That time of year is back again, where we hit the trails to give them some much needed maintenance. As a local bike shop, we feel a responsibility to help maintain the trails - without our incredible network of trails, we wouldn't have the community and customer base that we do. That's why we've partnered with the NSMBA as a TAP (Trail Adoption Plan) sponsor with Santa Cruz Bicycles on our chosen trail, Pennzoil. This means that as well as providing a financial contribution to the NSMBA, we get to make our mark on the Shore and keep Pennzoil in good shape every year.
This is where you come in - our volunteers. As a shop we can only do so much, but with an army of volunteers, we can make a huge difference and get some real work done. The more people we can get out on the trail means less work for each person, but it also means we can work on way more trail, and the last couple of seasons we've had record turnouts. That means Pennzoil is in the best shape it ever has been, all thanks to you. That also means we've been able to spread the love to other trails, starting with Lower Expresso.
We want to keep the good times rolling with the same amazing turnout for 2024, so here's your chance to sign up and get involved!
THE ESSENTIALS:
Update for 2024:
Due to some personal schedule changes, we are moving our trail days from fridays to Sundays 10am-2pm
For those wishing to attend, please sign up via the Google forms in the links below. Our trail days run from 10am-2pm, meeting at the bottom of Pennzoil on Braemar Rd. We appreciate any and all time you can spare, so please don't worry if you can only show up for an hour or two! All tools are provided, just bring a pair of gloves, sturdy footwear, wear appropriate clothing and bring some water. Pizza and beverages are provided at the end of the session.
Some sessions this year will be held on Lower Expresso, meeting a little further East on Braemar Rd at Dempsey/Braemar parking. We will send out a mass email the day before each trail day with any pertinent details.
TRAIL DAY SCHEDULE:
Click the links below to sign up:
THANKS - WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE!
April 21 Trail Report
Thank you to all that showed up to our first trail day of the year. We had an incredible turn out of around 15 people, considering the shaky weather forecast. Miraculously, the weather remained dry despite threatening rain all afternoon. Thanks to the storm the previous evening, the ground was nicely damp, providing perfect digging conditions, in pleasant temperatures. What more could we ask for?
Thankfully, the trail was still in pretty good shape from the previous year's work, and only required some minor work to get it up to shape. We identified some high erosion areas that needed some work, and either back-filled with dirt, and added more rock armouring, as well as closing some trail braids and clearing some drainage. Thanks to the group size, we managed to work through about 50% of the trail, from the middle down.
May 12 Trail Report
Our May 12 trail day saw a beautiful sunny day shortly after a few days of rain - perfect trail building conditions. Despite being held on Mother's day, we managed to recruit a solid team of volunteers yet again, with about 15 showing up through the course of the day.
The main projects for the day were filling holes, sweeping off marbles, throwing some fresh dirt on the berms, but the big job was fixing up the optional black line after the rock garden and before the climb trail crossing. A trail braid had appeared to the left of the line, which we closed down, since the feature can be skipped by riding the main trail.
The exit of the feature has a wooden roller, after which a number of holes had opened up where the trail had gotten eroded, likely due to braking. We filled in the holes with fresh rock armouring, as well as benching in the exit with logs and more rock armouring.
Thanks again to all of our volunteer trail builders, to Santa Cruz Bicycles for sponsoring the trail day, and helping put on a BBQ for our volunteers. Also a shout out to Ellie for providing Earnest ice cream at the end - what a treat.
June 16 Report
Sunday June 16 was the first properly wet trail day we've had in some time. Luckily we still had a great turnout of volunteers numbering 12 total including some trail building newbies, which is awesome to see. Despite the inclement weather, spirits were not dampened and we got a ton of work done.
Actual water on the trail means we were able to see any drainage issues in real time, which meant we could get to work fixing them. In that spirit, we emptied a bunch of drains of debris and cleared the standing water all the way up, as well as some sections of climbing trail that intersect.
One of the lower corners received a bit of a reshape with some additional support put behind it, and some fresh gold was laid down where some holes were starting to open up on the lower section. The work was made easier by EVOC Sports providing some fresh new trail building buckets and trail tools, as well as fresh buckets donated by Rona in North Van. Thanks EVOC, Rona, and Santa Cruz Bicycles for all of your help!
Sept 15 Report
Sunday Sept 15 marked our first fall trail day of the season after a hot and dry summer. The weather gods smiled down on us this weekend, as Saturday saw heavy rain in the morning and early afternoon followed by dry weather and eventually sun on Sunday, producing primo trail building conditions. The dirt was tacky, and the weather dry, making for easy trail building and high spirits.
After a full summer of riding the trail was in remarkably good shape. We've managed to put down a lot of gold over the last couple of years on Pennzoil, which over time packs down into a solid trail surface. It means we're seeing a lot less erosion and holes developing, and while we had to fix a few sections of trail, a lot of the trail just needed some basic maintenance, including sweeping the marbles off a bunch of corners, clearing drains, and packing some fresh gold into some spots.
We did have to take out a rogue built jump near the bottom of the trail, taking out the rocks and logs they used to build it and filling in the hole they used to get the dirt from. We took the opportunity to 'naturalise' the area somewhat, transplanting some ferns where the jump was, in the hopes that the forest will reclaim it. While we appreciate that people want to make their mark on the trails, we ask that instead of building unsanctioned and poorly built features that will just get torn down, you join one of our trail days, and make your impact on the trails sustainable and long-lasting.
