As she works from home, Mrs NBT gets out for rides during the week. Over the past couple of rides she has mentioned a few trees that have been brought down by the weight of snow.

Due to illness, family, holidays, work and The Weather, I’ve not ridden as much as normal in the past month so I know that Saturday’s ride would be slower then normal, so I packed my folding saw and made sure I was layered up for the winter weather and off we went. The layers came off very quickly in the unexpected sunshine and we very much enjoyed tyring a couple of new cheeky bits in the bone dry dusty weather. We also cleared a couple of fallen trees

Cracking day out. This is pictorial evidence of me clearing the biggest of the fallen trees

Tree down over trail by Notoriously Bad Typist, on Flickr

Trail blocked by Notoriously Bad Typist, on Flickr

Hard at work by Notoriously Bad Typist, on Flickr

Making a difference by Notoriously Bad Typist, on Flickr

Random rider by Notoriously Bad Typist, on Flickr

Looking good by Notoriously Bad Typist, on Flickr

ALL CLEAR! by Notoriously Bad Typist, on Flickr

Yup, working on preventing continued water erosion on a patch near me that made my preferred line uncleanable, and some drainage issues. Also prone to havinga go at brambles etc too.

Been doing it for years, be nice if everybody had a go instead of just moaning about them.

Whilst out rambling I tend to kick out the edges of puddles on bridleways (but not footpaths, sod ramblers) much to my wife’s embarrassment.

I try and do at least one ride a month earmarked for trail wrangling.

Yup, me too.
Got fed up of slogging through a bog on one of my local trails so contacted the land owner to see if they would mind if I did a bit of work.
So far I’ve done a whole load of ditches & recycled aggregate. Still a load more to do though.

Yup mainly removing debris. Folding saws are ace.

I usually have a folding saw with me to clear branches etc. and often go out on foot to do bigger stuff. I seem to enjoy it almost as much as riding.

We’ve cleared fallen trees in our woods too
Cautionary word though!!! Having worked in forestry can I add please please be very careful when clearing storm fallen trees including the size of tree above, as they have fallen and have laid with the branches in tension and can result in branches being released with tremendous force when being cut, also the tree can be released and roll back on top of you. But good effort tho that has opened up that trail nicely!!!!

Yes,i remove fallen trees on some local trails,and pick up rubbish.Try to keep them fun and rideable,but as natural as i can

Carry a pair of secatuers in my rucksack for cutting back overhanging brambles and small branches, also bin bags in back of van for clearing up recyclable waste at off the beaten track car parks.

Go for a ride come back and pick up bottles and cans, depostit them in a recycling bank asa thankyou for a nice ride, put something back int the countryside every little helps.

There’s this weird one on a local loop near me – some biggish lumps of rock keep appearing in a little descent down to a stream crossing miles from anywhere. They seem to have been deliberately placed to slow down riders, and judging by the number of pedal strike marks on them, it works a treat. Occasionally I shift one of them off to the side, then the next time I ride it, they’ve inevitably reappeared back again.

So next time, if I’m not in a hurry, I’ll pop it somewhere else to see how vigilant they are!

Yup – put in a bit of effort through AMBTA
Lots of like minded folk who do bits round the county

Costs so little to have a folding saw yet its surprising just
How positive a difference it can make

Always good to get the landowners nod tho
Saves any hassle at a later date

I know Stumpy does and talks of great satisfaction
Not much to be done in nearby Epping apart
from removing criss cross logs or branches
conveniently placed to send you arss over tip

Almost never. If its natural blockage I use that as an excuse to ride round, but if thats not possible or better I have dragged stuff off the trail, or built up a ramp to jump the fallen log/tree.

If its un-natural, like barbed wire or rubbish Ive moved it.

There’s a trail near me where snow had brought down trees across the path. Its on a way marked path but there was no sign the powers that be would be doing anything about it. I contacted the land owners either side to see if they had any issues with me clearing it. They were delighted I had volunteered. I carried my chainsaw down and reopened the trail. Sadly access was too bad to retrieve the wood. 🙁

I don’t go out riding with intention of finding trail-blockages to fix them but would defo shift something that was blocking the trail.

Good work there btw.

Yep, plenty of titivation here, started with tweaks on bridle ways and has graduated to ‘augmenting’ all sorts, even to the point of creating the odd trail or two. I’m not a big fan of built stuff though, so most of my interventions are related to vegetation clearance, ‘lifting’ the canopy on badger trails so that they’re rideable, bench cutting on a minor scale on tricky erosion prone muddy slopes, and drainage improvements wherever possible.

I do enjoy it quite a lot too, and I hope those that I ride with would agree its improved the choices of trails in our area.

The Bible.

yer now and again.

took a saw out with me and cut up a fallen tree. was to big to push and has been in the way for a while

+1 for folding saw’s

Less resulting sticks for stickman to block the trails with afterwards.

Speeking of which, He’s moved to North Kent, must have bunnyhopped hundreds of **** sticks on Sunday! Wish I’d had my pocketboy, brilliant on a cold day for keeping warm, not so much the cutting up sticks, but at the thought of stickman being faced with a neat pile of sawdust and tyre tracks through the remains of his hard work.

Can I mention doing the best job for the remaining tree, cutting with regard to the branch collar…

http://treecarepruningandplanting.com/branch-collar.htm

I do local stuff- no guarantee anyone else will once you’re off the mapped paths. Drains and branches and fallen trees mainly, and general encroachment. And we dig at Glentress when we can though there’s less sessions than there used to be.

If I know there’s something down I’ve got a very cheap but surprisingly good pruning saw that fits nicely into the camelbak, much better than my folder. Broke my hand chainsaw 🙁 I liked it partly because passers by always wanted a go. The 36-inch bahco is harder to transport by bike Oh and these, which I think of as a pocket mattock, are surprisingly handy for recutting drains, deberming etc. Might take the pick end off it for packability…

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Tech-500g-Mattock-Fibreglass-Handle/dp/B007J762G8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1365454504&sr=8-5&keywords=mattock

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCOPuGBg_W0[/video]

😉

but yeah, i do. Even on a walk I’ll clear a drainage channel. Carrying Mini Pook last week, mrs pook wasn’t too happy about me dredging a culvert.

Folding saw in my bag and roofing hammer here plus a rake for subtle trail work.

Thanks slowoldgit for the tip.

I do enjoy it quite a lot too, and I hope those that I ride with would agree its improved the choices of trails in our area.

Damn right we do sir, it would be seriously lacking in quality without a bit of pixie work