Work Party For March 28th-UPDATE!

EDITED AND CORRECTED INFO AS FOLLOWS:
Douglas Van Zandt will be leading a re-route on the 'Spaggetti Factory' trail this Sat March 28th.

All, I'm having a work party!
We may be loosing miles in some places, but we are gaining in others. Come help grow the miles in
your back yard! Spaghetti Factory in Post Canyon is growing - by a 1/3 of a mile.

When:Saturday the 28th (of March) from 9am to 1pm
Meeting Place: Post Canyon Drive/ 7-streams trail head where pavement meets the dirt.
Tools needed - Polaskis (most important) axe or hatchet, hand saws, pick mattox, mcLeods, and your gloves and safety glasses. If you have a special tool to remove root balls bring that.
Goal for the day - get the vine maple root balls that are in the way out of there. If that gets knocked out there is some more tread work to do.


What is the trails current status? The route has been completely brushed out, initial tread work has been done on 85%.
What is left after the work party? 2 to 3 more work parties:
1) Final tread work day and prep or do work party 2 depending on the turnout
2) crib wall building, closing of the old trail and opening up the new section day. The new trail
crosses the old trail in three places and we need to build some structure to make that happen.
3) trail decommissioning day - as part of the requirements to add miles we need to decommission
sections of old trails or roads. It is relatively easy and the sections are already identified.

Come help grow your trail system!
Douglas Van Zandt
--

Below is a tip I found on IMBA's website to control erosion. Its this months "Trailbuilding Tip Of The Week!" , enjoy.

Hood River County Trails Meeting Reminder!

We have a Forest Recreation Trails Committee meeting scheduled for next Tuesday 3-24-09 at 4:00pm in the Forestry Department Conference Room. It should be an interesting meeting and I hope everyone can attend!

Let me know if you have any questions.


Henry D. Buckalew
Trails Coordinator/Forest Technician II
Hood River County Forestry Department
office: (541) 387-7089

30 Days Of Silence-Interrupted

Sorry for not updating the blog. Its been a very busy time for all trailbuilders in the area. I took some photos to show you all how its looking out here..........enjoy! 

Lots of work on 'Grand Prix' by Jason Wells (from what I've personally seen) this trail will be most popular for the upcoming 2009 'dust bunnie' season. Notice the new shape of a take-off. 

And notice the nice new landing area. 

Extended Play looks like a snowboard terrain park with no snowboarders...............or skiers. 

Table-top town or is it 'Extended Play's' last 3 gaps? Where's my snow sled? 

Entry into 'Grand Prix' has changed a little...........I wonder if Wells will make this into a skinny?

As of this posting- No official "Work Parties" are planed. 

Donations are accepted, if your able to donate materials or monetary contributions please contact the GFRA at gfra@gorge.net

 

CAMBA Calls For Meeting Regarding Syncline Mountain Biking

                 photo by Carl Warren

Sorry about the short notice, but we have scheduled a meeting to discuss the Syncline and any other local bike issues that need attention.

When:  Thursday, Feb. 12
When:  5:30 PM
Where: Double Mountain brew pub

We hope to see you there for an in-depth discussion of the proposed management plan for the Syncline and how it will affect mountain biking in the area. 

Source Kay Kucera, CAMBA

Columbia Area Mountain Biking Association

SOS! 'Save Our Shuttles' at Syncline

                         

On Feb 4th, 2009 a meeting regarding the use of Syncline/Coyote Wall has resulted in a few guidelines the landowners of the area asked the MTB Community to adhere too: 

1) Please refrain from relieving yourself (that includes #2) on the Atwood Road  drop off. 

2) No parking a car and leaving it on Atwood Road. No Parking signs have been installed. 

3) Dunno why I have to write this but- Please, no garbage. Its a major buzzkill to see garbage being dragged around by giant Black Ravens and other wildlife. 

4) Hikers are complaining the most about the 'shuttle' crowd. So please SLOW DOWN when near/close/insight of any hiker. They said "we feel violated", so lets show them allot more courtesy in the future. 

5) STAY ON EXISTING TRAILS!! Major complaints against MTB'ers in general for 'braiding' and making new lines, damaging wildflowers, wildgrass, etc- (area under most scrutiny is the lower rock drop.) Hikers call it a 'visual eyesore'.

6) Dogs, KEEP THEM AT HOME OR LEAVE THEM IN THE CAR. Don't bring them to Syncline anymore- Wildlife has been affected greatly already. 

7) Leave NO BRAKING SKID MARKS! If you can't stop without dragging the rear tire- then you shouldn't be in such a sensitive area- stay on asphalt if your a 'skidder'. If you do- restore the trail to the condition it was prior to your 'Lobster-style' braking. 

During the winter months of November, December, January, Febuary and March- Syncline is the only place to ride and prepare for upcoming bike events and gatherings. If you have any questions regarding 'Smart Shuttling' at Syncline contact Mike Estes at michael_estes@hotmail.com. 

For more information- check out the CAMBA website here. 

Syncline Meeting Reminder - Tonight

(source Doug Van Zandt of CAMBA) 

Mt. Bikers

Important Meeting Reminder

What: Syncline - Forest Service Meeting

When - Tonight Tuesday 2/3/09

When: 6-8:00 PM 

Where: Pioneer Center in White Salmon Washington

Why: Your favorite winter riding area will be changed soon - 

Those who show up get to vote/provide input.

Please come and hear the Forest Service's Dan Harkenrider introduce the alternatives and the rationale behind them followed by an Open House format during which you can ask questions and submit your comments. 

The Forest Service has completed the Environment Assessment for the Burdoin, Coyote Wall, and Catherine Area Recreation Plan. You can view the document at the following link: 

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/columbia/projects/ 

Look for the Environmental Assessment under the heading Recreation Use at Coyote Wall (Syncline), Burdoin Mountain and Catherine Creek 

Cure Mid-Winter Blues By.......

Donating materials or product to auction off here on the GFRA Blog for the continuous building process. Contact the 'Gorge FreeRide Association' at gfra@gorge.net and help get more features built for all skill levels of mountain bikers here in Hood River, Oregon.

Currently, most of the area is still under snow and lots of wind debris has things in a mess here. We highly recommend checking out the Seattle WA Bike Park called 'Colonnade' under the I-5 Bridge (for all weather reasons) off the Lakeview Drive exit, once you leave the highway- you would have to be blind not to see the signage and obvious biker population present. Great place to ride for a 'mid-winter' blues break.  

We will update the blog soon with a 'ride-able' trail report. Work has been done over on Syncline's on 'Lil' Maui' and reports of rides going up and down are looking good for the no snow people. Happy New Years!