Where Does The Time Go?

September 1998

Where does the time go? It is already almost September and we are still in July. Let's see if we can get everyone up to date. When we talked last we were on our way to Arkansas to do the first official (but abbreviated) trail clinic. C.A.R.P. (Central Arkansas Recreational Peddlers) hosted the clinic and even with short notice 22 people listened to Mike and I ramble on about trails. Gary Lamb was gracious enough to let us hold the clinic in his beauty salon. This was challenging for us because those chairs that you get your hair washed in, recline. All it would take is for someone to start relaxing and before you know it they are fully reclined and snoring! Fortunately, when we headed to the trail to do some evaluation/work, everyone was still upright!

From Arkansas we headed to the home front of Conyers, GA. We were happy to be home for the World Cup race at the Olympic course held July 10th-12th. Up to this point, GA was in the middle of a drought, so the course was dry and weather hot. We had a great time working the booth and watching the race because we saw so many friends we had not seen in a while.

The next weekend we worked in Gainesville with our club, S.O.R.B.A. (Southern Off Road Bicycling Association). Mike and I started with a short session on how to identify problems and the rolling grade dip, then broke into two main groups. One group built a rolling crown switch back and the other worked on a reroute and a turnpike section. Tom and Belinda Saurret, along with countless volunteers, have made this trail system one of the best in GA. We are proud to be a (small, lately) part of such a hard working club. Thanks to everyone for their hard work and if you live in GA, you should go to a work day in your area and see what great people are out there working to give you great trails to ride on! Of course, we are not biased or anything, because this is what we see all over the country. So, get involved if you are not!

Enough preaching. From Georgia we headed to Roanoke, VA to teach our second trail clinic. This was held at Explore Park, in Roanoke, and was a three day session. The first day was devoted to land managers and was specifically tailored for their views. Kim Fredricks, from Golden, CO was there to help us in this area. Kim has been a manager for Jefferson County for twenty years and his knowledge on trail management was greatly appreciated. The next two days were open to anyone who had the desire to learn about trails. One full day in classroom talking about designing, building, and maintaining trails. Day two was a full day of work and trouble shooting on the trail. Everyone got the chance to evaluate and implement cures for potential problems on a trail. Thanks go to John Bolling, who manages a local Subaru dealership and Roger Ellmore, Explore park's director who handled all the local details for us and allowed us to use Explore Park's resources. This park is located right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway and along with having a five year plan to develop approximately thirty miles of single track, designed and built by mountain bikers, it offers a working history from the Indians that first settled the area to 19th century. We always enjoy going there for the beautiful mountains, riding and the history lesson!

With our brains totally tapped from the clinic, we took the long, slow, scenic route across to Indiana, where we had the pleasure of working in the small town of Shelbyville for the second year. The Robert Shaw Memorial Park has 2.5 miles of trail and a total of 40 feet of climbing. We could not ride this trail clean all the way through. It is built to be tight and technical, and if a tree falls, they leave it. Even with ramps built on either side of the log, they are difficult to ride. It just goes to show; challenge is what, and where you make it. Our dogs, Maggie and Chelsea, especially like visiting with their new friend, Angus. Angus is the biggest black lab that we have ever seen and was a wonderful host, and of course we can't forget the hours spent in a stare down with the cats. We (all four of us) can't wait to visit again and are waiting patiently for more of Gaye's wonderful cooking.

This brings us to the rest of our Indiana visit which will probably surprise you but, you are going to have to wait until the next update.

Take care

Mike, Jan, Maggie, and Chelsea Riter

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	Where Does The Time Go? September 1998 Where does the time go? It is already almost September and we are still in July. Let's see if we can get everyone up to date. When we talked last we were on our way to Arkansas to do the first official (but abbreviated) trail clinic. C.A.R.P. (Central Arkansas Recreational Peddlers) hosted the clinic and even with short notice 22 people listened to Mike and I ramble on about trails. Gary Lamb was gracious enough to let us hold the clinic in his beauty salon. This was challenging for us because those chairs that you get your hair washed in, recline. All it would take is for someone to start relaxing and before you know it they are fully reclined and snoring! Fortunately, when we headed to the trail to do some evaluation/work, everyone was still upright! From Arkansas we headed to the home front of Conyers, GA. We were happy to be home for the World Cup race at the Olympic course held July 10th-12th. Up to this point, GA was in the middle of a drought, so the course was dry and weather hot. We had a great time working the booth and watching the race because we saw so many friends we had not seen in a while. The next weekend we worked in Gainesville with our club, S.O.R.B.A. (Southern Off Road Bicycling Association). Mike and I started with a short session on how to identify problems and the rolling grade dip, then broke into two main groups. One group built a rolling crown switch back and the other worked on a reroute and a turnpike section. Tom and Belinda Saurret, along with countless volunteers, have made this trail system one of the best in GA. We are proud to be a (small, lately) part of such a hard working club. Thanks to everyone for their hard work and if you live in GA, you should go to a work day in your area and see what great people are out there working to give you great trails to ride on! Of course, we are not biased or anything, because this is what we see all over the country. So, get involved if you are not! Enough preaching. From Georgia we headed to Roanoke, VA to teach our second trail clinic. This was held at Explore Park, in Roanoke, and was a three day session. The first day was devoted to land managers and was specifically tailored for their views. Kim Fredricks, from Golden, CO was there to help us in this area. Kim has been a manager for Jefferson County for twenty years and his knowledge on trail management was greatly appreciated. The next two days were open to anyone who had the desire to learn about trails. One full day in classroom talking about designing, building, and maintaining trails. Day two was a full day of work and trouble shooting on the trail. Everyone got the chance to evaluate and implement cures for potential problems on a trail. Thanks go to John Bolling, who manages a local Subaru dealership and Roger Ellmore, Explore park's director who handled all the local details for us and allowed us to use Explore Park's resources. This park is located right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway and along with having a five year plan to develop approximately thirty miles of single track, designed and built by mountain bikers, it offers a working history from the Indians that first settled the area to 19th century. We always enjoy going there for the beautiful mountains, riding and the history lesson! With our brains totally tapped from the clinic, we took the long, slow, scenic route across to Indiana, where we had the pleasure of working in the small town of Shelbyville for the second year. The Robert Shaw Memorial Park has 2.5 miles of trail and a total of 40 feet of climbing. We could not ride this trail clean all the way through. It is built to be tight and technical, and if a tree falls, they leave it. Even with ramps built on either side of the log, they are difficult to ride. It just goes to show; challenge is what, and where you make it. Our dogs, Maggie and Chelsea, especially like visiting with their new friend, Angus. Angus is the biggest black lab that we have ever seen and was a wonderful host, and of course we can't forget the hours spent in a stare down with the cats. We (all four of us) can't wait to visit again and are waiting patiently for more of Gaye's wonderful cooking. This brings us to the rest of our Indiana visit which will probably surprise you but, you are going to have to wait until the next update. Take care Mike, Jan, Maggie, and Chelsea Riter


Help \| Site Map \| Copyright