I had been planning to ride Brown County tomorrow (Saturday) for a few weeks now, but with 90% chance of rain beginning first thing in the morning, I think I am going to have to pass.

I love Waverly, but have ridden there several times lately.

Haven't been to Capitol View in a while and the rain chances are minimal till the afternoon. Anyone want to ride there in the morning? Earlier the better for me, but I'm flexible.

I will love to see what the fine trail crew there has done this past fall and spring.

Posted by: maggie chickey
03 Jul 2009 10:08 AM

Hey chuckles, it's chickey. So I was thinking of going there today. hope it's good. it's either there or brown co. must convince the dude tho.

Posted by: Joe Jones
03 Jul 2009 12:56 PM

Hey Chuck I'm heading out there this afternoon...leaving in a few min. actually, but I could probably be talked into riding it again in the AM :)
I just moved here from northern IN a few months ago and would love to meet some fellow mtn bikers!

Posted by: Chuck Clark
03 Jul 2009 09:15 PM

Joe and I will be meeting by the kiosk at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning. All are welcome to join.

Posted by: Chuck Clark
04 Jul 2009 11:23 PM

Trail was in fine shape.

Managed to find a new section or two that looked fairly new. One is down by the little switchback where the refrigerator by the river used to be. There is a little river side trail that looks like it has flooded out several times. The other was near the back of the gravel lot where you climb the hill heading back toward the river. There's a little side loop here as well that is just bedding in.

The re-route of the climb to the field is really nice. I was actually surprised the rocky wash on the descent was still left. Like that section. Thanks to all involved with that!

One thing I did notice is that several of the trails are getting short cuts back and forth all over the place. I saw some obvious newer riders who were struggling to put together the loop. Don't know if that can be rectified.

Great cool day! Soon as I hit the interstate back home, rain drops fell on the windshield.

Oh, I managed to spot the rare and elusive Rowbear as I was leaving. You never know what you are going to see!

Posted by: Kevin Friddle
05 Jul 2009 09:53 AM

Hey Chuck, you couldn't imagine how bad those shortcuts bug me. We have closed them, and they keep coming back. I not sure why riders insist on taking all these cut thru's. So many people that are not used to the trail system get really confused about where to go. All I can say is Dumbasses.

Posted by: pat collins
05 Jul 2009 01:11 PM

Two words....vertical deadfall, we need to start using this approach more around here...Google it for consult your IMBA book, you can make a trail literally disappear that way.

Posted by: pat collins
05 Jul 2009 01:12 PM

hit submit twice

Posted by: Chuck Clark
05 Jul 2009 01:30 PM

Friddle,

I agree with Pat: sometimes laying sticks across the trail doesn't cut it. Vertical deadfall is a new term for me, but I get the point.

Couple of methods have worked for me. I've taken a pulaski and chopped up the connector trail. Then, I would take a metal leaf rake and raking all the leaves, limbs, cut leafy branches, etc. I could find onto the old trailbed. Done well, you can't even tell the trail was there.

The Japanese honeysuckle around here sucks for a variety of reasons, but it's great for closing trails or serving as a visual barrier when you orient the leaves toward the trail surface. Same thing with leafy vines.

Lastly, on the IMBA trail crew that came to Otter several years ago, we closed a huge washout of a fall line trail by planting small evergreens in a staggered formation. You couldn't see the trail at all.

Posted by: Joe Jones
05 Jul 2009 04:03 PM

Heya Chuck, thanks for showing me the trail yesterday and the help with the little chain issue :)
It took me about 5 min to fix it once I got home!
And also I agree, all those shortcuts make it a little confusing for someone who is riding there for the first time, I rode out there Friday afternoon and got a little confused a few times :)

On the upside the trail was in great shape and it's definitely a fun ride :)

Posted by: Kevin Friddle
06 Jul 2009 02:08 PM

I agree with you guys on how to really fix it, but to be honest There are only a handful of people that do trail work and we kinda try and do stuf on what we feel is more of a priority. You know I really do like riding a lot more then doing trail work, and I have only rode CV a handful of times this year.I did get some "hot times" on the race loop we set up though and I can you it's fast. Single speeds will love it.

Posted by: Richard Dixon
06 Jul 2009 02:21 PM

Another plug for the IMBA vertical deadfall technique. When done properly, you can hide a trail from yourself in a short period of time. (most easily done in the fall/winter)

Posted by: Chuck Clark
06 Jul 2009 03:22 PM

Friddle: No disrespect your way intended. Having done a fair share of trail building/maintenance myself, I very much thank you and the rest of the Cap View folk for putting in the time and energy there.

Posted by: nick leonard
08 Jul 2009 01:39 PM

i don't get to ride capital view as much as i used to be able to. now adays its pretty much getting a ride in after the blue grass state games race and maybe 1 other time during the year. I am amazed everytime i go there how much work has been done with reroutes and such. only old section that is gone that i miss is the section across the road that would lead you to the pine forest off the park property (for you new folks, i'm not talking about the archive building side of the highway). that section clamed a front wheel where it droped down to the old road bed. i snag a little root on that bank going down and over the bars i go and landed on my back on the old road bed. good times......great memories. that was my first bike with disc brakes and i was amazed i could ride that thing out.

Posted by: Chuck Clark
08 Jul 2009 09:52 PM

I took Joe down the road where that old trail across the road use to cross the roadbed. I, too, have some great memories of that trail including riding up and down that culvert where it became pitch black inside. It was pretty much grown over. Many sections never had enough canopy and the trail constantly turned into briars, stinging nettles and jungle in quick order. I remember going all the way up the power line clearing and doing the large loop at the top which netted nearly double the CV mileage at the time.

Posted by: Bob Belen
12 Jul 2009 08:18 PM

A few of us have been trying to open some of that up this year. I beleive Troy Hearn, Owner of Capital City Cycles here in Frankfort (Versailles Road) placed the orange markers in the trees to denote the trail. I went through in the late winter and cleared the trail of dead fall and such. The plan was to get people to start riding in as early as possible. However, the consistancy of the rains really kept us off that trail and the overgrowth took it quick. As many of you who do trail work know, it is hard enough to keep the existing trail open let alone new (or older trail) open too. Plenty of riders, but the laborers are few! Nice to see what was done at Cherokee for the race on short notice though! Myabe one day we can open that back up. Kevin, Dwayne and Harry put in a lot of time aout three -four years ago to get that back going. It just never tok off.