MCMBA: Milford

[Todd Scott]

Post trail conditions and problem reports for the trails at Milford/Hubbell Pond Park.

[rockymtn]

I rode the new trail at Milford today. Gonna be sweet! The layout of the trail shows real promise with lots of short steep climbs and twisty off camber sections with a few flow-ey downhills that will be fun once it is buff. It is only listed at 4 miles but we got close to 5 miles in by exploring the 2-track. The existing 2-track is a lot of fun and worth checking out. Fast but not rutted out, enjoy.

The trail is still a diamond in the rough as it needs the small sticks raked off the tread to save equipment and mark the trail and just as importantly it needs riders to pack down the tread and make it fast.

I plan to get out there in the next few weeks to do some raking that will better mark the trail and make it more enjoyable. Bill, let us know when you plan your next trail day as you are doing great work.

[SecondSkin]

Rode as much of the trail as I could find today. Its all dry, of course, but needs a bit of clean-up and alot more riders. The trail certainly has potential, moreso than Commerce/Hickory Glen for instance, as it has more interesting terrain -- some short steep climbs and lots of low-speed manuevering. Also, there are some scenic views off the two-track. Once this trail is completed, and gets ridden a bit more, it should be a fairly good trail.

edit: its not easy to find the singletrack. Look for the orange flags off of the 2-track.

[DCat]

I found this trail the other day, and agree, its going to be a nice little addition to the Milford area...looks to be a very well thought out layout that should wear well, ala highland. Please add me to the list of those willing to pitch in for the next trail day-it definately needs a good raking and a lot of riding. Lot of garbage out there too-anyone else see the split in half engine block?! Question; has the Y made any issue with parking/riding from their lot vs the baseball fields? I think its easier to get to from there, but could see that they would whine if a bunch of nutty mtn bikers were hanging in their lot..

Dan
d.caterina@comcast.net

[WICCMB]

Question; has the Y made any issue with parking/riding from their lot vs the baseball fields? I think its easier to get to from there, but could see that they would whine if a bunch of nutty mtn bikers were hanging in their lot..

Why yes, unfortunately they have. The trailhead was originally going to be at the Y, but they balked apparently due to potential "liability" issues.

[bender]

I found the ball diamonds here on this map, where is the trailhead? Also what direction do you go to find the single track? This is about 1 mile from my riding partner's house so it would be a close trail to ride for us.

[slownfat]

gotta keep your eyes peeled. enter from the southern corner of the ball diamonds and look for a wider trail, almost a service trail. you'll be going east for a minute or 2, then you'll see some red/orange flags in trees. the new trail winds east towards the golf course fence and behind the Y. kinda snakes around back there then meets the main service trail again.

if you get off the new trail, there's plenty of others to keep you occupied for a while. one will take you back to the *beep*. some others are short and real steep heading north towards the backside of the Y.

new trail has lots of camber and potential to be a real stinker!! i found it pretty fun - just needs to be ridden more.

[srruch]

Bill has been hard at work the last couple of weeks, several new sections have been added. I rode it last night and it is getting better and longer. The new sections are tricky and soft. The markings are getting better, you just have to pay attention. That's not a bad thing either since this trail is tight and twisty.

I even found Bill's mower last night!

[Farmer_John]

I got the grand tour from Bill this morning. We looked at some stuff, walked some others and rode pretty much everything he has cut so far.

The guy needs some more help out there. The trail is pretty much to the point where it's going to be until they lay out the paved path conector (To Kensington/ILRA!). He's not going know for sure where to take the tread until then.

I suggested linking the sections that he has cut now with sections of the hiking path/pipe line. Then working on the benchcutting that needs to be done to finish the sections he has cut.

This is going to be a really nice and challenging trail within a half hour ride up from ILRA and a stones throw to Highland.

Speaking for Bill, he would certainly appreciate the assistance. He's put a lot of work into it already, let's help him realize his vision.

[98HooKooFreeRider]

like I said in the the general forum, I'd be MORE than willing to help pitch in some hours out there. It's 1.5 miles from my house, so I really don't have any excuse not to help now that I found out about it

-matt

[rockymtn]

Rode the trail tonight for the 2nd time. It has been 6 weeks since my first visit and I was amazed at the progress you have made. U R sooo close to finishing the loop. This will be such a gem for Milford. It is like Commerce with lots of short steep hills. Way to use the elevation

Nice work to everyone involved.

[Builder-Bill]

Glad you like it. We have been calling it the E loop of Highland. Did you find the new trail head on the North side of the 1st parking lot. I just cut it In today, real fresh stuff.

[Loren]

How fast does this trail dry? I was considering this, but I still had standing water in the street in Novi, so I figured the trails would be too wet and did Kensington laps instead.

[rockymtn]

Bill, yes I found the new trailhead at the end of my ride. Needless to say it was soft but will be fun when it gets ridden in.

Loren, the trail was in pretty good shape for two reasons.
1. almost all of it is cut into the side of hills
2. it is still new so the trail has not been packed down and thus water perks pretty fast. This could change as it gets ridden in.

[bones]

Whoa, that wasn't what I was expecting. Went out there last night 11/29 (last warm day of 2006 ... 65 degrees) with a buddy and did a night lap on a 34x15 SS. My lower back is still hurting this morning. Having never ridden the trail before, the combination of doing it at night with a big SS gearing, twisty, off-camber, roots, short and steep hills and super-duper spongey conditions made it quite a workout. So you can ride all 4 loops at highland on a big SS gear? Now try this one when the ground is sucking your wheels and you're trying to turn over the pedals from a near standstill while negotiating an off-camber uphill turn on a bunch of little roots. Fun!