I rode the trail this afternoon. The creek side trail is in good condition - dry and clear. The bowl is dry and clear. The back trail is still muddy - I had to walk a lot of it to avoid riding through the mud patches - hopefully a couple of days of summer sun should dry most of this out. The figure of eight is more or less clear on the south side, I cleared out a couple of big fallen tree limbs, only one wet spot. The north side of the figure of eight has a few large tree limbs down, which I was not able to clear on my own without tools - if anyone fancies a little job over this weekend.
So, for the next couple of days, stay on the creek side and use the bowl - ride up the pipeline track to get to the figure of eight for some variety. Once things dry out a bit more we can take another look at maintenance issues.
Jerry, Bill Begnaud and I did some simple clearing work on Monday evening. Great fun wading across the high water in the gullys and meeting all kinds of interesting new bugs. Perhaps by this weekend the trail along the creek will be rideable, I'll certainly be heading down there on my bike over the holiday weekend to see how the trails in the back have coped with this terrible weather. The front trail is clear of debris (or was on Monday) - just be gentlet with any soggy sections.
I'm desperate to ride, so I'm going to try to head up to Huntsville on Friday 2nd - anyone heard how conditions are up there? It usually handles the rain pretty well.
Jerry, Bill Begnaud and I did some simple clearing work on Monday evening. Great fun wading across the high water in the gullys and meeting all kinds of interesting new bugs. Perhaps by this weekend the trail along the creek will be rideable, I'll certainly be heading down there on my bike over the holiday weekend to see how the trails in the back have coped with this terrible weather. The front trail is clear of debris (or was on Monday) - just be gentlet with any soggy sections.
I'm desperate to ride, so I'm going to try to head up to Huntsville on Friday 2nd - anyone heard how conditions are up there? It usually handles the rain pretty well.
Jerry, Bill Begnaud and I did some simple clearing work on Monday
evening. Great fun wading across the high water in the gullys and
meeting all kinds of interesting new bugs. Perhaps by this weekend
the trail along the creek will be rideable, I'll certainly be heading
down there on my bike over the holiday weekend to see how the trails
in the back have coped with this terrible weather. The front trail
is clear of debris (or was on Monday) - just be gentlet with any
soggy sections.
I'm desperate to ride, so I'm going to try to head up to Huntsville
on Friday 2nd - anyone heard how conditions are up there? It usually
handles the rain pretty well.
Hope to see some of you out there this weekend.
Kev
I won't be back out helping with trail work for awhile. I am heading to Colorado for a week and then will be having surgery that will keep me off my bike for 4-6 weeks. Jerry has been approved to sign off for paydirt points for racers so hopefully that will get more people out to help when we start doing some big trail work.
I'm hoping this evening is not a wash-out. I'll be at the trail head rain or shine at 6PM. Walking a very wet trail will allow visibility to water problems, and quickly point to possible solutions. I'll bring pin flags and we'll see if we can't start on rerouting the mud holed, fallen pine section. Bring clippers and shoes that don't mind getting wet.
This evening Me, Candice, Sam, Melanie and Dean worked about 2 hours clearing some overgrowth at Cypresswood trails. We would like to pick up where we left off, and would like to reroute the section near the end, with all the fallen pines, and all the mud holes, and are requesting more help. Melanie is going to see about getting trail work qualified for pay dirt, but trail work parties are exciting and rewarding enough already. If you'd like to be more involved, please email me (jerryg98@...) or the yahoo group (cypresswoodtrailgroup@yahoogroups.com).
We will meet again next Monday at 6PM at the trail head.
I'm still planning to help out on Monday. Does anyone know if it is
dry enough to ride?
That's great about Jack Brooks park. I was there a little over a
year ago and wasn't very impressed with the ride so I didn't go
back. It looked like someone was starting to create & upkeep the
trails there, though. Jimmy & I will have to ride it again!!!
Thanks! Beta on trails is always good.
CM
Sorry I won't make the party on Monday, 6pm - I'm going out of town.
I hope there will be a good turn out to help Jerry. How are
conditions out there? With all the rain, I haven't ridden
Cypresswood in almost 3 weeks. There's probably a lot of clearing up
work to do.
I did ride at Jack Brooks Park today, and what a great venue this
is. This trail, and the great work done by the users down there,
offers a lot of good ideas for us up here at Cypresswood. I
recommend a trip down there - you won't be disappointed with the
terrific riding. We can develop Cypresswood into something almost as
good with the same dedication that the Jack Brooks team has shown.
PS, Jerry: look for Dale to join you on Monday - he's on the
telephone list (no computer) I spoke with him Saturday.
Kevin
Jerry- I am a tenative yes I have to check with the Boss!
Rick
(new guy to cypresswood trailgroup)
>From: "jerryg98" <jerryg98@...>
>Reply-To: cypresswoodtrailgroup@yahoogroups.com
>To: <cypresswoodtrailgroup@yahoogroups.com>
>CC: <ghorba@yahoogroups.com>,<nwcc@...>
>Subject: [cypresswoodtrailgroup] work party
>Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 01:29:39 -0500
>
>FYI
>
> I would like anyone interested in maintaining the trails at
>Cypresswood to meet at the head of the trail this Monday evening at 6PM.
>Bring along some clippers and we will trim some of the face slappers that
>are trying to close off the trail. You may wish to wear long sleeves and
>gloves to protect from poison ivy. And don't forget some bug spray and
>something to drink. We might want to ride afterwards, depending on how wet
>it is...
> I am trying to find a time slot that will work for more than one or
>two people, so if you have any suggestions for the next week, please pass
>them along.
>
>Jerry
_________________________________________________________________
Looking to buy a house? Get informed with the Home Buying Guide from MSN
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I would like anyone interested in maintaining the trails at Cypresswood to meet at the head of the trail this Monday evening at 6PM. Bring along some clippers and we will trim some of the face slappers that are trying to close off the trail. You may wish to wear long sleeves and gloves to protect from poison ivy. And don't forget some bug spray and something to drink. We might want to ride afterwards, depending on how wet it is...
I am trying to find a time slot that will work for more than one or two people, so if you have any suggestions for the next week, please pass them along.
Jerry Gruss will be at the trail head (T.C. Jester and Cypresswood Drive) on Sunday June 13th at 1pm. This will just be some simple brush clearing on the main trail. I have to work Sunday, but Jerry would look forward to seeing some of the rest of you. Bring some yard tools - trimmer, shears, bow saw - whatever you have available.
Sorry about the short notice, but I've been out of pocket for the last week and am just catching up with the world. Jerry and I hope to go for a ride one evening next week to plan something a little more involved for next weekend.
Just wanted to let everyone know that Aaron and I will be heading out
to Cypresswood Saturday evening some time after 5PM to map the trails
with our GPS's. We are not sure of the exact time we will hit the
trailhead, but it will be after 5PM this Saturday. My white Xterra
will be an indication that I am there.
Dennis James, LeAnn Latham, Curt from the new Bike Barn (ex Champions Cyclery) and myself turned up for this morning's ride. Sorry that some of you had to back out at the last minute, but actually this little group was just right - not too unwieldy, and good company too. The trails were dry - we've escaped any of the regional heavy rains of the last couple of days.
Route and comments:
Down Dry Gully to Cypress Creek. We rode around the flood detention pond and back up towards Cypresswood before continuing downstream. There's a large thicket which is part of the park - there's a nature trail in part of it, but also some more potential for a nice single track on park land.
Cypress Creek through Meyer Park. This is the section of the creek which will shortly be re-engineered using prototypical "fluvial - geomorphological" techniques - this will look natural and have a split level - good stuff. I rode down the bank to the creek, but had to back track, since the trail becomes overgrown on the lower level. All along the creek bank is the potential for good gradients - just like Anthills. Along the top level in the park is wide open and flat - boring for XC'ers but pleasant nonetheless. It keeps going as park land to the Stuebner-Airline Road bridge.
Stuebner - Collins (or Cypresswood Park): Heavy going along the creek, since the beaten path is obviously getting little use and is difficult to ride. After a short distance, we went into the woods - a nice potential bowl is in here, with lots of woods to make more single track. This is area "D", which the parkies are trying to purchase. My comrades got a surprise at the gully - cyclocross stuff here to traverse a 20' deep gully with steep sides. The parkies will build a large bridge here if they complete the purchase. We need more people to ride this section to beat a clearer path and erode a track across the gully.
Collins Park - same as Meyer Park.
Collins Park - Spring Gully - some heavy going here. There is a clear trail along the back of a fence which is the boundary of Wimbledon Champions, but at one point a tree has fallen with a lot of growth. Jerry: how about you and I take some clippers and machetes down here next weekend? Meeting with Wimbledon HOA needs to be near the top of my list of things to do fairly soon. At the creek, we ride along the backyards of some expensive homes and the trail becomes more like a loggers trail until we come out onto the top of a detention pond, which is presumably part of Wimbledon's flood mitigation efforts. Yet another detention pond with potential for trails. After this pond, we go into a cleared area where homes are being built - the trail will have to drop down into a wooded area behind this land as the homes are constructed.
Spring Gully: No one wanted to ford the gully today, so we rode up to Cypresswood and over the bridge, then back down the gully to the western section of the main trail area.
Western Section: Dennis rode along the north side of the flood detention pond, the rest of us rode south - so the trail is complete all around this pond - lots of potential on the banks too. There is now a large forest area ready for us to forge some new trails in this western area - some is marshy, but not all. We need to borrow some of the GHORBA heavy duty equipment some time soon in this area.
Main area: All is in good condition at the moment - we just need some upkeep maintenance: clearing some overgrowth; some fallen trees to cut; improve drainage on the gullies.
Bowl: In good condition - the big gullys to either side are almost dry and now providing some great fun in this area besides the jumps. You can do some laps around the bowl and the gullys which will really get your ticker up to level 4.
We rode back along the back trail then through the sub-divisions.
We need more riders to keep the paths clear and to raise awareness of the potential. Please drop me a line if any of you would like to have a tour, and perhaps we can have an organized ride on other weekends, if there is interest.
I'm off on vacation this week, without bike, e-mail, beer or other such comforts, so I will be desparate for all three on my return. Talk to you next weekend.
Gosh, I hate to do it, but I'm going to have to bail for tomorrow.
Jimmy is out of town, too. Arggghhh! Was really looking forward to
it. Next time!
CM
I just got back in to town last night around 1:00...plane held up by the weather. Haven't had a chance to get out much today, but do you think it's too wet to ride tomorrow???? CM
I just got back in to town last night around 1:00...plane held up by
the weather. Haven't had a chance to get out much today, but do you
think it's too wet to ride tomorrow????
CM
Subject: [cypresswoodtrailgroup] can't make Sundays ride
Hey,
I'm very sorry, but it seems I've already accepted another invitation for the weekend. I will not be able to make the ride on Sunday. My unicycle is also disappointed. Please keep me informed.
I'm very sorry, but it seems I've already accepted another invitation for the weekend. I will not be able to make the ride on Sunday. My unicycle is also disappointed. Please keep me informed.
By a slim majority, this weekend's exploratory ride will be Sunday morning, 6 June 2004. Meet in Kroger's car park, corner of Cypresswood and Champion Forest Drives, at 0830. Those of you who have church can perhaps tag along then bug out about 10 to get back in time for the 11am service.
As mentioned before, bring plenty of water and a few snacks. Bug spray will help if you taste good to mossies, since we will be riding slowly with stops to explore as we make our way down to the main trail. We can stretch our legs on the main trail, but the main purpose of the ride is to explore the possibilities for expansion of the existing Cypresswood Trail. I'm game to take a look downstream from Kuyhkendahl as well - I have previously hacked my way downstream almost to I-45 - there's a lot of potential real estate for us out there. We'll see how y'all feel after we hit the main trail.
Look forward to seeing as many as possible. We should make quite a scene passing through the park: XC's and downhillers lead by Jerry on a single wheel! All in a good cause of course.
P.S. Tiffany and the other walkers: drop me a line if you want to borrow a bike to tag along - strictly low velocity for this ride.
Hey guys, i'll be out of town this weekend and cannot make the work
party. Next weekend (12-13th) is wide open. Let us know how it goes.
Brandon
--- In cypresswoodtrailgroup@yahoogroups.com, "titusjriv"
<titusjriv@y...> wrote:
> --- In cypresswoodtrailgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Jer" <jerryg98@f...>
> wrote:
> > Hey,
> > I'd like to join in the ride from the Kroger -But you may have to
> > slow down a bit for me to keep up on my wheel (I usually average
> > around 7 mph during a lap at Cypresswood). I'd prefer Sunday.
> >
> > I'm game for some trail work -we need to decide where we want to
> > start and/or what can most be accomplished in the least amount of
> > time, as well as how many people are interested to help out.
> > Jer
>
> I won't make it but from what I saw last week you won't slow
anybody
> down! Bring a machete!
--- In cypresswoodtrailgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Jer" <jerryg98@f...>
wrote:
> Hey,
> I'd like to join in the ride from the Kroger -But you may have to
> slow down a bit for me to keep up on my wheel (I usually average
> around 7 mph during a lap at Cypresswood). I'd prefer Sunday.
>
> I'm game for some trail work -we need to decide where we want to
> start and/or what can most be accomplished in the least amount of
> time, as well as how many people are interested to help out.
> Jer
I won't make it but from what I saw last week you won't slow anybody
down! Bring a machete!
Hey,
I'd like to join in the ride from the Kroger -But you may have to
slow down a bit for me to keep up on my wheel (I usually average
around 7 mph during a lap at Cypresswood). I'd prefer Sunday.
I'm game for some trail work -we need to decide where we want to
start and/or what can most be accomplished in the least amount of
time, as well as how many people are interested to help out.
Jer