XC Track

[aaron01]

I was down back of Withcott today for work & stopped in at the xc track to see whats doing, basically 1 section is getting overgrown again & the 2nd 2 sections aren't alot better. It looks (and smells) like someone has been down there and poisoned the 2nd 2 sections wondering if anyone would mind me doing the same on the 1st section of trails?, at least it will keep the dreaded grass at bay till it can be worked on properly.

Also on that train of thought could the club approach council & maybe get the Dhill trail poisoned, or for that matter be given access to spray packs and poison to do it through the club, seems to make alot more sense than whipper snippering & having the grass come back a week later.

 

[nimrodx]

Great idea.

I was hoping to get down there with a wipper snipper over the next few days -- I think
Jiel was going to get an OK with council for that.

 

[sherman]

Great idea.

I was hoping to get down there with a wipper snipper over the next few days -- I think
Jiel was going to get an OK with council for that.

Hey everyone,

Council has given approval to people going in to do maintenance on the XC track, just on the condition that they walk in to the track.

Cheers
Jiel

 

[nimrodx]

Washout on the XC -- ideas for fixing?

HI All,

Did a bit of work down there -- not much, just some line trimming on the track where the rollercat begins (up the hills on amos road), running semi-parrallel to crebra trail.

Where Crebra and the rollercat cross the stream is quite a mess.



This is where the track used to meet the stream. In the forground is the root ball of the fallen tree that spans the stream. The drop down to the stream would be about 1.5 metres.



you can see the quite large tree here a bit better.



Standing where the track meets air.


Looking across the stream to the rollercat and crebra on the other side. The base of the stream does not look very rideable.



another view across.

This could be fixed with a bit of board-walking that could make the crossing a bit more interesting. The log is not quite in the right place to help -- it ends amongst boulders.
OK for danny Mcaskill I guess.

with a bit of digging, the track could be cut in, just up-stream of the root ball of the fallen tree. The track could be cut into the bank, and a board walk put , leadin upstream at a reasonable fall to just above stream height, then another board wal could then cut across the stream. Could even camber them to make them fast -- which might be nice. We might be able to design them to avoid loosing anything too difficult to fix next time it floods.

There are certainly other ways to do it, but I have just been thinking about how to avoid large spans which would make materials expensive and increase labour (which we might loose next time it rains heavily).

What do you think? Any of you other guys had a look at the place?

Matt

 

[aussie pete]

Idea for the wash out

Have been down not long ago and did a bit of work on the other section, the section your talking about should be done properly by council, I wouldn't be to sure but I take it they use these tracks as fire breaks/fire roads in emergency situations and if this is the case they will probably do it all in good time. If people are looking for a temporary fix a few blokes with shovels and a little bit of time and organization would be a good start.

 

[aaron01]

With AP on this one, just my 2 cents but I rekon concentrating efforts into the 3 "loops" below the fire road and ensuring they are all in tip top shape should be the priority, at least then trails can be ridden, maybe look further into the trails about the fire road & the xc extention once council has had their way with the colvit & so on.

 

[aussie pete]

xc

I have not been on the xc scene that long but just who is supposed to be organizing the maintenance and upgrades to the tracks in jubilee? If there isn't already a xc specific mtb club maybe one should be started and take hold of the situation in jubilee, I mean its a big park and with a lot of effort could be set up to be really a good network of tracks similar to Mt Cootha or OHV. Of what I have seen there is a lot of interest in xc around toowoomba we all just need a little bit of direction and organization.

 

[sherman]

I have not been on the xc scene that long but just who is supposed to be organizing the maintenance and upgrades to the tracks in jubilee? If there isn't already a xc specific mtb club maybe one should be started and take hold of the situation in jubilee, I mean its a big park and with a lot of effort could be set up to be really a good network of tracks similar to Mt Cootha or OHV. Of what I have seen there is a lot of interest in xc around toowoomba we all just need a little bit of direction and organization.

I personally don't see the point in creating another mountain bike club within Toowoomba. It will just be more work than if XC riders joined TMBC. The biggest problem is that the majority of club members are Dh orientated and therefore focus on the DH and 4X tracks. I have also seen that there is plenty of people that ride XC but not many seem interested to join or help maintain tracks.

In saying this, TMBC this year is going to try and get more riders and volunteers from each discipline, so hopefully tracks like the XC track can finally get completed.

Hope this clears up any questions.
If there is any more questions feel free to post up.

Cheers
Jiel

 

[aaron01]

I personally don't see the point in creating another mountain bike club within Toowoomba. It will just be more work than if XC riders joined TMBC. The biggest problem is that the majority of club members are Dh orientated and therefore focus on the DH and 4X tracks. I have also seen that there is plenty of people that ride XC but not many seem interested to join or help maintain tracks.

In saying this, TMBC this year is going to try and get more riders and volunteers from each discipline, so hopefully tracks like the XC track can finally get completed.

Hope this clears up any questions.
If there is any more questions feel free to post up.

Cheers
Jiel

Not wanting to start a shit fight, but I think you will find a vast majority of mountain bikers in Toowoomba (mainly xc) don't join the TMBC as there is no benifits for joining:
ie; local affordable racing & insurance are 2 that spring to mind.

I was a member many years ago but as I also enjoy my road racing I decided to join a local roadie club for a number of reasons, mainly the convieance of local racing + the nessesity of requiring a CQ licence to race any road race (not the case for MTBA)

If the local club wants to increase its membership it needs to look at becoming an inclusive benifit driven association, This can only happen if there are a few selfless comitee members at the top.

 

[aussie pete]

Hey a shit fight might just be what TMBC or toowoomba mountain bikers in general need, it might bring to attention the fact that some people I have met and spoken to would rather join mtb clubs as far away as brisbane instead of toowoomba because of the lack of organized xc rides/races and xc tracks and not just xc but other disciplines as well. I don't think any one inparticular is to blame for this lack of variation in mtb activities but I personally think the toowoomba council should do more by providing more involvement in establishing and upgrading tracks and facilities across the toowoomba escarpment. We live on the top of the great dividing range, possibly some of the best mtb country around.

 

[sherman]

Not wanting to start a shit fight, but I think you will find a vast majority of mountain bikers in Toowoomba (mainly xc) don't join the TMBC as there is no benifits for joining:
ie; local affordable racing & insurance are 2 that spring to mind.

I was a member many years ago but as I also enjoy my road racing I decided to join a local roadie club for a number of reasons, mainly the convieance of local racing + the nessesity of requiring a CQ licence to race any road race (not the case for MTBA)

If the local club wants to increase its membership it needs to look at becoming an inclusive benifit driven association, This can only happen if there are a few selfless comitee members at the top.

Hey Aaron,

You brought up a few good points. There is a lack of affordable racing, however insurance is providing by being a member of MTBA and TMBC. I'm not sure how it compares to road cycling but there is insurance.

The club does need to increase its inclusiveness so thats why there such days as the open day that should be held next month planned for this year to try and boost membership numbers. As with a few selfless committee members at the top, it is not only TMBC that has trouble with this, but in saying that, they do need support from other members to be able to produce the final event/product.

I stand by my point of saying that Toowoomba does not need another club. If there are a few people eager enough to start another club, then they should be happy enough to join TMBC as there are many advantages of this option such as:

A good relationship with the TRC
More members equals more chances for new tracks and events to happen

In saying all this, I will admit that the club has lost focus on the XC side of mountain biking so as I said earlier, the clubs goal for this year is to increase membership and therefore have more volunteers.

Cheers
Jiel

 

[nimrodx]

Instead of the griping, how about some work on the Rollercat on Saturday?

Look guys, I can see that the membership of the club is gravity biased.

In that light I think it is pretty decent that they have put an effort into the XC track.

The constructive cure to the gravity bias -- is join up!
I think the club executives I have talked to are trying to get a range of new membership.

So, anyone like to join me down there on Saturday morning to do some work on the XC?

Kind regards,

Matt

 

[aussie pete]

XC Maintainance

Will be there 8:00ish, I know Iride has a facebook site that you can post info on, spread the word that there will be a maintenance day and encourage a few people to get down there, it will make it easier because last time I looked it was a hell of a job.

 

[nimrodx]

I won't be there till 10:30 -- otherwise it looks OK.

Family duties intrude earlier, but otherwise it looks OK.

I'm not sure if the club executive want to make this an official working bee?

I was just going to head there and do some work. I'm OK with it being made formal, if that suits the club? If so, then I guess it could be put on the facebook site -- or does this sort of formality matter?

Not my position to give an answer on that.
Anyone able to answer this?

Matt

 

[aaron01]

.............

 

[aaron01]

Will be there 8:00ish, I know Iride has a facebook site that you can post info on, spread the word that there will be a maintenance day and encourage a few people to get down there, it will make it easier because last time I looked it was a hell of a job.

Will be heading down but at a more kid friendly time for me, plan to do some work on the 1st section of the xc loop.

 

[aussie pete]

xc

Nimrodx suggested 1030ish is this more acceptable for everybody who wants to get involved

 

[nimrodx]

Ok, I'll be down there.

Personally, I'm keeping out of the politics of it all .
I'm mindful of a couple of things.

1. I did not volunteer to be an office bearer, and I will not -- but I am prepared to
help get things done. I need my hobby to be pretty stress free in contrast to what I do in the working week.

2. I'm concerned that lambasting those who have put themselves into the official positions will have the negative effect of making them give up. Where is the up-side in that?

I just want to see the tracks back in action, and then I would like to see them improving. The potential is enormous on Toowoomba Regional Council land. Basic self interest -- I want great tracks to ride.

Matt