catmannz wrote:BTW all this rain has done wonders for the plant growth. Any B+D afficionados will really love the whipping they get going down Lazy Fern

Ha ha - it's no good telling Robbie about overgrown foliage, you don't get pizza for clearing that away!

We've line-trimmed up the old Koru dryfeet and as far as the lowest bridge on Lazy Fern; Team Wombat will be riding LF tomorrow to see where else is a problem.

Happy New year!

Not so at all, we (the Makara Peak Committee) need to know just how quickly stuff is growing, if we have not discovered already.
Pizza has nothing to do with it, about 40 hours was spent on pixie work on JFK this week, with not a pizza in sight- just sandwiches made by me.

Pizza is a Tuesday night only special for those who abandon the world of couches and playstations and head up onto the hill to make new mountainbike track

Perhaps there should be a new thread about the vegetation and trimming @ makara ??

Robbie wrote:Perhaps there should be a new thread about the vegetation and trimming @ makara ??

Is that a reference to pizz with all the trimmings?

Possum and LLL still have overgrown areas but we're moving forward with that;
Nikau Valley needs doing again;
Missing Link has quite a few face-slappy sections that need attention;
Last time I rode North Face I thought there were some very bushy looking spots.

I think we're doing the main loop this arvo so I'll make a note as wer're going around.

I don't mind just wandering around with my machine but I' don't want to have to rake all the choppings up as well and the kids are getting sick of helping all the time.

Are there any special rules about trimming back the overhangs? I'm happy to take a pair of secateurs with me next time but I don't want to break any protocols about track maintenance

Hi Catmanz
yes there are quite a few things that are handy to know.

Naturally trim anything that is likely to hit a rider in the face, or is directly overgrowing the track.

The best way to do this depends on the vegetation:
Encroaching gorse and barberry should be trimmed right back as far away from the track as possible. (trimming just the bit poking out means that very soon somebody will just be doing the same thing again. Far better to get to the source and get rid of it!!)

Native trees should only be trimmed on the side that is facing the track.
This means that over time the native will grow high and eventually create a nice avenue and canopy effect. The resulting shade helps stop nasties like grass and blackberry etc from growing.

It is very important that any trimming does not leave sharp ends facing the track: the last thing you want is a MTB accident resulting in stab wounds. So after trimming always ensure that all stumps, large and small, are cut right back to the trunk.

On Lazy Fern foliage should not be cut back beyond the edge of the track for sight lines, as this will encourage more speed and track damage. This track is designed for easy riding, and so has tight corners with no banking. So clearing beside the trail to make visibility better will end up damaging the track.

The insides of the switchbacks are definately a place where vegetation growth very quickly makes riding unpleasant.

Cheers,

Rob

Makara Peak Tracks

I noticed on my reconnaissance ride that Lazy Fern is in danger of no longer being the official width for a WCC Easy track (1.2m? 1,5m?) because of the thick grass and shrubs that have been encroaching on the sides. This has left us with a 300-400mm wide groove that is likely to serve as a bad drain in winter; I think that if left for another year, LF could be at the same standard as Aratihi or Missing Link.

So I bullied the wombatessa into helping me and we spent 5 hours line trimming on Lazy fern, cutting back all the growth to the edges of the benched track. We got a bit more than half way before hunger, fatigue and fading light overcame our zeal for the track. There were a dozen riders came through while we were working, lots of friendly comments, the encouragement always helps (especially when we forgot to pack a sandwich!),

We noticed that someone had already been through before us cutting the face-slapping punga branches - good work whoever that was.

Please put this in another thread.

Where did you dig today would be a good one

Sorry boss, I was going to post it there, but then I decided it was appropriate to post where you've been posting on the same subject. After all, we didn't dig, we just trail-pixied.

HTH

Yesterday three pixies continued finalising the lower end of JFK.

Of the 220 odd metres, probably 75% of it has be raised, lowered, had lines changed, berms added, the surface packed down, edges armoured, drainage improved or moved, swoopy lines made or it has just beed widened.. and the whole lot should last really well.

Perfect for a gentle cruise or a very very fast fang!

When the people who are working on the top section break through to this they are going to be in for a suprise!!

Not much more to do now on the lower leg (below the grassy knoll).
We do have an alternate line for "the nutters" planned and some fun stuff on the way down to the ridge.

Meanwhile this evening from 5, the Tuesday night volunteers will be putting the finishing touches to the big switchback in the valley then benching their way out across the steep side slope to the milder terrain beyond.. where a "keyhole" switchback is waiting to be built.

So after 4 solid days work, the lower 240m of JFK, (which had been benched but not completed) is now about as good as we can make it. We ran out of ideas just as the rain arrived on Thursday.

Thanks to Colin, Jono, Rob and Gordon, the track is far more flowy, a lot faster, the cambers have all been set to aid happiness, and almost unnoticable drains have been built or moved along. Whole sections of the track raised or lowered, and berms have sprung up all over the place. Even the corner on the ridge was attacked to make it far wider, with better sight-lines and a nice solid outer bank- which extends well past the exit.

Heaps of dirt and or rock was moved, probably 60 wheelbarrow loads. Taking away from here, adding to there!

This track will be a couple of gears faster than North Face, if one has that choice

All we can do now is see how it handles rain, and lots of use...then winter.

And there is the small matter of the rest of the track, which comprised of 410 ish metres of single track.. about 250m has been built down from the top end. .....

So the Christmas pixie work is done, for another year!