in Quarry Ridge (Moderator: schrader)

Man it sounds like a wacky feature, I got to go ride it.  I will save you all from reading my feadback on it cause you all know what I will say prob already.  Even if it's a bit tricky it doesn't look tall enough to hurt anybody.  I'll try and make it out there tonight or tomorrow morning and give it a whirl.

Man it sounds like a wacky feature, I got to go ride it.  I will save you all from reading my feadback on it cause you all know what I will say prob already.  Even if it's a bit tricky it doesn't look tall enough to hurt anybody.  I'll try and make it out there tonight or tomorrow morning and give it a whirl.

It's about safety for the beginner/average rider.  Since it is located in a section that all riders pass through, it could present itself as a problem.  As I stated before, I came up on it casually thinking it was a nice fun roller, until oh shit!  Because I bike a lot, wipe outs happen and I'm ok with it.  Get someone less experienced going fast, it could be ugly.  We had a city employee bitch to parks about the old drop in section, don't know the name, but there was no signage and he went superman over the bars - they asked a lot of questions, and Im just part of the club.    Something nasty happens the city WILL shut it down.  Neither Parks or Rec have had any updates in a long while on projects out there, we need to be careful.

I agree that the difficulty of the feature needs to be reduced. If we "fill in" some of the space between the rollers then the up/down will be further apart and less exaggerated, which should make it easier to ride. Either that or just cut the 2nd roller out altogether, which might be the safer route to go (although its a little more extreme).

We also need a caution sign (I'll check with the BoD on a sign order).

I'm meeting with the Parks director in the near future and potentially presenting an update to the the Fitchburg Parks commission this summer.

Ok, I just went and rode it.  First off nice new trails!  I like.  Also I like the new 35 ft jump, don't think I'll ever have enough speed to clear that! lol

Secondly the wooden feature, I'm sorry I got to be honest and no disrespect meant, is awful.  It sucked my front tire right in and spit me out (without my bike).  It felt like hitting a wall.  My first two rides ended up in bailing off my bike to the side (which I have perfected), third try got me over the hump but I had to put a foot down, same with fourth and fifth times.  Sixth attempt I got over then lost it farther down, dumb.  Seventh time was the charm.  Sorry to say but I don't like it at all and think that it is real dangerous, but not in a good way.  I think that maybe should even be closed off asap so someone not used to bailing of ttf doesn't get hurt.  That thing is just asking for crashes.

If I bombed it and wheelie / manualed down the first hump it would prob ride ok but that would be tough to pull off.  I will try it when I'm out there not by myself at 11 o'clock at night.

That being said it was cold out this evening so I didn't really look at it structurally.  I think if the humps were smaller it would work great, they just felt real awkward to pedal up.

First No one needs to approve it structurally, We knew it was a little tight but wanted to let people ride it first.   we will be reworking the feature.

Ok, I just went and rode it.  First off nice new trails!  I like.  Also I like the new 35 ft jump, don't think I'll ever have enough speed to clear that! lol

Secondly the wooden feature, I'm sorry I got to be honest and no disrespect meant, is awful.  It sucked my front tire right in and spit me out (without my bike).  It felt like hitting a wall.  My first two rides ended up in bailing off my bike to the side (which I have perfected), third try got me over the hump but I had to put a foot down, same with fourth and fifth times.  Sixth attempt I got over then lost it farther down, dumb.  Seventh time was the charm.  Sorry to say but I don't like it at all and think that it is real dangerous, but not in a good way.  I think that maybe should even be closed off asap so someone not used to bailing of ttf doesn't get hurt.  That thing is just asking for crashes.

If I bombed it and wheelie / manualed down the first hump it would prob ride ok but that would be tough to pull off.  I will try it when I'm out there not by myself at 11 o'clock at night.

That being said it was cold out this evening so I didn't really look at it structurally.  I think if the humps were smaller it would work great, they just felt real awkward to pedal up.

You should of just manualed the whole thing

I got out there this morning to give it a whirl.  I cleared the feature 2 out of 10 tries.  Only one left me on my butt in the brush but several very nearly sent me over the bars.  There was speculation that a 26" bike would be a lot easier than 29".  I can't say if that's true or not but it certainly isn't easy on 26". 

I do think making it a little easier due to it's location and deceptively easy looks is a good idea but i do really like that it is high difficulty/low danger.  I would love to see more stuff like that out on our trails. I would lump the new wood berm in on this too.  Hitting the little drop/transition to the next berm is tricky at first but again the penalty is very low for messing it up and getting it even close to right it super fun.

All in all, the new changes to the trails look great.

Sorry to say but I don't like it at all and think that it is real dangerous, but not in a good way.  I think that maybe should even be closed off asap so someone not used to bailing of ttf doesn't get hurt.  That thing is just asking for crashes.

Tim, I love ya but I think maybe you need to redefine dangerous in your book. Seems a feature that someone crashes on this close to the ground with a clear area around it does not fit the bill. Sounds like many people already have fallen on it with no real danger presented to them.

Maybe it is a feature that it is overly difficult for the trail it is on. Maybe it is a difficult feature that looks deceptively easy and might draw beginner riders. Maybe is just is not fun to ride on. All of these options would mean a feature should be reworked because it is not meeting its function.

A dangerous feature, or trail as was used to describe the new beginner trail at CR, CORP should close off immediately. CORP would be neglecting it's duties, and opening ourselves up to liability, for not acting if we were aware of a danger to the community and did not act. It would be remiss of us to do so because it is causing imminent danger to the public.

Just my $0.02 to be careful about using that descriptor.

I don't think it's so bad that it needs to be closed, but it does look easy and if you try to just ride it like a regular roller you will wind up on the ground.  We should probably at least put some sort of warning sign on it for the meantime until it can be adjusted though.  The only true danger here is underestimating how much it is going to grab your front tire. 

This is the first feature we've built like this. The feedback is great and will be used for future buiding.

Although I have to say I'm surprised Dangerman (read Tim $) was disappointed. I thought you wanted something to knock you down every once in a while...... I'm not speaking to the beginner aspect of the feature 

haha, take into account I rode it at 11 o clock lastnight in the cold and wind and wasn't really in the mood for getting tossed off my bike by a beginner feature!  I just think it's tough, but not in a way that makes sense, if that makes sense.  I guess it's unconventional to have an elevated feature grab your tire like that.  That being said, I do like the challenge (however short lived it was) and I got it and will have no problem getting it any other time in the future.  Next time i'm out there in daylight I will work on a way to bridge that gap comfortably, if that tree wasn't in the middle of the split it could be doubled.

The reason I said to close it is that I can pretty safely say based on my own wooden ttf experience that any beginner will indeed crash on that.  I can see someone really getting pissed off at it and making a stink because of how it does grab your tire and fling you off.  It's apparent it isn't quite rite.  I don't know any of the politics and insurance stuff and don't care to.  I know it pissed me off the first time I hit that rut, If I got hurt I would have been super pissed.  I could see someone who is a beginer complaining about the construction of that feature and being right, I could also see a beginner getting hurt on that easily.  I think I'm just used to doing most of my work at pv where if something isn't right we close that part, or at least mark it closed..

That feature, on the ride up looks pretty beginner, it threw me for a loop (almost literally).

Like I said I wasn't speaking t the beginner aspect realtive to the actual difficulty we built. The intent was to jab you  :P

At any rate the point has been taken and like John said we will rework it to meet the expectations of a beginner. It'll be a one humper by the sounds of it 

I have a feel for it now - rode it 5/5 with no problems today.  In fact, I'm totally enjoying it now and wish it was longer.  You can re-work it, I wouldn't worry about closing it.  You might put a little skill sign in front of it.  You just need to know what to expect.  It's certainly no more "dangerous" than the Outback filter.

Hint - I think a rigid or locked out fork is helpful because you won't squash down into the valley.

For the the fix, what about a skinny, 4"-6" wide,  that connects the two humps?  Maybe that's too tricky for the intended audience of this feature but it would be a relatively simple fix and would be fun to ride without really raising the consequences. You could even make the skinny a few inches lower than the two peaks which would make it even more interesting.

It'll be a one humper by the sounds of it 

A one humper would still be fun but I think keeping it as a double humper with slightly shallower cleavage would keep it fun but make it a lot less likely to put beginners on the ground.