Questions from interested cyclists and answers from Woody about the Dingo and Trail Maintenance:
Question: I thought the IMBA "standard" for single-track was 48" or slightly more. Some handlebars are nearly 30 inches wide. I admit to not seeing those published standards in a couple of years so I could be way off. But if you need 30" for handlebars, you certainly need a little more for the trail--even if the tires only need six inches.
Just because IMBA may have arbitrarily set a standard for what singletrack "should be" does not mean we should go out and start bulldozing trails to meet their expectations. Maybe 48" doesn't seem wide for a trail out in the Utah desert, ... Does this mean that any trail on which this machine is used will have to be at least 41" wide? Doesn't it bother anyone to think of what could happen to all the beautiful singletrack in this area if it is used for regular trail maintenance?
Answer: IMBA did not set a standard width for a singletrack trail. It never did and never will. I have no idea where anyone got this idea from, but it was not from IMBA trailbuilding manuals. The IMBA standards (really more like guidelines) have to do with trail grades to make them sustainable, not trail width. The reality is that if you cut a trail with a 48" width it will become a nice narrow single track trail much faster here than in Utah. Things grow much faster here.
What defines "singletrack"? Is it 12" or maybe 24" or maybe even 36"? There is no standard for what qualifies for single track. If a trail was in fact only 18" wide, where would you pass another trail user if you encountered one, especially a horse? I am not in favor of making really narrow trails wide, but would guess that what most folks consider to be "singletrack" is wider than they think. In trail terminology we use words like:
The Dingo can go in and work on trails without producing a wide 41" highway, but the key is a good operator and finish work after the machine is done.
Question: I admit a large measure of ignorance regarding the Dingo. I have never seen it and do not know its capabilities. However, just because the bike club got a great deal on a piece of heavy machinery doesn't mean it is the best thing for our area.
Answer: I will prove different over time. Come work with me and the Dingo and I will change your mind.
Question: My own philosophy though, is that trail maintenance in most areas should be absolutely minimal, limited to removing the larger fallen trees, and putting water turnouts only in places that are severely eroding.
Answer: The idea behind trail maintenance is to prevent erosion. There is no such thing as an acceptable amount of erosion. The problem with erosion is that once it starts, it does not quit. It is at work when it is raining and when you are asleep. Where does the dirt go that used to be on the trailtread? All too often it ends up in our streams and rivers. Sediment is the #1 polluter of mountain streams. It kills the fish, and therefore water quality has to start with trails that will not erode.
The number one enemy of trails is poor design (fall line instead of contouring). We have tons of examples of poorly designed trails in this area. Most of them are old logging traces. If the design of the trail is bad, you will always have to worry about the number two enemy of trails: water. Get the water off the trail as often as possible if you want to save the trail. We all have seen a trail or two change in the time we have been mountain biking, whether it has been five years or ten. If the trail is changing (eroding) in that short time span, how will it look 50 - 100 years from now?
Question: I know I am not alone when I say that I like to ride trails that present some technical challenge. When I ride a mountain bike, I am not looking for a broad, smooth lane on which the only technical challenges are a multitude of man-made water barriers.
Answer: Ditto, me too. But I also like smooth and fast trails. For me the key is variety. I don't like the Tsali because all the trails are the same. The Dingo can build and help maintain really smooth and fast trails, but it can also be used to bring in big rocks as an optional ride over. The key of good work, whether by hand or with the Dingo, is to not greatly alter the intended flow or feel of the trail. The trail worker should not take a very difficult trail and turn it into an easy one, and also a easy trail should not be made to be gonzo. Manmade water barriers should blend in and look natural. If they are designed into the trail from the start, they are called grade reversals and look quite natural. If the trail needs a little after the fact due to poor design, we call these grade dips. They can be done really poorly, like the ones done with machine in Pisgah by a Forest Service contractor, or they can be done so they ride very nice and un-noticeable.
Question: Personally, I like a few rocks and logs, and even some ruts and erosion in the trail. That is why many of us ride full suspension bikes.
Answer: I also like some rocks and roots; it adds flavor and fun to the trail. If, however, there are rocks and roots on a beginner trail, a new trail will develop around those obstacles. Not everyone rides a full suspension bike. I have four dualies (full suspension) and one hardtail, and I ride the dualies way more than the hardtail. This choice has indeed made rides that used to be hard much easier now. I have a 5" travel "big hit" bike that soaks up most everything. It is not fair for me to say that there is no challenge on a certain trail just because I can afford a big travel bike. Many folks are going to single speed bikes with no suspension, and I know guys who race 100 mile races on these. This is certainly one way to put back challenge into trails that otherwise seem to have become boring because you ride them all the time.
Question: Near the fish hatchery last year, I witnessed a broken collarbone directly attributable to the mud.
Answer: Mud on a trail is not a good thing, but there are many places with mud that were not caused by a machine. Mud is the result of a poorly draining trail. Remove the water from the trail and there will not be mud. This can be done with hand tools or the Dingo. I also know many people who have had crashes due to erosion gullies. A friend who was over for New Year's Day had just broken her wrist in such a fall. But I also have seen many a crash resulting from the rocks and roots and technical sections. If one out of 100 riders crashes, it is a problem with the rider. If 50 out of 100 riders crashes in the same spot, then we may have a problem we need to look at. If 80 out of 100 riders crash in the same spot, then maybe we should remove the thing making people crash, be it mud, a rock or a root.
Question: Perhaps the worst of these are the Forest Service-maintained trails to which you referred, and I admit I was unaware of their involvement. Spencer Branch trail in Mills River, trails around the fish hatchery in Pisgah Forest, and trails in Bent Creek, to name a few, have, in my opinion, been severely damaged by over-maintenance. I am concerned that this is a trend for the future.
Answer: This was contract work done for the Forest Service by someone who did not know what they were doing. The Forest Service caught a bunch of flak from the public about this work; none of them liked what was done. We held a Mechanized Trail Building School in DuPont last spring as a direct result of this bad machine work. This week long school was offered to only land managers, and we used a number of machines including the Dingo and Sweco. We had Forest Service folks, State Park staff, and State Forest staff attend this school. It was a great week. The key to good machine work is knowing what you are doing and to do finish work by hand. Ed Sutton and I have started a trail building business called Trail Dynamics to help make sure that in the future, if there is contract work to be done in Pisgah, it can be awarded to someone who knows and uses trails.
Question: My main point of contention is that there are far too many water turnouts on these trails. In many places there are turnouts where there is no noticeable flow of water, or even a slope in the trail. In a few instances the turnouts do not channel water from the trail at all, but just collect water behind them in pools. In some places, water barriers are so large and of a shape as to pose a danger to riders, especially when encountered unexpectedly, where there used to be none.
Answer: Have you ever been on this trail in the pouring rain? I spend a lot of time on trails in the rain, and that is what really tells you if water is running the trail. If water is running your trail for a good distance, there may not be signs of erosion yet--but there will be. Trail users loosen soil, and the more users there are the more soil is loosened. When it rains and the water runs the trail, this soil gets taken away. If water never gets running fast enough to pick up soil due to good design of the trail and frequent water turnouts, then the soil will stay on the trail tread instead on getting into the water sources.
Question: I remember reading messages on this list in the past year about someone "sabotaging" some of the trail maintenance that had been done on the Burnt Mountain trail in DuPont. While I don't agree with their tactics, I certainly do agree with their reason for doing it, and admit to having thought about such things myself...
Answer: The Burnt Mountain trail sabotage was due to making a drop which made the trail more difficult, not easier as you seem to be wanting to warn against. The drop off was a locust reinforced grade dip design to pull water off a steep section of that trail. We had a serious erosion problem occurring and this had to be done before we lost that section of trail. We replaced the sabotaged area and it will not be removed again. Shame on you for thinking about doing stuff like this yourself. In truth, we all have thought about monkey wrenching some of the water bars that the hiking clubs like so much to install. Water bars do not work; grade dips are the water diversion tool of choice.
Question: I have so far not participated in any club sponsored maintenance sessions, but I have done plenty of trail maintenance on my own, both during the course of rides, and on my own weekend campout/trail maintenance excursions. It's amazing what one can accomplish with nothing more than a hand saw.
Answer: Thanks to anyone and everyone who does a little work here and there on your own. The problem with this is that we, as a club, do not get credit for your efforts, and they go unrecorded in the eyes of the land manager. We need club work projects and good recording of such. It could be said that the reporting of work done is at least as important as the work itself. As a club, we need to improve this aspect of our work. In DuPont, I can tell you exactly how many hours we volunteered for the past three years, and what projects got done when. The other problem with just working by yourself is that you do not get a chance to share your thoughts on what should be done, or not done, with me or whoever the crew boss for that area is. We also do not get a chance to share our knowledge with you on proper technique.
Question: I have to say that using the Dingo or other machine for trail maintenance is certainly not all bad. And I must express my appreciation to all the volunteers who put forth the effort to care for the trails that we all use.
Answer: If we always had 10-20 BRBC members show up for each and every work project we had, then perhaps the need for the Dingo would not be there and we could complete many good trail projects using hand tools. This simply is not the case. The Dingo is intended to make sure that those of us who have committed effort to trail maintenance can be as effective as possible, without the help of 10-15 other strong backs that are needed on a regular basis. The Dingo is a strong back and I, either by myself or with one other volunteer, can do the work of a whole crew in the same amount of time.
That is all for now....
Congratulations on your recently acquired Dingo! I wish to take this opportunity to thank you and your 'friends' for all of your efforts to improve the mountain bike community and trails. Every hour dedicated to swinging a pulaski, writing a grant, or communicating as a whole as displayed in your email, can be appreciated due to the simple fact that it creates an entity the government has to recognize. The more they recognize us, the more likely we can get our tax dollars back for the things that our user group actually uses. I hate as much as the next person that a very high percentage of my tax dollars goes to entirely too many things that I will never use, but I will keep asking for those dollars to go towards our kind of projects. It makes me feel good to hear successful grant stories like yours.
I hope that the developments in your area bring in tourist dollars to benefit your efforts and relieve your tax burden. I hope many people recognize and contribute to your efforts. You've got a good thing going! This may all sound self evident, but it is sometimes good to hear from someone other than yourself. Just a few words of encouragement because it is evident that there is not enough thanks going around.
Happy Trails in 2003
Eric Turner
UMBA Trails Coordinator
Spartanburg, SC
© Blue Ridge Bicycle Club Inc. 2004