Plow King
Little bit.
Seeing as there are alot of questions about how to make downhill tracks, I figured I should give some advice to up and comers thinking of going and building a track.
Before even starting work on the trail you should.
1/ DO NOT make the track obvious as to where it is.
I've seen people just clear out the entrance to the trail on the side of a fire road or main street. That is stupid, you might as well just put up a sign saying here is a trail, come use, destroy or close it. Bush bash into the trail, where the trail head starts (make sure you dont step on any plants or vegatation) Take multiple lines into the trail every time, and if it looks like a trail is starting to appear cover the trail with leaves and put fallen over trees and dead fallen over plants in the way.
2/ Scout your local area, look for the steepest part. Find a really rocky area to start with (doesn't have to be ridable) Once you have found that then try and make the track on or around that area.
3/ Do not make it near peoples homes. this will piss people off because they will have bike riders screaming down near there neighbourhood. This will piss people of and almost certainly get the track found and shut down.
4/ Do not tell people where your trail is, this is fairly obvious. Only tell your close riding buddies/ friends. You don't want lots of little shits coming to your trail, building new lines, making loads of noise and destroying stuff. Word gets around, these kids could tell there parents, who could tell other people, which could also get the track closed down. Make sure you explain thoroughly to your close friends not to tell anyone about the trail.
5/ Do not cut down trees, Don't friggin do it, simple as that!
6/ Try not to use north shore obstacles, use them only where necessary. And if you do use them DO NOT nail them into trees, lay them on rocks or dig the wood into the ground.
6/ Do not leave rubbish lying on the track, take it with you. This does not give the sport of mountain biking a good look if the track does get found. If the track is bombarded by rubbish I can assure you the track won't have a chance of survival. If people have found the track and have left rubbish there, take it with you and dump it in a bin. however, if it is biodegradable make a pit and chuck it in there ,and with other dead trees. you can make a compost heap and put it on other trees or plants.
Starting the track.
1/ Mark out where you want the track with some string. Do Not make indents in trees/ or cut bark off, this can consequently kill the tree if you accidentally ring bark it)
2. Begin clearing out the track, top to bottom. Do not take out plants, only weeds. If it is necessary to take out plants replant them somewhere else. As for the width of the track, Try to keep most of it single track. The only sections that should be wide are the technical sections, i,e rock gardens.
3/ Always, always make b lines around the harder obstacles. If kids do find the tracks, and they cant do it. They will more than likely knock it down because it is too hard for them to do. But if you have a b-line they will hopefully enjoy the track because they are able to hit it, and will want it too stay there so they can enjoy it for years to come.
4/ Decide what you exactly want to be on the track, jumps, rock gardens drops... Plan exactly where you want them, how big, and check for things like run-up, run out and any other obsticles around that could cause a threat. I,e cliffs.Find a spot where they would be easiest to build and have the least effect on the environment.
5/ When building drops and jumps try to use what you can find, Don't go digging mass piles of dirt, see what else you can find. digging hug holes of dirt is not going to help the local ecosystem. try using rocks that are packed together to form a lip or landing. find some rocks (size, depends on how many) Put the main ones at the bottom and then you cant start to form the shape of the jump landing with the rocks, use the flat rocks on the top (where your riding onto or off)
6/ When building rock gardens, make sure these have several lines, that range from exceeding your ability to way below your ability. Make sure that the easier lines are slower. (same reason as mentioned before, if randoms come to your track who suck and cant do it they will want to destroy it) When you start building look for a rocky part on the hill. If there arn't many rocks on one part of the track you have to bring them in. dig them into the ground. Rock gardens do not contain, or should not contain loose rocks, they are extremly dangerous. (note, when moving rocks if there are creatures under them put the rock back ,and be careful of dangerous animals, i.e spiders.)
7/ the only place on the track where you should use alot of dirt should be on the berms. the berms should be made with fallen down trees and rocks heavily packed together. The angle and height of the berm depends on where it is placed. Basically the faster the corner the longer and less curved it should be, whereas a slow corner usually has a not as long berm and more curved. Most berms should be about 50cm high and packed down heavily.
8/ end of trail. the end of the trail should connect to a fireroad of some description. If this is not possible make sure when you walk back upto the top of trail on the trail. So that you dont trample of damage any more vegetation. If your trail does come out at the end of a firetrail make sure that you bush bash onto the fireroad. (don't tread on any plants, trees vegetation)
Thanksyou scratchy for the extra stuff. Very usefull. Cheers
Before even starting work on the trail you should.
1/ DO NOT make the track obvious as to where it is.
I've seen people just clear out the entrance to the trail on the side of a fire road or main street. That is stupid, you might as well just put up a sign saying here is a trail, come use, destroy or close it. Bush bash into the trail, where the trail head starts (make sure you dont step on any plants or vegatation) Take multiple lines into the trail every time, and if it looks like a trail is starting to appear cover the trail with leaves and put fallen over trees and dead fallen over plants in the way.
2/ Scout your local area, look for the steepest part. Find a really rocky area to start with (doesn't have to be ridable) Once you have found that then try and make the track on or around that area.
3/ Do not make it near peoples homes. this will piss people off because they will have bike riders screaming down near there neighbourhood. This will piss people of and almost certainly get the track found and shut down.
4/ Do not tell people where your trail is, this is fairly obvious. Only tell your close riding buddies/ friends. You don't want lots of little shits coming to your trail, building new lines, making loads of noise and destroying stuff. Word gets around, these kids could tell there parents, who could tell other people, which could also get the track closed down. Make sure you explain thoroughly to your close friends not to tell anyone about the trail.
5/ Do not cut down trees, Don't friggin do it, simple as that!
6/ Try not to use north shore obstacles, use them only where necessary. And if you do use them DO NOT nail them into trees, lay them on rocks or dig the wood into the ground.
6/ Do not leave rubbish lying on the track, take it with you. This does not give the sport of mountain biking a good look if the track does get found. If the track is bombarded by rubbish I can assure you the track won't have a chance of survival. If people have found the track and have left rubbish there, take it with you and dump it in a bin. however, if it is biodegradable make a pit and chuck it in there ,and with other dead trees. you can make a compost heap and put it on other trees or plants.
Starting the track.
1/ Mark out where you want the track with some string. Do Not make indents in trees/ or cut bark off, this can consequently kill the tree if you accidentally ring bark it)
2. Begin clearing out the track, top to bottom. Do not take out plants, only weeds. If it is necessary to take out plants replant them somewhere else. As for the width of the track, Try to keep most of it single track. The only sections that should be wide are the technical sections, i,e rock gardens.
3/ Always, always make b lines around the harder obstacles. If kids do find the tracks, and they cant do it. They will more than likely knock it down because it is too hard for them to do. But if you have a b-line they will hopefully enjoy the track because they are able to hit it, and will want it too stay there so they can enjoy it for years to come.
4/ Decide what you exactly want to be on the track, jumps, rock gardens drops... Plan exactly where you want them, how big, and check for things like run-up, run out and any other obsticles around that could cause a threat. I,e cliffs.Find a spot where they would be easiest to build and have the least effect on the environment.
5/ When building drops and jumps try to use what you can find, Don't go digging mass piles of dirt, see what else you can find. digging hug holes of dirt is not going to help the local ecosystem. try using rocks that are packed together to form a lip or landing. find some rocks (size, depends on how many) Put the main ones at the bottom and then you cant start to form the shape of the jump landing with the rocks, use the flat rocks on the top (where your riding onto or off)
6/ When building rock gardens, make sure these have several lines, that range from exceeding your ability to way below your ability. Make sure that the easier lines are slower. (same reason as mentioned before, if randoms come to your track who suck and cant do it they will want to destroy it) When you start building look for a rocky part on the hill. If there arn't many rocks on one part of the track you have to bring them in. dig them into the ground. Rock gardens do not contain, or should not contain loose rocks, they are extremly dangerous. (note, when moving rocks if there are creatures under them put the rock back ,and be careful of dangerous animals, i.e spiders.)
7/ the only place on the track where you should use alot of dirt should be on the berms. the berms should be made with fallen down trees and rocks heavily packed together. The angle and height of the berm depends on where it is placed. Basically the faster the corner the longer and less curved it should be, whereas a slow corner usually has a not as long berm and more curved. Most berms should be about 50cm high and packed down heavily.
8/ end of trail. the end of the trail should connect to a fireroad of some description. If this is not possible make sure when you walk back upto the top of trail on the trail. So that you dont trample of damage any more vegetation. If your trail does come out at the end of a firetrail make sure that you bush bash onto the fireroad. (don't tread on any plants, trees vegetation)
scratchy said:
Thanksyou scratchy for the extra stuff. Very usefull. Cheers
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