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It looks like the SORBA Woodstock crew is at it again. The guys who brought you Blanket’s Creek, one of the most popular trail systems in GA and even more-so now that they got the write up in BIKE magazine, have gotten their hands on another piece of land just down the road at Rope Mill park and they are already laying down new trails.
I snuck up there today just to check out their handy work and ended up hiking what felt like 3-4 miles worth of future singletrack that they have tagged off and ready for the bench-cutting machine. Let me just say this…my face hurt from smiling and I never got to put a foot on my peddles. I can’t wait until the new park is finished!! I would have hiked the entire length but I got started too late in the day and already had plans to ride the new trails at Mt Tabor.
A couple of recon pics of the future trail with trail lines drawn in to help with the visualization process…
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Very cool. Are these trails looking machine or hand cut?
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I’m thinking that they will have to be machine cut unless they have A LOT of man power. The first mile of them feels like its on the side of a cliff. Right now it looks like they just went in with a blower, rake, and a mcleod or a hoe.
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That’s a good question trek7k.
What do you guys prefer: machine cut or handcut? I would way rather ride a handcut trail. All of these machine cut trails around the Southeast tend to start feeling the same to me. That, and they’re a lot wider than I personally think singletrack needs to be.
What do you all think?
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We have a few trails that are machine built. We have many more that are old legacy trails….handbuilt back in the day. We also have a seven mile loop we built by hand ourselves.
As a builder, machines hand down.
As a rider, both are fun and offer a different experience.
For example, most of what makes FATS so popular is that it was built with machines that could push big berms, jumps etc….. That said, there is a 1/4 mile section out there that was really just rake n ride. I often here it is folk’s favorite. But I doubt it would be their favorite if all 35 miles of trail were the same as it…tight and rooty.
Trails driven by $$$ will be machine built, for the most part. As it takes too much $$$ to build by hand.
Trails driven by volunteers will be hand built, for the most part. As it takes skill & $$$ to run the machines.
There are going to be exceptions to both of the above.
For machine built trails, the Southeast is the place to do it. We live in a greenhouse down here. Our trails reveg quickly and the extra corridor space may seem too wide at first, but will narrow up as the seasons move along.
The width can really be effected by the machine used as well. A mini track hoe can build true singletrack width tread, but the corridor has to be wide enough to get the body of the machine thru. A mini-skid steer builds wider tread, but about the same width corridor. A Sweco builds wider tread and needs a wider corridor to get the machine thru. But a Sweco can push a pile of dirt the size of the mini skid steer, uphill. A fella we work with alot can push 8,000-10,000 feet a day with a sweco. We have to slow him down to keep the ditchwitches up with him.
Bottom line is a skilled team of machine operators can build a mile of trail week. An average volunteer can properly build about 10 feet per man hour.
Do you want to spend your life riding it or building it?
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Seenvic – post those two pictures taken at FATS. One taken right after the trail was machine cut, the other a year later, in the same spot, with the same rider even.
That was an eye opener for me. I’d heard people talk about the transformation, but it’s hard to understand without seeing it.
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"dgaddis" wrote
Seenvic – post those two pictures taken at FATS. One taken right after the trail was machine cut, the other a year later, in the same spot, with the same rider even.
That was an eye opener for me. I’d heard people talk about the transformation, but it’s hard to understand without seeing it.
The week it was built.
Same spot, same rider. About a year later.
This is on the Brown Wave at FATS.
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Yep, those are the ones. Pretty crazy. Thanks.
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"seenvic" wrote
[quote="dgaddis":1teif68i]Seenvic – post those two pictures taken at FATS. One taken right after the trail was machine cut, the other a year later, in the same spot, with the same rider even.
That was an eye opener for me. I’d heard people talk about the transformation, but it’s hard to understand without seeing it.
The week it was built.
Same spot, same rider. About a year later.
This is on the Brown Wave at FATS.[/quote:1teif68i]
Woa, that difference is crazy!!
And point taken about all the effort that it takes to build trail by hand. But if it is all volunteer labor, then that would definitely be the cheaper route.
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A little birdy tells me that the long term plan for these new trails is to link them up with the South Loop over at Blanket’s Creek creating continuous riding of 25-30 miles. Can’t wait!
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seenvic, if I saw the first pic alone I would of been clueless that it was from FATS. The 1/4 mile of handcut is that the switch backs on Great Wall? love that section. very informative info thanks.
I like both machine and hand cut trails.
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"trek7k" wrote
Very cool. Are these trails looking machine or hand cut?
Both from what I understand. They will eventually connect to Blankets as well if my memory serves.
Here is the article "[url:2du4lbko]http://www.sorbawoodstock.org/blankets-creek-news/2010/2/5/sorba-woodstock-receives-approval-to-build-rope-mill-mtb-tra.html[/url:2du4lbko]"
and a small excerpt
This first trail, 5.2 miles in length, will be build out as a race course trail. Not only do you get everyday riding, but will allow race events to be held locally and more often with better location/amenities. This will be the first of 4 separate loop trails totaling 10 miles overall. Once this is built out over the next two years, we will work to connect this trail system to Blankets Creek to give you a 30 mile interconnected urban trail system.I share Gooses excitement
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30 Interconnected miles? That’s going to be epic!
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I can’t wait until they finish it cause I live just down the road from it and I really want to ride it!
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