scratchy
20-11-2006, 07:37 PM
Well we are lucky enough to have one of the more active fairies in one of the most active clubs in OZ lend us his time. Try to keep discussion relevant to this topic (yes we will do NS at some time).
Without further ado I bring you.... Astroboy!!
Style of tracks: I have been mainly focussed on the core trails advocacy stuff up until late last year when I dived head long into Majura and then Stromlo. Stromlo has been a great opportunity to develop a lot of trail building skills, and I am certainly looking forward to using the new-found skills to finish off the work we started at Majura Pines late last year. My plans there? To deliver singletrack trails that are just fun to ride, whether your out on a social ride with mates or belting through at top speed in pursuit of a podium finish. My vision would be to add more of the type of trail features that give trails that, dare I say it, ‘free-ride’ character – rock armouring, bridges, log rides. Things that add variety and give the rider a range of experiences all on the one piece of track, but are still ridable by the average Joe (i.e. not super technical). Also looking to put in a MTB skills park as part of a Stromlo Stage 1 extension.
Name: Reece Guihot
Age: 32
Location: Canberra
Background: Got into trail building through my involvement in the CORC Trails Advocacy Team. There are a couple of older trails down here that need some serious work or replacement, and I thought that if I was going to get people along to help fix them then I sorta needed to know what I was doing and talking about. Hence my decision to dive headfirst into Stromlo trail volunteer co-ordination. It’s not like the opportunity to work with one of Australia’s best trail builders comes along all that often.
Mistakes made?: Earlier this year I decided to repair a trail that runs along a slope, which had bermed out and was collecting water. Rather than doing it properly and digging out a full bench cut I decided to just rid the trail of the berm and off-camber the trail, with gravel thrown into the sunken spots on the bottom edge of the trail. It hasn’t held up that well – the gravel is shifting and has mixed with the dirt to reform the berm (as it doesn’t pack down like the dirt). So the plan now is to head back early next year and do it the right way – bench cut the sucker and give it the full-monty treatment. The moral to the story here – build it right, build it once (famous IMBA proverb).
I also skimped on rock size when armouring some gullies back in December, which might require some work in the future to replace it with bigger ones (see my rant below).
Favourite Tool: Two actually - a standard plastic garden rake, and my mattock with the (lighter than wood) fibreglass handle. It’s a lot lighter than the standard one, which means you can swing it for longer. With these two tools and a bit of rain to compact it down afterwards there is not much you can’t do.
Free Fairy or Pro Fairy Free
Online Resources: IMBA website would have to be number one (www.imba.com). There is just so much stuff on there. The ‘Save The Trails’ forum on www.mtbr.com is also good to keep an eye on. (Ever wondered where the McLeod got its name. You’ll find the answer there). And I’m finding this ‘new’ Farkin Trail Building thread becoming a great resource which appears to be helping people solve real trail issues (access AND building) in their local area.
Your Topic Rock Armouring: We have used this technique to address some of the drainage issues at Majura Pines. It appeared that some of the gullies never dried out, and the bottom of them where the trail went was a permanent mud bog. So we are in the process of rock-armouring, realigning or bridging each of the problem ones. Rock armouring is certainly my preference – if done properly it requires virtually no ongoing maintenance, and is fun to ride over.
General Rant There is really not much I can say about rock armouring of trails that IMBA doesn’t say ten times better. They have some great guidance on the different techniques/styles and great examples. If anything, a couple of pointers from me would be:
- Never skimp on rock size. When rock armouring a trail anything smaller than a basketball is next to useless. You want the rocks to be solid and steady even without the dirt locking in the joints between, because constant use will shift them around if they are too light.
- Have on hand a good variety of different size and shaped rocks. Doing rock armouring on a trail is like playing a supersized game of Tetris – you will end up swapping and rearranging the same rock 3 times before you get a good fit.
- Always ensure that you align the gaps between the rocks so they are parallel to the flow of any water. You want the water to me able to run between the rocks where possible.
And while I’ve got the opportunity here’s another revelation. Don’t build illegal $hit, period. It really doesn’t help, and just means your local trails advocacy group needs to spend more time responding to angry council letters rather than on proposals for legal trails.
Always happy to help out where I can if people have trail access issues – just drop me a line at trailsNOSPAM@corc.asn.au (remove NOSPAM before sending). Having the opportunity to work with a great team of other CORC trails people gives me a good sounding board for new ideas and possible directions (they soon tell me whether an idea has legs, or if it’s ‘going straight to the pool room’).
Without further ado I bring you.... Astroboy!!
Style of tracks: I have been mainly focussed on the core trails advocacy stuff up until late last year when I dived head long into Majura and then Stromlo. Stromlo has been a great opportunity to develop a lot of trail building skills, and I am certainly looking forward to using the new-found skills to finish off the work we started at Majura Pines late last year. My plans there? To deliver singletrack trails that are just fun to ride, whether your out on a social ride with mates or belting through at top speed in pursuit of a podium finish. My vision would be to add more of the type of trail features that give trails that, dare I say it, ‘free-ride’ character – rock armouring, bridges, log rides. Things that add variety and give the rider a range of experiences all on the one piece of track, but are still ridable by the average Joe (i.e. not super technical). Also looking to put in a MTB skills park as part of a Stromlo Stage 1 extension.
Name: Reece Guihot
Age: 32
Location: Canberra
Background: Got into trail building through my involvement in the CORC Trails Advocacy Team. There are a couple of older trails down here that need some serious work or replacement, and I thought that if I was going to get people along to help fix them then I sorta needed to know what I was doing and talking about. Hence my decision to dive headfirst into Stromlo trail volunteer co-ordination. It’s not like the opportunity to work with one of Australia’s best trail builders comes along all that often.
Mistakes made?: Earlier this year I decided to repair a trail that runs along a slope, which had bermed out and was collecting water. Rather than doing it properly and digging out a full bench cut I decided to just rid the trail of the berm and off-camber the trail, with gravel thrown into the sunken spots on the bottom edge of the trail. It hasn’t held up that well – the gravel is shifting and has mixed with the dirt to reform the berm (as it doesn’t pack down like the dirt). So the plan now is to head back early next year and do it the right way – bench cut the sucker and give it the full-monty treatment. The moral to the story here – build it right, build it once (famous IMBA proverb).
I also skimped on rock size when armouring some gullies back in December, which might require some work in the future to replace it with bigger ones (see my rant below).
Favourite Tool: Two actually - a standard plastic garden rake, and my mattock with the (lighter than wood) fibreglass handle. It’s a lot lighter than the standard one, which means you can swing it for longer. With these two tools and a bit of rain to compact it down afterwards there is not much you can’t do.
Free Fairy or Pro Fairy Free
Online Resources: IMBA website would have to be number one (www.imba.com). There is just so much stuff on there. The ‘Save The Trails’ forum on www.mtbr.com is also good to keep an eye on. (Ever wondered where the McLeod got its name. You’ll find the answer there). And I’m finding this ‘new’ Farkin Trail Building thread becoming a great resource which appears to be helping people solve real trail issues (access AND building) in their local area.
Your Topic Rock Armouring: We have used this technique to address some of the drainage issues at Majura Pines. It appeared that some of the gullies never dried out, and the bottom of them where the trail went was a permanent mud bog. So we are in the process of rock-armouring, realigning or bridging each of the problem ones. Rock armouring is certainly my preference – if done properly it requires virtually no ongoing maintenance, and is fun to ride over.
General Rant There is really not much I can say about rock armouring of trails that IMBA doesn’t say ten times better. They have some great guidance on the different techniques/styles and great examples. If anything, a couple of pointers from me would be:
- Never skimp on rock size. When rock armouring a trail anything smaller than a basketball is next to useless. You want the rocks to be solid and steady even without the dirt locking in the joints between, because constant use will shift them around if they are too light.
- Have on hand a good variety of different size and shaped rocks. Doing rock armouring on a trail is like playing a supersized game of Tetris – you will end up swapping and rearranging the same rock 3 times before you get a good fit.
- Always ensure that you align the gaps between the rocks so they are parallel to the flow of any water. You want the water to me able to run between the rocks where possible.
And while I’ve got the opportunity here’s another revelation. Don’t build illegal $hit, period. It really doesn’t help, and just means your local trails advocacy group needs to spend more time responding to angry council letters rather than on proposals for legal trails.
Always happy to help out where I can if people have trail access issues – just drop me a line at trailsNOSPAM@corc.asn.au (remove NOSPAM before sending). Having the opportunity to work with a great team of other CORC trails people gives me a good sounding board for new ideas and possible directions (they soon tell me whether an idea has legs, or if it’s ‘going straight to the pool room’).