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Post by Angela on Jan 31, 2012 23:26:54 GMT -5
The February 2012 work party will be at FATS - working on the power line crossings on the Skinny. Date: February 18th (Saturday) Time: 1pm 9am (TIME CHANGE)Meet at the main trailhead parking lot. Whether we work on one or three of the crossings will depend on the number of volunteers who sign up.......so please let us know you are coming by emailing sorba.csra@gmail.com There was a faulty link in the newsletter so if you haven't already signed up just press the link above. Once we have the list of volunteers, we will send out further details! You don't have to be a member of SORBA to sign up....you don't even have to be a mountain biker ....we would like to have hikers, dog-walkers, runners, etc as well. Just let us know you are coming!
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Post by Angela on Feb 1, 2012 7:14:26 GMT -5
As usual this work party will be cancelled if it is raining - watch the forum for updates!
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Post by Angela on Feb 5, 2012 11:04:02 GMT -5
We currently have 6 volunteers signed up for this work party - will need more if we are going to get more than one of the crossings taken care of! sorba.csra@gmail.com
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Post by Mark Y. on Feb 8, 2012 14:02:40 GMT -5
Hey, at least I have a good excuse!
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Post by Angela on Feb 8, 2012 22:49:46 GMT -5
And there will be other work parties! We are up to 8 volunteers - here are a few photos from the three crossings that need the most work. We've been lucky with this warmer weather and the rains haven't really produced a mucky mess but we really need to get this work done before the cold and rain starts! We'll need more volunteers if we are going to get all three crossings completed. CW 1st crossing - CW 2nd crossing - This armoring is perfect so we just need to stop riders from circumventing it! CW 4th crossing - This is just a preview - come lend a hand - sure beats those summer work parties when it's 95 degrees out sorbacsra@gmail.com
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Post by Mark Y. on Feb 9, 2012 0:09:33 GMT -5
Angela, just a comment from one of the guilty. ( I try hard not to be, but the path of least resistance beckons hard sometimes, and I succumb every once in a while when the path is beaten down...- some of you do too; just FESS UP!). For the experienced rider, riding a 12"path is stupidly simple; but for the tentative, focusing on staying on it is like looking straight at an obstacle and running into it. How do you/we propose to create a path across open terrain that the beginners and less experienced (FATS has an abundance) will stick to? Considering the typical FATS rider, I'm just wondering if we are whistling into the wind.
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Post by dgaddis1 on Feb 9, 2012 7:31:33 GMT -5
I try hard not to be, but the path of least resistance beckons hard sometimes, and I succumb every once in a while when the path is beaten down...- some of you do too; just FESS UP! Yep, we've all done it. Especially out on those crossing where in some cases the bricks are loose. We need to do a better job of putting them IN the ground so they're stable, and they need to be wider. Doing an alternating 1 brick then 2 brick wide pattern would be the bees knees I think. I hope to make the work party, but not sure yet.
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Post by Angela on Feb 9, 2012 7:35:57 GMT -5
Excellent points Mark but to be honest there is no reason the armoring across a power line crossing like that has to be 12" wide (particularly on a trail like the Skinny which gets more beginning riders than any other trail out at FATS) - that was just the armoring set in place at that time. It can be hard getting armoring material far into the trail and then digging in this concrete like dirt can sometimes cause people to give up and take short cuts setting it in out of sheer frustration. Making sure the armoring is set in well is the first step. Another issue is pattern of the armoring (if you go more than a brick or rock wide) so it doesn't split apart as a riders ride the center of the armoring. I agree that once there is a bypass it seems to take on a life of it's own and if you are moving quickly down the trail you are taking that bypass sometimes before you even realize what is happening. What we do should improve those crossings but no guarantee it will be a permanent solution!
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Post by seenvic on Feb 9, 2012 8:11:59 GMT -5
Angela, just a comment from one of the guilty. ( I try hard not to be, but the path of least resistance beckons hard sometimes, and I succumb every once in a while when the path is beaten down...- some of you do too; just FESS UP!). For the experienced rider, riding a 12"path is stupidly simple; but for the tentative, focusing on staying on it is like looking straight at an obstacle and running into it. How do you/we propose to create a path across open terrain that the beginners and less experienced (FATS has an abundance) will stick to? Considering the typical FATS rider, I'm just wondering if we are whistling into the wind. I occasionally drift off the armor myself. But I stay on it for the most part as best I can. I never point my front tire next to the armor. Never. Riding it......look as far down towards the end of line of bricks as you can. Don't look right over your front wheel. This is also the way to ride a log lengthwise(or anything skinny)......or it is how I figured out how to do it. It may be that some of these places can be "de-armored".....I mean the reason we armored it 5-6 years ago is no longer an issue. I can think a spot or two like this. But I can also think of a spot or two where we need to move this armor to a place that has no armor. We need the powerwagon if it is running. There are 300ish riders on a typical weekend day who all seem to love FATS. We got 8 people signed up to actually put some love into FATS. Human nature is funny that way.
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Post by beckyl on Feb 9, 2012 9:49:57 GMT -5
Sorry Angela. We are out of town that weekend. We will plan on being at the next one wherever it is!
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Post by Angela on Feb 9, 2012 23:24:46 GMT -5
Becky I'm sure there will be plenty of work parties to come to this year - and we've added another two or three volunteers to this one so we are getting closer to having enough people to get all the work done!
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Post by beckyl on Feb 10, 2012 8:28:06 GMT -5
Cool beans. Thanks for all of your hard work putting this together!
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Post by Angela on Feb 12, 2012 10:13:59 GMT -5
We've lost two good workers for next Saturday's work party (one to a work schedule change and one to injury) and we still hadn't quite made it up to a good number to get the work done on the three crossings. We still need at least 4 or 5 more people. The weather is supposed to be in the low 60's next weekend. With rain predicted on Tuesday and Thursday, the trail should be in good condition to work those crossings. By now or early in the week some of you who were unsure of you schedule for next weekend probably have a better idea. Come out and ride Fats mid-morning then join us ....we try to keep work parties to a max of three to four hours but it takes having enough volunteers to do that. If you can help email me at sorba.csra@gmail.com If you are a member remember the drawing from volunteers working a set amount of hours and the great giveways (nightlight, bike work stand, bike tools, etc) each year at the Christmas party and get your volunteer hours in early .....much more fun to work on the trails when it is 60 than when it is 95.
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Post by Angela on Feb 17, 2012 0:12:42 GMT -5
We were finally up to 15 solid volunteers for the work party on Saturday unfortunately a change to the weather prediction has rain coming in mid-afternoon. As a result we moved the work party to 9am on Saturday morning (it should be in the 50's on Saturday morning - perfect for a work party). We did lose a few of our volunteers in the time change so if you find you are available to help on Saturday morning let me know - sorba.csra@gmail.com
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Post by money on Feb 17, 2012 20:02:41 GMT -5
I will be there.
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Post by Angela on Feb 18, 2012 0:26:03 GMT -5
Great see you in a few hours! We are parking in the parking lot to the left as you are entering FATS.
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Post by Angela on Feb 18, 2012 19:48:10 GMT -5
Another great work party - thanks to everyone who was able to make it out. We had a solid 15 volunteers signed up but uncertain weather caused us to move the work party to the morning at the last minute so we lost a few people. Fortunately we quickly picked up others and ended up with 14 regular volunteers and two dads brought three young gals between them to help out! Crew 1 headed off before I was able to snap their pics but once they had finished power line crossing #1 they hopped over to do a quick assessment of crossing #2 so I took a quick pic - Take a look at the transformation on crossing #1 (Skinny clock-wise) - great job crew #1! Before After Before After Crew # 2 focused on crossing #2 (Skinny - CW) - Before After The Bridge - before During After Part of crew #2 ended up on crossing #3 working on the "mudhole" before finishing up for the day.... A few days ago Today After - bricks were used to build up the trail where the mud hole had formed!
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Post by oddcouple on Feb 18, 2012 21:23:23 GMT -5
Rode at 430 today, the work is absolutely perfect.The less bricks the better.Thanks to all for the hard work.
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Post by money on Feb 19, 2012 19:18:33 GMT -5
We had a great time working with everyone yesterday. I can't wait to take my girls to ride skinny so that they can experience what all the hard work was about. Great job everyone.
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Post by dgaddis1 on Feb 20, 2012 7:58:17 GMT -5
Wow, nice job to everyone involved, looks great!
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