As soon as the power came on & I was able to start up the sump pump, I headed out to Ipswich on Saturday to see what kind of storm damage there was...truth be told, it could've been a lot worse! There are more pix in my photobucket album.
I didn't ride every single trail- in fact I never made it across the power lines to the south side: I mostly stayed in the older-growth section on the north side. But after Hurricane Isabel Ipswich was much more torn up. There were a fair number of downed trees, but nothing too bad: I only found one large (12"+ trunk diameter) Swamp Maple that was blocking a significant length of the "Orange X" trail east of the Rokeby/Main trail head, and I was able to get that out of the way with about an hour of work. I added a couple of logs to the trail for a little variety.
There's also a fairly tall pine tree that's fallen across "Blunt Corner" (the clearing at the Rokeby/Main trailhead that's often littered with Philly blunt wrappers). I only brought hand tools, so I just left it where it was.
I also got some "traffic direction" work done. If I did my job right, the main trails will flow more smoothly, and no one will notice what's missing...
And for the record, the plywood shack southeast of Blunt Corner was built by stoners, not a homeless guy...
EVMA is moving forward on becomes an official sponsor of Indian River Park (the official name of "Ipswich"), and we're looking to have a park clean up on Saturday, January 9. More details will be forthcoming. The City is receptive to EVMA taking on more of the maintenance at Ipswich, and has even offered to provide supplies- who knows? maybe we'll get a ton of gravel!
On the way out to the car this afternoon, I met up with Tristan & Greg, who were about to take a ride and see what needed to be done. Thanks, guys, for coming out! I think I also saw Kev's Audiwagon, too...
While I was out there, I laid out some pink survey tape to mark where the bermed turns could use some attention: I'd love to see some 2 or 3 foot berms on the "Orange X" trail south of the Rokeby/Main trailhead. There's the potential for some really nice S curves!
6 comments:
Ended up spending about an hour and a half removing limbs and raking out the main loop from the Rokeby main entrance to the top of the loop at military Highway and back around the other side and over to the log ride and to the current dead end on the main loop. Will be contnuing to clean up the main loop tomorrow. Tristan, Glen, And Dayna all put in about and hour and a half and cleared a good portion of the main trail.
Continued for 2.5 hours today clearing the main loop and removing debris up to the Main Bridge. Coming along nicely...now if only the stoners would keep from kicking the leaves back over the cleared trails...
Yeah man.. Your 'berm' project has been cleared of debris and ready for your next step. Kinda working with your re-routes. Not sure what your trying to do though..
More to come......
Dudes - I applaud your efforts and hard work but have some things to point out - think about erosion when you are clearing the trails. Luckily there are still plenty of leaves to come down. Also, leaves make sliding thru corners fun and is safer for the trail. Don't block off cut thrus. Don't rake them if you don't want to use them, but leave them open for those of us who do multiple circuits thru a section. The ugly red x's and other recent markings will guide beginners thru your loops. Remember you have people of all levels using these trails. Veterans want to use trails and cut thrus and features that have been made over the years. There are also dog walkers, cyclo-cross people, BMXers who use the trails. It's not just for beginners so don't impose a highly sanitized beginners system or travel direction on us. Thanks!
Yes I did think about the erosion problem.And we are not trying to block off anything. In fact we want to open up all the little trails that we have found now that the leaves are down.If you have any ideas we could use the help. :) Not sure who put the red'X's all over. Just trying to open the main ride around for all to use.. The bridges were mess. I busted my ass on them more than once. Now they should be able to dry out some.
See you on the trails
Agreed that we are not trying to close any trails out there. The main loop is a good practice loop for new riders and "we" bring new riders out to Ipswich all the time and what better place to learn to ride than Ipswich? The fast, mostly flat main loop is perfect for that.
The side trails and other ttf stuff out there is only going to get better once the place is cleaned up more and all will be able to see the areas where the ttf stuff is located.
I concur that if anyone has any suggestions on how to make the park better and even more fun than it already is to feel free to jump in anytime and lend a hand.
If we all work together, even the BMX'ers and those who may even just walk through the park, we can make it a more desired place to ride for other riders from newbies to all of you long time riders out there.
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