Mid-State: Anderson Park

[bockrona]

I put the log back on blue, and put dirt by it so you can roll right over it, or jump it. Gotta put rewards like that on the downhills.

I understand people taking things like that out though. The trail should be generally rollable for a beginner, and a speedbump like that was no fun anyway. Hopefully, that upgrade will be a good compromise that all skills can ride.

[rvd]

Inspired by what I see here down under (where all MTB trails have been mapped out by the community) and also by Strava, who seem inclined to move from google maps to OSM, I decided to add some of my gpx tracks to openstreetmap.org, starting with Anderson Park: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=42.6933&lon=-84.61963&zoom=16&layers=M. The track currently only renders in a few zoom levels and is not yet visible on the cycle map (opencyclemap.org, or simply as a clickable layer in openstreetmap.org), but I believe that it will be added in a few days.

I am not sure if OSM will be the way forward, but the fact that MTB trails can be added is obviously a benefit for us. I saw that the Poto is already available; CRAMBA appears active in putting tracks up too. The maps look quite a bit different than the google maps that we are all used to, but the learning curve for using the maps isn't steep (neither is it for generating the maps by the way). In addition to browsing the maps on the computer, smartphone apps using these data are available. I used it here down under to navigate the trails and I suspect it will be equally useful in Michigan.

[edit: link for a relation of features for route>mtb>Anderson Park: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?relation=2263189 - I only added the main loops to the relation, and left the connectors, shortcuts, and parking out.]

[mwilson7]

Rode all three trails this morning and there are a few trees down. One biggger one at the beginning of blue. One where blue and red meet up. One on red just after where blue and red meet and there were a few very low hanging trees that are leaning over.

First time on the trail and although it's short it's pretty fun.

[benl]

Mark's spot on regarding the downed trees. There's also lots of small debris on the trail which may or may not need active cleanup to clear.

[dauber76]

Rode all three trails this morning and there are a few trees down. One biggger one at the beginning of blue. One where blue and red meet up. One on red just after where blue and red meet and there were a few very low hanging trees that are leaning over.

First time on the trail and although it's short it's pretty fun.

Trees are gone, the one at the red/blue intersection was a big one. Lots of good logs left for a nice log pile, but you will need a chainsaw to cut them to size.

[F7Cannon]

Thanks Chris. Rode there yesterday afternoon and Green was the only loop I could ride without having to get off the bike. Still a lot of little stuff down, do you by any chance have the blower? I would like to at least blow off the Green trail and could use it at Burchfield as well.

[dauber76]

Thanks Chris. Rode there yesterday afternoon and Green was the only loop I could ride without having to get off the bike. Still a lot of little stuff down, do you by any chance have the blower? I would like to at least blow off the Green trail and could use it at Burchfield as well.

I don't have the blower. I think it is with Jeff, maybe?

[F7Cannon]

Thanks Chris. Rode there yesterday afternoon and Green was the only loop I could ride without having to get off the bike. Still a lot of little stuff down, do you by any chance have the blower? I would like to at least blow off the Green trail and could use it at Burchfield as well.

I don't have the blower. I think it is with Jeff, maybe?

I found it. Jeff lives right around the corner from me so I always cheeck there first. Dave Frost swung by the shop today and said he had it. Working on getting a second one, or another one that we have from JW9 up and running so we always have two available.

[centralRH]

Thanks Chris for clearing the trees and Shaun for offering to blow the trail. I actually don't think clearing the trail with the blower will be necessary. I rode it this evening and cleared many of the downed sticks. It really wasn't too bad.

Trail is dusty, but seemed to have a tiny bit more traction today. There is still a little 2 wheel drifting in the faster corners.

Also, I spoke with the new Delta Township parks director today. Our conversation was very encouraging and you may see some changes coming to the park in the near future.

[F7Cannon]

Thanks Chris for clearing the trees and Shaun for offering to blow the trail. I actually don't think clearing the trail with the blower will be necessary. I rode it this evening and cleared many of the downed sticks. It really wasn't too bad.

Trail is dusty, but seemed to have a tiny bit more traction today. There is still a little 2 wheel drifting in the faster corners.

Also, I spoke with the new Delta Township parks director today. Our conversation was very encouraging and you may see some changes coming to the park in the near future.

I was just thinking about maby blowing off just the Green if your cool with that Brad since it's the faster of the three in my opinion. When I road it on Sunday I almost went down a few times in some of the corners just from hitting a few clusters of smaller sticks, old dry leaves, and what not.

[jonw9]

There is a low hanging branch/tree on blue, shortly after the section where it merges with red and splits on the hill.

I am pretty sure it has been there for some time, but crept low enough to be an obstacle.

[geardaddy37]

Rode last night and gravity is decinitely having it's way with that tree branch... By next week even my diminutive frame will no longer be able to pass under it...
Thanks to "bleve", and Scott for letting me tag along ... Those two can carve!

[bikejoe]

That tree is cleared. I went out there kind of late on Saturday with hand tools, was fortunate to run into Ben (benl) who helped me finish in less than half the time it would have taken on my own. We didn’t get too carried away with tidying up the debris as I was expecting the rain to come sooner than it did. There were some broken saplings that I should have trimmed off at ground level. We tried to save the small trees that were only bent over by the dead tree crashing down. Some look pretty whipped but they may perk up in time.

[bleve]

Thanks for taking care of the tree, I caught my helmet then my back as I went under it, that didn't happen two weeks before when I rode. And as a warning we were able to return a lost phone to a group that apparently was attacked by bees while walking their dog on the trail and dropped it. We didn't have any problems with bees but maybe someone else will.

[centralRH]

The rain has helped the trail bed. It was getting a bit slick with the dust over hardpack. Traction was very good this evening. A few slappers but nothing too bad.