Reroute at Accotink is great!

[Dirt]

Hey folks.

Chris and I rode Accotink and Wakefield last night to help me get some of the kinks out and shakedown some drivetrain changes. After a breif delay caused by a broken stem, we got back on the trails and had a fun ride.

The reroute/new trail section on the interior of Accotink is great. We were kind of trucking through that area and all of a sudden I noticed that I was on brand new trail. I worried that access to the steep section was cut off, but happily found that we'd wiggled around and got back on the trail that has become a trusted friend.

Great work folks! We'll work to help ride that in a bit. :D

Thank you!

Pete

[drewdane]

The reroute/new trail section on the interior of Accotink is great....
Thank you!

Pete
I've run so late the last couple of weeks that I ended up sticking to the Wakefield side - it wasn't worth the several minutes' round trip to get 10 minutes in at Accotink before sunset. I'll have to try harder to (get the better half :rolleyes: ) to be on time Thursdays so I can check it out!

[Natureboi]

there's a lot more then ten minutes worth of trails at accotink

[Dirt]

there's a lot more then ten minutes worth of trails at accotink

I think his point is that he arrived so close to dark that he wouldn't be able to ride more than 10 minutes before he'd have to head out of the park. Accotink isn't open for night riding and you've got to be out of the park 30 minutes after sunset.

Don't worry Drew. We'll get you out there about the time your new bike is done. ;)

Talk to you soon.

Pete

[drewdane]

I think his point is that he arrived so close to dark that he wouldn't be able to ride more than 10 minutes before he'd have to head out of the park. Accotink isn't open for night riding and you've got to be out of the park 30 minutes after sunset.

Don't worry Drew. We'll get you out there about the time your new bike is done. ;)

Talk to you soon.

Pete
Yes that was my point, thank you.

The Dos is all but done! I built it up as much as I could yesterday. I'm just waiting for cog and cassette spacers to arrive and she'll be good to go!

[bukit]

Was unaware there was a new reroute, haven't been on that side of Braddock Rd. in a while. Methinks I will check it out today.....was this a MORE thing? I don't remember the work day being posted here, but maybe I'm slow...

-buKit

[Dirt]

Was unaware there was a new reroute, haven't been on that side of Braddock Rd. in a while. Methinks I will check it out today.....was this a MORE thing? I don't remember the work day being posted here, but maybe I'm slow...

-buKit

I honestly don't know. I've been out of the loop for a few weeks. Like I said, I was doing the weave through the woods thing with Chris trying to bump draft off me (please pardon the NASCAR speak) when I noticed that we weren't on the usual trail. The reroute was done quite expertely.

My guess is that it was a "remove temptation" reroute as much as anything. The part that was reclaimed is a section that is high above the cinder trail. I don't remember it being in particularly bad shape (not that I'm known for remembering much beyond how to spell my name). The new stuff is great though. Once it gets some tracks in it and a few big logs fallen across it, it'll be perfect. :)

Peat

[MyOtherBrotherL]

Because of the poor turn out at the Accotink trail day(Myself included among the missing), Mike Miller was only able to do a small portion of the reroute. Last year, he and I stood in a cold rain with about 200 flags, a clinometer and a Mike Miller Extender (Mike is a tad shorter than I am - So using a clinometer needed some original thinking) and we marked a significant reroute. If you look left and right you'll see all the flagging.

Just to keep things in perspective, the Park had come up with this master plan to close all of these trails at Accotink (This was while Brian Junkin's was president of MORE if that helps with the date). Through years of procrastination and negotiation, we (MORE) have been able to put most of the closures off. The creation of the Boy Scout trail allowed the Park to close the 2 parallel cinder trails (However, the neighborhood walkers promptly opened them back up) but the time had come to close the trail on the top of that BIG BIG hill. With Mike's support, we made one last ditch effort to save the trail while addressing most of the Park's issues. Using the knowledge garnered in the Rich Edward's school of negotiation, they agreed.

Hopefully, and my fingers are crossed, we can finish the rest of the reroute on the next TM day.

L

[jabberwocky]

I agree with Pete, the new section was pretty fun. Granted, I'm not that familiar with that area of Accotink, so I kinda had to take Petes word for it that it was actually new, but hey, I enjoyed it. :)

[Dirt]

With Mike's support, we made one last ditch effort to save the trail while addressing most of the Park's issues. Using the knowledge garnered in the Rich Edward's school of negotiation, they agreed.

Hopefully, and my fingers are crossed, we can finish the rest of the reroute on the next TM day.

L

Awesome work! The trail is great and the advocacy work is even more amazing. Thank you!

[mark w]

I was one of the 3.


The work day was the weekend before last when everything was rained out. With another workday or two and a better turnout and a better turnout, we could most likely knock the rest of the reroute out pretty easily.

Mike? Shall we strike the hot iron?

[bukit]

I was just out there this morning, but must have missed it somehow. I took the Boy Scout Trail and headed up and rode along the railway the whole way. Maybe I was still half asleep.

I'd be down to help out with a trail day fresh off my IMBA TCC where I didn't get to build any. Let me know what's up, with the wife and kids the more notice I have, the better....

buKit

[Dirt]

I was just out there this morning, but must have missed it somehow. I took the Boy Scout Trail and headed up and rode along the railway the whole way. Maybe I was still half asleep.

buKit

I think I can describe where it is to someone who is pretty familiar with Accostink.

Riding the loop the way you did...

Ride the boyscout trail in from the cinder and continue down till you're heading up along the railroad tracks. At the top of the first "real" climb there is a trail that goes off to the left, into the interior of Accotink. Take that down. Towards the bottom of the hill the trail forks. Take the right fork that goes UP. Stay on that trail until it ends in a T. Take the right turn, it leads you up the hill. Follow that trail up. You'll cross two small logs and go down a hill. Stay left at the bottom of the hill. You'll soon find yourself on new singletrack on the section right before the trail gets back to the trail that parallel's the train tracks.

If that makes ANY sense to you at all, COOL. If it doesn't, I'll lead a group out there on Thursday night. The new trial is part of my "normal" loop. My guess is that I'll be leading a group that is somewhat slower than Larry's, but somewhat faster than casual.

Pete

[bukit]

I'll have to check it out. I stayed outside the whole way along the tracks...didn't go into the woods to far...I know the trail to the left you're talking about though....

Thanks,
-buKit

[Mike Miller]

Thanks for the positive feedback, fellas. That reroute was done on the most recent MORE workday at Accotink by 3 of us in the rain. I just rode it yesterday and it's not bad for a trail that was built by 3 guys in the rain (flagged by 2 guys in the COLD November rain). Larry Cautilli really deserves most of the credit: he masterminded the design and spend countless hours behind the scenes planning, flagging, and revisiting the route. He is the Rich Edwards of the Metro area.

The idea behind the reroute was twofold: 1. You're right, Pete: we wanted to steer people away from the steep drop offs so they would be less tempted to drop in and simultaneously kill someone on the cinder trail and our access to the park. 2. The old trail was closer to fall-line, more susceptable to erosion.

I'd like to build some berms on the new turns to make them faster. We started to build a berm on the second turn.

I'd like to get together a crew to build those berms and continue the re-route. We'll have to find a weekend that isn't covered by another workday, major race, or bike-demo day.

Cheers!

Mike Miller
MORE Lake Accotink Liaison

[MyOtherBrotherL]

Larry Cautilli really deserves most of the credit: he masterminded the design and spend countless hours behind the scenes planning, flagging, and revisiting the route. He is the Rich Edwards of the Metro area.



I would prefer to think of myself as a Rich Edwards Disciple. I still have MUCH to learn.

L

PS Maybe someday someone will be referred to as the Larry Cautilli of the Metro area.

PSS Ha - I PITY da fool!

[Dirt]

Maybe someday someone will be referred to as the Larry Cautilli of the Metro area.

Stem cell research has done a lot to help the science of cloning. It may not be as far off as you think. ;)

But seriously...

Thanks guys. I like the berm that is there and I can imagine that trail being even more fun with a few more banked turns in there.

PEte

[vwmtnbiker]

ok, even though accotink is where i pretty much spent 3 years of my life riding i have NO idea where this is. can someone give me a reference from the cinder trail by the playground?

[Mike Miller]

If you were at the end of Danbury Ct, at the playground, and you walked up to the cinder trail (effectively at the bottom of the Boy Scout Trail), then turned left and went 1/4 to a 1/2 a mile on the cinder trail toward Lake Accotink, you'd eventually come to a spot where the cinder trail feels like a valley: there are steep "cliffs" that rise up sharply on either side.

The re-route is at the top of the ridgeline on the right.

I'd give directions from the singletrack, but, due to the nature of Accotink's trail system, no one, not even me, would understand them. :confused:

[RATM]

To be honest, the new re-route is nothing to write home about, it's a small section of trail, and it's very tight and very tough to pick up speed. I used to like the speed you could pick up by not having to do all the tight and twisty turns. There is this one turn that is bermed out that is really cool. Either way, I really appreciate all the work that MORE does at lake accotink. I'm hoping one day to get out there and and fix that double steep sections that is all rutted and groved.

[MyOtherBrotherL]

To be honest, the new re-route is nothing to write home about, it's a small section of trail.....

In defense of the new reroute, the distance that was constructed is only 1/3 of the trail that Mike and I flagged.

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when only 3 people show up for a work day.


....and it's very tight and very tough to pick up speed. I used to like the speed you could pick up by not having to do all the tight and twisty turns.....

And so did the water. If you ever stood on the old trail on a rainy day, you would see the water rushing down it. Did you ever notice that there wasn't ever any leaves on it?


...There is this one turn that is bermed out that is really cool. Either way, I really appreciate all the work that MORE does at lake accotink. I'm hoping one day to get out there and and fix that double steep sections that is all rutted and groved.

Wow - And that's the one turn that I hate. It was suppose to be higher and made from rock.


Bottom line - Your right, it's nothing to write home about. One could almost say non descript. Your doubly right about it being tight. But they all start out TIGHT but eventually loosen up. :D

However, for a trail that was targeted for closure, the reroutes satisfied all of the Parks concerns and allowed us to keep it open. In that respect, it's phenomenal!!!

[bkjoe]

This is not about the re-route, but I couldn't find it anywhere --- I remember seeing that Sun is a work day at FH. Is that right? details?

thanks
Brian

[Dirt]

This is not about the re-route, but I couldn't find it anywhere --- I remember seeing that Sun is a work day at FH. Is that right? details?

thanks
Brian

Are you talking about THIS (http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=331&day=2006-6-4&c=2)?

[bkjoe]

si. muchos gracias.
bk