Unapproved Rogue Trail - Sunderbruch Park
***DISCLAIMER***
This post is meant mostly for non-FORC members and possibly some FORC members, new and old, that may not completely understand the priviledges granted to FORC through the exhausting efforts of current and past members.
[Scroll to the bottom for the Cliff Notes version]
Monday night I was JRA (just riding along) and having a great time.
Flowing along Sugar Bottom I was until I happened upon a "jump" right in the middle of the trail.
Now, this was much to my surprise since I knew *nothing* about said "jump." I stopped, got off my bike (which is SO MUCH FUN while in the middle of a sweet, flowy section of trail) and removed the 2 dead and rotten logs that were halfway buried and then dirt was piled on top of them to make a "jump."
Had the "jump" actually been thought out and built properly I prolly would have hit it, laughed a bit, and then removed it.
Not only was the material of this "jump" of substandard quality, the "jump" was so poorly designed that the landing zone was nearly 2 feet off the trail. Coupla geniuses built this one for sure.
Lesson here?
At Sunderbruch Park I, Aaron Mielke, am GOD.
You wanna build trail? Cool.
You wanna put in an awesome jump or a crazy skinny? Awesome, let's do it.
BUT, I need to clear it first. Ask around and find someone that had an idea, presented it to me and the Trail Care Crew, and they were denied. Highly doubt you're gonna find that person. If anything's been turned down it's been because there hasn't been time in the last few years to add to the Trail Plan.
I may sound like a bit of a prick here, but ask anyone on the Trail Care Crew and they'll tell you most of what's been done at Sunderbruch in the last few years has all been thought out and designed between all of us on the Crew. It isn't me sitting in my ivory tower telling people what they can and can't do.
That said, anything constructed or modified without the approval of me, GOD of Trail at Sunderbruch, will be removed.
Brash? Ayup. Egocentric? Possibly. But at this point, I need to be.
Everyone reading this needs to understand FORC and the City of Davenport have a signed written agreement that lays out clear expectations and understanding of each other's responsibilities pertaining to the trails at Sunderbruch. If/when this agreement is violated, mountain bikers run the risk of losing access to the park. Not cool.
Notice I said "mountain bikers" not just FORC.
Here's a list for those that like lists:
Cool (Trail Steward approval not required):
-weed whacking
-clearing trails of debris
-clearing downed trees
-picking up litter
-or any other minor maintenance that does NOT involve removing dirt from or modifying the trail surface.
Not Cool (Trail Steward approval required):
-building trail
-jumps
-rocks
-logpiles
-skinnies or any other trail feature
-re-routing trail around an obstacle when the obstacle is within IMBAs standards for trail-rating guidelines (see Russhole's Blue Mound video for an example @ 1:31)
-repairing "wet areas"
-any action that involves removing dirt from or modifying the trail surface
-anything else I probably missed.
Cliff Notes (TL;DR): [<--- that means Too Long, Didn't Read ;-) ]
Stop building unapproved trail features, stop creating re-routes around obstacles on Black-rated trails, and stop building rogue trails wherever you please. Contact me or any member of the Trail Care Crew if there's something you're wanting to do to the trails.
Otherwise....STOP
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Originally Posted by Vibrato
