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The 5% rule and other ramblings
Out the other day having a dig and thinking about things
I was wondering how many riders actually contribute to the area they ride in
I wasn't thinking this in a critical or a holier than thou way - I was just interested
How many riders stop every so often to pick up that bit of rubbish
Remove that bloody root ball or sharp rock that pisses you off every time
Give the trail a bit of a much needed trim or rake
Even fix that berm or throw a bit more dirt on that roll over
Subtle things of course that add to everybody's experience
I'm not talking about building a bloody great gap jump in the middle of the trail
Leave the trail building to the builders
I'm talking sensible trail maintenance that is usually much needed (and much appreciated)
I was wondering this, because since moving from Sydney over a year ago, I realise that I was a taker
I rode trails and never contributed to their maintenance other than the odd bit of rubbish
I didn't see the bush or the trails I rode as something that was mine to maintain and care for
They were 'owned' by somebody else, and they decided if and when maintenance should be done
But since moving up here, I realise that we need to be the custodians of the land we inhabit
Do what you can to make the trails you ride a better place to ride and be for everyone
So anyway, I was wondering to myself, what would be a fair ratio of riding to maintenance
I came up with a ratio of 5%, and I think this is more than fair
This means that for every hour you spend riding, you contribute 3 minutes
So for someone who rides off road for 10 hours a week
1 hour every fortnight is spent doing some sort of maintenance
I think this is an absolute minimum to put back
And is well within the means of anybody who has the time to ride for 10 hours a week
So for anybody who doesn't put at least 5% back into the trails they ride
Don't wait until someone says it's OK - because it's up to all of us
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5% hey?
I wish I got to ride that much:)
I like the "5% Rule"... that should become a given in mountain biking.
Sadly I'd say it would be less than 5% of riders who do anything for the trails.
I think the idea of "adopting" your local ride is good if it isn't a place where there are regular build days. Just that clearing of rubbish, removing sticks and loose rocks takes no real time.
I guess some will complain that stopping to do something removes their flow, but too bad.
every couple of weeks you finish your ride and change your shoes
Do a walk around and spend some time doing those fiddly little things
those little things that the trail builders don't get to
Because they're too busy with building and more major maintenence
Probably preaching to the converted on here, though
But the general MTB population
Much less than 5% I'd reckon
Only removes the flow for that lap only. The following laps are made that little bit more enjoyable.
Same can be said about removing those sticks and limbs that come down after those winds that are about to come upon us and destroy or re-align our rear derailleurs.
I often trudge thru the tracks with a pair secateurs when it rains and trim back the growth as that is when it is at its heaviest and will attempt to invade our space on the line we want to take. The fact that I am 186cm tall helps too I guess!
Lately it seems to be every fortnight that i spend at GHS single track fixing up what other people leave behind eg: rubbish thrown on the ground(this pisses me off in a big way), motorbikes going through and trashing the joint( requiring a couple of hours work fixing what they fucked), and generally improving whats there, putting in workable drainage, putting in rock gardens where sand tends to build up and generally improving it for everybody!
I dont want thanks or kudo's, just people to respect it when using it!
I dont care if nobody does any work themselves, just leave it intact for everybody else!
Todd
Let me know when your out working on the trail again Todd and ill come give a hand. Most weekends with a bit of notice are fine and Monday and Friday I can be there by 4ish.
Must admit I haven't done any work on the single track, but I have only ridden it about 4 times now.
Still need to get in and do my bit though.
Ian
That would be great Ian, usually head up there on a sunday arvo, might go up this sunday arvo as well, after the rain it may need a little seeing too, so i will definitely head up there at 3pm this sunday afternoon!
I take a shovel, rake and long pruning shears, bring another shovel and we will be in business!
Let me know on here if you can make it mate!
Todd
What do we think about all getting together for a contra deal mountains style
We travel to each others favorite trails
Have a ride and a chat about what needs to be done
Put on the work gear and get into it
Say once a month or 6 weeks
According to the 5% rule we should be good for 2 hours or more for the keen ones
Say 5 people and we should get a fair bit done
Who'd be up for working on this type of arrangement
We had a chat to the locals at RedWoods when over in Rotorua and they have a very good system that clearly works well:
The local club has a list of contacts with who looks after what trails in the area. If you're riding a trail and find something wrong, and can't fix it yourself then just look to the list, find out who cares for that trail and drop them a line.
It would be tops to include that sort of thing into this system. Take a look here for example, here are all the Lisdale trails:
http://ctmbc.net/node/1582/tracks
What could be done, is to include a name (or names) next to each trail and a 'PM Maintenance crew' link. Too easy
Maybe this is getting ahead of oneself in context of what BMORC is about, but it's something to aim for, eh?
We could learn so much from UnZud
I think the context of what BMORC is all about is getting together with mates and riding well built and maintained trails and looking after them as if they were our own backyard
I know for a fact that most of the local council staff support this idea
That some of our elected representatives don't is something to work towards
For a long time I was kinda paranoid that moving rocks or what not would lead to somebody yelling at me ... One of my favourite tracks always had this sandy rutted mess ... but reading all the "locals only", "don't mess with my track" threads from the not so distant past ... had burnt a pretty clear message in my head ... don't mess with other peoples tracks.
Bah, I finally had enough of this sandy mess ... so with my bucket and semi-folding shovel (read: cut down handle and bolt on blade) I headed out.
Being a paranoid Asian with a bucket and shovel in the middle of the bush is a somewhat interesting sensation ... but, I was determined to fix this sucker ... whilst also doing a bit of gardening on my favourite piece of sniggle (unfortunately now closed ... but hopeful with the good work the nobmobbers and affiliates are doing will have it open again before I die) ... anywho ...
I dig the loose stuff out ... fill in with the abundant slabs and baby heads laying about and I'm quietly satisfied with a job well done.
Patting myself on the back I hear ... G-day what you doing ?? ... Shite the rabbit thinks, I'm done ... I've never, ever seen anybody else out here in all my years of riding this place and now ... bah ... whats he gonna do ????
Well, it happened to be one of the original builders ... we got talking and he was chuffed somebody was out fixing the track ... he also applied the "hamburger" of giving me lots of positive praise with some pointers on what I could have done better, then topping it all off with more praise ... (he especially liked my gardening on the sniggle
)
Anywho ... the icing was that he showed me a new trail just a little bit further up hill, which I had never noticed and frigg .... awesome awesomeness.
I'm now that older guy out on the trail, and when I see the young'un I make sure I apply a bit of "hamburg" and encourage the frigg'n fast buggers to do the right thing ...
One step at a time ... lead by example, and one day we'll all be Little Asian Rabbits like me
.
Well obviously I didn't get out to help today Todd. I was knackered from the ride today and I'm still a bit crook (3 weeks now! and I never usually get sick). Had to clean the bike and adjust the rear derailleur then do some grocery shopping.
Ill post up again when I'm free and come help.
Ian
It's looking pretty good now Ian, was nice and easy yesterday, nice moist soil to work with, basically just moved rocks to improve the drop into the creek, somebody keeps making it a little too easy, so i put soil and gravel in to tie up there rock placements, nice and smooth now, the rock garden climb i fixed up some more, it was getting very hard to ride, now it's just hard to ride!!!, done a bit of trimming of hanging branches, also the rock jump i fixed up some more, it's really good to launch off now!
I have scoped out some track near the lookout that will be a great candidate for making singletrack, literally no digging, just ride it in, lots and lots of massive rock to work with!
Stay tuned on this one!
We should be able to help with that
Sounds like nice work you've done there
We missed you at Oaks loops y'day
I smacked my rear wheel a beauty -had no idea i'd even done it
had to put a tube in (tubeless) + a bit flat spot and buckle
5% is fair, Todd and I have wandered through our local on and off for ages just pruning the bush back properly instead of the usual snapped and folded branches that walkers without tools leave behind. We often fix up drainage in areas as the trail suffers less damage if it drains quickly after rain.
We have been caught on occasion and never has a bad word been said to us, we don't build shore style obstacles that will irk a walker and no massive landscape altering jumps etc, it is a shared local walking track that leads us to fire trail and we keep this in mind, it's a pleasure to use for it's intended purpose, and just like Todd I get peeved about rubbish left on it, although it is used by school kids frequently as a short cut.
I guess What I'm saying is if we all do just a little bit around our own area we are engaging in sustainable recreational off road cycling because as Andy stated we're not just being takers of the environment we enjoy.
Just feeling grumpy after a ride this morning and seeing all the branches over the trails and seeing tyre marks already gone through yet no efforts to clear the trails. So my daughter and I did the clearing.
So remember the 5% rule!!! Its not always someone elses job to keep the trails running nice.