Mid-State: Burchfield

[geardaddy37]

rode today @ 4...beautiful ride minus the two times I had to stop and give blood...
Trails in good shape though, and especially like the blind riding in Glorious Poupards where the grass is so high and closed in you can't see the elevation changes...makes for an interesting litte stunt

[mjpo]

I can take a hint! I will get it mowed!

[jonw9]

The trail seems in pretty good condition. A couple of sticks down, but no major issues. Even the mosquitoes weren't too bad, granted, I didn't ever stop for too long.

I went ahead and opened boB's Supremacy. There are a couple trees down (in succession) right near the beginning, just after the downhill.

Swamp think is mostly rideable. The bridges are all washed out, and muddy deep there. This is where the mosquitoes are pretty terribly as well. Maybe better to avoid this still, for a bit.

[TenSpeed]

Trail overall is decent, a bit muddy in some spots still. Mosquito's are really bad, even in the parking lot, in the sun. The ride this morning was annoying, because the grass was wet still, and when I hit any grassy area along the McNamara loop, the wet grass turned the dirt on my tires into mud, shooting up onto my bike, body and face. Other than that, nothing major to report.

Wondering if any stunts or work can be done on the trails that are not open to disc golfers and skiers, like Randy's, Frank's, Annie's, etc.

[jonw9]

Wondering if any stunts or work can be done on the trails that are not open to disc golfers and skiers, like Randy's, Frank's, Annie's, etc.

Sure stunts can be built. Reid just built one the other day. What kind of work are you hoping to do? Run it by Jeff (mjpo) and I am sure something can be worked out.

[geardaddy37]

Trail overall is decent, a bit muddy in some spots still. Mosquito's are really bad, even in the parking lot, in the sun. The ride this morning was annoying, because the grass was wet still, and when I hit any grassy area along the McNamara loop, the wet grass turned the dirt on my tires into mud, shooting up onto my bike, body and face. Other than that, nothing major to report.

Wondering if any stunts or work can be done on the trails that are not open to disc golfers and skiers, like Randy's, Frank's, Annie's, etc.

embrace the mud!!! It's sad to see a clean mtbike!

[reidabel]

Wondering if any stunts or work can be done on the trails that are not open to disc golfers and skiers, like Randy's, Frank's, Annie's, etc.

Sure stunts can be built. Reid just built one the other day. What kind of work are you hoping to do? Run it by Jeff (mjpo) and I am sure something can be worked out.

I'm pretty sure he knows stunts can be built, but what is meant by "trails not open to disc golfers and skiers"? I don't think any of the advanced MTB loop is open to them, so that's the place to build.

Yes, it all needs to be cleared with Jeff (the Trail Coordinator, or TC, for those who don't know) ahead of time, and certain rules need to be followed, particularly that you can't use any lumber that isn't pressure treated and it can't be smaller than 2" dimensional. By dimensional, it means the stated size. In reality a 2"x4" is only something like 1.5" x 3.5", if you can believe that, but it says 2", so it qualifies. Also, apparently there are special resistant screws that you should use for treated wood. Some of Burchfield's older stunts do not follow these rules, but these are the current rules. Also, no articulating features, nothing should be intended to move while the rider is on it. For example, this rules out teeter-totters. And hamster wheels. Carousels.

Each stunt needs to have a bypass and ideally the bypass should be the main trail, so that a rider has to purposely go off the main trail to ride the stunt.

Then there is the obvious rule about not making it unsafe. I aim, though may not always succeed as much as I would like, to make the entry difficult if the exit is difficult. I don't want anybody nonchalantly cruising up onto something and finding a nasty surprise at the end.

People are supposed to walk any new stunt before they ride it, but I think people assume that if something is there - it's safe to ride it.

[mjpo]

Wondering if any stunts or work can be done on the trails that are not open to disc golfers and skiers, like Randy's, Frank's, Annie's, etc.

Sure stunts can be built. Reid just built one the other day. What kind of work are you hoping to do? Run it by Jeff (mjpo) and I am sure something can be worked out.

I'm pretty sure he knows stunts can be built, but what is meant by "trails not open to disc golfers and skiers"? I don't think any of the advanced MTB loop is open to them, so that's the place to build.

Yes, it all needs to be cleared with Jeff (the Trail Coordinator, or TC, for those who don't know) ahead of time, and certain rules need to be followed, particularly that you can't use any lumber that isn't pressure treated and it can't be smaller than 2" dimensional. By dimensional, it means the stated size. In reality a 2"x4" is only something like 1.5" x 3.5", if you can believe that, but it says 2", so it qualifies. Also, apparently there are special resistant screws that you should use for treated wood. Some of Burchfield's older stunts do not follow these rules, but these are the current rules. Also, no articulating features, nothing should be intended to move while the rider is on it. For example, this rules out teeter-totters. And hamster wheels. Carousels.

Each stunt needs to have a bypass and ideally the bypass should be the main trail, so that a rider has to purposely go off the main trail to ride the stunt.

Then there is the obvious rule about not making it unsafe. I aim, though may not always succeed as much as I would like, to make the entry difficult if the exit is difficult. I don't want anybody nonchalantly cruising up onto something and finding a nasty surprise at the end.

People are supposed to walk any new stunt before they ride it, but I think people assume that if something is there - it's safe to ride it.

This info is all correct about how to build the stunts. With regards to "where"...they need to be on the advanced singletrack. We need to stay out of the way of the x-country skiers and the grooming equipment that is used. Also, I have a bunch of wood available. Let me know what you are thinking about doing.

[TenSpeed]

Is there a limit as to how high something could be? Like if you built a bridge of sorts, maybe on Randy's or Frank's, as some sort of a technical bypass of the trail.

[xcrdr]

I have been parking at McNamara lot lately because there are far less mosquitos. It works out well when I wash those mud splatters off on the steps. I can get my tires clean and not lose a quart of blood.

[Paul_D]

Finally made it back out after getting my bike fixed. Made it 9 miles in to the end of dragon run and flatted, then remembered my extra tube, patches, and pump are in my other car. Was sad because swamp thing along the river is one of my favorite sections out there.

Trail is in amazing condition, very hard and fast overall (I can say that because I didn't check out swamp thing.)
Reid - nice work clearing the trees at the beginning of Bobs and turning them into a sweet stunt! It looks like someone (assumings Reid) cleaned up all of Bobs, thank you and good work to whomever you are.

[reidabel]

Actually, somebody else cleaned up Bob's because I didn't go past where I cut up the trees - I had my daughter with me and she wanted out of there as fast as humanly possible. I had her protected against the mosquitos as much as I could, but the main problem was that she was bored out of her mind after two hours of watching Daddy cut and carry logs.

So I will add my thanks to whoever (else) did the cleaning of Bob's Supremacy ... there was a lot of debris on it the last time I rode it.

[mjpo]

Is there a limit as to how high something could be? Like if you built a bridge of sorts, maybe on Randy's or Frank's, as some sort of a technical bypass of the trail.

A couple of years ago, when inquiring about making some changes, I was told I could go skinnier but not higher than what was existing. I think the best approach would be to sketch up your idea (nothing fancy) and we can show the park. If he says it is too high, we can modify it. FYI, at the time comments were made, the tallest stunt was about 5 feet (the one by loomans run). Also, managment has been VERY helpful and open minded. I suspect that if we present a safe idea, he will approve

[Paul_D]

You guys could rebuild this bad boy

[TenSpeed]

You guys could rebuild this bad boy

I fully second this motion!!!!