Black Branch

Ok, this was right at a month ago, so I remember it better than the rest.

It was work party day at Bull/Jake. I'd missed the last two because of work, but the stars aligned for that one.

The previous one was an REI trail day or something, 50 thousand volunteers showed up, and they worked all over the system. One spot that didn't get any attention though, and has been needing it for a while, is way back on Black Branch. If you ride it clockwise (which pretty much nobody does except me and Tim did once), then there's an old roadbed for a while, which still has most of its gravel still in place. It rolls up and down over various hills, and though it's not ideal, it's not in super-bad shape, and it's nowhere near the watershed, so it's non-idealness isn't really hurting anything. Eventually though, the hills get steeper, the trail starts to get a bit rutted. As it is, the trail is rideable, but it needs some attention to stay that way.

All that can be done is old-school turnouts, as often as we can dig them.

You got it!

I say old-school turnouts, but really, we managed to make rolling dips out of most of them. The soil was that tough red Georgia clay, full of old, buried gravel. It packed really well on the back side, and we utilized what we dug up as much as possible.

Rider up!

It was a beautiful day, and we must have been passed by 3 dozen riders, all of whom looked like they were pushing 180bpm.

We had a really effective crew that day, and we managed to complete 100% of what Debbie wanted to get done. Every now and then it's like that; everybody who knows what they're doing is on the same page, and everyone who's learning just works super hard. It was like that. Ideal.

It was a lot of work too. Several times we had to cut the runout like 20+ feet off trail and then go back and regrade it 2 or 3 times.

All work was ball-approved. Sadly, I'd forgotten to bring the soccer ball, but Debbie had several little inflatable Marvel Comics-themed balls. They could get hung up on roots and such, but they got the job done.

I just realized that I think I missed this month's work party. I think it might have been yesterday. Dangit. Too much going on.

I don't think there's another one until January either.

Well. Barring anything unforeseen, I won't miss that one.