Western: Cannonsburg SGA

[rmidd]

Yes, it was in great shape. Bike worked well too. Now for the rider....well I made it and had fun but I'm not ready to be timed.

[dh1]

where can I access the connector to 5mile and is it possible to include it in the trail ride at sga?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%2F%2Ftrail.motionbased.com%2Ftrail%2Fkml%2Fepisode.kml%3FepisodePkValues%3D579728&ie=UTF8&ll=43.037278,-85.495005&spn=0.015809,0.038624&z=15



I don't know if the link will work or not, but if you are on the first section of trail, there is a long straight section that heads straight north. Where the trail makes a sharp right turn, if you continue straight, you will have a short jaunt to 5 mile. From there you can ride on the roads around to the Ski area.

You can easily include the beginning of the SGA, road ride up the the Ski area, ride the loop there, then return to finish the loop at the SGA.

[Bigtymer]

nice! Thanks bro.

[cramer]

Trail work day this weekend, Saturday April 18th, 9 AM, meet in the main parking lot. No experience necessary, just come on out and help out if you can. Bring water and work gloves, other tools will be provided. Not sure yet if lunch will be provided or not but it usually is, I'll check with the TC and update this post when I know for sure. Work to be decided based on turn out.

[killercarbon98]

Food will be included on the trail day. What is TBD based on turn out.
If anyone can help, please RSVP private to me so I can plan ahead.

Thanks all.

CC

[yukonjack]

I'm a little concerned about the rock garden being built in the 3rd section. This trail is used often by novice bikers on department store bikes. These rookies should also be considered. CSA has always been kind of a launch pad into the sport of mountain biking. Although I have no problem riding it, many will fall either onto the rocks below or onto the rocks stacked on either side of this now narrow section.I wonder how long the DNR will continue us access if we build a trail beyond the skill of some of our riders. This addition appears to be out of line with the rest of the trail. Is there now movement to a trail more like the skills area at the ski hill?

[printenv]

Is that a rock garden or a meant to have people riding higher up?

[cramer]

Is that a rock garden or a meant to have people riding higher up?

It's actually neither but depending on when you saw it, that could explain things a little. Initially, the rocks were piled up in one area as a temporary storage for them until the work could be done with them later, at that point, they were not intended to be ridden. Then, last weekend some dedicated folks put a lot of sweat and effort into using them to create a new path with natural stone armoring and the old path was closed off so at that point, yes it was intended to be ridden. It's supposed to be an armored section though, not a rock garden. Right now, I would agree that it feels more like a rock garden than an armored path.

Regarding the question of making the trail more difficult, I think that is a valid concern. The section that it replaced I don't think was any easier to ride and was probably actually more difficult as there was a lot of erosion and substantial roots and small drop offs. However, it always hurts more to land on rocks so I agree, this could be more dangerous right now to a beginner. It's really tough for trail workers to walk this fine line I might add. If that route was made too easy, we would get a stream of complaints about "dumbing down" the trail but if it's too hard, it could become dangerous. Our access is not an issue as all of this was approved by the DNR prior to the work.

That being said, I've spoken with the TC for the game area and he and I came to the same conclusion that you did that this is not acceptable the way it is now. The project is still a "go" but it needs to be made smoother, the rocks need to be more secure so they are not bouncing around as you ride it and the "flow" could improve a bit too. As a result, he is planning on closing off the new rock route temporarily until these changes can be made. I can understand the wish to open up a new line after putting many hours into working on it but in this case, I think it was a bit premature and more work needs to be done to realize the original vision, which is an armored section. Hats off to the workers though for putting in so much work in order to try to keep from dumbing down the trail. It would have been much easier for everyone to just re-route around this section but people realized the value of preserving the few technical features that this trail has. The armoring is meant as a way to preserve the original character of the trail, with a steep grade there, but without the erosion problems.

Sorry for such a long post- in summary, be patient, I think when it is completed it will be a really cool feature that is safe for beginners as well.

Cramer

[dh1]

At a minimum they need to post up something at the top of the hill cautioning riders about the rock pile at the bottom. That hill is essentially blind when you make the corner entering the hill, so you don't see the rock pile until too late (unless you are crawling down the hill). It's steep enough that safely stopping if you are riding with a group is not really feasible.

I was just out there this morning and my best description is a steep technical descent, directly into a pile of loose pumpkin sized rocks, upon which you are supposed to make a hairpin turn and exit the hill..... Designed by a couple of orthopedic surgeons looking to drum up business.

I am curious to see how what the end plan is. I wish I could help out this Saturday, unfortunately I have to be out of town.


edited to add: the trail has some muddy sections in the second half. If you plan on riding out there this afternoon or Thursday, plan on walking a couple of uphill sections.

[cramer]

Thanks for the input, the TC is on his way over there right now to put up some signs to at least warn people for now.

Cramer

[Bigtymer]

The rock garden is really cool, but why does the right side have of the trail have to be closed off? Someone threw branches over the tree root stair case. That section is so much fun! Can the branches be removed on Saturday so we can have the rock garden and the tree root stair case for that part of the trail? Please!

[jasondew]

the right side is closed off because it was not sustainable with the current user volume. all the sand at the bottom of the hill is only there because it eroded from higher up. the left side of the trail was armored and debermed because of water caused erosion.

the only reason the project is needed is to prevent further erosion. it isn't being done to make the trail more challenging or technical, just to keep that section rideable and not "dumb down" the trail by doing a reroute.

give it a week or so and we'll work out the bugs. better yet, come on out on saturday and help us work out the bugs.

[Bigtymer]

that sucks! the right side was way cooler.

[jasondew]

the section was definitely fun to ride before we made the change. that's often the case with unsustainable erosion prone sections of trail.

what i'm sure would have been less cool would be to completely reroute the section, basically eliminating it all together.

[killercarbon98]

Trail Work Update:
Saturday we closed the down hill rock garden section (under construction in sec 3) and re-opened the old high line over the roots. This will remain until the armored down hill is complete and safe to ride. (ETC End of May)
Also, the overgrown main parking lot has been re-claimed and is now much wider. Please maximize parking by creating another row of parking down the center of the lot. This will lesson or eliminate the parking on 4 mile per DNR request.

Thanks everyone that helped!!

Stayed tuned for details on our May 16th Trail Date.... THIS WILL BE BIG! We'll need all the troops for this one.

Ride on.

CC