Atop Mt Helix

The trails are soggy, so took a road ride over 52, down south of 8, and up Mt Helix. Hit the top way too late, got caught in the dark coming back. Nice destination ride, though.

IMBA trail building class

Last weekend, the IMBA Trail Care Crew was in SD to work with SDMBA and local land managers. On Saturday morning, they lead an excellent clas on trail building. About 15-20 folks, mostly SDMBA volunteers, attended the session. The presentation covered trail design, layout, and construction, with a focus on creating trails that are sustainable, fun, and minimize user conflicts. Concepts such as stacked loops, bench cuts, flow, grade reversals, and insloped turns were illustrated with photos of trails from around the country. Having done a bit of trail work in the past, the session provided a coherent framework for the principles used in the field. I highly recommend this session to anyone who's doing trail work.

After the classroom session, we went to the Crestridge Ecological Preserve to practice. This area is a poster child for SDMBA efforts to collaborate with local land managers. The folks here really get the idea of sustainable, multiuser singletrack, and have a plan for developing a great trail system. A bunch of additional SDMBA volunteers joined the group and we cut in a long section of singletrack. We capped an exhausting but satisfying day with a parking lot picnic and some Arrogant Bastard (thanks, Rich!).