Mabie Harvesting Work!

Hey all,

Just a quick note to say that the Mabie Harvesting work is progressing well! Things are starting to run a little smoother now, after a couple of little hic-ups at the start, namely the large dump of snow and mechanical breakdowns!!

The current diversion on the red is still in place, going from post 46 (entrance to Heaven's Gate) down to about 650m before post 18 (end of The Elevator). This not only misses out the harvesting work but also a large section of unrideable trail on The Elevator. The reason this section is unrideable is due to damage caused by the last bout of heavy winds, which uprooted some of the large Norway Spruce up next to the Tower Road, blocking the trail. Clearing the trees was the easy part, however, the root plates that have lifted have destroyed the trail. In one section there is about a 5m gap where the trail used to be! So please, please don't just push past and try to ride it, it honestly isn't worth it!!

The Green, Blue and Purple trails are all currently closed just now as well. The Blue and Purple are closed due to the harvesting work at Hillhead Quarry, and namely the fact that the machines are working near the road! (see above photo!) These machine are very dangerous to members of the public, there are signs up so please pay attention to them! The Green remains closed unfortunately due to the poor state of the road following the harvesting behind Marthrown. Plans are already underfoot to have the timber removed from roadside and the roads upgraded so watch this space!!

Again, please pay attention to the signs! The more breaches of the work sites we have, the longer the whole operation will take so please stick to whats open!!

Cheers

maintenance a go go

Lots of trail maintenance work on the go at the mo':



Narrow timber feature on Pie Run at Glentress - worn netting replaced with grip painted boards

Work continues a pace on the new Blue descent at Glentress. Over half of the 700m now completed.

Start of construction on a woven fence near the end of the Pie Run to stop short cuts. Doing this work with the Borders College Workwise group. Yep, we'd rather be fixing trails than blocking shortcuts...

Say hi to Alastair from A&A Forestry if you are riding the Innerleithen XC Route - he's currently doing deberming work (removing puddles and improving drainage) around the route (Mon - Fri) and doing a damn fine job. Ongoing until mid March.

More brashing work via 4Seasons Forestry on parts of the Blue/Red/Black Route at Glentress to clear overhanging branches and as in the pic above on the approach to the quary at Glentress - open up sightlines. Ongoing until mid March.

Trialling new grip strip plates - a great idea/product from Andy Hopkins - 7stanes Technical trail guru. Grip strip bonded onto a thin alu plate - easy to fix on, easy to replace.

Worn rabbit netting replaced with new boards and trial grip strips, on Magic Mushroom. This bridge suffers from high braking wear - a good test for the strips!

Cheers,

Andy (Mtb Ranger)

'Berm Baby Berm'

That's the tentative name for a new section of Blue singetrack we're currently building at Glentress: a 700m descent to link the exit of Blue Velvet to the Buzzards Nest carpark on the Blue Route.

The work is part of our 2010/11 trail maintenance program - in this case replacing a rough, steep forest road descent with tasty singletrack, through some of the finest woodland in Glentress.

Trail curves by a stunning mature Silver Fir tree near the start

The feel we're going for is flowy and bermy - a similar feel to Blue Velvet but with the progression of (lots of) bermed corners, a slightly steeper overall gradient and mellow jumps and rollers where it works to put them in. It should appeal to all levels of rider.

Mellow tabletop jump

I'm really happy with how it's shaping up so far. Richard our ace digger operator (and fellow MTB Ranger) who's building the trail likened it to a luge track!

Hairpin turn - roughed out, material layed out, trail soon to be built

Trail entry

We've completed ~280m of the 700m so far, expected opening is early April.

Now the boring bit: please don't be tempted to ride the trail before it's open, it's a construction site so no entry is allowed and anyone riding it risks doing damage to the new trail surfaces as they continue to harden up following the wet weather of late. If you do see anyone ignoring the barriers and riding the trail please let us know - the duty ranger number is 07834 435380.

cheers,

Andy (MTB Ranger)

Wormhole reopened

Yep, the Wormhole trail near the end of the Black Route at Glentress is now open again for business, after being closed for tree thinning works and subsequent tidy up.

With the Borders College Workwise group and the Trailfairies we've cleared the brash and debris off the trail, completed some trail fettling and a few spots of resurfacing. Overall though, damage from the machines crossing the trail was minimal thanks to some excellent protective brash mats.

The last couple of days myself, Mark and Andy (MTB Ranger's) have been working on tweaking the rock garden at the entry slightly, triming stumps down, branch pruning and final trail fettle/tidy up.

With lots more light into the trail that feeling of descending into the gloom is (unfortunately) gone, but the trail looks great and is still riding really well.

Looking back up rocky entry section at start of Wormhole - post thinnings, pre tidy up

Rock garden at start of Wormhole - before & after

Rejigging a couple of the bigger rocks to open up the ride line and mellow out just a little.

Cheers,

Andy (MTB Ranger)