Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

pixychick

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Today we had 9 volunteers, including us, that showed up for trail build. I would say that is good. Thanks Serviceguy! I think we got a lot done considering how hot and humid it was. Not sure what the actual temps were, but we did some major sweating. Most of us sweat through our pants, but Art usually wins with almost filling his boots with sweat. The guys all jumped on rock work and 4 of us ladies were left with benching a section. I know I struggle with that sort of work, but can handle small amounts at a time. With amazing girl power, we cut in about 100 feet of trail including a drainage. Thanks Jen, Marianne and Deicy! You Rock!

I would say that we are pretty close to half way up to the road from the sewer line. Over the next month we will try to jump up to the top and get access to the road done so that people can start riding. I also would like to give a shout out to Cliff for donating bars to JORBA projects and entering all the volunteers into year end raffle. They have some grand items that they will be awarding to a lucky winner. Thanks @Bleeder and @V-Dub for making that happen.

Hope you all stay cool today!:cool:

Today
girlpower.jpg


deicy.jpg


rockdirt.jpg


cliff.jpg
 
pixychick

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
This has been a good week for me riding: 3 rides, 7 hours so far and it is only Friday. I was really dragging last week in the heat, but this week seems much better. It makes such a difference for me mentally if I can get outside in the woods. I do get out to walk on almost all my down days, and I squeeze in trail work as well, but riding my mountain bike gives me balance. I do not need to go into here as almost everyone who rides a mountain bike probably gets it, and knows well what I am talking about. So I am glad to have the energy to do what feels good, and especially on a week that has had some challenges.

I was not expecting a big turnout on Thursday for trail work and had a bunch of friends come out to help. Yes, lugging buckets of dirt hurts after a few trips, but spreading it out over a bunch of people makes it not only less painful, but comforting knowing that others will help to lessen the load on one person. We did not work real long but got much done. Things are looking good for getting this trail done by end of August. I've said it before, and I will say it again; mountain bikers are the best!

Made some vegetable risotto that was yummy!

risotto.jpg


together.jpg


frog.jpg


spider web.jpg
 
serviceguy

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
I’ve g
pixychick said:
This has been a good week for me riding: 3 rides, 7 hours so far and it is only Friday. I was really dragging last week in the heat, but this week seems much better. It makes such a difference for me mentally if I can get outside in the woods. I do get out to walk on almost all my down days, and I squeeze in trail work as well, but riding my mountain bike gives me balance. I do not need to go into here as almost everyone who rides a mountain bike probably gets it, and knows well what I am talking about. So I am glad to have the energy to do what feels good, and especially on a week that has had some challenges.

I was not expecting a big turnout on Thursday for trail work and had a bunch of friends come out to help. Yes, lugging buckets of dirt hurts after a few trips, but spreading it out over a bunch of people makes it not only less painful, but comforting knowing that others will help to lessen the load on one person. We did not work real long but got much done. Things are looking good for getting this trail done by end of August. I've said it before, and I will say it again; mountain bikers are the best!

Made some vegetable risotto that was yummy!

View attachment 100901

View attachment 100902

View attachment 100904

View attachment 100903
Click to expand...
I’ve got new oversized handles for those buckets, I’ll see if I can ride down there and replace the ones missing/mangled.
 
JerseyPete

JerseyPete

Well-Known Member
pixychick said:
I am writing here about the state of volunteering for trail work. This is all just my opinion, so I am putting it here, but you are open to comment.

Volunteer trail work has dropped off significantly, both in Ringwood and Jorba state wide. Several things could have added to this, but right now, the biggest draw on the volunteer pool is NICA. NICA is a great thing and I am so happy see more kids on bikes on the trails and at races. This is a great thing! Just the fact that the next generation has the opportunity to ride bikes and enjoy nature is a good thing. So I know that someone has to help them get into the sport. I went and pulled the numbers: 300 kids, approximately 600 parents assuming an average of 2 parents per kid, 2-4 coaches for 25 teams and random volunteers at the races and I start to see where all the volunteers are going. I keep saying to myself that these kids will be the next volunteers and we did get a few NICA kids that did big pay dirt this year. However, the few kids that get it and came out to work have not even made up 2% of what has been lost.

A few years without volunteers is not too bad, but I do not see this as a sustainable situation. At Sterling there has been funds to pay ameri-corps to build trails. While this sounds awesome to me, I do not know if this is sustainable either. Plus the next generation may get used to this and then not have the $ to support it. If this was Jorba funds would you want $80,000. of your donations going to building one trail? This could be gone in a minute, and without a volunteer pool, things could halt quickly. I really feel that the future of our trails lays in the hands of volunteers. I am not saying that people have to leave their jobs and build trails every day. I am suggesting that everyone that rides a mountain bike on trails, should go out to help once a year at their favorite or local park. Without volunteers these trails would not be what they are today and could quite possibly be much better.

So while I in no way want to bash NICA, I can not help but notice that it feels like something really good that was happening has been getting sucked dry. So how do we get NICA teams to do trail work? How do we get those last few riders that never volunteer? How do we get race volunteers to give another day? How do we get the last person with every other excuse? ... and how do we get them excited about it?
Click to expand...

Question, with JORBA being a nonprofit org, can volunteer time be documented in a way that high school kids could get some credit? Thinking about how some want volunteer time on their college applications. Would this apply?
Thanks,
 
Last edited:
pixychick

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
JerseyPete said:
Question, with JORBA being a nonprofit org, can volunteer time be documented in a way that high school kids could get some credit? Thinking about how some want volunteer time on their college applications. Would this apply?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Yes, I have signed off on kids doing community service, and runners getting discounts into races.
 
serviceguy

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
Sorry to let you down, but I've had a very busy week, couldn't make it back home before 8pm all week.
 
Last edited:
pixychick

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Earlier this week, Art and I were able to complete the new trail past our estimated half way point. Art benched out a good stretch and I had to lug dirt in buckets up from the dirt stash. The dirt stash is now pretty far away and I had to stop twice per trip to let my arms rest. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of dirt around from here on up. The ground is mostly roots, rocks and silt. Silt will get muddy and slimy when wet so we will do our best to rock armor and lug up clay if needed. Hoping for more super powered volunteers!

Thursday we got the bridge work finished before our usual Dirty Thursday began and pulled those tools out. On my way up to the other work site solo, I heard a rustle and felt a shadow to my left. When I turned my head to look, I was riding about 5 or 6 feet away from a small bear. I let out a frightened gasp and the bear took off so fast it did not even turn to look at me. I did not look back either, I just kept riding fast to get away. I am not sure who was more scared. All in all, this was a pretty cool close encounter.

We got a few volunteers that afternoon and got a good start grading the next big turn with rocks and crush. I worked 5 hours that day, which is long for me. Probably too much on the body. Neck and back hurt and I was too tired to cook dinner, but I managed to get out and ride today. ....Yay!

topping.jpg


bridge.jpg
 
serviceguy

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
pixychick said:
Earlier this week, Art and I were able to complete the new trail past our estimated half way point. Art benched out a good stretch and I had to lug dirt in buckets up from the dirt stash. The dirt stash is now pretty far away and I had to stop twice per trip to let my arms rest. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of dirt around from here on up. The ground is mostly roots, rocks and silt. Silt will get muddy and slimy when wet so we will do our best to rock armor and lug up clay if needed. Hoping for more super powered volunteers!

Thursday we got the bridge work finished before our usual Dirty Thursday began and pulled those tools out. On my way up to the other work site solo, I heard a rustle and felt a shadow to my left. When I turned my head to look, I was riding about 5 or 6 feet away from a small bear. I let out a frightened gasp and the bear took off so fast it did not even turn to look at me. I did not look back either, I just kept riding fast to get away. I am not sure who was more scared. All in all, this was a pretty cool close encounter.

We got a few volunteers that afternoon and got a good start grading the next big turn with rocks and crush. I worked 5 hours that day, which is long for me. Probably too much on the body. Neck and back hurt and I was too tired to cook dinner, but I managed to get out and ride today. ....Yay!

View attachment 101586

View attachment 101587
Click to expand...

A-mazing. Sorry I could not do it earlier, but I finally managed to get to the buckets and change 5 handles (I left the ones that seemed a little bit grippier).

The trail looks great, I just can't believe I did not see the bridge while I was riding it to the road! I guess after an 8 hours short workday my vision is a little bit blurry...great job!
 
Last edited:
oobaa47

oobaa47

Well-Known Member
pixychick said:
Earlier this week, Art and I were able to complete the new trail past our estimated half way point. Art benched out a good stretch and I had to lug dirt in buckets up from the dirt stash. The dirt stash is now pretty far away and I had to stop twice per trip to let my arms rest. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of dirt around from here on up. The ground is mostly roots, rocks and silt. Silt will get muddy and slimy when wet so we will do our best to rock armor and lug up clay if needed. Hoping for more super powered volunteers!

Thursday we got the bridge work finished before our usual Dirty Thursday began and pulled those tools out. On my way up to the other work site solo, I heard a rustle and felt a shadow to my left. When I turned my head to look, I was riding about 5 or 6 feet away from a small bear. I let out a frightened gasp and the bear took off so fast it did not even turn to look at me. I did not look back either, I just kept riding fast to get away. I am not sure who was more scared. All in all, this was a pretty cool close encounter.

We got a few volunteers that afternoon and got a good start grading the next big turn with rocks and crush. I worked 5 hours that day, which is long for me. Probably too much on the body. Neck and back hurt and I was too tired to cook dinner, but I managed to get out and ride today. ....Yay!

View attachment 101586

View attachment 101587
Click to expand...
Absolutely amazing....great work!! Would you hit that portion of the trail if you parked at Long meadow/Sterling mine road and rode up towards Shepards lake?
 
pixychick

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
oobaa47 said:
Absolutely amazing....great work!! Would you hit that portion of the trail if you parked at Long meadow/Sterling mine road and rode up towards Shepards lake?
Click to expand...
Yes, if you hooked onto the orange blaze at powerlines and then followed red, to white to new stuff across bridge and causeway. New stuff should all be marked in 3 weeks. If you go to the festival, it will be available for riding. That is our goal.
 
serviceguy

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
@pixychick , were you on the trail this afternoon around 6:30/7:00 pm?I think I saw you crossing the road out of Shepherd’s pond. I was walking back home after spending the afternoon on the lake with my wife.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom