in CamRock (Moderator: TheMayor1)

So we are going to give it a go with year two of the CamRock Trail Posse. Frankly it went so well last year that I would be crazy not to do it again. The crew last year really did CORP and the CamRock Trail System proud. If you see one of these brave men or women on the trail, you best give them a big 'ol thanks. Or better yet, buy them a beer. You could carry one with you but it would get warm. Better yet tell them what you are doing, then head on over to CamRock Sport or Heather's and buy a tab for them. Spread the love They can get it when they are done and thirsty at the end of the day.

You say you love riding the CamRock trails but are new to the area? Or you missed out on this last year? You want to be showered with gratitude and free beer? Well never fear! We just happen to have some openings so that you can lend a hand this year
Here is how it works: I set up a system to basically "adopt" a section of trail and call it your own. In other words, if you see it needs some love, give it to her. If it needs it and she is not getting it, I might send you a gentle reminder. But I am thinking of just a better way to divide the duties, not hand out any shaming. Folks here want to help. This is hopefully a better way to so it. And once you learn "your" trail section you will have a better idea of the tools and effort needed. I don't expect anyone, mostly me, to be perfect. We are here to ride bikes and have fun after all!

I will get you set up with access to the tools needed. You can take care of things as your schedule allows. No waiting for "scheduled maintenance days" etc. If you can squeeze in an hour before, or after, a ride? Perfect! I have divided up the trails into sections that should be able to be maintained in about an hour per month. Obviously the needed maintenance varies throughout the year depending on terrain and sun exposure. Some months it might take a little more, some it may take none. I try to lay that out in the trail descriptions. And I am thinking the basic maintenance a trail needs like removing sticks, lopping branches, mowing grass. Larger issues like erosion needing work days will still be tackled by trail crews.
So what do you get beyond being one of the cool cats, and the respect of your peers? Well that is pretty much it, other than the satisfaction of a job well done. While I hear there might be a free brewski involved from one of our sponsors, or maybe a trail maintenance crew party, I can't make guarantees. Still working on details. And did I mention that you will have the admiration of all of your peers :-*

So here is how it divides up. I have listed in red the sections that I believe are taken for the year already. I will post up and update things as I get more information or others post up:
Trail Sections                                                        General Idea on Maintenance Needs
White River and north 1/2 of Beaver Hole - Mowing maintenance in summer mowing season. Little to none in off seasons. Sun Prairie Youth Cycling Team
South 1/2 of Beaver Hole and Fat Tracks - Mowing maintenance in summer. Some lopping of trees. Blowing leaves. Minimal in off seasons. Sun Prairie Youth Cycling Team
IMBA Influence and Veritas Loop - Weed Whacker trimming and lopping. Blow leaves. Possible big storm cleanup in non-growing season. Thom Hineline
Area 51 and Outback - Weed whacker trimming and lopping. Blow leaves. Possible big storm cleanup in non-growing season. Thom Hineline
CORP Connector: From Expert woods south through Rip N' Ride to Roundabout - Almost all mowing. Lopping when raspberries are growing. Nothing after grass stops growing in late August. Jeff Mueller
CORP Connector: From Roundabout north through Burr Oak Breezeway to Expert Woods - Almost all mowing. Lopping when raspberries are growing.  Not much after grass stops growing in late August. Could use a blow of leaves around November. Scott Mills
Cliff Edge - Mowing with weed whacker. Some lopping. Leaves in fall.  John Sypniewski
Turn It Up, Stonefly, Corkscrew, Rattlesnake. - Minimal in summer - lopping/trimming trees. Fall and spring walk to remove sticks branches. Needs blown a couple of times in the fall, and possibly once in the spring. Scott Fenton
Would Chuck? & Mayors Meander - Mowing in summer. Minimal trimming of sumac area and woods. Nothing after grass stops growing in late August. Scott Fenton
Beer Run, Beer Cave, Gettin' Started and Drop In - Some trimming with weed whacker in summer. Some lopping. Sticks and leaves in fall and spring. Mike the Cycle Tech

I tried to divide these up by amount of work and the tools needed. Like you can do all mowing with either a trimmer or the big mower. You should not need both.
You and a buddy or two want to share the duties? Fantastic! Anything and everything that you think you can do will be a help. You want to adopt more than one of the above sections? Wonderful. You have an inkling to give even more and line up your own crew for large jobs on "your" trails, like you see an issue with erosion? Great! Then I can give you the advice or supervision if you need it. Otherwise just let me know and I will inspect and we will come up with a plan together.
The trails will all need mowing before the Battle of CamRock coming up on June 1st. The week before the race we will need effort from everyone to get the trails in top-notch shape for the race. I really hope you can help out. 
Let me know of any questions here. Or give me a call at 6:ZERO:8 7:SEVEN:2 7:EIGHT THREE:3.

Is there a maintenance check list for the mower listing the items that Walt noted after he rebuilt the engine? We need to keep track of the number of operating hours to make sure the oil is changed when needed.

As per noted on another post: Lets try and use this thread to notify each other if you are planning on coming out and will need certain equipment. Also if you are taking equipment for use.
Please also post up if things are needed: Need more fuel, need more oil, something needs sharpening, a piece of equipment is not running right, etc.
Lets go with this plan unless someone chimes in with a better idea.

For today: The TTF Crew is working in the Outback and on Area 51 today. There will be dirt moved (17 yards just delivered) and wooden structures built. To that end the trailer and some hand tools are in use.
The DR Mower is also in use. Both for these projects and Jeff plans to use it on the Connector.

As noted elsewhere it is time to rattle the bushes and get the trails in shape for The Battle of CamRock. Yes it is going on 10 days from today! That means by next Thursday we need to have everything in tip-top shape! And I am out of town from Wednesday through Friday :P
I have updated the above list of trails and Trail Posse folks. Let me know if something looks wonky or does not make sense to you. I would like folks to chime in on whether they can get to their section of trail or trails and make them all spiffy for the race. That of course means in the next week. Just post up
I talked to Don Edberg last night at CamRock Sport. He wanted me to remind the folks that were mowing that the way he likes the trails mowed for the race is not right up the middle. He wants passing lanes. The overtaking rider needs to be able to ride hard enough to overtake the rider who is in the singletrack, but not be blocked by the tall plants. I don't think we need to do this everywhere, but where it makes sense, particularly in the straight sections, try and mow an extra pass to one side. At least in some areas. This should be a lot easier this year with earlier race date, and therefore shorter prairie plants. 
Also note there is one section of trails that does not yet have a posse member assigned. As expected we have a couple of changes with folks moving, etc. Let me know of you want in. And if we get more than we need we could pair you with someone else for a section. Heck we already have some shwag waiting for members of the posse. Just sitting in the CORP garage waiting for you

Sweet! So the last unmanned section of CamRock trails is dialed in! That was quick. My bad as Mike had spoken up before that he was not just a rider, but wanted to help out as well. So if you have needs on your motorized two wheeler (or even ATV's). Head on over to Mike. We can do no better than to support those that support us! Thanks Mike!

Now get out and get those trails in shape

I thought I would do a quick synopsis of what the trail needs are to get done in the week between now and when we need to be ready for The Battle of CamRock:

Trail Sections                                                     General Idea on Maintenance Needs
White River and Beaver Hole - Mowing. Grass is growing super fast. The nettles are too! Open prairie section on White River, and all of Beaver Hole. Also hit the really rough section on White River from the woodchuck holes and smooth the trail out. Sun Prairie Youth Cycling Team
Fat Tracks - Trim the south 100' of the trail before the bridge. Thom could you get this with a weedwacker while doing the other sections? Thom?
IMBA Influence and Veritas Loop - Could really use some more water removal. It is holding water and staying wet in areas. I got some of this done. I started on the top section of Veritas, from the Outback intersection to about 1/2 way down the hill. The first climb on IMBA influence is the worst area. Thom Hineline
Area 51 and Outback - Nothing needed for race as neither is used in the race. But lots of folks will be riding so we want things to look good. Outback could use some water removal, cleaning leaves and dirt from drain areas, etc, if there is time.  Thom Hineline
CORP Connector: From Expert woods south through Rip N' Ride to Roundabout - Mow! Mow! Mow! Remember the passing lanes. Jeff Mueller
CORP Connector: From Roundabout north through Burr Oak Breezeway to Expert Woods - Mow! Mow! Mow! Remember the passing lanes. Scott Mills
Cliff Edge - Nothing needed before the race as it is not a part of the race. Getting it trimmed back regularly will make it easier through the season though.  John Sypniewski
Turn It Up, Stonefly, Corkscrew, Rattlesnake. - I think it is pretty dialed in. A couple of areas you did not get to on the Trail Day could use your awesome water removal techniques if you have time. Give it a ride and see if it needs and trimming or lopping. Scott Fenton
Would Chuck? & Mayors Meander - First priority. Mow and get ready for the race. Same as above for passing lanes. Scott Fenton
Beer Run, Beer Cave, Gettin' Started and Drop In - Give it a walk with a weedwhacker and the loppers. Make things fairly open for the race, but you are a tall dude, not vertically challenged like me, so you will get that. Mike the Cycle Tech

OK, hopefully this helps give some guidance to the prep needed for the race. Anything else just contact me or post up. And don't forget to post up if you are coming out so the equipment is available.
Thanks for all you do

OK a couple of more quick things:

It was pointed out to me that we could use an equipment maintenance person. Just someone to track the use of equipment, change oil when needed, sharpen tools, etc. Or even to just track when these things need to get done. I have some ideas for tackling this. I would be glad to help get someone started.

Should we try and do a Trail Posse ride this Saturday? Say 9a? Take a slow ride around the park and see what needs to be done for trail maintenance. Post up if this is something that makes sense to you and if you could make it. The second best time for me would be Saturday afternoon at 3p.

I am going to meet Scott out at the CORP garage at 11a on Sunday. I will get him set up with the CORP garage code for the key, go through general maintenance of equipment, etc. We will then head out to do a review of the trails he is looking after and go over the trail maintenance needs and the best ways too tackle them.

If anyone else wants to meet out there as well to go over your trails, we could meet at the same time.

Along those lines Scott will be using the trailer and the mower on Sunday. Prolly through mid-afternoon or so.

I plan on mowing Saturday around 1:00.  I'll be using the mower and trailer for approx. 2 hours. 
Scott M.

@Scott

You may need to come to the Outback to get the trailer. We are using it to transport TTF stuff this morning. We may bring the mower out there as well. That will get the mower pretty close to your section. Call me or stop out.

Edit: We have the mower.

The blade on the mower has been sharpened. It should be checked after the first 30 min and 1 hr to make sure it is still tight.

Also we need to keep track of the hours on each oil change. Either Chuck or someone in posse needs to start this record.

I have a resettable hour meter that I will put on the mower this week.

Alright Trails Posse, and maybe a few other folks if they can find the time, it is time to fire up the crews and get the trails back in shape for riding! I just spent a couple of hours riding in the dark tonight to try and get an assessment of the trails after the beating from wind and the deluge of rain we have had in the last week. Though the forecast is iffy, it looks like we might get a bit of break this week.
Quick synopsis: The work we did this spring on the dirt really paid off. The trails held up the latest onslaught really well. The areas of the trail that are wet are the areas we did not get to and open up drains, or put in nicks. Well, except for the Creekside trails where there are large areas that are currently part of the creek
Also a couple of trees down and a couple in need of coming down. So if the folks that chimed in a week ago are still willing to help, we could use you now. We just need the person operating the saw to have been through a certification class.
More details to come in the morning. Time for some shut-eye.

A little general list for the folks who will be out maintaining the trails at CamRock now that the race is over. I know it is long, but please give it a read for best trail maintenance practices:
When mowing we can let the passing lanes grow back in. We do not need to maintain that wide of a corridor to maintain a good riding trail.
For maintaining the tall prairie areas, what we have found to work well is to make a pass on each side with the mower, then make another pass with the hedge trimmer. You can set it where you walk the trail and it will cut back at a 45 degree angle. If we mow wider to the ground, the grass will just keep falling over into the trail. It is so tall it can't support itself. This method seems to work best, and we are not mowing a highway through the prairies to keep a clean trail.
Do pay attention to the insides of corners. The insides generally need to be trimmed a bit wider, especially in tall areas, to accommodate leaning into the corners. This can also be done with the hedge trimmer.
We don't want to mow around obstacles that anchor the trail. A couple of rocks and trees were mowed around for the race to create passing lanes. We want to let these grow back so that we do not create a shortcut. A shortcut could also mean opening the trail up to more erosion and more work long-term.
There are an awful lot of face-slappers and arm grabbers on the trails right now. It would be great if every Trail Posse member has a pair of hand snips in their pack or pocket. I have this set: http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1987854. For $10 I prolly do 75% of my trimming needs with this. And they are super small. They go with me on every ride. I also carry a set of these for the larger stuff: http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11202037&cp=2568443.2568444.2598674.2601434.2602646 With these in my pack I can take care of anything on the trail up to about a 6' tree. I find the best way to take care of these issues is to just ride your section of trail. Pay attention and when you encounter something, stop and take care of it.
Also pay attention to the head-bangers. With the wet and wind there are a lot of tree branches are hanging much lower now. And they hang lowest at night when they are covered in the heavy dew, so we need to cut them back to at least a foot over your head on a normal day.
Remember when trimming branches we never cut a branch across, and especially never at an angle. Always cut flat so you don't create a point. And trim back to another intersection on the branch. That might mean to the trunk. What is well out of a riders way today, with shifting winds and growth, could be right in someone's face next month or year.
There are getting to be a couple of patches of nettles and more importantly Wild Parsnip out there. That stuff has nasty oils in it that will create blisters and burn-like marks on your skin. The crazy thing is the UV rays activate it. Wear long sleeves and gloves when working to avoid this.
The weed whacker is by far the worst at spreading nasty stuff around. It whips the oils from Wild Parsnip and Poison Ivy and can cover any exposed skin, including your face. I recommend using the other tools at our disposal if at all possible.
That's all I've got for now. Please post, PM me, up or give me a call if you have any questions. I would also be happy to go on a ride with anyone to talk trail maintenance, discuss best techniques, etc. I like to teach others and love to have others teach me what works for them as well.

I have an older high school student that would like to help out on the trials. The mom is a frequent rider as well (Tara from the Cambridge Cooler) and could help out as well. I am thinking another set of hands to possibly follow the brush mower with the hedge trimmer. Or could work on a trail trimming back the face-slappers and arm grabbers.
Post up or PM me and I will forward the phone number.