Trail Map and Pictures }{ Please post your har...

[smackgilbson]

Harmonie State Park mountian bike trails. Green:Sycamore Loop(beginner). Blue: Walnut connector (intermed.)

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[timbarnes]

Sweet benchcut down to the old road bed and pond. Rides as good as it looks. Good work, guys!

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[timbarnes]

This is a picture of the big log that is over the trail just before the curve going down the section we just cut. Its the one with all the sprocket teeth marks on it. I think we should remove it - feedback??

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[daniel240]

I can roll over it without hitting my large chainring and I have a FS. In my opinion the location of the log is not bad. You have to slow down before the turn right after the log anyway so the log really doesnt hurt you there. I think the other two logs on that same stretch of trail should go because you could carry a lot more speed through that section without those logs. Again thats just my opinion, it doesnt bother me whether its there or not.

[timbarnes]

How about this? It's an alternate path for those who seem to be hitting the tree. Obstacles should have a simpler bypass on intermediate trails. We really should do the same w/ the other logs, too.

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[smackgilbson]

Log really doesn't matter that much to me. If there was a reroute there , i would not go out of my way to "hit the log" . I think we should go ahead and knock those three out. There is plenty of room for features to be built in in other places.

[timbarnes]

Let's leave all the logs for now. The trail is still new. We can always remove them later if there are a lot of concerns. I may have jumped the gun on looking at these as an issue. My riding ability may be influencing my decision. Maybe I can use them as a challenge to become more skilled.

[indytrailbuilder]

Please leave any potential logs. With out an rocks in the area, log jumps will be the main source of challenge. We do want this section of trail to up the difficulty level. I will come down and help determine which logs should stay or go. Just like we lay our trails to specific criteria, its the same for trail difficulty. We use the IMBA guidelines which can be seen here.

www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/itn_17_4_trail_difficulty.html

Remember, that getting off your bike occasionally is perfectly acceptable. I love Schooner Trace, at BCSP, and gladly hike my bike on many sections.

At SWW, I left some logs in the trail and by the time the trail was complete, those who initially asked it the logs were going to be removed, had learned how to clear them.

Paul

[nathan]

I'd definitely like to get some first-hand input from Paul on these. I like the log obstacles, but occasionally they can be a pain if they break flow or kill your momentum on climbs. Maybe we could pile some dirt up on half of a log to make it easier to ride over, then leave part of it exposed as an optional line. I'm not sure if something like that would work or not.

[timbarnes]

Erected a new sign today at the entrance to the Sycamore Loop and the Walnut connector. It's compliments of Rod Cowell, ESC Graphics. The rider in the background of the sign is Carla Harris. He rides the Stumpy Enduro decked out in crash gear and she rides the pink Yeti. Its a neat sign!

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[timbarnes]

Here's another pic of the sign. It replaces the bare wood that was written on.

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[daniel240]

Sign looks great Tim!

[ricdix]

Very cool sign and excellent subject choice for the background photo. My buddies and I met them the last time we were there. (Tim, you were busy swinging the weed eater) Nice people.

btw.... glad to see you reconsidered the proposed reroute. If this is the turn I'm thinking about Alex spent several minutes trying to determine the best design/layout. In the photo it appears that the proposed line would eliminate the grade reversal creating a small fall line leading into the turn. Overtime water could channel down the trail and around the turn. This is a very common mistake that you see on almost every trail system that was not professionally designed/built.

The bench cutting looks great! To help speed things along. you might consider asking Paul to borrow the Stihl Yard Boss. Harmonie is the perfect place to use it. (little or no rocks) Its much more efficient than swinging the Pulaski and will save the back. You'll still need to use the McLeod for the finish work.

Good job guys. Thanks for the hard work!

Richard

[timbarnes]

Richard,

Thanks for the tip. Actually we have a Stihl Yard Boss. I just didn't know how and where to use it. I checked it out on the internet and will try to use it in the future where appropriate. We also have the power sweep attachment for it that will come in handy "finishing" the trail.

[ricdix]

Its a good tool. I like to use it and will be surprised if you don't. I think its the Bolo attachment (sp?) that does the best job cutting the back slope and trail bed. (looks like your typical garden tiller blade.) It wont cut thought large roots, you'll still need to use the Pulaski or and Ax for the big stuff. Occasionally it will get clogged with vines but it only take a couple of minutes to pull the blades, remove the junk and slide them back on. I've heard good things about the power sweeper but we don't have one. I was told that it does a good job of broadcasting the dirt downhill.