The resort is set to open up for lift serve mountain biking on May 25th.  Singletrack Trails has a tight time table to get this work done after finishing up maintenance at the Fruita Bike Park and the PBR Trail at 18Rd.  Our first focus was getting the trails in shape after a “winter” of snow.  The crew dressed up the berms and jumps on most of the trails and added working drainage features to help the trails last a little longer by getting the water off of the trail as much as possible.  We are now working to create some newness to existing jumps and berms.  Given our curvi-linear layout of trails, it can be expected that most of the jumps we build will not be straight and require some sort of hip or pocket berm to get through it.

Formerly a straight jump that now has pocket berm as a lander

This was a skidder route around a drop. Now there is fun.

Another view of the new section.

Here are a couple slide shows from the work over the last couple of weeks.

You can still help build more trails be constructed in Fruita by donating to Fruita Singletrack.

Here is a slideshow of the completed work.  Look for a video in the next couple of days.

The Fruita Singletrack folks and COPMOBA are still trying to fundraise to complete more trails that are in the approval process for construction.  In addition to the fundraising the BLM is utilizing youth corps funding to have the Western Colorado Conservation Corps out constructing Zip Off.

Here are some photos of the work this week.

Here are the photos:

James shapes a berm.

Aaron builds up a berm.

The rock helps to keep the moon dust in place.

Dirt ribbon.

Clouds of moisture tease us.

Left, Right, Up, Down...never straight.

In the Juniper Trees.

Last summer, Singletrack Trails flagged several different routes for COPMOBA and the City of Fruita in the 18Rd area. Over the winter the Grand Junction BLM completed the EA process to approve three of the routes for construction this spring.

The first priority is the Pumptrack Trail. This trail will start near Chutes’n'Ladders and end back near the trailhead. It will consist of pumps, berms, and rollers or PBR. Pumptrack Trail will be laid out in a fashion to be enjoyed by everyone. Ridden slowly, PBR can provide large grins of joy with the tires on the ground. Need some air? PBR can provide plenty of gravity induced endorphins if a rider is willing to do some hard pedaling to gain and maintain speed.

Needless to say, those familiar with the riding in Fruita know the smile factor that the trails can induce. Plenty of people can be found complaining about sore facial muscles after a day of riding in the spring. Pumptrack Trail will only add more to the smile factor.

Want to see all three trails built? Want to complete your ride down Joe’s Ridge with a bigger version of Kessel Run? Do you think there should be a singletrack connection from Western Zippity back to the trailhead? Help COPMOBA raise the money to get this done. Every $5 you contribute builds a new foot of trail. Really? $5? For a foot of trail? What a great deal! You and 9 other friends can make sure another 100ft of pure lusciousness is built on the ground this spring. Help get it done now, to make sure there are three more trails for you to ride on you next visit to Fruita from the dark, gray, wintery climes East of the Mississippi and beyond.

Be sure to check out the Fruita Singletrack site for more information on how to help out during the project.

You can ensure that there is enough PBR for everyone.  Donate here.

The funding for this project was mostly acquired by the National Forest’s Supervisor’s Office through money from the Recreational Trails Program in Georgia.  The second part of the funding was contributed by Georgia Forest Watch.

60% trail grade in the Wilderness

The logistics of this project were massive.  We had three teams of two out each day.  One person operated a Trimble GeoExplorer GPS unit to get sub-meter accuracy data for signage and structures.  The hills and foliage proved to be too much to get good data for the trail alignment.  The second team member was in charge of notes, photos, and a consumer level GPS unit.  Each night of the project included a significant data dump from cameras and GPSes.

We did get to see some bad trail.  But what we say a lot of on this project was road that was called trail.  We walked a “trail” in a roadless area that was 18 feet wide and surfaced with gravel.  There was also a lot of 8′ wide trail with vehicle gates at both ends of the trails.

Then there was the other end of the spectrum.  One day was spent hiking 9 miles of “trail” that consisted of painted blazes every 100′ or so and no discernible trail trail to speak.  This trail also included too much continuous grade at 60%+.  I had a light pack on for just the day.  I could not imagine doing this with a multi-day pack on my back.

The one main conclusion from this project for Singletrack Trails is that more of these large scale assessment projects need to take place.  Too many staff members at FS Ranger Districts and BLM Field Offices are required to spend their time on non-recreation management.  It is clear that trail management is reactive and not proactive.  The results of this trail assessment in North Georgia with give the four ranger districts a clear concept of work that needs to be done in the coming years and will help focus volunteer and contractor efforts where appropriate.

During the month of February, we assisted Applied Trails Research in Georgia on a 200+ mile trail assessment on the entire Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.  This was a very intense project that included a total of five other trail construction companies.  We will have post up to recap the project soon.

After the Georgia project, we attended the Professional Trailbuilders Association member’s meeting in Albuquerque, NM.  It was great to see member’s from across the country in one location.  Singletrack Trails and Applied Trails Research to present a learning session on the benefits of GIS and GPS in trailbuilding and planning.

Next on tap is some overall website modifications and marketing campaign.  This winter saw the death of the email newsletter that never seemed to get out on time or have a diverse amount of information.  However, Singletrack Trails recommends you use a feed reader such as Google Reader and follow this link.

In addition to project updates, this blow will start to offer more tutorials on how to use trail tools, tool reviews, and GPS technology.