This Just In: Condos at Ipswich...

I've got a big old can of I-told-you-so to open up...The City of Chesapeake is reviewing plans for "Southern Ridge," a 216-unit condominium development on 18 acres of land that abuts Indian River Park.

For the better part of two decades local citizens have developed bike trails and dirt jumps on this parcel of land. It's a shame that it wasn't incorporated into Indian River Park from the start.

So here's the $64,000 question: what's that land worth, and what's it gonna take for cyclists in Southside Hampton Roads to preserve the only singletrack park left?

Ipswich after the Nor'Easter: It Could be Worse...

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!

Ipswich: Southside's Best Singletrack

"Ipswich? Man, I haven't ridden there in years!"

The rumors of Ipswich's demise have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, there's been a fair bit of grassroots effort in the past couple of months to make Ipswich (A.K.A. Indian River Park) a better place to ride. The Eastern Virginia Mountain Bike Association (EVMA) is negotiating with the City of Chesapeake to officially sponsor the park, at the behest of Southside Hampton Roads mountain bikers who want to realize the full potential of Ipswich.

Here's a short, and probably incomplete, list of some of the work that's been done at Ipswich since the summer:

1. Litter Clean Up. Let's just be honest about it, Ipswich gets trashed. It's not as bad as it was, but it definitely should be better.
2. Trail Maintenance. It's the little stuff- trimming back branches, pulling out thorn vines, and occasionally getting out a chainsaw to clear deadfall.
3. Mud Holes. There are a fair number of low spots at Ipswich. The worst of them have been "palletized." Drainage and gravel has been added in a few spots, but there's still more work to be done in order to make some of the trail loops flow smoothly- right now it's pretty damaging to ride through the worst spots.
4. New Bridges. In a fit of liability paranoia a year or so ago, the City of Chesapeake chainsawed the best MTB features, such as the 15' teeter totter...but there are some new features cropping up, including a sweet little bridge (if I do say so myself):
5. Trail Marks. By far, this is the improvement most visible to newbies and riders who haven't been back to Ipswich since the last hurricane. While there's still more work to be done, it's now possible to ride the "Orange X" loop around both sides of the park. The marking of the "Red Circle" and "White Arrow" trails should be finished before Thanksgiving.
   

Clean Up @ Ipswich

I've been riding around Ipswich recently, getting ready for the Wednesday night rides. By the end of summer vacation the place had been trashed: given the abundance of fruit-flavored Philly Blunt wrappers, and the accompanying, munchy-induced soda bottles & potato chip bags, I'd guess that there's been some stoners out there...


The trails are in pretty decent shape, and a few kind souls have cleaned up some of the recent windfall, but the trash has gotta go! So this Saturday, 9/26, Liz Schleeper & myself will be coordinating a cleanup at Ipswich, starting at noon. We're looking for folks to come out for an hour or two, pick up litter, and maybe do some minor trail maintenance.

There are a few "potholes" in the trails that we've been calling & avoiding for a year or more during our group rides. It would only be a couple of minutes work with a shovel to fill them in, but who thinks to bring along a shovel on a mountain bike ride? There are also some inclined sections that could use similar attention: a bucket of dirt spread on the fall line would make for a smoother ride. There are also a couple of larger donut holes left by dirt bikes that need to be filled in, too.

The trails are relatively clear of branches and weeds, although there are will always be some new growth that needs to be trimmed. If you're inclined to do so, bring along a small, folding handsaw.

Finally, I could use 10-15 gallons of gravel. If you can get it to the trailhead, I'll take it from there in my B.O.B. trailer: I need it to lay at the base of a new ladder bridge.

So here's a list of what we need, Saturday Afternoon:
1. You.
2. Your friend.
3. Willing hands to pick up trash.

Optionally, we could also use the following:
A. Shovels
B. Handsaws
C. 10-15 gallons of gravel
D. 5 gallon plastic buckets w/ handles (good for moving dirt)
E. Wheelbarrows (good for moving more dirt)
F. Bike trailers. (2 wheels good, 1 wheel better)
G. Your Bike

After we finish cleaning up, we'll celebrate with a group ride around Ipswich, followed by a group hug.