A few hooligans gathered their pitchforks and attempted to commit trail improvements this morning at Aliso. Here they are getting battle ready. Here is some of the evidence of their toil Rumor has it there are at least three more of these strange structures installed today, along with some pruning and rut repair. ALways good to get out there immediately after a rain. Thanks to the 10 or so out there today led by our very own Kioti. This was Ranger-approved work. Don't do this without the blessing of the Park People. Be a little cautious on these berms until they become more solid. Even though we moved dirt after a rain, it was still pretty dry when it came to packing it down. More coming!
Good working with the dirt moving hooligans again! The trail is going to be so nice with a little more work. A few more pics... (Add: BTW, trail work is great cross training for mountainbiking, I'm tired and sore in not-the-usual places!) Trail angel Debbie brushing to improve sight lines: Mike filling ruts and shaving brake bumps: A cleaned up berm in the middle section:
All I did was throw and tamp some dirt, cut some branches and take some pictures. Major props go to Kioti for contacting and developing a working relationship with the Aliso Ranger. Also for sending 100 e-mails to round up some people, for bringing the tools, for organizing the work, the release sheets etc. etc. Others involved included Ryan (rynine) and his considerable berm-building skill, Dave (dcrfx), Donnie (Kriller134), Boaz - who lugged a case of Gatorade up the hill - Bryan, Steve, Mike, Ben and two Trail Angels (Wendy? Holly?). Kioti will have to fill in screen names for those I didn't identify. :beer:
It better be easier to climb now. If I don't clear it Im going to have to call Jim and complain myself . Thanks for the work as always
Putting me back to work, huh? Let's see- Wendy and Debbie are the Trail Angels, and Zsolt completes the list. This is a project Chris (herzalot) brought to my attention almost two years ago, and reminded me of after our recent Lynx repairs. I love this trail and it seemed like a perfect place for bermed turns and modern trail design. Ranger Ed and I walked it a couple weeks ago and he gave me permission to take it on. I got together with Ryan (rynine) and Kevin Grant and started organizing the work. Both Ryan and Kevin are passionate about the park, and agreed that this could be a good thing. Our goal-- which we will continue to work toward-- is to narrow the trail's wide, blown-out areas, bank and berm the turns, improve sight lines, and add unobtrusive drainage. This week's rain gave us the chance to get started. We each contacted friends and fellow riders and ended up with 12 plus myself. More people are interested, but had prior obligations. I hope to give them the chance to help out over the next fews weeks, especially if we get more rain. You can also PM me if you'd like to lend a hand. Thanks again to everyone who showed up today. You worked hard and got us off to a great start! With Ranger Ed's continued blessing, we hope to make this one of the best trails in Orange County!
This is fantastic to hear! Thank you all very much for your hard work on one of my favorite backyard trails
Ha! I just rode Meadows today and was wondering who did the trail work. I didn't even think to check STR. It's in great shape guys. Thanks for all of the hard work. Where can I check for future trail work days?
Thank you so much. I normal ride my fully rigid single speed out there and with all the breaking bumps it is not enjoyable anymore. Thanks for the hard work. I guess I need to visit STR more often and pay better attention as I missed this work day.
I live 10 minutes away from Aliso Wood. Kioti...I dunno what to say and I can't say it enough THANK YOU ALL. To every person who helped and worked hard to fix the trails in O.C, You All The Best!!!
Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time out there today. I hope the fences can stay up for longer than they normally do to prevent the cutting of the switchbacks.
Hey Earn your View, Glad you found your answer regarding the trail work. Not sure if you remember but we met Mr. Kioti once on our way towards The Luge, as he shoveled away. I am looking forward to doing trail work so keep me updated.
Holy shmokes - I had the good fortune of riding Meadows today and the "new" turns rode better than I expected! :bang: Good radius, and more solid than I anticipated. I was a smidge cautious as I was "testing the waters" but it was so fun, I was tempted to ride up and do it again at full tilt. Too tired to do so today, so next weekend. There were more turns improved than I thought the crew worked on - must have been Ryan and Jim doing extra credit digging. Speaking of which - who did I run into (not literally) on the way down? Mr. Kioti himself ON HIS BIKE! I've never seen him without a pick or shovel. Beautiful day to ride. I hope everybody had a chance to get out somewhere! :beer:
Thanks for the work everyone. Would've loved to help as Jim(kioti) emailed me about it, but I was still in PHX and driving home after 2 weeks of 757 training classes in PHX late Friday night. It all looks great! Thanks again all.