Bristol trail days re-starting this Saturday

Antony_de_H

Afterr a break of a couple of months, dig days are re-starting in Bristol, kicking off with a repair and rebuild session on the trail in 50 Acre Wood this Saturday.

If you hevn't been out before, basically what we do is repair damage to the trails and rebuild them so that they're more fun to ride. For this session we'll be focusing on a section that is pretty much one giant hole after another, with the aim of restoring the flow and armouring the surface, so it holds up better in the sort of wet weather we've been having a lot of lately.

We'll have tools for people to use (including a power barrow to get the stone up the hill), experienced trail builders on hand to give you guidance, and if helping to improve your local loop isn't enough of an incentive we'll also ply you with cake.

For mroe details check out http://www.bristoltrailsgroup.com/

See you there!

Antony_de_H

Everything's set for tomorrow, and World Cup course designer Phil Saxena should also be coming along to lend a hand!

Northwind

Sounds awesome, hope it all goes well on the day! Nothing quite like riding a trail you just helped build/rebuild (well, except for that "Is that IT?" feeling when your 6 hours of work turns out to take 5 seconds to ride... But then you just realise even more how important the work is)

BurtonM

i really wish i lived near bristol. in newcastle theres nothing like that

llamafarmer

I'll see you tomorrow Anthony, I'm going to try and combine this with a ride before/afterwards. Hope we get a good turn out and I'll look forward to the cake!

Antony_de_H

Cheers chaps, I was beginning to feel like I was talking to myself!

Northwind, completely know what you mean! You're involved with the Glentress Trail Fairies aren't you? I rode the new volunteer-built sections last year and was imagining the work that went into them, it must have been 6 months' worth at least. As you say though, all worth it in the end.

BurtonM, shame there's nothing near Newcastle but I guess you have decent natural stuff to ride? If you want a purpose built MTB trail, your best bet is to find some suitable land managed by the Forestry Commission or your local council (preferably somewhere that people already ride) and ask whether you can build something.

Northwind

I didn't build any of those Just started recently. But yep, from what I gather they were absolute epics, especially since one of them's more or less in a swamp.

BurtonM

we have hamsterly forest. but its all built and maintained by specialist trail builders i think. so is kielder.
what i meant to say is that there is no like "get all the locals together and build trails and repiar trails days"

Antony_de_H

there is no like "get all the locals together and build trails and repiar trails days"

Ah, right. Well, does it need it? If the trails are in poor nick or the general opinion is that they could be better, you could set up a local volunteer group, or joining in with an existing one - are Hamsterley Trailblazers still going?

It's a lot of hard work and although we enjoy doing it, I wouldn't complain if someone else took the responsibility!