Sunday, June 12, 2016

Vike on a Bike Race Loop Trail Repair Project


So, my hometown does this bike race every Memorial Day Weekend which I don't get involved in because I go to Tooele and Clinton every year during Memorial Day.  But I did repair some sections of the trails in the Black Hill area where they have this race.  Someone and I talked about repairing it but I did it mostly for myself because it's a dang fun ride loop in Black Hill, probably the best there is for mountain biking.


Rabbit Run trail had some ravines you go through and it's hard for a mountain bike to ride through but the dirt bikers like it.  So I made a B line for mountain bikers to miss the ravines.


The first ravine is what I worked on first.  I redid the whole thing and the planning and flagging for a whole six hours.


It was a lot of raking with a mcloud rake and shoveling and pulling out the sage brushes.



Fast and fun!



The turns are so much better and more easy and fun by missing the ravine.



Then I got some pictures from the GoPro camera a few months later just 3 days before the Vike on the Bike Race.  You can see that the green grass grew and the trail has been ridden on a little more.





Then here are some pictures of the new B line trail I built to miss the 2nd ravine at the end of the Rabbit Run Trail.



Lots of fun turns!



This trail turned out really good and I got some good compliments.




The trail joining back to the old trail, you can see the ravine on the left and where the old trail is.


Then at the climb right before the Quarries downhill trail, I made a new trail to make it easier to go up on a mountain bike.  Before it was just a steep hill you had to walk and sometimes too steep to walk.  So I made some switchbacks in an area in the southeast of the start of the Quarries Trail.


This one was an easy trail to build but the hardest to plan and mark.  It was so confusing because I was trying to make it 3 or 4 percent grade all the way to the top but I figured it was impossible so it had to be 10 percent grade on some parts.


It's pretty good but for me it's granny gear all the way to the top, but no problem.  A lot of other people liked it!  Sure beats walking your bike.







About 3 switchbacks all the way to the top and a good climb to do before doing the Quarries downhill trail.


The race happened and I've heard a lot people liked the new stuff and I really like the loop ride so much better and no more walking on the hard sections!  And the work paid off.


It took me two months to finish by doing on and off work, like work on it for a day for a few hours, then continue it a week or two later.  It was fun though and I hope it will be good for the future.

No comments: