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Post by Paul on Aug 9, 2007 13:39:42 GMT -5
The ACOE is adding a new trail from Petersburg trailhead to Wildwood Park. Look across the street from the Petersburg trailhead and you will seen pink flagging tape. The ACOE is looking for volunteers to help build this trail. Contact me or the ACOE if you would like to help.
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Post by bikerides4us on Apr 16, 2008 9:58:10 GMT -5
Looking for info on "volunteers" for finishing this trail . When this trail is finished it Will be the "missing link" for a ride from the West Dam on to the Keg Creek ride . That would be an estimated 25-30 mile ride . I have talked to a few who have ridden this new link in low low gear . Great thigh builder LOL . Needs work to finish . Several are anxious to help finish the link if anyone has info ? WSC
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Post by seenvic on Apr 16, 2008 10:37:36 GMT -5
I am interested in seeing a trail built.
I am not interested in a 10-12 mile rake n ride.
There is a huge difference. One is worthwhile. One is simply not worthwhile. We have too many high quality trails to think a 10-12 mile rake n ride will get "ridden in" in short order.
What will happen is a corridor will be cleared, a line will be raked in. Some people will go ride a bike there once....and never go back. Others will ride the living hell out it. And those others will be on horses, 4 wheelers and motorcycles. These methods of transport have the horsepower needed to propel oneself in a forward motion when riding on an organic layer of raked tread. It will not be fast. Riding a bike will be very inefficient and even when going downhill, if you stop pedaling, you will either slow down to a crawl or stop rolling altogether.
The project is a good one. But it needs to be done right. I would not like to see large numbers of volunteers (from SORBA) out on this project unless we are building trails properly. And the reality is.....we don't have the numbers of people willing to swing hand tools for the effort it takes to really build a trail. 10 miles by hand is 52,800 linear feet. At 20 feet per man hour (and that is twice what reality is)....this is 2,640 volunteer hours. This is no bridges to be built, no culverts to put in. If estimated in reality, this project would take over 5,000 volunteer hours....just to build the tread. I just don't think this is reality.
I won't stop anyone from doing what they want to do. I will just warn from experience that your time and effort needs to be spent removing the entire organic layer and the tread you leave needs to be in-organic material that will compact quickly and offer a firm, solid tread to be able to propel a bike across. And the going rate for volunteer built trails is about 10 feet per man hour.
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Post by bike50percent on Apr 17, 2008 7:45:09 GMT -5
The new trail from Petersburg Camp ground to Wildwood is a special piece of land . More scenic than any of the other parts of Bartram Trail . There is a tree down right at the start of the Petersburg end and one about a mile in . Lot of lake view !
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Post by seenvic on Apr 17, 2008 8:43:55 GMT -5
The new trail from Petersburg Camp ground to Wildwood is a special piece of land . More scenic than any of the other parts of Bartram Trail . There is a tree down right at the start of the Petersburg end and one about a mile in . Lot of lake view ! All the more reason to build the trail right in the first place. Key word here is build. A bike trail is not built with a rake and that was my only point about why I am not jumping up and down to help. |
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Post by flyingbison on Apr 17, 2008 16:06:42 GMT -5
And how does a fallen tree on differentiate this trail from, oh I don't know, FATS/Turkey/Modoc/HK/Baker/(name your favorite "constructed" trail here)?
While I understand your point, pointing to a downed tree as a result of poor construction is specious.
On the flip side, another important issue that needs to be included in these discussions is the matter of resource availability to maintain the growing number of miles of trail. A volunteer organization can only stretch so far. We determined that after FATS is done, we will have 150 miles to maintain - a great problem to have, but a potential problem none-the-less.
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Post by bike50percent on Apr 18, 2008 9:09:00 GMT -5
Thanks to who ever moved the big tree on the new trail link between Wildwood and Petersburg . It was gone early this morning ? Looks like someone has been cutting and digging ? Doesn't look like they raked though ? Please do not cut any of the Dogwoods ! FYI Three non-riders down on Keg Creek .
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Post by dparrott on Apr 20, 2008 21:21:53 GMT -5
COE rangers are doing a bit of the "digging". The section of Bartram from P'burg to Wildwood can be divided into 2 sections. The first, from P'burg to the Columbia County Water Works road is ~ 2 1/2 miles. I'd guess the whole piece is about 9 miles. SORBA is currently engaged with COE and the Central Savannah River Land Trust to secure a grant to professionally build this 9 mile segment. A number of traps have to be run to make this happen. A few years ago, the grant process for this was ultimately unsuccessful but we're hopeful that things can come together on this. If this is successful, construction would still be a ways off.
The section from PB to WW road is considerably different from WW Rd to Wildwood. Right at P'burg, a reroute was done to avoid a new septic drainfield for the PB Campground. This is ~ 1/4 mile and has been cleared but the tread has not been established. There are a few bridges in place. One is in bad shape but a short reroute has been flagged around it. The other bridges will have their planks replaced by 48" boards. About 90% of this section is on tread designed for hiking in the 1970's and under the duff lies a firm surface. Relatively little "rake 'n' ride" is involved. There are a very few stretches where benching or other dirt work will be required.
The section from WW road to Wildwood is a different story. Considerably more dirt work is involved. There are far more reroutes and a number of bridges to be designed and built.
So the piece from P'burg to Waterworks Rd will most likely happen whether the grant goes through or not and will take a relative small amount of effort to complete. Optimistically, it could be this summer! And, at the end - at Water Works Rd, there is a shady picnic table which would make a nice snack stop at the turn-around. I'm afraid the continuance into Wildwood will need $ to get heavy equipment in to form the tread.
Stay tuned - things are happening on the GA side of the river!!
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Post by bikerides4us on Apr 21, 2008 8:28:38 GMT -5
Me and several others want to answer the initial post for volunterring
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Post by pedalpusher on Apr 21, 2008 8:32:06 GMT -5
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Post by azdrawdy on Apr 21, 2008 19:19:14 GMT -5
Dale: Your post sounds awesome. If we can get away from all the other trail work locally, we'll try to get out there with you. We just haven't really slowed down the past couple of years it seems.
I enjoy riding Petersburg a couple of times a month, but it sure does seem short (i.e. flat, flowing and not much elevation change). Add another dozen or so miles and WOW! That could be a blast.
Michael
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Post by bike50percent on Apr 22, 2008 14:01:12 GMT -5
Found a cell phone on the new trail between Petersburg and Wildwood early this morning (Tuesday). Was covered with dew . Looked like new though . Sitting on a old tree stump with a bag full of chic-fil-a's . Reply to claim .
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Post by bikerides4u on May 19, 2008 10:26:52 GMT -5
Rode parts of the new trail from Petersburg Camp Ground to Wildwood Sunday . Someone is doing work on it ? Seems to be coming around slowly but real nice . Love the woopdy-doos bunched together , about 1.5--2 miles from Petersburg .Once the trail is finished you will be able to get air born there . Real high !
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Post by pedalpusher on Jul 7, 2008 7:37:27 GMT -5
COE rangers are doing a bit of the "digging". The section of Bartram from P'burg to Wildwood can be divided into 2 sections. The first, from P'burg to the Columbia County Water Works road is ~ 2 1/2 miles. I'd guess the whole piece is about 9 miles. SORBA is currently engaged with COE and the Central Savannah River Land Trust to secure a grant to professionally build this 9 mile segment. A number of traps have to be run to make this happen. A few years ago, the grant process for this was ultimately unsuccessful but we're hopeful that things can come together on this. If this is successful, construction would still be a ways off. The section from PB to WW road is considerably different from WW Rd to Wildwood. Right at P'burg, a reroute was done to avoid a new septic drainfield for the PB Campground. This is ~ 1/4 mile and has been cleared but the tread has not been established. There are a few bridges in place. One is in bad shape but a short reroute has been flagged around it. The other bridges will have their planks replaced by 48" boards. About 90% of this section is on tread designed for hiking in the 1970's and under the duff lies a firm surface. Relatively little "rake 'n' ride" is involved. There are a very few stretches where benching or other dirt work will be required. The section from WW road to Wildwood is a different story. Considerably more dirt work is involved. There are far more reroutes and a number of bridges to be designed and built. So the piece from P'burg to Waterworks Rd will most likely happen whether the grant goes through or not and will take a relative small amount of effort to complete. Optimistically, it could be this summer! And, at the end - at Water Works Rd, there is a shady picnic table which would make a nice snack stop at the turn-around. I'm afraid the continuance into Wildwood will need $ to get heavy equipment in to form the tread. Stay tuned - things are happening on the GA side of the river!! |
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Post by pedalpusher on Jul 7, 2008 7:49:52 GMT -5
Okay , I officially verified this "Bartram Extension" this weekend and the trail does not need to be built , the trail is there . Looks old , real old . Does need maintinence . The trail reminds me of pieces of Hickory Knob , FATS , Keg Creek and yes Bartram Trail . It looks to have a little for everyone , beginners to intermediate and on to expert . So this Saturday July 12 ( 9:00 am Petersburg parking lot ) , forget about dollar signs for once and come out and show your support for the sport of Mountain Biking ! Thanks Dale .
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Post by jp3 on Jul 7, 2008 13:44:39 GMT -5
Julie and I should be able to make it.
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Post by dparrott on Aug 3, 2008 21:30:16 GMT -5
The extension of Bartram Trail from the Petersburg trailhead to the Columbia County Water Works Road is open for business with an estimated length of 2 1/2 miles one way. There's a picnic table next to the trail just before exiting the woods at the CCWW Rd.
There's still some work to do. Biggest job involves the East side of a dip just before CCWW Rd. Then there will be replacement of planks on the 2 existing bridges plus completion of blazing and mileage markers.
Please exercise caution at the P'burg road crossing. I believe COE will erect signs there.
This section of Bartram is a little more demanding than the West Dam to P'burg section. The corridor is a little narrower with more dips and ramps requiring more gear shifting. The idea is to afford a progression of skill level such that once the existing trail is mastered, this piece will present a small step up.
Thanks to all who have helped make this possible and especially to the COE staff who have been super supportive. There may be a COE sponsered "Grand Opening" in conjunction with the SORBA-CSRA Bike Fest in November.
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Post by lotasports on Aug 4, 2008 13:10:33 GMT -5
Dude , you done good on this trail ! I ride Bartram regularly for fun and speed ,but , Man I was not expecting the kick-azz of the new extention ! I thought it would be eazy like the older Bartram ! It was a hell of a work out ! Only Fats has kicked my tail like that ! This new extention kinda blew at the start , I guess because it was a new spongy re-route but as soon as we got on the old ( New) Bartram WHOW ! I had to walk a bunch on the way back , I got an excuse , my bike was not shifting properly . That one guy was right , its like Keg Creek on steroids . Its 5 miles round trip of hard pedaling , It don't gradually climb then a down hiller for a long time like "Tower",rather its up and down with lots of shifting and burning with no real rest ! Love it ! Caution : Not for the weak at heart . This works good for me . When me and my wife and kids camp at Petersburg they can go ride the flat eazy Bartram towards Lake Springs and Now I can go do my own thing on this new pounder . Its a pounding ride ! Hey would should could call it "THE DAWG POUND" ?
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Post by bikerides4u on Aug 11, 2008 14:42:44 GMT -5
"still some work to do " . Work party ?
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Post by JIMMYC on Aug 22, 2008 9:23:34 GMT -5
I had a chance to ride the new part of the Bartram Trail. My hats off to you guys, it's a great addition.
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