Bruce Ridge ACT

[No Skid Marks]

We're just using the words "down hill" as a purely descriptive term, not as in a world cup level down hill track, but a track that is gravity assisted(decent gradient) with some nice features. It would be easy to build it without actually having jumps so to speak, but semi-natural obstacles that could be jumped. Every direction change on either side of the gully for example could be jumped with a touch of work. "Flow Track" would be a much better choice of words. The gradient is steep enough or long enough for a "DH track".
I can't see how the road gap is an issue, if anything, it would slow most riders down, and the chances of crossing a car there are remote. I don't see how it makes any difference to the riders speed. But can understand a choke point might be needed if the road crossing needs to be slower.
Lots of people like to ride "All MTN" bikes, I'd like to see a track there that justifies their use, and could also be enjoyed on a downhill bike if that's all a rider had available, and also on XC bikes if the rider has the skills to make it fun.
With the whole Gravity XC/All MTN racing thing taking off, it'd be a good training area also.
A 1 to 1.5minute track could be built there with a loop made(already there)to ride or walk back up.
I'm sure whatever is needed to be done to appease the land managers will be done. I just wanted to voice an opinion for some more Zing trails, and to give a voice to the trail that is already there(albeit a bit dodgy). I also would just like to say I don't think it should have any uphill sections that cannot be covered without the momentum the rider has. The whole place has been generally tamed down for XCers already.
Again, please nobody take offense to this, the ground work and track work done so far is greatly appreciated by all.
As mentioned, I'm happy to build it with "DHD" or whomever else wants to help.

 

[Ridenparadise]

Typo...!!?

Why limit tit to XC???

Typo yes, but not by me:eyebrows:

 

[Kramer]

FoBR November Working Bee

November Working Bee
Date: Saturday 10 November 2012
Time: 9am-1pm
Meeting Location: Meet Bruce CIT car park which leads to the underpass (F1 on the Bruce Ridge map).
What to Bring: Your favourite trail tools, particularly fire rakes, mattocks, shovels, leaf rakes and wheel barrows would be good.
As usual, please bring food, water, hat, eye protection and sturdy footwear.
Planned work Areas:
Finish the bypass of the "boggy sections" near the GDE (H3-I3).
Patch up rollers and corners on GDE switchbacks (G3).
If time permits, we'll also scope a potential new line for the first road crossing on the tech descent (H7), and fix up the intersection of the XC and descent (J9).


December Xmas Social Ride & Drinks
Next month we'll swap the tools for bikes, and take a cruisey lap around the ridge before kicking back for some well earned drinks.
Sunday 9 December is currently pencilled in - I'll confirm details, location, etc soon.

 

[A.France]

i have to ask who put in the shore drop before the "big" (ie small for WC tracks) aren't wooden constructions illegal or something an i think its a bit ridiculous there should have been put on the log to make it bigger

 

[Kramer]

Are you talking about the old timberwork on the descent track (drops off the ridge towards Belco Way & the caravan park)?
If so, it's been ther for years, and will probably be cleaned up sometime in the near future.
If you're talking about somthing else (new illegal work), can you provide some more detail on the location.

 

[A.France]

Are you talking about the old timberwork on the descent track (drops off the ridge towards Belco Way & the caravan park)?
If so, it's been ther for years, and will probably be cleaned up sometime in the near future.
If you're talking about somthing else (new illegal work), can you provide some more detail on the location.

think it might be that track and a heap of new wood work has appeared of the past year or so

 

[Kramer]

FoBR April Working Bee

April Working Bee
Date: Saturday 20 April 2013
Time: 8am-12pm
Meeting Location: At the gate near O’Connor caravan park - Kunzea Street, just off Dryandra Street Drive (N8 on Bruce Ridge map).
What to Bring: Your favourite trail tools, particularly fire rakes, mattocks, shovels, leaf rakes and wheel barrows (if possible) would be good.
As usual, please bring food, water, hat, eye protection and sturdy footwear.
Planned work Areas:
Fixing up the new lower section near the caravan park (H9-J9).
Tree trimming at the exit of the above section (K9), and higher up on the ridge (J6-L5).
Drainage fixes and maintenance on the trails nearby the caravan park.

Hope to see you there.

 

[Kramer]

FoBR June Social Ride

June Social Ride
Date: Sunday 23 June 2013
Time: ride 2pm - 4pm, drinks from 4:30pm (Duxton)
Meeting Location: Dryandra Street carpark (Q6 on Bruce Ridge map). Drinks afterwards at Duxton Pub, O'Connor shops (If you are driving out, I recommend parking at the shops).
What to Bring: Bike! Also, please make sure you wear a helmet and other protective gear.
Planned ride Areas:
A bit for everything. Probably scout out some of the problem areas, including the descent trail. Also, check out the new trail head sign (thanks PCL!). Finish with the new FoBR Pub Run exit!

Please let me know if you plan to come for the ride and/or drinks, so we don't miss any late comers and I'll book at table for drinks at Duxton.

 

[Kramer]

August Working Bee

Date: Sunday 18 August 2013
Time: 8am-12pm
Meeting Location: Meet Bruce CIT car park which leads to the underpass (F1 on the Bruce Ridge map).
What to Bring: Your favourite trail tools, particularly fire rakes, mattocks, shovels, leaf rakes and wheel barrows would be good.
As usual, please bring food, water, hat, eye protection and sturdy footwear.
Planned work Areas:
More work on inner loop trails to merge trails linking to outer loop (K4).

Hope to see you for some digging.

 

[Kramer]

September Working Bee

Date: Saturday 21 September 2013
Time: 8am-12pm
Meeting Location: Meet at the car park off Belconnen Way (D9 on the Bruce Ridge map) - look for the blue paint on the light pole - entrance is just before it.
What to Bring: Your favourite trail tools, particularly fire rakes, mattocks, shovels, leaf rakes and wheel barrows would be good.
As usual, please bring food, water, hat, eye protection and sturdy footwear.
Planned work Areas:
A bit of love for the trails along the side of the Ridge near Belconnen Way.

Dave will be running the show on this weekend so should be much better organisation than my usual shambles.

 

[Kramer]

November Working Bee and Xmas Social Ride

November Working Bee
Date: Saturday 30 November 2013
Time: 8am-12pm
Meeting Location: Meet at the CIT car park, Purdie Street (F1 on the Bruce Ridge map).
What to Bring: Your favourite trail tools, particularly fire rakes, mattocks, shovels, leaf rakes and wheel barrows would be good.
As usual, please bring food, water, hat, eye protection and sturdy footwear.
Planned work Areas:
Fixing up the inner loop trails on North side and links to the outer loop (J4).

Xmas Social Ride
Date: Sunday 8 December 2013
Time: Ride 2pm-4pm; Drinks 4:30pm
Meeting Location: Meet for ride at the Calvary Hospital car park, Mary Potter Circuit (B4 on the Bruce Ridge map).
Drinks afterwards at the Lighthouse Bar, Emu Bank, Belconnen.
What to Bring: Your favourite trail weapon, particularly fun bikes suitable for fanging, chatting, and having a laugh.
As usual bring a helmet, water, self-sufficiency... and a designated rider for the trip home (don't drink & ride folks).
Planned ride Areas:
A bit of everything - including the lesser known fun and fast bits.

 

[Klips]

How are trail maintenance days organised at the moment? I can't find anything that's been updated this year, and I'm keen to help out but with nothing on The Berm, FoBR or Facebook I don't know when or where, and don't have the experience to do anything on my own!

 

[johnny]

I'm in the same boat, keen to help out but nothing is being organised.

I also don't have any tools of my own as I'm relatively new to Canboring and live in an apartment (no need for shovels, barrows, etc.). I offer my time and effort though and am just waiting for FoBR to set the next working day.



The track really is descending in to a state of disrepair as well. The damage caused by back-burning is still there and there are logs over the track in some of the faster more fun sections (that are now slower and suckier). I'd reckon there are some sections that require regeneration as well. Hope something is organised soon.

 

[Kramer]

Great to hear you guys are keen to do some digging - we will have some organised soon. Geoff has been busy renovating his whole house, and I have been in Russia & working. So in short, we had no start of year planning day, so no working bees scheduled. We met with PCS last month to discuss finalising a trails plan/network - they will be organising trail signs before July. We will schedule some working bees soon to cut a short section of trail near the caravan park, and keep the rest of the trails schmick.

Will post details here (and Berm + CORC) as soon as they are in place. Let me know if you see any trees down or other bad stuff at BR. I can arrange for PCS to clean up fallen trees, and we can add other fixes to the list for next working bee.

Cheers Craig

 

[johnny]

G'day mate, hope Russia was interesting, I look forward to making my way there one day too.

Not sure how to explain where the tree is down - there is a trail that runs parallel on the north side of the dirt road on the top of the ridge between the western most water tower and the road that runs downhill from the ridge line down the northern slope. It's a pretty hefty tree and there has now been a trail made to go around the northern side of the obstacle.

Look forward to the next work days, hopefully I'll be in town.

 

[Klips]

Craig - excellent, looking forward to it.

Johnny - have a map, a grid ref will likely help: http://fobr.prophpbb.com/topic21.html

 

[johnny]

Thanks, Klips.

Tree on track is located in lower right of grid square H6.

 

[Kramer]

I reported the fallen tree to PCS this evening so they should be out soon to fix it up.

 

[Kramer]

Working Bees for 2014

Finally, we have pencilled in some working bees for the year. Dates are in the link below. Details for the next working be on Sunday 1 June will be posted ASAP. See you on the trails :-D
http://fobr.prophpbb.com/topic92.html

 

[johnny]

Well, I'm going to hope the pencil for June 1 gets rubbed out and penned in for a week later as I'll be OS from 28th to the 5th.

If not, I'll be there for the 29th June.


Either way, I think the area that needs most attention right now is the area where the back burning occurred toward the eastern end of the ridge - near where the skinny is. The berms were partially destroyed in the fire and/or are developing deep braking divots in them.

I've been riding the trails there at least twice a week for 3 years now and I've never seen as much traffic on them as I have in the last 3 months. I ride both directions and regardless which way I'm going I've still had one head on collision and many close calls with on coming riders. I wonder whether it's useful to have a discussion about making the sections with the heaviest traffic either one way (and maybe switching direction every 6 months), improving visibility in the areas with denser foliage so oncoming riders have a greater chance of seeing each other or maybe branching some sections in to split lanes, or something similar.

What concerns me the most is that some one is going to have a head on in a high speed area and cop serious face/head injuries. I'm wondering whether a discussion is worth having now before some one gets axed and the trails are shut down.