chainsaw trail day at Calvin Crest

Packed up bob with tools and supplies and headed out to Calvin Crest Saturday. Great ride out and back.

We had five chainsaws in action with the Wolfe clan volunteers - a very nice family. I was included to feel like one of the family. This was the first work done on the trail beyond marking. Put in 40 work hrs and knocked out over half the heavy cutting in the cedars. Guessing a little less than half a mile.

For several reasons, this trail will progress more slowly than expected. I think there will be less than 3 miles completed by the end of 08. Hopefully, 09 will have enough mtb trail to make it worth the trip. The trail will be used by campers, hunters, 3D archery, etc. in the mean time.

The rivers are way up. Here is the Platte at hwy 77 around 09:00.

And high water on the Elkhorn at hwy 36 around 18:00.

30 May Manawa Update (Very Wet)

Lake Manawa Trails are super saturated right now to say the least. 2.5 inches of rain last night and early this morning.

Please don't try to ride there for several days. The race promoters are in rescheduling discussions with the Psycowpath Director as I type. Watch the Nebraska Cycling site for news.

One puddle on your way out of the south long section is atleast 15ft wide right now, probably 2 feet deep in the middle of the dip. (Where the black pipe is sitting)

Both sides of the trail where you cross the road are covered with water for 35 feet or more each side. Picture attached doesn't really do it justice.

tp interior climb treadwork

Glad to hear there was a good turnout for the Manawa Trailwork yesterday. I intended to ride out but after a couple hours at Tranquility, decided to continue there and ended up with about 5.5 hrs and 130+ yds of tread widening and about half a dozen nick/grade reversals shored up or installed on the southhill interior climb.

Many were skipping this climb b/c of the ruts/sod clumps in the tread. Though more work could be done, this is worth the effort to climb, especially with Chris widening the tread for the sweeping downhill just before the cement water runoff crossing.

Looking back at the second switchback.



Looking up from the fourth switchback. This is the hard part of the climb where the gearies drop a gear and the ss'rs stand and pass them. 8-)


Rerouted after the fifth and sixth switchbacks for natural grade reversals. This section traverses a larger water route that remains stable b/c of the grass. This section will probably require those who sit and spin to stand b/c entrance and exit ledges were left steep for that purpose.

Found out later that Doug was working on the other side of the hill benching the switchback at the start of the iceplex loop.

Manawa Trail Day Rescheduled

Trail day for Manawa has been moved to tomorrow night, Wednesday.

Due to the recent wind storms, a lot of branches are down. We'll need at least one or two people with chain saws. If you have trimmer, bring it. Loppers and rakes too. Bring your boots. It could be muddy.

Meet at 5:45 at the trail head.

Stay tuned to the blog if weather continues to not cooperate.

Tranquility course update

The entire south side and the majority of the north sections of tranquility have just been freshly mowed and are in good riding condition. Mowing will now continue every 2 to 3 weeks as needed throughout the growing season. There are also a couple slight alterations on the south interior climb that will be installed soon to address channel erosion. No major changes though.

For fun check out the brush fire damage that took place last Sunday afternoon at the top of the big hill above the tennis courts. 2 fires trucks came out to put out the blaze that was probably started by kids. The fire did make its way to the trail in 2 spots but did not cross. Our trail became a fire break.

Have fun riding.
Doug

Volunteers Needed: Manawa

Volunteers are needed to prepare the race course for the 4th Psycowpath Mountain Bike race at Manawa State Park.

When: Tuesday, May 27

Time: Meet in trail head parking lot at 5:45, head out at 6. Plan on a couple hours.

Bring: loppers, rakes, McLouds, shovels.

To Do List: Dickey will be on the tractor mower, so we'll need people to rake up behind him as well as behind those trimming the single track. The utility road straight-away at the start of the long section needs smoothing out. The log pile before you pop out onto the gravel double track needs some attention. Need to cut down any hanging branches or overgrown weeds.

Also, Steve has asked for two people to stay until the end to make sure he doesn't have any trouble with the mower (it's happened before).

Gatorade will be on hand.

Also, this is a good opportunity to come out and renew your membership and get a shirt for $5! Offer ends 5/31!

tranquility race layout

Received an email about the Aug 16 Tranquility Tire Tantrum. A couple guys are training for the race and want to know how many laps. Since Beginner Men are currently taking about 40 minutes to complete one full lap, we decided to cut out a couple climbs to bring the mid-pack lap time down to 30 and have the Beginner Men do 2 laps. Beginner Women, Juniors, and 1st Timers will do 1 lap.

I just finished cutting in a bypass of the iceplex loop.

The right goes down towards the iceplex and the left stays on top of the southhill. We will be moving the 3 mile marker about 50 yds to here to sign the bypass.

The climb after riding along the south side of the creek is also removed. Click here for a map.

Yellow = trail
Red = finish line
Blue = parked cars and race only access
Black = bypasses for Junior/Beginner race

Current thoughts are Sport will race 2 or 3 laps and Expert 4 laps.