Burchfield Trail Day, Sunday Sept. 11

[Paul_D]

Reid I agree with you on the first section of field leading up to Peppermint Bridge, its starting to flow quite nicely. The next section of field from the bridge to McNamara is a beast, it fills me with rage! I think it needs to be brushhogged, napalmed, a bulldozed, steamrolled, followed by a cross country race, and then a cyclocross race through that section to make it race ready.

I volunteer for the napalming.

[reidabel]

Ha! I can run a bulldozer, so that part's covered ...

[jonw9]

Reid I agree with you on the first section of field leading up to Peppermint Bridge, its starting to flow quite nicely. The next section of field from the bridge to McNamara is a beast, it fills me with rage! I think it needs to be brushhogged, napalmed, a bulldozed, steamrolled, followed by a cross country race, and then a cyclocross race through that section to make it race ready.

I volunteer for the napalming.

The first field is getting broken in because we can force riders through there. The second field can be avoided, so people do because it is rough. So by avoiding it, people are preventing it from improving.

[F7Cannon]

I know of at least three people who ride that section every week.

On a side note one of the Swamp Thing bridges is 100% complete and rideable as of today. Rides smooth and has a nice entry point if ridden in the proper direction and only a very slight drop off upon exiting. The other bridge will be completed shortly. As of now it can be ridden around to get to the completed bridge and the rest of the trail.

[reidabel]

The first field is getting broken in because we can force riders through there. The second field can be avoided, so people do because it is rough. So by avoiding it, people are preventing it from improving.

The race is going to go through there, right? I wonder how much that will help smooth it out, if any? Sounds like some of us ride it at least some of the time, it's just not enough traffic to do much good. Serenity also was bumpy when it was first done, and I would say it took probably 4 or 5 hours of shovel scraping to get it to being fairly decent. I think it does get more traffic than Glorious Poperd's (the field section in question), though. Maybe a trail day where we all have shovels and can skim it down smooth(er)? Not right away if there's too much to be done before the race, but at some point?

It could really help make the whole loop more enjoyable. The more shovels, the better!

[F7Cannon]

The new bridges are complete and Swamp Thing is officially open.

[reidabel]

That's great, Shaun, thanks for the work! I'm looking forward to riding them soon ...

[jonw9]

The first field is getting broken in because we can force riders through there. The second field can be avoided, so people do because it is rough. So by avoiding it, people are preventing it from improving.

The race is going to go through there, right? I wonder how much that will help smooth it out, if any? Sounds like some of us ride it at least some of the time, it's just not enough traffic to do much good. Serenity also was bumpy when it was first done, and I would say it took probably 4 or 5 hours of shovel scraping to get it to being fairly decent. I think it does get more traffic than Glorious Poperd's (the field section in question), though. Maybe a trail day where we all have shovels and can skim it down smooth(er)? Not right away if there's too much to be done before the race, but at some point?

It could really help make the whole loop more enjoyable. The more shovels, the better!

Perhaps the race is going through there...
Part of the issue was in the spring when the ground was a bit softer, there wasn't traffic due to the immense flooding out there.

The race may help, but may not do much. I think it will help indicate the proper route for other riders that visit afterwards.
I suggested that Jeff get out there with a dirt bike this spring, but alas he did not.