Poto: Olson Park/Ann Arbor Loop

[Bcar]

Built up a log pile for the first downed tree at girl-scout's after tallying the vote to which my big ring seemed to be the only participant in, shouldn't be bashing chain rings anymore but your clearance may vary. Just be a little cautious riding up as I didn't have my handsaw to cut and find the "right" logs so things may shift a bit till its ridden in. I think these fallen logs really help the feel of this section of trail there seems to be a nice rhythm of log piles to roots to drops in this section that makes me want to ride around for another go.

sweet! thanks! I keep trying to keep the 2nd one in shape but someone(walker???) keeps taking logs away, at least they only toss them a few feet away

we've got a rather large group riding tonight so will let ya know how it rides!

[deezler]

You definitely missed a whole ton of fun singletrack back in there! You can either ride all the way up the gravel road and go straight into some singletrack, or you can turn left at the top of the hill onto some singletrack that starts with a rippin' downhill. you'll soon discover the vast trails back there from these points.

Awesome; I still have a lot of exploring to do.

It's funny because the city of Ann Arbor parks dept / Natural area preservation never shows too many trails on their maps.
I.E. : http://www.a2gov.org/government/communi ... -08-01.pdf

There's nothing shown for Onder.... even though those are some of the best trails, clearly MTB in mind when made.

It would be nice if someone put together a better map of the Ann Arbor loop trails!

It would also be nice if there was a way to get from kuebler / camp hilltop over to M-14/Onder without riding all the way down to the Barton dam. Maybe a pirate trail across the RR tracks right by river... either side of the river would work as there's the bridge at Bandemer park...

[georgemra]

Deez...there is a trail that does exactly that. It leaves from the east side of Huron River Dr. at about the apex of the curve. It drops into the trees, crosses over the RR tracks, and dumps you right into Bandamere Park. Go over the bridge, cross Whitmore Lake Rd. and continue your ride.

[deezler]

Awesome, thanks! I'll stop cluttering the thread with personal questions now.

[Bcar]

the new log pile is nice. I gotta work on the 2nd one a bit more though... have been with larger groups lately so havent stopped, well, except for that one time when I bashed adroit riders adroit with some log tossing...

[georgemra]

The fallen tree that made the low arch on the downhill has finally sank low enough that if can't be avoided. Time to take it down. The rain has been very good to the loop. Everything was firm and my wheels were hooking up really nice.

[Bcar]

Someone keeps taking apart the log piles in boy/girl-scout park. I had to work on them a bit Friday night (pre-crash...), so BE CAREFUL when approaching these in case they're taken apart again. I hope I catch who's been doing this... At least they're lazy @#$es because they dont throw the wood very far from the log...

[Hench]

That's too bad, haven't had time to ride recently but i plan to go out later today so I'll keep an eye out and run an extra loop around after the bluffs.Thanks for the warning, hopefully your crash was an uneventful one, I don't know how effective a sign might be but I'd be happy to print out a laminate to discourage log pile destruction. Hopefully its just an individual who is ignorant to the fact that those logs are there for a reason and not someone with ulterior motives.

[georgemra]

Log piles were in good shape yesterday, but there are still some low trees on the trails. In addition to the low tree on the downhill, I believe there is a low one in the Bluffs somewhere before the start of the long winding climb.

[nrd2052]

I have been noticing the same thing with the log piles. There are two in rapid succession in the middle of Kuebler Langford (one that I built last week) and they both have gotten torn down. What the deal with this?

[Bcar]

someone (hiker???) keeps taking them down. Im thinking about bringing in some large spikes and hammering them in with a sledge.

[Bcar]

trail is in great shape, a few small puddles but overall 100% rideable. The log piles were in pretty bad shape last night, spend some time on them. There were some trees down over the DH run and other places that I was able to clear, the tight arch on the DH was removed by someone (yay!). The DH didnt fare well with the last round of storms, its a bit rutted/washed out, but still rideable and fun as @#$%#$. I wasnt able to make it to bluffs before it got to dark, but there could be some trees down.

there are still a few "low bridges" but they're all rideable so I didnt take any of them down.

Face slappers are ok, not great, but not terrible. Please remember to grab a few each time you ride/remember, will help out a lot if everyone takes a few down each ride.

[Hench]

A few things to watch out for on the loop: at Traver creek the bridge got knocked off center so be careful crossing, and at girl scout's first log pile is a bit rough and there is another tree down between the two log piles which may have to be cut since its elevated off the trail due to the slope. Tried to do some repairs to the bridge and logs but plagues of mosquitoes curtailed my ambition, this is the worst I've seen them this year so bring some spray or just keep your speed up and don't stop.

Also great job to the trimmer(s) at Onder and to whoever redid the drop after the diving board at Olson miss the root at the bottom but the new ledge is probably more sustainable during wet weather.

Face slappers are ok, not great, but not terrible. Please remember to grab a few each time you ride

just make sure what you grab is thorn free, made that mistake a few times.

[Bcar]

New tree down in bluffs, southwest area, just past elks when riding clockwise. The top of the tree is across the trail so its going to take a bit of cutting several branckes, more than my hand saw can do ill try to trim so its a bit easier to walk over/around/under.

Thanks for whoever cut the tree in scout camp!

[Leroi Brown]

Yeah, that tree is massive! Going to take some heavy bug spray and some elbow grease! It's right in between the two sections that border the fence. Was hard just walking "through" it!