Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Doing My Part

I told myself that I would make a better effort to do trail work this year.  I usually do quite a bit, but there have been lots of workdays lately that I've missed.  That all changed when I had a free morning on Sunday.


After spending a day in the Western North Carolina mountains, I decided to head to the other mountains.  You know, the Uwharrie National Forest.  Our local club, the Tarheel Trailblazers had a workday planned to take care of some maintenance issues.  We had a pretty big turnout for such a far away place and, after everyone grabbed tools and split up, we hit the trail.



We spent the first hour or so just walking the trail, clearing out drains and stuff like that.



After a while, we starting doing some other stuff.  After much riding, the trail had become wider than necessary in some spots.  We took care of a bunch of them with small reroutes, gathering rocks to redefine the original intended lines.


Before we started, the trail went straight through in that spot. The photo now shows the original line.  The trail will drain better now, and the riding experience will improve.  We ended up out there for a few hours and accomplished quite a bit.  I didn't get a chance to ride it directly afterwards, but I know it will be fun when I do. Besides, the trail needed some love, and giving back (by doing trail work) is sometimes a much better feeling than riding.  

I'm gonna make a point to do more of this kinda thing.  Maybe you can too.  Wherever you are, there are trails that could use your help.  Every little bit of work counts and it's appreciated by those that use it.  

Make it a point to find a way to get (more) involved in YOUR local trails.

I will too.

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