Trailbuilding News

For VMC 2007 Equalizer Enduro course development discussion, go to VMCEqualizer2007Development

BarbLohrmann - October 1, 2008

Yes, this was a very scary incident and, since we have no idea of the identity of the 3 riders who ended up in the ditch that day, all we can do is post this message on the VMC website and bring it up at the next VMC meeting.

At first I was concerned that Gary N and company had ignored my written instructions. But, at the Brentwood last weekend, I leaned that Gary & Co went out on the Wednesday to finish arrowing. They did go to the WFP office and were treated very well. A truck escort was arranged quickly. At the end of the day, they got more special treatment from WFP. Bob Wormald's bike broke down somewhere around the Heliport. A passing WFP pick-up truck stopped and asked if he needed help. They loaded the bike into the WFP truck and drove back down to the yellow gate where they had left their own truck. WFP did "above and beyond" that day -- they really are trying to work with us.

Dan and I are leaving tomorrow for our holidays so we will miss the October VMC meeting. We plan to be away for up to 6 weeks!!! We are returning to Utah to enjoy the spectacular scenery and off road riding there!! If the weather gets too cold, we'll move south to Arizona or even Baha Mexico.

See you in late November. All the best,

Barb

PeterSprague - Sept 22, 2008

From Marie, WPF Stewardship Forester:

Peter,

This e-mail is further to my previously relayed concerns regarding motorcycles using active haul roads during operating hours.

Three motorcycles were heading up North Main at 8:30 this morning, without contacting our Jordan River office. The riders met a loaded logging truck coming down the hill, close to 2 ½ mile on North Main (a wide, gentle corner in comparison to some of the other corners on the mainline). The logging truck driver did not have adequate time to avoid the riders as they were roughly 30-35 m away once the motorcycles came into view. One of the motorcycles was forced into the ditch to avoid being hit. They passed within a few feet of each other. Neither the logging truck nor the motorcycle riders were driving at excessive speed.

Even if the motorcycle riders are traveling slowly, there is not adequate time to avoid these incidents due to the narrow, winding roads, lack of visibility, and inability of the loaded logging trucks to stop as quickly as a passenger vehicle can.

If the motorcyles are off to the side of the road, the roads are not adequately wide to ensure that the logging truck can safely pass; the logging truck must cut corners and the logs act as “sweepers” behind when rounding corners. The trucks effectively take up the whole driving surface and even the ditches in some cases. The only safe place to wait for log trucks to pass is in pull-outs on straight stretches or on side roads. Logging roads are not built for two-way traffic; all traffic must be communicating via two-way radio when log trucks are operating.

Please pass onto members of your club that it is not safe to travel active roads during operating hours without proper communication and that travel should be planned for evenings and weekends. Following these procedures is essential to ensure that members of your club operate safely. Also, if this information filters out to other motorcycle riders we may prevent this from happing in the future.

Luckily this time the incident was a near-miss and not a fatality.

Marie

Marie Robertson, RPF Operations Forester Western Forest Products Inc. Jordan River Forest Operation (250) 646-2031 ext 228

PeterSprague - July 02 2008

Turk and got out this Sunday to build the first 700 meters of the HS circuit. According to Turk "Its everything I had hoped for in a trail". About one meter wide, flowing, and groomed, it goes past old cedar blocking, thru big fern patches, around 8 ft cedar stumps, and by big boulders for quite a variation. Hoping for 10+ Km when we are done. Will let people know when Turk is going out next if they would like to work with him.

• Building HS Circuit June 29, 2008:
  

• Building HS Circuit June 29, 2008:
  

Gary, Roger, and the rest of the Geritol II crew have built a number of challenging and fun single track trails that should give riders a good time. Andy and I rode most of them yesterday before we flagged in the balance of Gertol II's new trail from the end of Upper Sticky Wicket out to the N300. Most of it is in old clear-cut, so they sure have their work cut out for them clearing salal and brush, but it should be a great trail when they are done.

We now have enough trails to give riders a good solid day of riding. Next year we will start putting in trail sign posts to help new riders to the area know where they are. With the terrain, it is quite easy to get twisted around without a map and some markers along the way.

PeterSprague - June 25, 2008

For those complainers about how oh so far it is, Tansky is 12 minutes past Boyds, 25 minutes from Sooke. So for the 12 minutes you get legal riding, stunning views from the staging area, riding all summer, hugh cedars like in a park, a HS circuit, etc., etc. I'll open up the trail into the cliffs and rock piles for the triallies to play in once the HS is going. That should make it even more fun.

The HS/junior enduro circuit is starting to take shape. We have 2.8 km flagged, partially roughed in, and surveyed. We will be starting actual construction this Sunday.

I've got my eye on some potential campsites that could be driven to, so they would be good for the family. You could hook into the trail network within a 100 ft of your camper or tent.

PeterSprague - June 23, 2008

I would like to thank Joyce and Andy for coming out on Saturday and working hard to get the first section of the new HS circuit flagged in and rough trimmed.

I'll be going out all this week if anybody wants to come out and contribute. The plan is to have the 8 - 10 km flagged in and very roughly cut for Turk to start building the actual circuit soon after.

PeterSprague - June 19, 2008

Our new riding area is getting more trails as 8 out of 260 VMC members contribute. Barb and I surveyed all the trails out there under a COHV grant, and we have 20 km of trail ready to ride, with another 16 km being finished this summer. All built over the last year. If you want a map or the latest news, go here: http://geovisionenvironmental.com/twiki/bin/view/VIORC/JuandeFucaEnduroRiders

Speaking of trail, it doesn't just happen. All those XC riders out there wanting a place to ride that we are welcome and have quality enduros, come out and help. Call/email Gary Nordstrom or myself and we would be glad to show you around. There is winter blow-down to clean, new trails to design, working with the Geritol II crew trail-building, or head off yourself and make your own master-piece.

This Saturday, a crew of us are going out to design 8-10km Hare Scramble and junior enduro circuit. Once that is all flagged in, Turk will be coming in with his trail-building expertise and machinery to build it. Interested in learning how pros build trail? Want to learn? Turk needs helping hands to work with him. Who can come out for a day? If we get enough volunteers we can share the work-load around.

Its a great way to get to know the area and find out what it has to offer the rider. If you are a XC or dual-sport rider, I can almost guarantee you'll like it.

Barb - Sept 06 2007

Over the summer, the Geritol II group have continued to open up old logging roads and cut new connections at the Tansky area. I have not gone out with them for several weeks so I am very out of date on all their new trails. Their plan is to run the Brentwood (an expert event) on Oct. 21st. I will help out in running the event; Dan may ride it.

The Geritol II's have some suggestions for new trail names and changes to the suggested trail names.

This is what I know so far:

• they have two trails out from the end of #5
  • the JGM (expert for now, it is flat but has lots of lumps and bumps) goes over to Heliport #1
  • the Group 5 goes down to the end of the Uplands Access
• as you note the Tansky actually follows #3 and you have suggested the straight continuance be called the Uplands Access. Unfortunately, we are now in the habit of calling this the Tansky all the way to the end. If we want to stay with the original name convention, perhaps the suggested name of the Uplands Access be changed to the Tansky Extension or TanEx ???
  • the Geritol II's have cut a trail from the end of TanEx out to the N300 with a beautiful bridge towards the N300 end. The call it the Bang On.
  • they have also connected the end of Maiden Voyage to the TanEx and called it the I Found It II. B.t.w., the original I Found It trail goes behind Wild Deer Lake. In the late '70's when we camped there, our kids cut it through.

Gary tells me that they are continuing their cutting spree:

• making another connection from Heliport 1 to the Tansky - somewhere
• following ribbons to the Persistence Crossing and Ken's Crossing to connect Maiden Voyage with the Tansky main
• clearing the Sticky Wicket, connecting the ends and connecting down to the N300

Like I said, these guys are trail-cutting machines!!

PeterSprague - 30 May 2007 For Sunday May 27th

Our main focus for the day was to create connectors and finish started trails so Barb and Dan had more Novice friendly trails to choose from for the Equalizer. Only two VMC members showed up besides the core. All whine, little action I guess.

We all worked hard, with Turk's trail being tied to the N310, Perseverance and Ken's Crossing going in (though these turned out to be expert grade because of the terrain around the creek), more of Uplands cleared up towards the N300.

We now have an riding area with 15km of single track and 30km of surrounding logging roads for enduros and just plain old fun riding. Not bad for 4 months of dedicated work by a small crew devoted to keeping XC alive on southern Vancouver Island.

Barb - 16 May 2007 As requested, here is a short write-up on yesterday's adventure along with a few questions.

The ride, with intermittent trail clearing, went well. Gary Nordstrom, Jim Justice and Mark Bamfield were impressed with the riding potential this area offers and are delighted to know that we have an informal "go-ahead" from the Province. They appreciated your map, the topographic maps from the Ministry of Tourism etc. and were impressed with the GPS locator accuracy.

As suggested, we parked in the lower lay-by and rode up the road to the gate, keeping to the right and keeping an astute lookout for logging trucks. Fortunately we encountered none but we heard them from the Tansky Main!

We started the tour by riding straight up the Tansky Main to the end of the (up to now) ride-able road. Jim Justice looked at the creek crossing, immediately jumped back on his bike and road across with little trouble. Then we all went to work moving rocks and logs to make the crossing less intimidating looking.

Jim, Gary and Mark road their bikes to the very end of Tansky Main. We cut and cleared along the way. I walked half way declining their offer to ride my bike across that first creek. Riding across the rest of the creeks would have been easy for me.

At the very end, they could see the potential of cutting a connecting trail to the N300 and the Maiden Voyage Trail. They said clearing the #5 would be another day's work.

We then back-tracked to #3 and made a bee line to the intersection where we were on Sunday. I walked, they rode, down Turk's trail to the viewing-spot of the un-used heliport. They agreed, this trail needs some further clearing at the bottom.

We returned to #3 via Cyprus Bowl. They said the trail was enjoyable to ride and must have been a lot of work to cut -- a trade-mark of the trials guys. I made it through needing help at only a couple of places. They agreed with me that Cyprus Bowl wasn't yet suitable for the Equalizer.

We returned back down #3 then roared down the Hard Hat Highway. Some one asked about installing a white line down the centre of this trail.

I then lead them to the end of #2 and suggested it might be nice to find and cut a trail to #3 or #1. We returned to the Tansky Main, turning on to #1 and rode as far as practicable. They noted this trail needed chain saw attention. How about a connection to the Jordan River Main?

Gary and friends only ride during the week and really enjoy making trails. If we set a proposed loop for the Equalizer, even if only short and simple, as best they could, they will give us a hand clearing where-ever we direct them.

I clocked 17.5 km. They registered 20 to 21 km. I think this is do-able.

I will "clear my calendar" to the end of June and plan to ride and clear with them during the week.

Gary, Jim and Mark think the road we have been using to park our trucks should be fine for the Equalizer.

Dan suggests that, for the Equalizer, we should consider sending the riders on a big loop around the Jordan River Main, up Wye Creek, then back along the N500 would give them a "big-picture" of the area. To examine this possibility, if it doesn't rain, I plan to ride my XT around this loop on Saturday.

Questions: Peter, you and Ken know the area best.

1. ) Can you imagine a suitable novice level loop along, off, and back-on to the Tansky Main?
2. ) What connections do you suggest we prioritize for clearing?
3. ) Is the road we use for parking on Crown Land?
4. ) Is using this road for parking, a practical idea? I am concerned about the closeness to the house at the bottom -- lousy public relations?

All the work you two have done up to now is eventually going to pay off big time -- for now, the Equalizer, in the future, lots of events, and just plain enjoyable riding. A big THANK YOU!!

Talk to you soon,

Barb

PeterSprague - 14 May 2007

Barb, Dan, Ken and I had a great day. We worked on link trails between the N300 and the NW end of the #3. Turk's Trail was extended to within 200 meters across a clear-cut to the N310, a really nice novice friendly route through beautiful bush. Ken lead the charge on roughing out another in-feed trail from the N300 to the NW end of the #3 (Ken's Project Tr. for now - Intermediate). We explored for a route to link the Turks Trail across to the Uplands Area, passing through large cedar groves, but got stopped by a large bog just to the east of Uplands Trail.

The hope was to have enough enduro trail developed for Barb and Dan to put together an enduro for early June. As the enduro is aimed at the Junior (Novice) rider, it would feature log haul roads through this beautiful area, with the Tansky Main Trails to provide the challenging enduro stages. The rider files their choosen average speed, and then tries to maintain it sans watch, odometer, or any other measuring device.

To make this enduro interesting and have enough trail, we need about 5-7 more Sundays minimum trailbuilding and fine tuning. Because of lack of effort on part of the VMC members, this enduro won't be able to become a reality until later.

Rode the HardHat Trail for the first time on the way back to the trucks, what a great trail. Thanks to Barb and Dan for the days of work cleaning this nice tight single track.

-- PeterSprague - 11 May 2007 Bon Voyage is almost in after a late afternoon of brushing yesterday. This trail is intended to be a one-way downhill. It is steep, slimey, and curvy. Climbing it will create ruts, and the possibility of winter/spring run-off erosion. Depending on concensus, I would rate this as an intermediate/expert downhill. It is steep and sustained, with absolutely no run-out.