Old Man Winter

My part of the world was paid a visit by Old Man Winter and we are now under a blanket of snow.

Today the snow conditions on the trails were spectacular. The snow wasn't too deep and was dry and powder like; offering incredible grip.

I was only there briefly but made my way to Snakes and Ladders and Shotgun. I carried my chainsaw and cut all of the fallen trees and branched off these trails and the road up to them.

Another stump carving at The Woodlot

The drainage trough on Snakes and Ladders filled with a small ice waterfall.

IMBA Trail Clinic @ The Woodlot - Day 2

The second day of the IMBA trail clinic was all about building. Yesterday several projects were started and today the goal was to get them completed.

In the end, some mistakes were made and some of the features built will need to be altered, fixed, revised or removed.

I walked away having learned some new skills and ideas about building. I also learned some lessons from the mistakes that were made.

Additional work is going to be needed to get the sections of trail that were worked on running perfectly, but as with most things in life things can be fixed and we can all learn from our mistakes.

IMBA Trail Clinic @ The Woodlot - Day 1

I was invited to attend an International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) trail clinic at The Woodlot to get some new ideas and education on trail building methods.

This blog entry could realistically end up a novel if I went into the details of all that was discussed and the work that took place on Shotgun. I met some great people and learned a few tricks in regards to building.

The active role that IMBA takes to keep trails open and legal for people on bikes around the world and specifically in the US and Canada is to be applauded.

The work and ideas that IMBA has about trail building and trail features is a subject that is hotly contested and open for debate here in the Vancouver area, but a tremendous effort was put forth by IMBA and the volunteers during the build today.