Hartshorne Trail maintenance info

[pooriggy]

How do you build sustainable lines with 10% grade in sandy Monmouth County soil ?

Add rock and armor the trail.

We've been adding rock to the Water Tower flow line for the last month or so. Everyone loves the work we did on this trail last year but it's just too steep for the soil structure and is really hard to maintain.

This rock should help keep the bikes from wearing down the tread and slow down the erosion process. Luckily we have the rock and the crew to make this happen.

We work every Monday from 9am-12pm. Come out and help if you can, we have a lot of projects ahead and we can use the help. Reach out to me for details.

This is native rock we added several weeks ago.

We dig the rock in and just leave the top exposed. Dirt washes off the tops when it rains and exposes the natural surface.

Original graveyard section, over the rock is the line.
Brian, Steve, Larry and Don.

 

[don]

Here are a few more pics I grabbed when I was leaving yesterday. It has been so nice to work with the stone. It's tough work but it was made a lot easier with Larry, UK Steve, Big Brian and Iggy and not digging into bone dry tread in 90 degree humidity!

It has pretty cool to see the evolution of TM work style on this part of the trail. Last year we made it a point to fill in the eroded bomb holes and make drainage ditches to get the water (and sand) off trail. That seemed to stabilized things and it was holding up well but with the traffic and dry summer the tops of the rollers for the drains were getting eaten up from braking on the steeper sections. During the end of summer and this fall we've been studying what was getting blown up and using the stones to enforce those areas.

For the amount of work, we could have cut miles of new trail but I think after a few more TM's this section should handle some abuse and it has been a great learning (and cross fit) exercise.

 

[Patrick]

Q for @pooriggy

Will there be yearly maintenance to keep the gaps filled?
Or just "wait and see" ?

I totally get how riding when soft, and then another rain comes along and exposes roots,
but these are arranged differently, and have multiple places to shed water.

Might be cool to document how it evolves over the next year or two.

 

[pooriggy]

Q for @pooriggy

Will there be yearly maintenance to keep the gaps filled?
Or just "wait and see" ?

I totally get how riding when soft, and then another rain comes along and exposes roots,
but these are arranged differently, and have multiple places to shed water.

Might be cool to document how it evolves over the next year or two.

We don't plan to keep gaps filled. We layed stone down to appear natural, as well as provide a functional line. We will wait and see how the rest of the trail holds up a year from now.

Honestly this whole trail is too much of a fall line and needs grade reversals but we are trying to make this work because it is a fun trail.

Placement of stone was dictated by wear patterns and erosion. If we saw brake bumps and grooved out eroded lines, that's where stone went. Like Don said, what ever looked blown out, we armored.

The last Pic I posted of volunteers with exposed rock is actually an old line that is good. It looks raw but if you're a local, you know the line.

 

[pooriggy]

On Monday we worked on the top of Laurel Ridge, there is a turn that did not work that I wanted to address (see map below). It required grabbing a lot of brake at the bottom of a chute to make a 90 degree hard right. Aside from being awkward, this line also carried water down the chute, making it an eroded mess.

The goal was to put in a sustainable line that flows. Don and I hashed this out prior to our session on Monday, so when the crew showed up we were flagged out and ready to dig. We installed a rolling grade dip which flows into a banked turn, this takes care of water issues and allows bikes to roll with minimal braking.

Don is also all about making it look appealing to all trail users, using available rock we created a raised bed and transplanted Laurels to create an organic water catch area to replace the eroded washed out exposed root and rock.

Lessons in TM are given every Monday at Hartshorne from 9am-12pm, come out, learn, get stronger and gain trail karma...don't cost nothin.

Map of turn on top of Laurel Ridge,

Flagged out new line w/grade dip, old line below.

Roughing in the turn.

Roughing in from the top.

Finish Grade top

Banked turn, with opened approach to flow the turn.

The Crew, Brian, Steve @don , Tim

 

[Frank]

Awesome work! Great to such good things going on.

 

[knobbyhead]

On Monday we worked on the top of Laurel Ridge, there is a turn that did not work that I wanted to address (see map below). It required grabbing a lot of brake at the bottom of a chute to make a 90 degree hard right. Aside from being awkward, this line also carried water down the chute, making it an eroded mess.

The goal was to put in a sustainable line that flows. Don and I hashed this out prior to our session on Monday, so when the crew showed up we were flagged out and ready to dig. We installed a rolling grade dip which flows into a banked turn, this takes care of water issues and allows bikes to roll with minimal braking.

Don is also all about making it look appealing to all trail users, using available rock we created a raised bed and transplanted Laurels to create an organic water catch area to replace the eroded washed out exposed root and rock.

Lessons in TM are given every Monday at Hartshorne from 9am-12pm, come out, learn, get stronger and gain trail karma...don't cost nothin.

Map of turn on top of Laurel Ridge,
View attachment 199517

Flagged out new line w/grade dip, old line below.
View attachment 199518

Roughing in the turn.
View attachment 199523

Roughing in from the top.
View attachment 199520

Finish Grade top
View attachment 199521

Banked turn, with opened approach to flow the turn.
View attachment 199522

The Crew, Brian, Steve @don , Tim
View attachment 199524

Thanks for fixing this corner, I hated it.

 

[mwlikesbikes]

FWIW I actually liked that hairpin turn. 😁 I did notice the start of the new line when I came down it on Sunday.
I need to use some PTO days to get off of work so I can go work some days with you guys.

 

[pooriggy]

We returned to the upper section of Laurel Ridge yesterday to work on the section of trail leading into the turn we worked on last week.

This area had become a conduit for water on the trail. We added a small reroute yesterday with rolling grade dips to keep water from running down the trail.

The reroute also flows better into the line we worked last week and looks much nicer. The old line was blown out from erosion and trail users seeking a good line.

Support mtbing. Volunteer on local trails, become a Jorba member.

Thanks Chad, Steve, @don , @knobbyhead , and Brian.

 

[Cole]

Plan on heading here for the first time tomorrow. Thansk for putting in the work!

 

[jdog]

Looking good!

 

[pooriggy]

This past Monday we worked our way down Laurel Ridge to the Red Dirt turn. The radius of this turn is tight and sandy due to runoff from higher up on the trail.

This area has bothered me for awhile, while the solution was somewhat simple, it takes time to think these things through. It has to be sustainable, ride better then the old line and not such a drastic change to change the footprint and feel of the trail.

Don helped me scout this out, there were several options and we played them all out. In the end a grade dip before the turn and a wider radius on the turn are what we came up with. We have a few more sessions to get this all in, but what we have so far rides well.

If you are available, come out and help us finish this project. We have a lot of plans but need your help to implement better trails.

Monday 9am-12pm Claytpit lot.

@don learning Eric

Clearing the log jam.

Benching a grade dip before turn

Finish Grade dip

The Crew, Brian, UK Steve, Beachboy Brian, Don, @knobbyhead.
These guys are a lean mean fighting machine, you want to get strong,
come build trails.

 

[don]

I got a chance to take some up and down runs on the area we've been working on yesterday. With the solid crew we had on Monday we got a bunch of work done and it still looked good even with the ton of strong rain we got Monday night.

The grade reversal/dip that @pooriggy put together is really fun and has a great feel to it both up and down and will definitely take water off the trail.

Brian @knobbyhead and I worked on the start of the left turn after the dip while the rest of the crew were cleaning brush and bench cutting the dip. One thing I've been adding on reroutes is transplanting trees from where we are clearing. They are usually saplings and take a couple of shovel to pop out with a little ball. It adds a bunch of work but I feel long term it goes a long way to replenishing the old trail area. There are a number of areas where you can see where the old trail was and some of those sections were closed for decades. Or a post and rail fence is used to block the old trail which really tarnishes the overall woods look IMO.

After riding it up and down a few times the last corner still needs some routing work and removal of all the years of sand/sediment sitting there but we should get that done on Monday.

Like Chris said come on out. I've heard LOTS of opinions but it's always the same core 10 people that come out.

 

[knobbyhead]

I got a chance to take some up and down runs on the area we've been working on yesterday. With the solid crew we had on Monday we got a bunch of work done and it still looked good even with the ton of strong rain we got Monday night.

The grade reversal/dip that @pooriggy put together is really fun and has a great feel to it both up and down and will definitely take water off the trail.

Brian @knobbyhead and I worked on the start of the left turn after the dip while the rest of the crew were cleaning brush and bench cutting the dip. One thing I've been adding on reroutes is transplanting trees from where we are clearing. They are usually saplings and take a couple of shovel to pop out with a little ball. It adds a bunch of work but I feel long term it goes a long way to replenishing the old trail area. There are a number of areas where you can see where the old trail was and some of those sections were closed for decades. Or a post and rail fence is used to block the old trail which really tarnishes the overall woods look IMO.

After riding it up and down a few times the last corner still needs some routing work and removal of all the years of sand/sediment sitting there but we should get that done on Monday.

Like Chris said come on out. I've heard LOTS of opinions but it's always the same core 10 people that come out.

View attachment 200562

View attachment 200560

I rode this today. It rode nice!

 

[don]

Cooler temps and smaller crew yesterday but still got a lot of little work done. The focus was to keep with "small" changes to the left hand corner at the end of the descent to get that correct radius but also have water shedding capabilities. @pooriggy and @knobbyhead dug out a nice sized stump to get the pitch just right. Beach Boy Brian and I transplanted 20 plus saplings to where the old trail was to rejuvenate it and properly close it off. We all kept a steady pace to keep warm and get shit done.

An artsy pic and a clearer one that shows the full path line of the lower section. We definitely earned the right to get seconds on Thanksgiving Day 😉

 

[ChrisG]

This is a significant and needed revision. This section has been degrading over the years, especially in the two corners at the top and bottom.

Old geezers will remember when there was simply a straight fall-line path that eventually disintegrated into a blown-out mess, which necessitated the revision that gave us the switchback at the top and the bench cut connecting to the bottom.

So now we have Version 3.0.

Thanks for all of your time and effort!

 

[don]

This is a significant and needed revision. This section has been degrading over the years, especially in the two corners at the top and bottom.

Old geezers will remember when there was simply a straight fall-line path that eventually disintegrated into a blown-out mess, which necessitated the revision that gave us the switchback at the top and the bench cut connecting to the bottom.

So now we have Version 3.0.

Thanks for all of your time and effort!

LOL - We were saying were are on Version 3.2. You can see where the previous 2 lines were if you look around a little. It's actually pretty interesting how they area evolved.

 

[jdog]

I think i'm ready for my first visit in a decade!

 

[Tim]

Got out for a ride yesterday after work. You guys are doing an awesome job! Thanks for the hard work you have been putting in!

 

[pooriggy]

We went back to the big sweeping turn we made last week and opened it up even more. After riding it last week it still felt a bit tight, so @don opened up the radius of turn again. This area is tough due to the fact that you carry so much speed into this turn.

After riding it the turn is as good as it can get, just stay high and you'll nail it. This line should firm up and burn in over time. After seeing the old line its easy to see why the turn was getting blown out with breaking, it was way to forced for the area.

We continue our Monday 9am-12pm sessions weather permitting.

The million dollar turn Crew. Thanks guys!
Brian, BB Brian, UK Steve & Don

Final Grade with wider radius.