december Trail Update

Empress Bypass

Volunteers: Salesforce crew

Moved a lot of dirt to refresh berms, cleared drainage, and raked gravel.

Expresso

TAP Sponsor: MEC

Protruding rocks removed, berm entrance and berm enhanced, drainage added.

Lower Expresso

Tap Sponsor: Sacre Davie Engineering

Built and installed signage. Tapped in nails on all wood features

Forever After

Armoured heavily eroded sections with exposed roots that have become pedal catchers for mountain bikers.
Re-closed lower braid. Upper braid was turned into a rider option (after accepting defeat as it continued to get re-opened). Damaged root system has been covered to prevent any more wear.

Jersey Shore

TAP Sponsor: RaceFace & Fox

Eroded section of trail was starting to affect the roots of a large tree. Cribbed in a rock wall, backfilled with rocks, then gold dirt applied. This will stop further erosion and help the tree roots. A second area rocked in and gold dirt applied. Again stopping further erosion and protecting the tree roots. A huge amount of rock and fill was moved to create a berm jump towards the end of the trail. This allows the water to be directed off of the trail without having to ride through the water.

Expresso

TAP Sponsor: MEC

Removed protruding rocks, filled brake bumps, enhanced berms, enhanced trail bed.

Dempsey

TAP Sponsor: Mosaic

Installed drainage, fixed existing drainage, enhanced trail bed.

Baden Powel (east)

TAP Sponsor: More Bikes

Rebuilt lowest dirt step of Stairs of Despair, and re-armoured the runout. And lots of fresh gold!

Removed decrepit step/soil-retention structure and rebuilt with much larger boards to better support the volume of soil required. Wood milled off-site from logs supplied by local arborist. Runout below step was re-armoured, and covered with mineral soil that will pack in around the armour to provide long-term support.

Pennzoil

TAP Sponsor: Steed Cycles & Santa Cruz

Replenishing mineral soil to the trail surface in a section of trail that receives heavy braking. Addition of grade reversal for better drainage.

Excellent day with lots of volunteers and lots of first timers. I’m pleased at the amount of dirt we were able to get back on the trail before proper winter set in.