Pipeline Construction 2013

Please be advised that pipeline construction is underway and some of Ringwood State Park Brushwood section between Shepherds Lake and Ice Pond Rd is considered closed and signed accordingly. This is effective immediately until April 15 2013. The Ringwood-Ramapo (red) trail from Ice Pond Rd heading south to Skyline Dr remains open and is not effected by construction. Trail maintenance during this time time will meet at Reyerson School.

2012 Wrap Up

Looking back on last year, I feel as if we crossed a major milestone by completing re-routes on the Ringwood-Ramapo Trail to Skyline Project. We projected the project to take three to five years and at times some thought it could never be done. Three years later and now that it is done, there is much satisfaction each time I go out and ride this section.

Besides establishing a legal for bikes connector trail between Ringwood and Ramapo Mountain State Forest, the engineering project itself was quite ambitious, as the original trail was aligned in very steep rocky terrain. This project was our most challenging project to date, and has been a great learning experience in many ways. We both hope that we are better trail builders for gaining this experience.

After completion of this project in August, Art and I scheduled a well deserved break from trail work to absorb all that we had learned as well as to take the time to start the ground work for the next project. However, mother nature had it’s own plans, when Hurricane Sandy blew down many trees in Ringwood and Ramapo, leaving some areas un-passable by foot or bike. Thankfully, for the many volunteers that stepped up, we were out there working and clearing the trails before we had power and communications back at our homes. I suppose these parks are like home to many of us.

Many thanks to our hard working volunteers that give their time to our trails! Jorba volunteers logged 664 hours at Ringwood in 2012. Looking forward to new and exciting projects in spring!

Thanks to Nov 18 Volunteers

Once again, we have been blown away with all the volunteers that showed up today to give their love to the trails at Ringwood State Park. Ringwood is a very special park and it is great to see that so many others feel the same way. Today 22 volunteers came out to clear and repair trails after Hurricane Sandy. More fallen and uprooted trees than we could count were cut out as well as some re-routes built in a total of 116 hours. ... thanks all! Shepherds Lake to Skyline Dr is clear for riding and hiking.

Sandy Clean Up Continues

Ringwood State Park was hit pretty hard with Hurricane Sandy. As of November 14, the trails are technically still closed. Jorba is working hard to clear fallen trees and get things back to normal as quickly as possible.

The Ringwood Ramapo (red) trail has been cleared from Warm Puppy all the way out (yellow) and out to the top of Skyline Drive. In addition, the south end of the park including Catsnest has been cleared. This Sunday, crews will be working their way north on the Ringwood Ramapo and Skylands Trail to clear all the way down to Shepherd's Lake. Volunteers should rsvp to ringwoodmtb@gmail.com

In addition to Hurricane damage, the pipeline construction has begun. Please be aware of machine traffic on the pipeline and woods roads, as well as any temporary minor closures. Thanks and see you on the trails soon!

Ellen

Resetting the Stone

After last years Hurricane Irene, an up-rooted fallen tree up-lifted a stone bridge on the Ringwood Ramapo Trail that had been in place for longer than anyone could remember. The large stone remained hanging by a point on the root ball for almost a year until Jorba volunteer, James Bazzano came up with a plan to try and reset the stone onto a new and more stable footing.

James, along with Tom Pannorfi and Art assembled a pallet rack with 2 hoists with a 77 to 2000 lb. advantage to lift the stone and reset it on a new footing. The hoists needed to be re-situated several times by lifting and setting back down the stone until it reached a good placement. This whole process took half a day with assembly and moving.



Afterwards the tree was cut from the root ball, allowing the roots to settle back down and allow safe passage onto the newly placed stone bridge. Within minutes of completion, a frog and giant spider were checking out the new bridge.



A big thanks to James for the vision and know-how to make this happen, and to Tom and Art for lending a hand and volunteering their time and labor on Labor Day of course.

Dirty Thursdays 7/26 & 8/2

Last week we finished up our last re-route for 2012 on the Ringwood to Skyline Drive designated bike connector trail. This last section replaced about 50 feet of rocky road width trail with a longer section of swooping narrow trail that swoops west towards a view visible in winter. We also included a "B" line over a large rock roller that can be ridden both directions. The old section was reclaimed by aerating the tread and adding the duff and leaves removed from the new trail.


A & B lines


backside of the B line

After our work session, I walked up to the previous reroute to see how things were holding up. As I arrived at the site, I quickly spotted a pileated woodpecker taking off, and then was greeted with his crazy monkey sounding song. They are a really cool bird and are often sighted feeding on insects in the many rotting old trees in these woods. I was also delighted to see that the stand of ferns that had browned out and fallen flat in the drought a few weeks back, were now pushing up new growth with the recent rains. It is amazing how nature knows how to work things out all by itself.

Trail Maintainer Tip #1 - The Fall Line Issue

We do not have to look too hard to find the media flashing photos and videos of mountain bikers flying straight down a mountain. While many of us entertain the thought of doing this ourselves, a trail designed to do this is more than likely not a sustainable trail, and ultimately not ideal in most public lands that are maintained by volunteers. There is no doubt that it is much easier to fire up volunteers to build a re-route, than to repair an eroded fall line trail over and over again.

So what is fall line? Fall line is the shortest route traveling downhill, the same path that water flows. Trail users, gravity and water can erode trails, but if water is allowed to channel, this process is accelerated. I recall racing in West Virginia at a muddy ski area and followed the line of water down a trail and discovered the fastest line. While racers were slowed in mud trying to avoid the rocks and water, I flew right through on a firm eroded rock surface hidden beneath a path of water. I experienced first hand where the water went and what it could do to strip all the soil away. I may have won my race that day, but the life lesson on water was my most enlightening and vivid prize.

Building a sustainable trail that resists erosion can be done through proper design, construction and maintenance. I read in Dirt Rag that Jusitn Vander Pol, who is a long time rider, trail builder and maintainer in wet Seattle’s Tokul Creek Trails said “good trail building is 70% good routing”. Vander Pol takes pride in designing trails that drain and dry quickly in an extremely wet climate.

Ultimately, when routing a trail, the trail should be placed across the fall line with an approximate 5% out sloped tread to let the water sheet off the trail quickly before traveling down the trail. To determine maximum trail grade we use the half rule: trail grade should not exceed half the side slope. That rule is a pretty solid rule for keeping trails out of the fall line. Sometimes the rule can be stretched a bit on solid rock or with rock armoring, but if you are a trail designer, that rule should be at the front of your mind.

When choosing a route Art and I look for many things to make what we feel is the best trail. It is not just about going from A to B and adding cool technical features. Besides wanting riders to really enjoy riding the trail, we want the trail to last and be there years down the road. Some of the things we look for when planning a route: keeping the trail grade below half of the slope grade, places to add dips or grade reversals, interesting features (either for technical riding or nature enjoyment) and natural chokes to keep riders on the trail. End result: we have come to learn that some pretty amazing and sustainable trails can be built without aligning them in the fall line. When planning to build a trail, don't let yourself get sucked into the fall line lie.


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