that feeds off Norco Flow at the 1st drop - exit left for Wimps trail. This location is 320m down from start with no waypoint recommendations listed on the IMBA trail audit. We prioritised work on this link as the lead-in and sight lines were pretty ordinary and the section was not properly benched in, upgrade distance approx.15m in length.

We modified the existing rock filtration drain which is 2m uphill from the drop by making it wider and deeper, large rocks added at the bottom of the pit, progressively getting smaller, then top dressing with soil for the trail tread surface.

We saw the need for a corral of contrasting colour to help highlight the exit point for wimps, this was achieved by transplanting native grasses onto a small traffic island. This improvement was done for safety reasons rather than for sustainability reasons. You can now clearly see 2x distinct riding lines and a lovely little garden.

The Wimps drop link is a steep rollable drop approx. 600mm in height, it is deemed safe at most entry speeds, either flying off or rolling into it. It has been tested at 3 different cardinal entry speeds by 3 different riders.

The above photo, looking uphill, shows the benched in reciever/lander after the main rollable drop with a small 200mm drop at the end of the berm, this small drop acts as a water bar and helps divert rainwater runoff to the out sloped drainage point. We are very pleased with this result.

There are no real erosion/sustainability issues at this location, this work was perfomed as a safety enhancement and a matter of urgency. This location is considered works in progress, to be completed in due course, however it is now much safer and is very rideable.

Our aim is to 100% complete works progressively from the top - downward.

Ride safe,

Mick