Western: Luton Park

[SlowPoke]

Today was my first time on this trail in about 9 months.

wow, is this trail cool.

We biked up from GR and did the trail and then met the wives for lunch in Rockford. What a great ride.

The new section (new to me) was very cool. This has become a great place to ride. I just wish it was not so far from home.

Thanks to everyone that made the trail what it is.

[bh357]

Rode this trail during the MTB Summit, and just want to say that this trail is sweet.

[paydirt_07]

It has also come to my attention that many mountain bikers have chosen to ignore the County's request to not park at the barn on Kies Ave. It has been a privilege to ride here, not a right. Please obey the no parking request and park at the D&W Plaza at 10 Mile and Northland Drive until we establish a parking lot on 10 Mile.

Thanks
Rick

This is just a friendly reminder to those who choose to park on 10 Mile, at the trail entrance or at the barn on Kies. I rode the trail this weekend, which is in great shape, but I noticed two cars parked at the trail entrance and at least one at the barn. A lot of hard work has been put into this trail, please don't mess up the access to this trail by not adhering to a simple request. Besides, the 1.25 mile from d&w is a good warm-up & cool down.

[RickPlite]

thanks paydirt, you are right, many people find out about this trail from this site but choose to ignore the rules. We have over 1000 volunteer hours into building this trail. I'll be pretty ticked if they pull the plug on us due to a few lazy bike riders. Aren't we out here to ride anyway, whats another mile each way?

[RickPlite]

Join us for a trail day June 6th at Luton Park in Rockford. In celebration of National Trail Day, Merrell has joined us as the event sponsor! Come on out and get some Merrell goodies and have a chance to win a $100 gift certificate! Meet at the Keis Ave barn and we will walk in from there.

I can't think of a better way to celebrate National Trail Day than cutting in a brand new section of trail with tools donated by Merrell. Yep, new tools and new trail, here is your chance to help create another 1.5-2 miles similar to the Red Loop terrain!

9:00 am -1:00 pm lunch and tools provided. Bring your own water, boots, gloves, rain jackets?, bug spray.
We could use additional rakes and loppers. If you have one to bring along please do. If you have a chain saw we could use those too.
We meet rain or shine

[Bigtymer]

Rick,
Was there any work done on the ski area reroutes during the summit?

[RickPlite]

No. At this time there are no re-routes or expansion planned and summer season is upon us, which typically means lack of volunteer participation

[beyrle]

Rode Luton for the first time today after the BIG (Almost 50 people) trail day. MMBA did a awesome job laying out this course- can't wait until the new section is complete!! Awesome flow on this trail, definately worth the ride from Holland and for sure will ride again.

[Bigtymer]

Hey Rick,
Is the white trail on the trail map the new section you guys started Saturdsay? Ive been out there about 8 or 9 times this year and haven't seen a white trail.

[RickPlite]

Hey Rick,
Is the white trail on the trail map the new section you guys started Saturdsay? Ive been out there about 8 or 9 times this year and haven't seen a white trail.

yes, but it has never been marked yet, so that is why you don't see it. when it is done we will arrow it (probably black arrows though).

I would like to thank Merrell, with there help we were able to draw in over 45 volunteers for trail work, a wMMBA record!
The new trail is 2-3 miles long but we may have only cut in half of its length so for now the entrance is unmarked and not opened. I don't think people want to go down a trail with a dead end only to have to turn around and meet riders head on. Hopefully we can get another large turnout next month and get the second half cut open. Thanks to all volunteers, that was a great workday yesterday! Congrats to Jeff Corey for winning the $110 Merrell gift certificate

[rootc]

I rode the blue, yellow and red trails on Wednesday.
Blue is in great shape but had a few soft/wet spots in the low areas. Everyone who rides here knows exactly what I'm referring too.
Yellow is looking great.
Red is in good shape, but needs to be ridden more to break it in a bit better. The technical stuff on red is really fun.

Cars are still being parked at the trail head. I Can't really blame people because I didn't notice any thing posted about not parking there. Honestly, it looks like a parking area for the trail. To expect people not to park there is unrealistic unless there is a blantantly obvious sign posted.

The ride in from D&W is approximately 1.3 miles.

It's a great trail and will only get better as more people ride it.

[paydirt_07]

Cars are still being parked at the trail head. I Can't really blame people because I didn't notice any thing posted about not parking there. Honestly, it looks like a parking area for the trail. To expect people not to park there is unrealistic unless there is a blantantly obvious sign posted.

rootc - this is not directed at you.
If I recall correctly, there is a sign on the fence at the trail entrance that indicates no parking. Also, it has been requested SEVERAL times here, on the trail conditions, not to park there or at the barn, but at the D&W parking lot.

Here is the deal about parking for now: the county and the wMMBA don't have money in our budget to build a proper parking lot, for now the county has allowed us to build trails as long as we only access them by foot or bike. They do not want us parking along side the road or using the Kies two track for parking as it would only hold about 4 cars before spilling out onto the shoulder of the road. Think CSGA on a very busy Tuesday eve, this is exactly what we don't need! Someday we will have more trails and a real parking lot!

The past two times that I have ridden there, I talked to two different group of bikers that knew they were not supposed to park there, but did any way. These people obviously don't give a sh@t that their actions could jeopardize EVERYONES access to this trail. Besides, *beep* off the volunteers, that have put in many, many hours building this trail. I guess it will take either a bigger sign or the county closing the trail to get some peoples' attention.

Just my 2 cents.

[Slimm]

maybe there could be a small educational flyer created that some of us locals could carry and hand out to folks. I think, maybe, people know they aren't supposed to park there, but, maybe, they don't know why exactly.

I'm over there all the time from the 10 mile trail head and it seems that there are cars there quite frequently anymore. I'm happy to stop and talk with folks about it, I think we need to just keep reinforcing the message in a friendly and non-confrontational mannor of course.

BTW: the trail should be in premium condition today and through the weekend if no rain. (NEVERMIND)

[rootc]

Requesting that people don't park there via the mmba.org forums is far from an official request. The safe assumption is that the majority of the bikers on Lutton trail are not familiar with these forums and never will be. Put a no parking sign up and no one will park in front of the sign as if it were a handicap parking spot, but I guarantee they will park all around it. A laminated brochure at the trail head, explaining the parking situation, would be ideal especially if it has potential to jepordize the use of the trail. On a similar note a brief trail map would be nice as well; however, I understand if the trail map needs to wait until the white trail is completed. Again, it's a great trail and will continue to improve with some age.

[RickPlite]

Requesting that people don't park there via the mmba.org forums is far from an official request. The safe assumption is that the majority of the bikers on Lutton trail are not familiar with these forums and never will be. Put a no parking sign up and no one will park in front of the sign as if it were a handicap parking spot, but I guarantee they will park all around it. A laminated brochure at the trail head, explaining the parking situation, would be ideal especially if it has potential to jepordize the use of the trail. On a similar note a brief trail map would be nice as well; however, I understand if the trail map needs to wait until the white trail is completed. Again, it's a great trail and will continue to improve with some age.

I trail head sign is in the works along with a map. People ignore signs, the one on Ten Mile is proof. The "No Horse" signs at the Game Area is more proof. A sign saying "no parking" at the barn has not been installed by the wMMBA or the County because they do allow parking in small numbers, particularly the neighbors that have used the original trail for years. They have simply asked us to alleviate the parking by spreading the word via this forum and in person. I know this sounds like a mixed signal; parking for some and not others or a few is ok, etc. but this is the way it is. We do not want a parking situation similar (cars parked up and down the road) to the Game Area. Pretty soon the neighbors are ticked with the volume of cars going in and out or parking along the street. Worse yet is someone gets hit pulling in or out of the drive which has a pretty blind corner. We are all here for exercise, ride your bike an additional mile to and from D&W