Wakefield - Big things are a happening

[MyOtherBrotherL]

Wakefield - Big things are a happening

By now, some or most of you have heard that there are major happenings going on at our favorite Fairfax County Park Authority Park (FCPA). Hopefully in the next paragraph or so, I can give you all a quick synopsis.

Basically, due to a chain of events, the Park Authority decided that a redesign of the existing multi-use trail network was needed to facilitate a more sustainable trail system while taking into account historical and environmental issues. The bottom line goal was to modify the existing trails or to create new trails that could stand up to all types of weather while addressing specific concerns from conversationalists and historians. Realizing early on that this would be a HUGE undertaking, the management of Wakefield Park enlisted the aid of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA). Several months ago IMBA made a quick assessment of the park and agreed to take the job.

This last week a representative from IMBA made the first pass at a trail assessment. Today, representatives from FCPA Headquarters, Wakefield Park, the FCPA Historian and the FCPA Naturalist received a presentation from IMBA followed by a walk through that overviewed the proposed changes. I am happy to report that almost 100% of everything that IMBA recommended was approved. Tomorrow and the next couple of days after the holiday will be spent cataloguing the existing trail network into a GIS system. The proposed new network of trails will also be entered. IMBA's strategy is to replace our existing riding experience with one that is equal to or superior to what we currently have.

Before anybody panics, we are not losing riding at Wakefield. Yes, many of our existing trails are going to change, be modified or replaced with new ones. I've personally walked every inch of the race course section of Wakefield. Although all of the re-routes are not yet set in stone, I've seen what the proposed network will look like. After tomorrow's GPS cataloguing is finished I'll know for sure, but it is my personal belief that usable mileage will increase - NOT decrease. Rolling contour trails full of climbing turns and switch backs will replace the fall line trails that are currently rutted and water damaged. Does anybody remember the downhill nick named "Elevator Shaft". Shear excitement to ride when it was new. A death trap theses days. It's now identical to two trails on either side of it. Soon to be identical to the 2 new ones we found while surveying. The proposed new trails are not going to beginner level either. There will be challenging climbs, slalom like down hills, rolling boardwalks, and armored contour trails.

This effort will actually take several seasons to complete. In the next two weeks it is expected that the construction on the race course section of the Wakefield Hill will start and finish. The next effort will concentrate on establishing a worthwhile trail network across the Powerline property. In under 2 seasons we will hopefully go from a spider web of crisscrossing trails to a highly sustainable trail network that hopefully will only need touch-ups year to year.

Saturday, February 26th is the official start of construction. There will be a combined IMBA/MORE/PVC/Cranky Monkey/FCPA volunteer trail day. In addition to trail construction, IMBA plans to give short clinics on building bridges and board walk structures as well as lessons on bench cutting and building switch backs. They want to train a new generation of crew leaders. Construction will continue through out that week with another big effort planned for Saturday, March 5th. Although the times are not confirmed, there will probably be 2 shifts on each of those Saturdays. There will also be construction Monday through Friday. If you have the day off, need to burn some leave or just plain have some free time let us know. This will a fantastic learning experience. If you've never seen some of this mechanized gear in action your in for a treat. There will also be terrain that will need some good old fashioned hand cutting.

If you have any questions, concerns or just some plain ole comments - now is the time to let it out.

Let the FUN begin!

L

[joep]

Yeah! What Larry said! Just a minor correction: the big work dates are Saturday Feb. 26 and Saturday March 5.

Also, I'll just remind everyone that work will proceed throughout the week. So if you can find time off from work and would like to volunteer, come on out!

I was at the Thursday night ride listening to Larry describe some of the new trail layout. There's gonna be some crazy stuff going on...

JoeP

[MyOtherBrotherL]

DOH!!!

Thanks Joe - I never was any good at working a calendar.

L

[themonkeyman]

OOOH sounds Great!

Will anyone be able to post the GPS map that they'll e making? I'd be interested to see the new layout they're planning, as well as the current one.

Should be awesome when it's done :D

[MyOtherBrotherL]

Hopefully :D we got some good data on the existing trail system yesterday. The Satellites were not in the best positions and I know Rich was having some problems. Add the fact that there are 5 parallel trails separated sometimes by less than 2 feet, coming down the same face as elevator shaft, doesn't exactly help matters either.

The finished new trail should be mapped pretty accurately though - I believe it's one of the deliverables

L

[Dirt]

What does this do to the night rides? Should we just cancel them for the forseeable future? We can just ride parts of the creek trail (conditions allowing of course) and the Bowl.

Thanks for the info. I'll try and get a group out for Saturday.

Peter

[joep]

For logistical and planning purposes, email me (penano AT gmail DOT com) if you're thinking of showing up for the Wakefield workdays. I need a rough headcount, so let me know which days you're coming. I'll be out there Monday (2/21) afternoon to get a better idea of the scope of the work, but I'm sure we're gonna need all the help we can get.

This is a HUGE project. The goal is to have trails that are so well-designed that they can be ridden literally hours after rain! It can happen with your help.

Have a nice day!
Joe P

[MyOtherBrotherL]

Just to Add - Rich's goal for construction is to have most trails OPEN during construction. Obviously the trail under construction won't be open but temporary reroutes and some form of options will be available during the entire process.

As a side note: I was very impressed by the amount of restraint shown by riders this week. I literally logged about 40 hours from Tuesday to Saturday out on the trail and only crossed paths with a hand full of riders.

L

[joep]

A few things:

First, the latest from Larry Cautilli:

This Friday, Rich would like to lead a small work session to train crew leaders. We were thinking about meeting between 3:00 PM and 3:30 PM. The crew leader session will field teach a handful of us the right way to bench cut and the right way to do some ROCK work. Think about it. After your a crew leader, you should never have to swing a trail tool again. Your job will be to walk the line of your crew, answer questions, make suggestions and just be a pain in the WHOOPEE. ((And most people will thank you for it.)) E-Mail me direct if you think you can attend.

You can email me as well [penano AT gmail DOT com]. I don't know if Larry wants his email made public on this forum.

Second: The Bike Lane has volunteered to provide pizza for each of the workdays. Yum.

Third: Mike Pattisall of PVC has a flyer made up. If you can, download a copy and pass it around. You can find it here (http://home.comcast.net/~pattisallphoto/wakefield.jpg).

[MyOtherBrotherL]

:) One last thought for this eveneing.

After Saturday - Construction of the trail system will be going full tilt. Volunteers will be needed to walk ahead and behind the machines each day. Rich told me it would be best to have between 3 and 6 volunteers a day but any amount will help. Rich's schedule for next week will be Tuesday through Saturday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Drop me an E-Mail with any hours you can do and I'll schedule you in.

As corny as this sounds, this is a great opportunity to learn "REAL" trail building and concepts while being a part of the ongoing Wakefield History.

10 years from now, you can say "I" built THAT.

L ((cautilli@nortel.com))

[bigbadbrad]

I would like to heartily applaud MORE's efforts on this project. Hope to get out & help myself, as well. I was very intrigued by the following mention:

"...the right way to bench cut and the right way to do some ROCK work. Think about it. After you [are] a crew leader, you should never have to swing a trail tool again. Your job will be to walk the line of your crew, answer questions, make suggestions and just be a pain in the..."

I instantly pictured "Cool Hand Luke"... I get to be the "boss"... workers have to ask me for everything..."taking off my sunglasses here, boss. Puttin' 'em on, here, boss. I'd like a drink of water, boss." Hmmm... have to go out & by a 30.06 & some mirrored aviator glasses.... :cool:

--Brad

[MyOtherBrotherL]

"WHAT WE HAVE HERE............."

The schedule for the crew leader training is set. Meet up by the Power Station tomorrow (Friday, February 25th) at 3:30 PM. We will sign in, gather tools and head out to the trail by 4:00 PM. Work until 6:00 PM.

GONNA be late? Come find us down at the OLD Start/Finish or out on Salamander.

L

[MyOtherBrotherL]

All,

Per previous POSTS. Everything is still "ON" for this weekend. As a matter of fact, we need your help more than ever. Not only does does inclement weather tend to reduce the number of volunteers, it also inhibits the amount of work we actually can complete. A double WHAMMY in my book. If you had planned to be at either of the Saturday sessions please keep us on your calendar.

L

[joep]

Ok, I have about 10 people signed up for the crew leader session today at 3:30 and about 20 people formally signed up for the workday tomorrow. I hope that doesn't mean half the group will be sitting around telling the other half what to do. ;)

Being a crew leader does NOT exempt you from work! But it may get you a few spots ahead in the line for pizza.

Also, I have two people signed up for each weekday next
week except for Friday, for which I have no volunteers. It's not too late to step up.

Thanks everyone!
JoeP

[TrailVictim]

Ok, I have about 10 people signed up for the crew leader session today at 3:30 and about 20 people formally signed up for the workday tomorrow. I hope that doesn't mean half the group will be sitting around telling the other half what to do. ;)

Being a crew leader does NOT exempt you from work! But it may get you a few spots ahead in the line for pizza.

Also, I have two people signed up for each weekday next
week except for Friday, for which I have no volunteers. It's not too late to step up.

Thanks everyone!
JoeP


What time will you be working till tomorrow? I won't get away from the office until noon. I'll be shipping out the 3rd load of stone tomorrow morning. It will be the biggest of the stone so far so eat your Wheaties.

[MyOtherBrotherL]

Saint D. Thanks again for coordinating all the stone!!

As for tomorrow - There will be two work sessions.

The first will go from 9:30 AM (Sharp) to 12:30 PM.

Lunch

The second will go from 1:30 PM till 4:30 PM

L

[mtbmore]

We are definitely working on Saturday and all next week through next Saturday. Come out when you can. We will have plenty to do.

[jks9199]

For those who weren't there... It sounds like the plans for Wakefield are gonna be great. A lot things that were just straight runs are going to be a lot more interesting when all is said and done. Lots of "new" trail in old places, and that sort of thing...

Today was a great day for trail work; just about everyone had to shed layers to stay cool...but no worry of overheating. I know the group (Dan's bench cutting crew) I worked with got an amazing amount done by lunchtime, when I had to leave. I'd say we probably made 70 to 100 yards of finished trail, and from what I saw, the other groups were doing equally impressive amounts of work.

I'd be happy to share some of the pictures I took in this post...but I can't figure out how! Maybe Peter or someone who does can guide me?

Jim

[MyOtherBrotherL]

It was muddy. ---- It was a MESS.

It was COLD. ---- It was HOT. ---- It was COLD Again.

It was HARD work.

But we did some good "stuff" out at Wakefield today.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE TODAY HAPPEN!!

L


PS Just remember there is WAY WAY M.O.R.E. to do. Opportunities exist for additional volunteer work from Tuesday till the last big push next Saturday.

[martin]

I'd be happy to share some of the pictures I took in this post...but I can't figure out how! Maybe Peter or someone who does can guide me?

Jim

Hi Jim,

You can upload your images into the new gallery - There is a Trail Work Gakllery that is aching for new images.

First, save your images from your camera somewhwere you can easily find them on your machine. Then, point your browser to our gallery by clicking the "Gallery" button at the top of the page or follow this url: http://www.more-mtb.org/galleries/index.php?do=list. Then find and click the link to go to the "TrailWork" gallery - it's labeled Trail Work.

Once in the gallery there is a button in the right corner under the header and navbar that says "upload" - click it. You will be able to upload 4 files at a time. Then, joe and I will be alerted that images have been uploaded and we'll make them live.

If you have any more questions just send me a PM

[dmofot]

Hey, did anyone grab my jacket on their way out? I walked the trails at the end to go back and pick it up, but everyone else had left and evidently the jacket went with. It is brown corduroy. Let me know.

DT

[MyOtherBrotherL]

All,

The below is a message from Rich Edwards, the IMBA Trail Specialists that has been working on the Wakefield redesign. Please note that the mid week work days for Tuesday and Wednesday have been postponed. Also we will be working both Saturday and Sunday of this Weekend.

I did get out on the trails yesterday armed with my Rebel EOS and I have to say I'm quite proud of the work everybody did. Considering the U-G-L-Y conditions we had, an incredible amount of quality trail building was accomplished. Rich's comments on the phone to me where that working under such conditions actually counts like 2 work days. Everybody should be PROUD!

L







Hello everybody,

First I want to thank everyone who has helped out on the project so far. The support from Fairfax County, MORE, and the individual volunteers has been great. I understand how hard Saturday was and am very impressed with what was accomplished given the conditions. Over 1000’ of trail was benched into the side of the hill, several 1000 square feet of eroded trail were reclaimed, 3 pallets of lumber were cut and moved onto site, and 60’ of welsh style rock armored trail was built. Saturday’s efforts will make accomplishing phase 1 during March an achievable goal.

However, This goal may take slightly longer than we planned. The new layer of snow will making working the next two days very slow and inefficient. I plan to postpone work until Thursday morning to allow the snow some time to melt. This should allow more efficient use of the DitchWitch Thursday through Sunday.

I’ll do plan to save those two days for the week after next. IMBA is shuffling the schedule during the 3rd and 4th weeks of March to enable me to come to Wakefield then and complete phase 1.

I’d like to remind everyone that the priority goal of this phase of the project is the reroutes on the hill and successful closure of the trails in the culturally sensitive area. I will devote some time to setting footers for the Powerline boardwalk and having a demo section completed. However, the remainder of the stone work and boardwalk construction will need to be completed by volunteers. If there is still stone work to be done later in the season it may be possible to roll that into phase two. There is no possible way to address all the trail issues on the yellow trails in a few weeks. The enhancement process will likely last through 2005 and into 2006.

Proposed Schedule:
Thursday 9 AM Ditchwitch delivered
Auger footers for boardwalk, pour cement(rich and vol)
Brush powerline section with weed eater (vol)
Start mechanized trail construction (rich)

Friday Rich
Continue mechanized construction and reclamation(rich)
Hand finish new trail behind machine (vol)
pull up carsonite signs on trails to be closed(vol)
Saturday
Continue mechanized construction (rich)
Hand finish new trail behind machine (vol)
Reclamation (vol)
Boardwalk construction (vol)
stone work (vol)

Sunday
Continue mechanized construction (rich)
Hand finish new trail behind machine (vol)
Reclamation (vol)
Boardwalk construction (vol)
Stone work(vol)

Thanks,

Rich


--
Richard Edwards - Trail Specialist
IMBA Trail Solutions
1450 Valley St, Harrisonburg, VA 22801 USA
ph: 540-421-6067, fax: 303-545-9026
email: rich@imba.com, web: http://www.imba.com

What would we do without trails?

[themonkeyman]

....AWESOME!! :D :D :D

I can't wait til that boardwalk is done. Hopefully my dad and I will make it out on saturday to help on it. I'm intrigued as to the area/course it will be in. Does anyone know what the layout will be like? or how long it will be?--If you do that'd be great--Graham

[jks9199]

For those who are interested, I posted a few pictures from last Saturday's trail work. I plan to be out tomorrow to help Rich, and I'll take my camera. I'll add those later.

Jim

[martin]

For those who are interested, I posted a few pictures from last Saturday's trail work. I plan to be out tomorrow to help Rich, and I'll take my camera. I'll add those later.

Jim

Pics Jim mentions are here... (http://www.more-mtb.org/galleries/browseimages.php?c=7)

[Squirrel Girl]

I'll be able to get free for a few hours on Friday. What are the plans? Is work still going to be occurring?

[joep]

As far as I know, YES. See Larry's previous post about what exactly still needs to be done, then contact Rich to set up a time and place. 540-421-6067

Thanks!
JoeP

I'll be able to get free for a few hours on Friday. What are the plans? Is work still going to be occurring?

[joep]

Ok, the time has come to shower me with posts/emails/PMs about how you're gonna show up at Wakefield this Saturday or Sunday (or both) and help finish this massive rennovation project! So far I have about a dozen or so people committed for this Saturday. The new trails are looking super stoopid sweeet, but we're gonna need everyone's help to get them finished in time for spring. That was an awesome effort put on by everyone who showed up last week. Let's see more of the same this weekend.

Thanks!
JoeP

[Dirt]

I'm in for the early shift on Saturday. Is it still 9:30am?

Thanks!

Pete

[kltbo]

This will be my first trail work day. I'm looking foward to it. I know that tools are supplied, is there anything that I should bring to make things easier on myself. I don't want to show up and then think to myself that I wish I would have brought something. This is where the advice from the experienced comes in handy......