and the Great Southern Trail begins

Well, I finally got of my arse and have been doing some lantana clearing and reconnoitring for the next trail section.  Like it's northern cousin, it too starts near the shed where the bikes are stored, but then heads south.  We have been in a couple times clearing through a particularly thick bit on lantana in order to scout the land to enable the best use of the land as well as to make a sustainable trail

Cleared line for the trail though the forest, looking North

After several working bees clearing lantana, we now have a cleared line suitable for the trail to start, it doesn't look like much, yet

same trail, looking South

but we have to start somewhere.  One of the benefits of pushing the trail into new areas infested with lantana is that it breaks the seamless patch of lantana up into more manageable parcels.

One of our goals is to have our small 45 Acre block one day lantana free, building trails to allow access is a side benefit of the riding experience.  Of course that doesn't negate that it's very physically demanding work to clear ! especially as we are eschewing poison simply in favour of pulling it out.

and so we continue...

Social Ride done and dusted.

About thirty riders turned up for the ride.

Everyone !

Thanks to everyone that did come out, it was heaps of fun.

Here are a few sample pics

Geeze Dave, you're scaring me !

Juniors showing us how it's done !

S-moothhhhh !

Love the smile Lara !

and plenty more photos here

benchin' and buildin'

Toni was mountain bike racing on Sunday at the track at Grafton, I was dobbed in as the event photographer

Toni racing at Bom Bom Forest

She did well, coming first in her category.

and now back to our regular programming
I managed to get back up to the track while Toni was at work the other day and get some more benching done

More benching done

and I managed to drag her out to help me build our final obstacle on the new trail.  There was a large tree that had fallen, the "Y" where a large branch came off the trunk presenting an opportunity to fill with logs and provide a platform to drop off the downhill side.  We needed to build a ramp on the other side. The logs to be used for the stringers had been curing for some time

Logs curing

We roughed in where we wanted them, then dug the footings

Ramp footing

These are set on rock and kept in place by rocks, to minimise contact with the soil and help stave off the stringers rotting.

Final alignment check

Then a final alignment check before we chainsaw and chisel the notch for the other ends to sit in

Chisel work

Toni finishing off the notches after I had used the chainsaw to rough them in.

Ready to attach the decking

Then sit the logs in the notch, countersink a hole about 1/2 way through the stringer, screw in some 100mm batten screws to hold them in place.  Attach the top and bottom decking planks, attach the string line to keep one side even and screw down all the decking.  We managed to source a supply of recycled hardwood tongue and groove flooring, so we use that for the decking.  We discussed using a couple widths, from 300mm through to 600mm and settled on 400mm as a good compromised between too narrow and too easy, we think it's a nice width to use for the decking for this ramp.

straightening the outer edge

Decking is all laid, then use a chalk line to mark the other edge, and trim up with a battery operated circular saw.... and voila

Looking from the approach side

the ramp is finished, the middle of the "Y" has been filled with logs to provide the platform

Looking up

Looking up the track.  The proof of course, will be in the riding !

The ascending line and the "B" line for the descent, off to the left.

"B" line

where a piece of the tree was cut out to allow riders through.

"Leg Bone" milestone

Track is 100% rideable, completed on Tuesday.  woot ! Joined up at the new trail hub at the top near the fire-road.

Still a couple jobs to do finish it off, most of the hard yakka is in the bit of benching that needs to be done, about 150m or so of trail left to bench that is rideable but should be benched to make it a little less "tricky".  The worst bits have been done.

Newly benched trail on Leg Bone !

We will attack this over the coming weeks, hopefully getting it finished by the time the social ride comes about on 29 May.  We were supposed to test ride it this morning but we had 50mm of rain last night that drenched things thoroughly but assuming no rain tonight, we will be able to ride it tomorrow !

The track should be great, it's more technical and a little more difficult then the easier trails we've built so far.  The idea of the first trail to the top was to make it easy to get there, this makes it FUN to get back down.  Lots of gravity drops, swooping turns with more features to come as we finish them, like the log drop off that's awaiting the curing of the stringers before construction (ride the "B" line in the interim)

more trail work

Saturday and Monday saw me doing a couple of big working bee's on the new trail.  I have marked it out totally, roughed it in totally and done most of the construction .  About 150m of trail work is needed to finish it and then a few jobs that need two people, mainly some benching for about 100m or so (in total) where I will need Toni's help.

I hope to have it 100% rideable and 95% finished tomorrow !

One of the areas that needs benching

Sweet little drop off and into the creek, tricky to climb

Small rock garden cum creek crossing partly constructed

What it looks like before I get stuck in !

The plan is to ride it tomorrow to see if any areas need "tweaking" or re-aligning slightly, one of the areas I have a concern with is this hair-pin corner

Right Angled corner around a huge Spotted Gum

I deliberately made sure the trail went up from both sides to get to the turn, to slow the riders down as it is a a right angled turn.  To realign the downhill side I would need to come out to make the angle of the turn less acute but to do that I will need to remove two small trees, something I am reluctant to do unless absolutely necessary.

Another area that might need some more work is this gravity drop "A" line for the descent, you would not bother trying to climb this as it;s way to steep in the other direction !

Gravity Drop on the "A" line

The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, well, riding in this case, on these two and a couple other areas that might be a concern,  I will report back after tomorrows ride !

Roughed out trail

One of the advantages of most of the terrain I am working with is that I can rough it out and then ride it later, just to double check.  Like in the picture below, I can ride though for the ultimate test before committing to this exact line.  I often find I tweak the line a little, someone I could never do on some other projects I have worked on as the terrain is way to rough and the trail basically  stays where it is, regardless

Roughed out trail

The blue flagging tape on the trees is  used to mark the corridor prior to roughing it, it's at that stage I use the clino etc to make sure the grades are acceptable.  I collect the tape for recycling after the project is finished,  it's plastic so it only photo-degrades (UV breaks it down) and ends up as microscopic pieces of plastic in the environment, eaten by smaller animals ending up in the food chain, or washed down waterways when it rains to end up in the rivers and eventually the Ocean becoming plastic soup !.  The other option of course is to use biodegradable tape and just leave it there but anyone using flagging tape, for the sake of the environment, please collect it,  pontification over with !

"Leg Bone" continues

The last couple days have seen work progressing nicely.  Toni came out and helped one afternoon to add some of her muscle to a couple bigger jobs.

The trails now marked out to the top, the only small compromise is moving the trail head back down the track a little, meaning thigh bone has already started :)  This allowed us to incorporate some nifty trail features as well as ensure the climb was not to steep but will make the descent a "hoot" of a ride !  We had always planned something interesting as the easy climbing track, "ankle bone" has been built.

Large Log Obstacle
This wonderful fallen tree provided an excellent opportunity for something a little different, an A line over a "Y" in the log, with a drop off on the back side as you descend.  We cut a narrow gap to slow down those that choose the "B" line for the descent, this is also the line you have to take when climbing.  The "Y" in the log will be filled will loose logs from another coppiced tree (only 1/2 full presently) , leaving the logs "loose" under the wheels should add a degree of interest to the trail feature !  Pics are worth a 1000 words, so hear's a few thousand.

Chainsaw cut for the "B" line through a 3ft thick log !

"A" line of the same log, looking up, with a drop off  on the
down side !

Same log from above, "A" line (left), "B" line, right

Logs curing, after debarking, in preparation for use as
stringers on the up-ramp over the log

Once again we have coppiced logs beside the trail for use in construction, in my opinion, the most environmentally sustainable method of construction, knowing the provenance of the materials !

Half Bench
Here the trail threads between a large spotted gum and a large string bark, the down hill side is right near a 10m near vertical drop into a creek.  The large spotted gum was providing stabilisation but needed a little help to make the track a little "safer" and more sustainable.  We built a rock wall and filled it with cut material from the benched track a little further up the trail.

Through the trees, before

Through the tree, after

Rocks providing stabilisation for the fill.

Benched Trail
We also spent a fair bit of time benching the track where it was needed, the side slope is not particularly steep, so not a lot of cutting is needed, that combined with the softer, loamy, ground made for quick excavation.  Having done a lot of trail work in Townsville on the Douglas trails where the ground is rocky and the soil as hard as rock, this is about 10x as fast ! Sweeeeettttt...

Benched track through the rain forest on "Leg Bone".

Interesting Obstacles
Gravity Drop
There's a nifty Gravity Drop, as an A line (descending only), to come, I have roughed this out and it's rideable, if you're careful but really needs a little benching as there is a small off camber section that is a bit "tricky".


Overlocker Corner
This has two sets of two large trees to thread the needle through, thus "Overlocker".   Sewing aficionados will know why we called it "Overlocker Corner"

Top of the corner, first set of trees
to "thread" between

Half way through the corner, the second set of tress
to "thread" between

Then cross a log as you exit the corner

Soil ramps (large rocks buried) over a log
after "overlocker" corner.

I would estimate we are about 50% of the way through the trail so far.  I hope to have it finished by the time of the social ride, on the 29th May.

Rescheduled social ride - 29 May !

The promised Nymboida MTB Social ride is on again.  The inaugural ride last year went down well, so we decided to repeat the ride again this year (original date in April was cancelled due to rain !.  Keep an eye on this site for updates, in case (heaven forbid !) we need to cancel the ride again due to inclement weather !

What : A social Cross Country mountain bike ride near Nymboida, single track and firetrail

When: Sunday 29 Mayl, 9:00am

Where: 41 Martin Rd, Nymboida

How to get there <--- (clickable link to map)

All skill levels and riders welcome.

Well maintained bike, with a helmet, spare tube and drinking water is a must

See you all there !