MCMBA: Island Lake

[fsr1]

There have been complaints of new trails forming back by the JC Penney "unofficial" entrance. Park management contacted me today asking me to post on our board that this area is not open to bikes. Please use the official park entrance.

I've also created another thread addressing this issue here. http://mmba.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=111257

Thanks
Mark Dombrowski

Mark: Does JCP or Green Oak Mall have the issue, or park management. Is there a problem if just a single path from the lot to the trail? Are they going to put up a chain link fence to prevent entry from JCP (e.g. Trout Lake fortress). I have 5 cars with the DNR pass including one motorcycle, so lost revenue from me is not an issue. I also pay my MMBA dues. The JCP lot is closer to home, and also allows me to stay away from the park road that road riders believe they own. Lastly, the park management should be more concerned with the white trash taking over Spring Mill Pond that has driven families and others away.
Eric Graetzel

It was the park management that had the issue with reports that new trails were being cut back there. After some discussion the JC Penney trailhead will remain open and I don't foresee any more issues if we bikers just stay on the one trail connecting to blue.

I need to do some more reconnaissance. I'm told there is a trail that goes out to a park and ride and I see a few small trails that crisscross the area back there. I'd like to see these closed but not sure of the feasibility. The reason the park wants this is that they call it "a high quality prairie remnant that volunteers and others have been stewarding for years."
The bottom line is that it is park land and there are no official trails back there. There will most likely be some signage to follow in an attempt to educate and hopefully keep folks out of the areas they should be avoiding.

Regarding the white trash comment... My wife had our kids out at Springmill today and reported much teenage foul language and general disregard for those around them.

Mark

[Double T]

I'm not sure who I need to contact about this, but I would like to take some quality fill dirt from my back yard and relocate it to the mud holes immediately after the bridge on the yellow loop. I have no formal MMBA trail maintenance skills, but built and maintained dirt bike trails as a teenager when I should have been playing video games in my basement. I'm also planning on clipping some over-growth in the area. I would appreciate a PM or message response with permission granted or denied.

Thanks,

Scott

[Island Lake Dnr]

Permission granted. That would be great. Thanks

[fsr1]

I'm not sure who I need to contact about this, but I would like to take some quality fill dirt from my back yard and relocate it to the mud holes immediately after the bridge on the yellow loop. I have no formal MMBA trail maintenance skills, but built and maintained dirt bike trails as a teenager when I should have been playing video games in my basement. I'm also planning on clipping some over-growth in the area. I would appreciate a PM or message response with permission granted or denied.

Thanks,

Scott

Thanks Scott!

Please record your trail hours here. http://site.mcmba.org/index.php/get-involved/report-volunteer-hours

[TenSpeed]

Trail is fast and really nice. It is getting really overgrown in some spots, with some real face and body slappers that can do some damage if you are following another rider too close. You can barely tell that it rained yesterday.

[Hermannator]

Double T did a nice job filling in the holes on yellow and trimming. I picked up where he left off. Yellow is now trimmed from trailhead to the 180 at the beginning of the long downhill section after mile 2.5.

[fsr1]

Thanks so much guys! Please report your hours

[edhawk]

It was the park management that had the issue with reports that new trails were being cut back there. After some discussion the JC Penney trailhead will remain open and I don't foresee any more issues if we bikers just stay on the one trail connecting to blue.

I need to do some more reconnaissance. I'm told there is a trail that goes out to a park and ride and I see a few small trails that crisscross the area back there. I'd like to see these closed but not sure of the feasibility. The reason the park wants this is that they call it "a high quality prairie remnant that volunteers and others have been stewarding for years."
The bottom line is that it is park land and there are no official trails back there. There will most likely be some signage to follow in an attempt to educate and hopefully keep folks out of the areas they should be avoiding.

I ride in from the park and ride. I also have the state parks passport on all four of my cars and membership to MMBA/IMBA. I agree with the previous poster that it would be double if not triple my driving distance to get into the park as opposed to JC Penney or the park and ride. I would abide by any decisions made and if a single access point from JCP is allowed, I will stick with that.

[edhawk]

During my ride this morning I had a near miss with a golf cart near the 3 mile marker on yellow, just before crossing the river across from the Island Lake entrance. I have ridden this trail probably over a hundred times and never gave a thought that anyone uses that gravel section crossing the river. The golf cart panic stopped, just as I came around the corner onto the gravel.

I don't know if it was DNR or not. It looked like two young guys (teenaged staff?) I felt bad for causing them to panic stop as I never would have expected to see a motorized vehicle right there. No words were exchanged between us. It was just a surprising wake up for me. Is this a normal traffic area?

[Loren]

Yup. If you follow it north you arrive at the park HQ building, where they stage equipment and supplies. If you follow it south, you can get to the main park entrance or cut through to the paved biking trail that runs through the park.

[b_b]

And watch out for snowmobiles in the winter! I encountered one that was going in the opposite direction and I had to take quick evasive maneuvers.

[pongomoto]

Went out to ILRA yesterday for some laid back miles since I haven't ridden in over a week due to being sick. I don't think I have ever seen the grass in the trail head parking lot so yellow and brown. Then the trail......super dry with of course more sand than normal but overall the trail was really fast. There were a few areas where we were easily able to cruise at over 20mph because the trail was packed down so hard....almost pavement like.

We never take the Blue to Yellow connector and that new little section of Blue that avoids the Two Way traffic was great. On our first Blue we flew right past it and had to lock 'em up to double back and check it out. The second time around the Blue we set up for the turn and I loved the flow of that connector. Thanks for the addition.

The yellow was dialed as well with of course the normal sandy areas to watch out for. Still fast and fun as usual.

I know many people don't think ILRA is worth traveling to because it is not 'technical' and doesn't have any 'climbs' but to me those are the people who don't know how to have fun while on their bikes. The TC's and V's are doing a solid job out there as usual. Thanks for all the hard work to keep the trail in great shape for those of us who ride it.

[fsr1]

Went out to ILRA yesterday for some laid back miles since I haven't ridden in over a week due to being sick. I don't think I have ever seen the grass in the trail head parking lot so yellow and brown. Then the trail......super dry with of course more sand than normal but overall the trail was really fast. There were a few areas where we were easily able to cruise at over 20mph because the trail was packed down so hard....almost pavement like.

We never take the Blue to Yellow connector and that new little section of Blue that avoids the Two Way traffic was great. On our first Blue we flew right past it and had to lock 'em up to double back and check it out. The second time around the Blue we set up for the turn and I loved the flow of that connector. Thanks for the addition.

The yellow was dialed as well with of course the normal sandy areas to watch out for. Still fast and fun as usual.

I know many people don't think ILRA is worth traveling to because it is not 'technical' and doesn't have any 'climbs' but to me those are the people who don't know how to have fun while on their bikes. The TC's and V's are doing a solid job out there as usual. Thanks for all the hard work to keep the trail in great shape for those of us who ride it.

Thanks Aryn! Being a volunteer hearing folks complain about ILRA and how its just a "dirt path", it is pretty easy to get discouraged. It's a trail that appeals to both the newbie as well as the racer putting in training miles. Hard to get people into the sport if Highland is their first trail? You try to balance family time, work, trail work, and actually getting time to ride. I do try to let the negative comments slide off, but thanks like yours goes a long way.

Glad you like the reroute. The next step is to close the old trail down. If you liked that you're gonna love what's coming next, another more lenghthy reroute on Blue.. Stay tuned!

[slukomski]

FWIW I love ILRA too. I love going fast on the blue loop and I like the flow of yellow. The open field toward the end of the yellow loop is breathtaking (someday I'll stop to take it all in). I like the night rides in the fall and winter and I'll probably do my first (MTB) century there. I can take my wife and kids there and enjoy it just the same. It's a great park.

[pfox90]

ILRA is one of my favs, not because it's extremely tech or demanding, but it is just downright fast. And that is why I ride, to go fast and have fun. Not to bust my balls every single ride on trails that are just downright tough.