This weekend I made good on one of my New Years resolutions and helped out with some trail work out at Sope Creek mountain bike trail inside the Chattahoochee River National Recreation area. The morning got off to a cold start (my car thermometer said it was 17 degrees when I left the house) but that didn’t stop 15-20 Atlanta area mountain bikers from showing up to help out.
The Sope Creek mountain bike trails are in pretty bad shape and unfortunately the only trail open to mountain bikes is a badly eroded double-track that used to be a road bed. There are big plans for new singletrack in the next year or two but in the meantime mountain bikers are doing their part to help out and show goodwill toward the National Park Service and the hundreds of walkers and joggers who use the trails every week.
SORBA-Atlanta organized the work day and we got started with some safety training and an intro to the basics of trailwork. Our job was to clear out grade dips that had become clogged with sediment using hand tools called Pulaskis and McCleods to help slow the erosion that has devistated the mountain bike trail. The work went pretty quickly and it was a great opportunity to sweat and socialize with riders working toward a common goal: better singletrack!
After the work party a couple of us hit the trails on bikes but honestly we were ready to call it quits after a short loop due to the weather and the lack of trail variety. Sope Creek isn’t a trail I would choose to ride in its current condition but I’m optimistic about the changes taking place there thanks to the efforts of SORBA and the NPS. With work parties scheduled at Sope Creek and other MTB trails each month there are plenty of opportunities to stay involved – see you at the next trail work party!
