tranquility north fort st trail is beta

Thanks to Aaron, Chris, Dale, Greg, and Paul, the out and back trail corridor along the Big Papio is cleared. Little tread work - though rideable, it's not necessarily enjoyable - consider it a beta release. Sod cutting the tread will wait for another workday, probably next Spring.

 
The trail circled in pink is what we worked on yesterday and today - about 20 hrs. About 20 hrs were spent on the ground walking, envisioning, and flagging prior to this weekend.
 
The trail circled in blue at the top is a double track going around a built wetlands in order to mitigate wetlands lost from the soccer fields south of Fort St and the new cement trail around Standing Bear Lake.
 
The trail on the west boundary will be worked on over the winter, weather permitting. This entails clearing deadfall and dead undercanopy in the trail corridor.
 
Greg brought out his stihl saw with color coordinated stihl chaps -- very professional, should have snapped a pic!
 
Chris putted around with his walk behind weedeater to clear parts of the tread along the trees down to the dirt.
 
I ended up putting about 8 hrs on Tigger. She worked hard making a preliminary pass through at 5" and a follow up cut at 3.5". The air cooling screen was plugged several times from all the cut grass thrown upwind. Though she has some minor groundings with the blades, the worst was running up over an unseen railroad tie when finishing up in the dark about 6 pm. Stopped the blades and stalled the engine - ouch! In 1 hour, Tigger does what use to take us about 4 hrs to push. Thus those 8 hrs this weekend saved us at least another 24 hours of mowing by hand.
 
Besides weedeating, clearing branches, and some hoe work, Aaron and Paul set bridges in place over the Fort St bridge erosion ruts.
 
I found out Friday at 1830 that Melinda, director of Omaha Parks, and Dennis, Park Planner had given us the "Notice to Proceed" with construction of the proposed trail. This time of year, there are few weekends amicable for trailwork.
 
I thank God for moving Melinda and Dennis to ok the proposal, for providing Chris, Paul, Greg, and Aaron to interact with the design and construction, and I'm grateful to God for giving me the desire, eyes, and hands to help paint a mtb trail on his canvas.

mowed north tp return route

Talked with Chris who was out doing some lopping. Decided not to rent sod cutter for tomorrow's trailday, we will just work on clearing and mowing the trail corridor on the Big Papio. Mowing the grass will allow the frost to melt more quickly next Spring when the sod cutter can be put to work.

This is looking south on the return route towards the Fort St bridge.

This is looking back up the return route towards the north baseball parking lot.

Though difficult to see, this is one of those half inch diameter scrub brush that has a 10' root starting back at the head of the rogue hoe.

tranquility trailday this sunday 11.21

Thank you, Omaha Parks, for approving the trail extension!

Trailday this Sunday noon – 3pm.
Meet north of Fort St in east lot between front and back baseball complexes.
Will work on parallel out and back trails along Big Papio.


I will walk for obstacles, flag, and mow as much trail corridor as possible with Tigger on Saturday.

Work for Sunday:
- Mow tread low on Tigger prepped trail corridor
- Run sod cutters over tread line
- Saw, trim branches in trail corridor along creek
- Weedwack non Tigger tread
- Put in bridges under bridge

Tools provided.

We need 6 or so workers to rsvp in order to rent two sod machines.
Assumes:
- Tigger can prepare the trail corridors on Saturday
- Frost is not in ground already

With bitter cold weather forecasted and trail corridor mowed to ground, frost will set in before another trailday can be run, so as much sod cutting/treadwork must be done this Sunday as possible, or it will have to wait till Spring, in my opinion. If low number of workers are available, will leave sawing/trimming till after frost in order to concentrate on sod cutting tread.

Please let me know if you plan to work on the trail Sunday - tpmbt at cox dot net

Dale

TV Shoot Date changed to Tues 11/16 due to weather

Iowa Public Television's new recreation and conservation series, Iowa Outdoors wants to feature mountain biking around Council Bluffs in a future episode in late Spring/Summer 2011 and particularly the courses at Lewis and Clark Monument and Lake Manawa.

They plan on being here on 11/16 to video riders on trail. We need riders to be at L&C and ready to ride at 11am sharp. Please let me know if you can participate.

The bigger benefit is they want to feature THOR as well and that may be shot on the same day or in the spring during an actual trail day.

It should only take an hour or so. Come on out and show off our trails!

Contact me ASAP if you can attend. roxzanne dot abbott at gmail dot com

Thanks, Roxy

Thank you THOR Volunteers!

Seriously, people. What other sport on this planet has it's competitors and enthusiasts taking care of the very playground they play in? MTB volunteers have got to be the most selfless and passionate people I have ever met.

Just want to say thank you to Tom Winfield and Steve Dickey for organizing and orchestrating two successful days at Lake Manawa.  A huge shout out to the guys from Extreme Wheels who came out and took care of business.

Steve says: Perfect crew along with perfect weather let 11 workers get a total of 33 hours in to make Manawa ridable in all sections except east sidewider which has two areas and very muddy in a few sections. Use caution if you haven't riden here lately, there is some muddy spots in low areas under leaves.We ended the day with pizza and some even went out for a ride after that. To all who helped get manawa ridable since the last flood you are AWESOME!

Great turnout for TTD

Thanks to the 15 people that came out to tranq this afternoon and helped put the finishing touches on the fall cleanup. The water bars were cleaned up and tuned, as well as some problem muddy areas being adjusted. We also cleaned up the canopy of deadfall. This should have us ready to go come spring...

Big props to the long haulers that worked Manawa this morning, then blasted to Tranquility to work some more.

Thanks to everyone that pitched in all year. We couldn't do it without ya!

Manawa Trail Day 11/3, 11/6

Manawa Needs You This Week!

Nov. 3, Wed. Meet in parking lot at 3:45 and start work at 4. This is a very short work night before it gets dark. Extreme Wheels has a crew that wants to help out. Bring your light to ride after we work. The work will include moving branches off trail in no second chance and along the entire trail by the levy to power plant. We will have two saws that night to use we just need you to help clear the trail.

Nov. 6, Sat. Meet in parking lot at 9 am. And start work at 9:15. We have two chain saws and we will be splitting up in crews with them and finish up cutting any fallen trees to get more sections ridable. Cut a few more trees in a few other sections.  We do have a few sections that need to be benched!

12:00 noon meet in parking lot for pizza provided for your hard work. Bring your own drinks, no glass. Anyone who wants to work after we eat we will be running one more crew. 

The goal by the end of the work day sat. Is to have all trees at least cut that need to be.
Hope to see ya Wed. Or Sat.
Things to bring is your favorite non-gas tool, warm clothing, gloves, ear plugs, and your bike.

Tranquility Trail Day Sat Nov 6th @ 1pm

We are looking for a small group to come help finish up the fall cleanup. Meet at the Fort St trail head at 1pm.

Tranq - South hill warning

The city has resumed work on the south hill and is moving quite a bit of dirt. In all this, we have lost some trail. The trail crew is working on a re-route for the area and should have it cut in and rideable by the end of the weekend. Please give the city workers room to work and avoid the areas they are working in. Thanks!

very successful L&C trailday

No pics? We were too busy moving trees and dirt to take pics.
First timers Melonie, Craig showed from previous invitations while they were walking or riding L&C.
Brandon W. came out to ride but helped with Brian H. for the time they had available.
Steve D. saved the day bringing his saws. Very little would have been accomplished on the reconnector otherwise. His dog Cody was tracked over 7 miles while there.
Joshua S. and his dog ? added a little Kansas flavor to the mix.
Chris "earthmover" P. did his thing grubbing in the dirt.
Todd M. ran the saw to provide a corridor for tread grubbers behind.
Paul N. brought the beer, weedwacked, and sunk entrance trailmarkers with Chris.
I think there were one or two more but my mind is drawing a blank.

Afterwards Kyle (first timer at L&C), Scott N. (old timer at L&C), Todd, and I rode our work. I dubbed/fell 4 times on the 300 yard reconnector. The tread is soft in places and there are several steep ups to power through.

We also finished all of Supermodel, the final reroute of Neverest. I didn't expect to clean it my first time. It's not Neverest because there are short flats between short, steep switchbacks; but I like it better because its more sustainable, and it feels more like a twisty mtb climb than a straight up motorcycle climb. About a half mile of trail was added to the whole loop since the race in August.

We still need more signage and an updated gps map, old L&C map here.

Trail starts and ends behind the park entrance gate.
Follow sign down west trail.
At bottom, now go left instead of old right turn. The addition goes along the railroad track about 1000' before doubling back to near the new T intersection to continue the loop.
Go past the Neverest hard right turn and then right on Supermodel.

Enjoy the ride!

L&C trailday this Sunday, Oct 17

Hey guys and gals, imo, this trailwork is as good as it gets. We're adding trail in sculptable dirt and increasing the overall difficulty in a sustainable way. If you ride L&C, join us in putting some sweat equity into this trail.

When: Sunday, Oct 17
Where: L&C parking lot
Time: 13:00-16:00

Work to do:
- Finish Supermodel (switchback route up Neverest hill)
- 100-150 yard addition to reincorporate part of the trail along the railroad tracks

Tools: rogue hoes, mcleods, loppers, shovels, already have two chainsaws.

Long pants (moving dirt, thorn bushes), gloves, safety glasses

Supermodel is almost done, just a little finish work and removing the downed tree blocking the entrance left.

The bottom addition between the railroad trail and current trail is more hilly than either with many downed trees and thorn bushes to clear from trail corridor. Fortunately, the dirt is easy to move. Should have 7 or 8 rogue hoes, plus about the same number of mcleods to sculpt tread.

Let's get 20+ people and try to knock out this addition in one trailday.

Entrance to Supermodel:

Supermodel switchback 1

Supermodel switchback 4

Looking down at switchback 4 (35% grade):

Switchback 2 has a bailout to Neverest in order to bypass the two 30%+ climbing switchbacks. Supermodel only is the most difficult route. Supermodel-Neverest-Supermodel is easier than Neverest-Supermodel because one is able to carry momentum into the climb instead of almost stopping for Neverest's entrance.

Bring Your Kid Mountain Biking

Photos of the THOR Family Day are posted on Tom's photo site. Eventually some of them will find their way onto the THOR Web Site. Some touch-up will be done before posting (and e-mailing) to the web site.

A great time was had by all. Just awesome weather, fun on bicycles for kids of all ages, good food, and good company.

Trail Closure at Swanson Park

The old trail North West of the Fire Department training area is officially closed by the City of Bellevue in both directions. The new trail that parallels the fence line is still good to go. The old closed off trail is on private property and the land owner wants everyone off their land.

THe City has made the decision to block the trail with fencing and post No Trespassing signs and Posted Private Property on behalf of the owner. The areas are well marked with caution tape.

THOR leadership is engaged with Bellevue officials to maintain a good working relationship and keep and open dialog with regards to this matter.

Please honor the land owner's wishes and stay out of the old trail. If you see someone tearing down the new fences or signage please report it to the authorities.

Take the time to educate other riders of the situation, respect the land owner's rights and wishes, and spread the word quickly.

Lewis and Clark Trail Day

Hi All!
I was hoping you could join the devoted for one last Trail Day at Lewis and Clark.
I've had some contact with a person with the Geologic Society and have maps with defined boundaries. This could help us in making some decisions about any re-routing we might want to do.
Please plan to gather on
Sunday - October 17th1:00 pmLewis and Clark parking lotWhat to bring: axes, hatchets, chain saws, weed wacker, loppers, Rogue Hoes!, hand trimmers, anything to help clear a trail.
And Gloves! Don't forget gloves!
Pray the weather holds -
See you there

Save Manawa: Do it for the children

Manawa is in great need! To get the trail rideable, we need all hands on deck for some serious log cutting and moving. Fifteen boy scouts pitched in last week! If they can do it, so can we!

Day: Saturday 10/2
Time: 9-noon
Place: Manawa trail head
Bring: saws, straps, loppers. Park has many tools we can use as well.

BYOK day is only a couple weeks away. Let's do it for the children!


Thank you.
Roxy

Adams Park trail work

Need a little help on Tuesday 9-28 at 6:15 pm. I plan to mow, remove a down tree and remove grass from the trail. Weed eaters and hand tools are needed. Should not take long. Meet at the recreation center parking lot. Thanks so much. Dan

BYOKMTB DAY - SATURDAY, OCT 9

To honor IMBA's national holiday, we're celebrating Bring Your Own Kid Mountain Biking Day.

This is a chance to bring the whole family out for a fun, guided ride, followed by some awesome food and drinks. It's the best way to introduce your kids to the most fun they'll have on two wheels!

Manawa has been off limits all year because of flooding but we are finally able to ride the short loop, and we want to celebrate. The short loop is perfect for the kiddos and first time riders. It's flat and fun! After the ride, head across the street for some grub and good times on the Dream Land playground, which was designed by children! It's huge!

We hope to see you and your family. Bring 'em all. The more the merrier.

If the trails are too wet to ride, we'll ride the paved trail instead. Keep an eye here and Face Book for details.

Click here for the flyer.

We could use volunteers. Please contact Dave Packard at 402-926-9696 or David.A.Packard@usace.army.mil.

Second Trail Day 18 Sept

Hello all,

Frank has scheduled another trail day for Saturday morning to finish up where we left off. Probably trimmed 60% percent of the total trail and moved some dirt this last Saturday.

Thanks to Butch, Alex and Steve plus Frank and his son this last Saturday.

We'll have some brand new power tools to break in too!

A few areas need some drainage cleaned out and some edges on heavily rutted parts knocked down.

Its pretty sweet.

Martin

Swanson Trail Maintenance 11 Sept

Folks,

Busy weekend with racing and all that. If your not racing Saturday Frank could use some help on Saturday at 8am for a couple hours.

Need a few wackers and clippers to trim the trail back, lots of stuff starting to hang into the trail.

Oh, and there is one tree that needs to be removed at the road crossing going to Tetanus Ridge.

workdays at lake manawa trail sept 2, 7, 8

(Steve, Sorry I didn't get this posted a couple days ago. Dale)

Thursday, Sept 2 - mow and trim large portions of trail. 6 pm till dark.
Meet by red truck in parking lot.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Sept 7, 8 -- 6 pm till dark.
Will have shovels, blower, chainsaw, and trimmers. Come put them to work.
Meet by red truck in parking lot.

Bring work clothing, bug spray and your bike to ride to areas that need to be worked.

Thursday, Sept 9 - come and ride the trail and enjoy your work!

Steve D.

things learned on the CC inaugural ride

Great to see about 20 people come out to the inaugural ride! Riders hailed from Fremont, Valley, Wahoo, Lincoln, and Omaha. Seems everybody liked the new trail.

Two kiosks were installed Saturday by an Eagle Scout. These will have maps and other info shortly.

It's easy to miss the entrance to the singletrack.
To get to the singletrack from the parking lot, ride past the buildings and over the lawn along the bluff (currently flagged). The trail circles behind a cross and then turns right onto a trail and then takes a quick left onto the singletrack. If you are riding on a wide trail along the ridge, you missed the singletrack entrance.

The tread is compacting and it's getting easier to see. Orange tape is the primary markings, though there are silver arrows inside of different colored circles nailed to trees also. You should be riding on the knotted side of the orange tape.

The armored descent to the creek is very slippery.
Currently, the entrance to the armored (cement pieces put together jigsaw style) descent requires a right turn shortly after entering. Any speed will push you off towards the left into a rut, or worse, a tree. Until this entry is improved, please brake before the cement and roll onto it at slow speed.

Check the trail availability before driving out there.
Though written elsewhere, just a reminder to check the Calvin Crest MTB Trail page to see if the trail is available. Some customers have activities that will close the trail.

calvin crest trail availability - check before ride

Please check Calvin Crest trail availability before driving out there to ride.

Calvin Crest MTB Trail Inaugural Ride this Sunday

This latest map includes the Tower Loop. Color shows the elevation from a deep blue low of 1213' to dark orange high of 1387'. There are also 10' dark isoclinic lines.

Chris, Craig, and I did a recon lap Wednesday evening and the trail is in great shape! Craig and staff put in 60+ hrs of trimming and mcleod work to get the trail ready for the inaugural ride this Sunday at 2pm.

Please be a part of the opening ride and celebration this Sunday and stay for hot dogs and chips afterwards. What the trail needs most is to be ridden. The tread is soft in areas because it hasn't been compacted. The more bikers and laps we put in Sunday, the better the trail will pedal.

Please don't ride before Sunday at 2. Calvin Crest received 2.5" of rain Tuesday morning and there were several climbs we had to push and a wet area along the Platter River. A couple more days of drying will only enhance the riding!

Directions to Calvin Crest.

Calvin Crest MTB Trail Inaugural Ride

Sunday, Aug 29
Ride at 2pm
Eat around 5pm
$3 donation for hotdog, chips, fruit, juice, water
Park next to basketball court
Directions to Calvin Crest
Questions: tpmbt at cox dot net

Tread work at Tranquility Saturday, 07-17, 24

Saturdays, July 17 and 24
08:00-11:00
Meet at Fort St parking lot

Action Items:
- tread work on south half
- clear branches, new growth on north half

Tools: rogue hoes, mcleods, pulaskis, mclintocks, loppers, folding saws

We have tools if you don't.

We will be edging the ruts, changing them from U shaped to V and tamping down excess dirt in bottom of tread. SouthHill climb needs the most work; camelback bypass and SouthHill Descent switchbacks too.

Temperature will be warm, bring water.

For those with time and energy, bring a bike to ride afterwards.

tranquility park danger!!!

Just heard from a rider that the cut on the south descent where they are expanding the tennis courts - a grader went through and there is a two foot vertical edge.

We will fix after work tonight.

Always be careful out there.

I'm going to toot our horn

Going to toot Bike Masters and Bike Masters Cycling Club's horn for purchasing a zero turn mower the trail crew can use at Tranquility.

THOR says: Hail to our supporters!

As they say in soccer, SSSSSSCOOOOOOOOOOORE! The Hails to the Trails was a huge success. Our goal was to raise $2500. Well, because of our wonderful supporters, we bettered that by almost $1000!!! Yes, lovers of dirt and all things single track, we brought in almost $3500! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. 

The movie was sold out! Can you dig it? A movie about a mountain bike race. Who woulda thunk? I was completely amazed.

The panel discussion was a great follow up after the movie. Topics ranged from the movie, to racing to advocacy and how it all ties into living a healthy and active lifestyle. All good things. Damn, bikes are fun and happy toys!

A special thanks to presenting sponsors TREK Omaha, TREK Corporation, Fox Racing Shox, New Belgium, and our partners Film Streams, Barley's Bar. And to all of the supporting businesses and individuals who contributed. We couldn't have done it without you.

And because I'm writing this blog post, a personal thank you to Dave "the Muffin Man" Packard who never said no, nah or never. You, my man, are a rockstar. I couldn't have pulled this off without your help. Thanks for always answering your phone! I promise to not call again for a long time. 

It was a great event. Thank you everyone for supporting us. It makes all the time we spend working on the trails worth the effort.  

THOR Prizes - Drool, drool...

	AUCTION PRIZE LIST
Canfields	Coleman Cooler
Body Smith	Fitness Jump Start Consultation
Schultz	photo print of rock formation in Arches NP
TREK Store of Omaha	TREK Soho Single Speed Bike
	CAPO Monza Jersey Mens (L) and CAPO Monza Bib Short Mens (L)  KIT
	Reba 29 er fork
	SID WC 26 inch fork
	SRAM XO long cage rear der.
	SRAM XO trigger shift 9spd set
	SRAM 11-32 mtn cassette
	Truv. Noir xc 175 crank
	GXP Bottom Bracket team
	Astana autographed Jersey, Tour of Missouri Team 2009
	Contour Helmet Cam x2
	WSD camelback
Tom Kessler	Photo
Jeff Koterba	Cartoon
Performance Chiropractic	Consultation Voucher (Chiropractic and Release)
Monkey Wrench	cat eye heart rate monitor
National Parks Service	Ken Burns National Parks book and DVD set
Roxy	Ladies only gift pack
Fox Racing Shox	back pack
	RAFFLE PRIZE LIST
TREK Corporation	ladies helmets & gloves, pumps, commuter bags
Backwoods	$25 gift card
Santosha Massage	(2) $25 gift cards
Omaha Steaks	gift bag of seasonings & misc.
Nierman	Death Poster
Nierman	Steel Poster
New Belgium	New Belgium Tshirt / Pint glass
TREK Store of Omaha	Ladies Trek/High Gear Carhart shirts
	Bontrager arm warmers
	TREK wsd computer
	Castelli Rosa Corsa Glove Mens
	Castelli Tenacia Gloves Womens
	Catelli Luna Sock Womens
	Castelli ROSA corsa sock mens
	Castelli Prologo Hats x 2
	Castelli Retro Cycling Cap x 4
	Castelli Prologo SL Jersey Womens
	Castelli Provocante Short Womens
	Castelli Endurance Bib Short Mens
	Castelli Prologo Jersey Mens
	Garmin FR60 heart rate monitor
	3 - TREK Time handlebar watches
	2 - TREK ION LED Headlights
	3 - BT ECO seat bags
	Honey Stinger Chews
	Jett Schwag
Olympia	serfas seat bag
	blackburn hand pump
	planet bike light
	(3) insulate bottles
	water bottle
Chili's Restaurant	(2) $25 gift cards
IMBA	hats
	racing socks
	6 prs trail builder socks
Barley's	2 - $10 gift certificates
Twin Six	(5) Tshirts, (4) bottles, (3) prs socks
Cycle Works	mtb book
	cycling experience DVD/lube/cleaner
	strata wireless computer
	wrench force mini pump
	mello yello bell
Bike Masters	Sigma BC1106 DTS Wireless Bike Computer (pink)
	Two Sigma HIRO Electronic LED Tail Lights
	Bell Array Road Helmet (small)
Monkey Wrench	kona mtb gloves
	king cage TI tire levers
	sox - 2
	chris king shirt mens (M)
	caps
	caps swobo
	wtb grips
	Kona water bottle
Xtreme Wheels	Fox helmet (sm)
	downhill pants
	flat pedals
	bike locks
	grips
	sleeveless wind jkt
	jerseys
	KORE road saddle
Bike Way	1 set of Ritchey WCS bar ends
	1 set of Adidas Climaproof MTB bootie
	1 each set of wool The Bike Way socks in Medium and large
	1 pkg of Specialized S-wrap bar wrap
	1 each The Bike Way jersey in Medium and Large
Fox Racing Shocks	Tshirts
	hats
	posters, stickers
	socks
	tech shirts
Trek Omaha	2 - Capo Track Jacket (L)
	CAPO Cortina Jersey Womens (M)
	CAPO Cortina Bib Short Mens (M)
Complete Nutrition	Energy powders, shakes, etc.
Green Street	2 - $25 gift certificates
SPOKIZ	pair of sunglasses

Auction Prize list

It's all about us!

It's a THOR weekend, people. We encourage all members to attend and bring friends!

Thursday FUNd raiser. Woot-woot. Bring lots of CASH!

Barleys, 5:15pm, 15th & Cuming. 

Friday - mtb ride with Travis Brown. 

Meet at ped bridge at 12-noon to ride L&C and back. Pray that trail knowledge gives you some kind of an edge. 

Saturday - Adam's Park Grand Opening. 12-2. 

Bring your kids and their bikes. Just under 1/2 mile single track loop that's perfect for the little ones. Local YMCA to have other events going as well. Family fun! 

Hopefully no umbrella necessary!

Tranquility Trail Day Wed June 23rd 6-8pm

Hi folks,

We are looking for 10-12 people to work at tranq wed evening. Meet at the trail head @ 6pm. The goals for the night are:

Use sod cutter to cut in the inner loop bypass
Clean out drains on erosion control devices
Replace broken trail markers
Raise canopy on north side of trail

Bring hoes and loppers if you have them or we will have some tools to use during the trail day. As always, bring bug spray and gloves. We will have some water on hand as well.

**Added bonus**
Come out and see the extremely cool piece of equipment that Bike Masters and Bike Masters Cycling Club have provided for Tranquility.

Hope to see ya there!

Tranq Trail Council

Mana-Swamp - 2010 - Part 2

Once again this year, Lake Manawa mountain bike trails are under water. These trails are CLOSED until the water recedes and the trails dry out.

Hails to the Trails: FUNd Raiser Event: June 24

Let's raise the roof as well as some funds! This event is open to the pubic. The more the merrier!
Over $5000 in prizes!
Meet Travis Brown!
RSVP on Face Book at Thor Trails or email roxzanne.abbott@gmail.com if you don't "do" facebook.

manawa work done - wed workday cancelled

Thanks to all who helped give manawa a hair cut and trim low branches. The crew, female and child included, put in 17 hours in two days to get our trails looking awesome.

No trailwork day needed Wednesday. Too muddy to ride now but Thursday should be about the right time!

Steve D.

manawa traildays Mon-Wed June 7-9

Manawa has taken the last couple of storms very well but its time for a hair cut. Please plan on attending at least one of the trail days below.

All times are from 6p.m. To 8p.m. THOR needs your help!

June 7 mowing the trails. Also trim them. I will be at the rangers station at 4:15 to pick up the mower and get started early if anyone else wants to help. The main group will start at 6p.m.

June 8 trim the trails, cut back any low branches

June 9 trim the trails, cut back any low branches

We have two trimmers that has your name on one of them. Come and put them to work.

Steve D.

SAVE THE DATE - THOR FUNd Raiser

Hoes in the House!

THOR's new hoes have arrived....Rogue Hoes especially designed for trail building arrived today. (Authors snivel, Only three days late!). Boy we could have used these at L&C on Saturday but with the stellar performance by all we made due just fine.

4 of these are designated for THOR collectively and three are personal buys which I'll be delivering in the next week or two. Who ever needs to borrow them drop me an email or give me a call and we'll coordinate a hand off. I'll maintain long term accountability for a while.

Exercise extreme safety these things are sharp. USE ONLY ON THINGS YOU WANT TO DESTROY.

Trail day anyone....anyone?

New Trail Entrance @ Lewis & Clark

In spite of the early morning shower in N Council Bluffs, the ground was in good shape for trail work. There were 8-10 that showed up to complete the new route replacing Neverrest.

The trail crew got the rhythm - a production line down the trail.

The goal was complete the trail tread in areas that needed benching - on the downhill trail. The downhill trail provides an entrance to replace the chute the was to the right of the Monument.

When done, the crew moved over to the uphill replacing Neverrest. The new uphill trail was named "Super Model" for the curves that replace the straight shot up the hill.

At about noon - right on schedule - the crew headed back to the parking lot.

Last task was to cut open the new entrance of the trail. After that, the crew relaxed over "adult refreshments" and smoked meat.

Now, both of the trail entrance and exit are near the gate to the Monument. Entrance (downhill) is on the left -- Exit (uphill) is on the right.

teen serve at L&C greatly appreciated

Teen Serve, a local homeschool service group, came out a second month to work on the Neverrest reroute.





25 teens and 5 adults put in 50 hrs clearing the trail corridor the rest of the way on the downroute and uproute. All but 75' of the downroute is benched, plus about 10' at the beginning. The 75' benching is on a steep slope and will probably need 1' dug out of the high side for a 2' wide tread. The uproute needs benching but much of that is just clearing off vegetation on contours and 20-30% uphill sweeping 180's.

I plan to have both routes open at the end of tomorrow's trailday. The quality of the uproute will depend on the number of workhours (volunteers) put into it.

Saturday, May 22
09:00-noon

Bring a bike for a celebration lap.
Heard there will be smoked meat afterwards.
Bring your favorite beverage.

Adams Park I.2

THOR and Activate Omaha held a Trail Day Saturday. Nearly 20 attended to work on the new singletrack at Adams Park in North Omaha.

Kent and Steve were there early. Renting a sod cutter was an awesome idea. Made shorter work on the normal back-breaking work of stripping the sod. (The sod cutting effort was helped by Dale cutting the grass before stripping the sod).


When Tom arrived, Kent and Steve were playing football with some of the neighborhood kids. A couple hours we would have them riding bikes on the new trail.

Once the sod cutter was through, the crew started rolling the sod and hauling it up to the walk. (Parks crews will move it later - they have a spot to use the sod. Don't you love it when a plan comes together!)

The new trail turns around in the woods. The rough corridor was cut. It will take another trail day to complete that section of the trail.

Photos of Adams Park I.2 Trail Day are on Tom's photo site.

At the end of the trail day, local kids and THOR members were riding the new trail which clocks in at about 0.4 mile.

ADAM'S PARK - PHASE I.2

ALL HANDS ON DECK
SATURDAY 10-12
BRING LOPPERS, SHOVELS AND RAKES, SUN SCREEN.
WATER PROVIDED.

ADAMS PARK
30TH AND BEDFORD

today's manawa trailwork cancelled

Manawa work day tonight, May 12, 2010 Cancelled due to weather and muddy trails.

A BIG thank you to the two adults and a little boy that helped mow and remove the few branches across the trail.

Please make your plans to attend Adams Park trailday this weekend, 10:00-noon.

Steve D.

Platte River State Park

Just a reminder to all, Platte River State park is now running the Horse Rides. That means refrain from riding anything past Owen's crossing bridge and the trails over in the horse area from 9am-4pm daily. Bikes tend to scare the horses and we don't need access stopped completely. This will continue throughout the summer. It will give you a chance to ride the other main trails in the park.
Platte Trail Crew.

L&C trailwork fri may 21, sat may 22

I will be taking 25 or so teens from Teen Serve to work on Lewis & Clark Monument mtb trail additions on neverrest, from 09:00-11:30 Friday, May 21.

Will hopefully have separate entrance and exit routes functioning after Saturday's trailwork, from 09:00 - 12:00. If you ride L&C, please put in a couple hours of trailwork on Friday or Saturday to get this old girl's loop up and ridable again.

manawa traildays tu/wed may 11 and 12

May 11, 2010
Mowing the trails. 430p.m. till dark. Need at least one more person to help with the mower in case we get stuck and help put the machine away. This job takes most of the night. You don't have to work you can just ride around the trails and be on call if needed, or bring your fishing pole and fish in the river.
6 p.m. till 8p.m. come down and help trim the trails and move storm damage out of the way this will be a smaller group, meet in the parking lot.

May 12, 2010
Meet by the red truck in the parking lot at 6p.m. Trim what we couldn't get with the mower. Move flood damage objects out of the way in wood chooper and other needed areas. Bench the section before the camel humps. Done by 8 p.m. and ride.

Tools to bring. We have two trimmers (just need someone to run them). We will have two sets of lopper (just need someone to use them). Shovels bring yours. Rakes we have you covered. Also need someone to wear the backpack blower to blow wood chooper. Bring your bug spray. Like always THOR will provide gatorade.

Please plan to attend at least one of these days. THOR needs your help at Manawa.

TNR. May 13, 2010, enjoy YOUR hard work and ride the groomed trails.

Steve D.

Pre-race Trail Day at Platte

Last minute notice but if you have some time Wednesday head on down to Platte River State Park and give Paul and crew a hand.

Paul will be out there at 11 but other folks will show up at about 3pm.

The trail is in good shape but could use some light touching up with weed wackers, a few eye pokers trimmed back and a couple preventive strikes on a few trees about ready to drop on the trail.

Get out and ride it afterwards!!!!!

IMBA and the Great Outdoors Initiative

Click here to read IMBA Executive Director Mike Van Abel joined President Obama for the signing of the "America’s Great Outdoors" initiative at a conference in Washington, DC

Lake Manawa Clean-up Day

THOR members were among the over 400 folks that spend a couple hours of their Sunday to clean up Lake Manawa State Park. The THOR crew spend the time cleaning trash around the mountain bike trails.

Forgive me if I missed someone, but we did have our Trail leader Steve, former President Mike, member Mike, Webmaster Tom, and the Matheson family in attendance.

In the lower photo, THOR members take a look at the trash picked up in the mountain bike area.

Following transferring the trash to a dumpster, some lucky participants brought home prizes from the raffle. Weather turned raining just as the festivities were wrapping up. The rain and colder temperature dampened desires to ride a lap at Manawa.

Donate to THOR

Folks,

Please encourage your friends to donate to THOR. The donation box will be at race forums coming near you.

THOR has some big expenses this year and the account is starting to get shallow.

Thanks!

6th Annual Lake Manawa Clean up Day

Are you tired of riding by the same piece of garbage on the bike trail? Now is your chance to pick it up along with any other trash along the trail and river.

When: Sunday, May 2, 2010, 1 p.m. till 3 p.m.
Meet: At shelter 6, will we be introduced to other by DNR staff (wear your thor shirts)
What to bring: gloves, and work clothes.

May want to bring your bike to ride the cleaned trails when we are finished. This event is a lake wide clean up with us focusing on the bike area. Lets see how many mountain bikers we can get to help out with this project. If you come late just meet at the river ramp and start filling the black trailor with trash, bags will be inside it. Help celebrate earth day by picking up trash on the bike trails at Lake Manawa. Hope to see your face Sunday.

Steve D.

adams park beginner loop flagged

I flagged the rest of the beginner loop at Adams Park this afternoon. Mowed to make sod cutting easier and to see layout if flags are removed. 3hrs onsite.

Standing near end of trail completed with IMBA.
Didn't take pic of open area beyond this leading into the turn around in trees.

Just past turn around. Returning to start along ridge line. You can also see lower trail to left.

Hope it goes well for those busting sod and benching this weekend.

L&C trailwork report from 4.17,18

Had 22 kids and 4 adults from Teen Serve out Friday morning - about 60hrs of work. They worked hard and were great to work with. Cleared trail corridor of brush, roots, and leaves - guessing about 400' of new trail corridor cut.

Below, this is on neverrest where the new downhill crosses.

This is new down trail at bottom of neverrest just before it connects with the current ridge trail that goes south to the 4 corners.

This is the new up trail from the four corners paralleling the ridge trail and dumping onto the ridge trail just before the left turn downhill and right turn onto neverrest.

On Saturday, another 35 hrs were put in.

Martin, Butch?, and Todd took the saws and 9 hrs of work to cleared out some difficult trees blocking the trail.

Paul, Vince, Dave, Brian, Todd, Corey, and myself benched the trails cleared by the Teen Serve group on Friday. Probably half the downhill trail is done.

Because there is so much trailwork to do on the THOR trails and not enough manpower, we will use the lower part of neverrest and cut in just the top two of five switchbacks for the uphill trail, saving the rest till later this Fall, hopefully.

The current neverrest trail is still 2 way traffic so be careful.