Trail mainenace - any ideas?

john.bell@riotinto.com

Help!

Our local trails are fast becoming totally unrideable. Our local forest is full of steep downhill sections, technical rooty and rocky sections with the occasional large bomb-hole. All-in-all a total blast.

But here's the problem - we're killing them. They're just too good not tear them up, and the winter weather isn't helping. I know the sensible thing is probably just to leave them alone (which we could do as no-one else rides here at all, just my brother and I) but we can't stand the thought of not getting our weekly blast.

Ideally we'd like to carry out some maintenance, but we can't get access to the forest with a trailer full of the necessary stuff. Equally we don't want to approach the forestry commission as they have a record of banning bikes.

So, has anyone got any good ideas to allow patching of overly muddy sections where you can source the 'building' materials directly from within the forest (so we don't revert to a trailer full of hard fill)?

Any ideas greatly welcomed...

JB

sniper68

john.bell@riotinto.com wrote:

Help!

Ideally we'd like to carry out some maintenance, but we can't get access to the forest with a trailer full of the necessary stuff. Equally we don't want to approach the forestry commission as they have a record of banning bikes.

JB

Firstly you can't just "repair" trails without the landowners permission.It's a bit like Tarmacing your neighbours drive.
Secondly why would the FC ban riding...unless you're riding illegally/without permission?

john.bell@riotinto.com

Maybe I'm just being paranoid...

The FC here in Northern Ireland don't have a stance on mountain biking either way - they don't ban it, they don't welcome it. It's a bit weird - it's almost like there's an unwritten rule that they sort of just turn a blind eye.

A forest in the local area used to host part of the national DH championships, but the FC have now banned riding, so I'm reluctant to mention it to them in case they take the same approach with us.

So on the basis that they won't proactively help us, and equally won't stop us if we're not causing any problems (which 2 of us won't), then quietly fixing the trail shouldn't be a problem.

I'm thinking about a clever mixture of pine needles, rotten trees and anything else we can find that's naturally available in the forest.

Has anyone done anything similar?

JB

piker

The problem with using anything from the forest is it will rot and break down into the soil/mud,what you need is to armour the trails and that is usually done with stone well compacted.
I know that doesnt help,but i know where your coming from.We have a similar spot near us and it is a nightmare in very wet weather.

stumpyjon

I echo the comments above about it being someone else's land.

The only way you will reapir it properly is to put in a base armour layer and then top it off with a surface of material which will bind it together such as crushed limestone. I'm guessing that's not an option for a number of reasons.

The best you can do is clear any loose or liquid mud from the surface and makesure any hollow sections are drained so the water doesn't sit there and turn the ground to mush. Failing that you'll just have to keep off till it dries out.

Northwind

NI FC are a bit of a nightmare though. And if it's public FC land, well, it's not someone else's land it's ours. Obviously it's not as simple as all that but if you're not harming the forestry, you're not spoiling it for others and you're not otherwise causing a problem then I'd keep my head down if I was you.

So, what can you do? Well 1 obviously rest the trails, you know this already. Maybe cut a drier alternative line if you must keep riding to spread the load and rest your current lines but really you should just avoid it when it's wet.

2, drainage... Don't build in a sump, drain off every puddle and low spot, stop water running down the trail... It's not brain surgery this but most diy builders screw it up. Water wants to go down, don't stop it. Don't dig in sumps either, build on high points. Dig ditches and run-offs. I don't build at all on the local DH trails, they're not my trails so it'd be cheeky but I've spent hours deberming, knocking out drains and releasing puddles and it can make a huge difference.

Realistically surfacing might not work, it's a lot of effort... Don't muck about with anything organic, pine needles or rotten trees are basically halfway to being mud anyway, waste of time at best, at worst they hold moisture. Unstable too.

The solution is, dirt. But this is hard work. The organic crap on the surface makes for very sloppy slippy mud but further down you'll find mineral soil, which is the good stuff- it's dry and generally is lighter coloured. Now you can get to it 2 ways... Dig a borrow pit, which just means mining for dirt. Clear off an area, dig dig. Downside is, this leaves a great big ole and is hard work.

Other way is to dig your trails deeper- scrape off the organic crap, the good stuff will be underneath. But this leaves you a sunken trail which takes you back to drainage.

Chrisdawg

Lets get the facts correct here, the Forestry Commission have no land and no regulatory power in NI. It is all managed by the Forest Service of Northern Ireland two entirely separate bodies.

Maybe if you approached them with a structured plan with the trails run and maintained by a club with all the necessary insurances in place, they may be more inclined to listen. Lets face it they cant just turn a blind eye to things that take place on their land, they have duties as land owners.

Anonymous

ibbo68 wrote:

Firstly you can't just "repair" trails without the landowners permission

+1

and let's just stress it again...

you can't just "repair" trails without the landowners permission !!!


Another point I'd make is these are working forests. Start armouring trails and it becomes a problem for the FC when they need to do logging as they will run forest equipment straight through the trails.

Also cyclists have no access rights except where there are bridleways (few of those in FC land, fireroads are not public access bridleways). We are there because we are tolerated.

If you want maintained trails in FC land, you need to speak with the owner about allocating an area of land specific to mountain bikers. Basically creating a trail centre. That requires much investment as they will want it done properly, safely, provide facilities, signs, and then they'll be concerned about risks and insurance costs. This isn't something you and I can do, this is where a big organisation has to get involved, get grants and needs a sympathetic FC that has some spare land they are not using, or where they can see they'll get decent income (so will need a chargeable car park and cafe/shop and money from investors/grants).

Personally I'd say if the trails are being churned up in the winter, don't ride them. Be responsible and allow the trails to recover until spring/summer and ride somewhere more durable. We are all responsible for the condition of the trails. That includes not creating new lines at the sides to avoid muddy patches which just makes a complete mess of the trail.

Northwind

Chrisdawg wrote:

Lets get the facts correct here, the Forestry Commission have no land and no regulatory power in NI. It is all managed by the Forest Service of Northern Ireland two entirely separate bodies.

Ah, I stand corrected.