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First and foremost had a lovely ride there today. Much better than 10 days ago when it was slimey hell.
BUT am I the only one who rides there regularly who thinks the trail is starting to feel trashed in places, not from lack of care by riders but just the ravages of time and volume of riders?
Does anyone know anything about the funding there / who does the maintenance etc.
There must be heaps of riders using these trails and I wondered whether some kind of working party or volunteer maintenance might be appropriate. There seem to be signs of people filling the bigger puddles with logs but not that much else.
Any thoughts?
I reckon they started to feel trashed about 7 or 8 years ago, when people who couldn't ride started to make new lines everywhere.
The forestry used to do some maintenance - eg. They Rerouted the last downhill due to erosion, but never opened it again!
Then Velocity Cycles came along and made the 2 new sections, included those ridiculous "berms" but never maintained it.
So dunno really!
I agree they are in a bit fo a state. I had a meeting with the manager there on Sunday to have a chat about what they are doing/plans for new trails etc.
Basically he said they are spending their budget on the shipwrights way currently and also on an event on 22nd May, which is a Hargroves bike demo event with bells on. He did mention some northshore for this btw..
As to maintenance he said they ride the trail 3x per year to assess it and then decide whether to do repairs. He said people were welcome to join them on that to give their views. They are also looking to re-sign the trails and are trying to find a partner/club, possibly Hargroves to work them on trail improvements/re-routing etc.
All in all he was a nice guy who was willing to listen but obviously he has alot on plate and it not just interested in MTBers. I think we got interupted about 4 times during our chat with various issues, including a deer that had been killed by a dog right by the centre.
If you want more info drop me a mail.
Agree it must be difficult for them to fund and I'm not sure that the geology helps either. I thought the issue with the 'berms' was just me being hopeless though, but maybe I'm not alone.
I wouldn't mind throwing in a day's labour once a year as part of a group overseen by the centre management. I ride there enough to be happy putting something back but whether you could get a big enough group to achieve anything I don't know.
What I find odd is that the second section (the off camber one after the first climb and little bit of fireroad) and the other off-camber flattish bit in the middle (before the berms) seem to have stood up better than most of the rest of it despite being 15 years old. Maybe its that those bits are largely brake free.
Contrasted with the last descent where I can no longer remember where the original re-routed line went (I'm guessing it was the higher line) as there's so many extra bits that have sprung up from people sliding down the hill side.
Useful insight, eranu.
I ride around the area most weekends and it's a real shame about the state of the trails and the attitude of the operators. I and the guys I ride with would be really happy to help out if weak-man power is required. We're on http://kingleyvalemountainbikers.ning.com/ if anyone in the area is interested.
Maybe we can organise something with him then, sounds like people are interested in putting something back.
Ali, I know the website, I was going to PM Scott about the meeting and ask him what he thought.
I'm riding over whiteways on Sunday but maybe next weekend I'll try and come out with you guys and we can have a chat.