Today there was a trail day at The Woodlot on Giant Killer, so I showed up to take part in the trail day and take part in fixing up a trail that gets allot of riders on a near daily basis.
I arrived at The Woodlot 0007 main gate and was let in so that I could drive up to the bottom of the trail. When I arrived there were a dozen or so builders there from the Maple Ridge area and from Mission, Abbotsford area who are all part of the Fraser Valley Mountain Bike Association (FVMBA). I was finally able to meet Gary, Trevor, Steve and the old guy Tom ;-)
Ladder Re-Build
I grabbed my pack from my truck with my sharpened axe in hand and headed up the trail to see what I was to do today. After speaking with Cory and Ewan I headed up to the top of the trail to fix a badly eroded corner. With me I took 2 young riders that were there to assist in the building. Once at the top we simply go to work gathering rock. Basically when building, the bigger the rock the better and the more rock you have the better. Once rock gets put in place and locked in with some dirt, you don't really ever need to come back to fix it as rock doesn't erode.
After a while a few more people showed up and the top (Trevor, Jamie, Rich, Gary) and a few other kids who's names I cannot remember. It's really kinda funny.....building that is......everyone has a different take on how to do things. After a little planning and a little give and take the whole section was rocked in with the granite being placed by Trevor, Jamie and I. The younger guns dug all the dirt and the corner was groomed to perfection. It should now run solid for the life of the trail.
Nasty corner now filled with rock
A before and after shot
The progression of the rock workOne amusing thing that happened was a couple of the young guys decided to dig out a HUGE rock. I helped them get it out of the hole it was in, but in the end it was so freaking big that they (5 teens and a one adult) could not move it down the trail. They decided to leave in on the side of the trail as a way to remind themselves of the work they did today.
Trevor and I then proceeded a little ways down the trail to fix a small hit on the left side of the trail, we basically benched the collapsing slope in and cleaned up the jump. With the speed the buffed corner will produce, this rebuilt hit will now easily be able to the hipped or rolled for a little added pleasure on the trail.
By this time it was around 1pm and I was hungry, so I walked down the trail to the bottom were it was burgers and drinks served up by Rob from Experience Cycling. Great guy, good shop and good burgers. I chatted with a few other guys that are a part of the FVMBA and I then decided to put in a little more work so I went back up and help to rock and dirt in another section of trail on the lower part of the line.
Many sections of the trail were worked on today and lots of rock and dirt was moved and groomed. Ladders were fixed and a ton of much needed maintenance was completed. Though I was not able to stay to the very end I walked away after putting in my time knowing that the work done today is going to make Giant Killer run a lot better over the winter and for many more seasons to come.
A great effort was put in by everyone that was there and my hat goes off to those that participated.
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