Art and I have had a trail proposal in the works at RSP for several months. We have been back and forth with the land manager and Trenton all summer long trying to supply them with all the information they needed. Most mountain bikers have no idea what actually goes on behind the scenes. It is real easy to get excited and then have the rug pulled out from under you. Art and I have been holding off on getting too excited, as it was beginning to look like it may not get approved by all the questions and exact locations the state was asking to confirm. I thought we were clear of historic sites and rattlesnake dens, but was not sure about wood turtle habitat. Did you know that now raptor nesting is sensitive? The 3 types of raptors nest at 3 completely different times of year. Bat nesting has been added as well. So in short, there is a lot of red tape and things to challenge your patience, but if you look at the whole picture, these rules are here to protect our parks natural resources. If we want trails, we have to go through the process. Some parks are easier than others.
Ringwood has a no new trail status. New trail as mountain bikers know them are usually just re-routes of old eroded crappy trails. Occasionally we may have a reason to propose a new trail. Connectivity, is real popular now with many land managers as parks are looking to link their recreational lands together. Now that Sterling Forest is building bike trails, we really wanted to connect the two parks together better. So as part of a re-route we are doing for the park to address a condemned bridge, we have asked for a connector trail to the north end of the park at the state line. This will allow an easy, flat 2 mile ride on mostly quiet roads to Sterling. I am especially excited about this approval as this trail head will be less than half mile from my house.
The whole re-route will be about 5 miles and connect the botanical gardens to Ringwood Manor with awesome single track! I am guessing it will take 4 years to built if we continue to get decent numbers for volunteers and we don't get called away to other things, like hurricanes, floods or vandalism, etc. Art and I start flagging tomorrow. Volunteer work days start next Sunday Oct 2. Please check the Jorba calendar for Oct dates if you are interested.
Yesterday was the soft opening/work day at Sterling. As I walked in, I was greeted by a Kingfisher on a pond which was really cool! A bunch of us went out to work and get the trail completely roughed in from lot to lot. We brought extra bikes and let the Americorps ride the trail that they spent their entire summer building. It was a good time and I am super grateful for their work. And once again, a few individuals worked really hard to get this trail approved, and I am very grateful for their patience and persistence. Art had worked 15 years to get trails open to bikes in Sterling and had given up, yet a few others kept at it. Yesterday we got to ride 3 miles of new trail. When I walked the area a few years back, I thought the area was ok and some parts had potential. Now that it is underway, I must say that it exceeds my expectations. Americorps leave in a week, so volunteers will be needed over there too.
This is certainly my favorite time of year .... time to build trails!
Ringwood has a no new trail status. New trail as mountain bikers know them are usually just re-routes of old eroded crappy trails. Occasionally we may have a reason to propose a new trail. Connectivity, is real popular now with many land managers as parks are looking to link their recreational lands together. Now that Sterling Forest is building bike trails, we really wanted to connect the two parks together better. So as part of a re-route we are doing for the park to address a condemned bridge, we have asked for a connector trail to the north end of the park at the state line. This will allow an easy, flat 2 mile ride on mostly quiet roads to Sterling. I am especially excited about this approval as this trail head will be less than half mile from my house.
The whole re-route will be about 5 miles and connect the botanical gardens to Ringwood Manor with awesome single track! I am guessing it will take 4 years to built if we continue to get decent numbers for volunteers and we don't get called away to other things, like hurricanes, floods or vandalism, etc. Art and I start flagging tomorrow. Volunteer work days start next Sunday Oct 2. Please check the Jorba calendar for Oct dates if you are interested.
Yesterday was the soft opening/work day at Sterling. As I walked in, I was greeted by a Kingfisher on a pond which was really cool! A bunch of us went out to work and get the trail completely roughed in from lot to lot. We brought extra bikes and let the Americorps ride the trail that they spent their entire summer building. It was a good time and I am super grateful for their work. And once again, a few individuals worked really hard to get this trail approved, and I am very grateful for their patience and persistence. Art had worked 15 years to get trails open to bikes in Sterling and had given up, yet a few others kept at it. Yesterday we got to ride 3 miles of new trail. When I walked the area a few years back, I thought the area was ok and some parts had potential. Now that it is underway, I must say that it exceeds my expectations. Americorps leave in a week, so volunteers will be needed over there too.
This is certainly my favorite time of year .... time to build trails!
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