MADjestic

Latest MADjestic work

2007-08-10T15:50:00.001-07:00

Chicken-wiring is done.
Conor completed the angled-run-off ramp type so great work there - thanks a lot Conor

If anyone has an old handbrush they're not using then maybe they could stash it under the ramp to brush-off the mud now and again.

I used-up most of that tape - just need to use the last of it and it'll all be done

Other stuff needing to be done for the Dash will be updated to the Dixie Blog

What next?

2007-08-05T03:07:00.000-07:00

I think the drop-off into the berm could do with something special being added.
Namely an extension of the berm as far as the tree, the extension will be a combo of wood work and soil/rocks.
The extension would need to be higher than the existing berm as a lot of speed gets carried into the berm from the drop-off.

Tree Trunk of Trauma is complete!

2007-08-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

Phew!
...and it wasn't even that traumatic, well, maybe a bit, but I'm very happy with it- especially the drop-off at the roots, thanks to all who lent a hand.
I must get a photo of it, and send it into "What Tree Trunk?" magazine, I'm sure it'd make the front page.

Plenty of wood left over for the next big eejit of an idea...

Some clean-up also done around the area, also near-completed a singletrack section that runs down from Daggetts aerial anchors area alongside the chocolate chute.

Some clean-up also done from Daggetts path and then the subsequent forest section, which doesn't really lead to anywhere at present, but is planned to run down to the new singletrack section - this will take a fair few people with rakes a few hours to get done.

Trailbuilding Sat 28th July

2007-07-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, there was a mighty turn-out from MAD (and not forgetting Cait from UCD!) for the first official trailbuild of the year.
Loads got done, we split up into 3 or 4 groups and tackled different stuff.
Morgan and his merry men did Rock n Roll, Steve & the lads did the trail from Docking Bay 54 up to the fireroad - a serious amount of hardship there.
Cait cleared a sweet alternate line after the TToT and also a new easy line into the bombhole.
Hagen and Richie & myself did the woodworking and chicken-wiring and a chicken run around the TToT.
The easy run off the TToT is prettty shakey but rideable, I'll head-up during the week and sort it out.

Barry and Nigel did some very impressive trail raking/polishing around MADjestic.
We also got to widen the ferny run to the fireroad which is now rideable.
Luke and Oz from EPIC stopped by for a chat and to make sure we were working hard enough!

Big thanks to Steve, Richie, Bren, Ben, Morgan, Paddy, Hagen, Ronan, Nigel, Barry, Cormac (feck - did I forget anyone?) for all the really tough slaving - heavy going for sure in a lot of places, everyone was wrecked and flea-bitten at the end.
Glad to get home to a shower and beer!

MADjestic work/trailbuilding

2007-07-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

Go to the Google Doc to see details

Potential routes for DIXIE dash

2007-07-13T02:49:00.001-07:00

See the Links in the DIXIE Dash Blog to get the latest

Chicken-wire time

2007-07-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

Chicken-wired Richie's bridge and the jump beside it, also wired the jump just before the TTOT and started a tiny bit on the top of the on-ramp of the TTOT.
Started cutting the hedge back from the lower exit to the fireroad - prolific growth in the past month due to all the rain - will need a good few people with shears/loppers to cut it back properly.

Latest route description

2007-07-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

Access the trail from the exit of the new MAD club course ('rock n roll') crossing the path/firebreak nip betweeen the rocks into the lower forest.

Hard left and follow the trail around to the right, bypass or hop off the first obstacle (2ft plank drop off) then bypass or take either the ladder or the jump, then another small 1ft rock drop off, thru 2 small berms then either take the ~5ft drop-off into right hand berm, take the slippy line to the left of the drop-off or take the gap through the wall, then, across/down to the first log jump, or roll-over the bridge.

Then a long fairly straight and fast singletrack, you have the option to either:

drop-off sharp left halfway along the straight stretch, down into a 90 degree berm and wind downhill between the trees and over a small rock jump and rejoins the trail before the second log jump.
OR
continue along the straight until the later sharp left hander down the hill then across paralell to the fireroad and down the gap in the wall, then climb until the second log jump.

Over this (jump or roll) then onto the TToT, when it is complete, you will either:
- bypass this,
- take it and roll-off the end before the jump,
- be a real mountainbiker and jump off the end of it.

Then into left hander which carries you across over the wall bridge then across and into the bombhole, out of the bombhole over the bumps and then turn right onto the path which leads you back down to the fireroad and then a steep climb as you punishment for all the fun you have just had.

Another bridge, another berm, another loop...

2007-07-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

Another exciting installment in the MADjestic trail development saw two of your favourite trail-blazing heroes getting stuck-in amid the downpours and odd blazing spell of sunshine.

Richie converted his garden furniture into something a whole lot more useful (pics on this page are evidence) while I cut-in a mini-loop which comes-off the main loop about halfway along the straight stretch.
It drops down left into a 90 degree berm and winds downhill between the trees and over a small rock jump and rejoins the trail before the second log jump.

Conor kindly dropped-off a load of planks and most importantly a big ladder section which is destined to serve as the landing platform from the TToT.

A line has been cleared around the root section of the TToT for an off-ramp for people who don't want to jump off the end of it, ie; people with common sense.

That's the lot for now, but we really need someone to head-up and chicken-wire the jumps/ladders coz they are VERY SLIPPERY!

Club Trail building session #1

2007-07-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

The first date is set for Saturday 28th July.
Meeting time is 9am.

Check the Google Doc for further details:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dc96bfgt_8d7n5c8&hl=en

Club Trail building session #1

Meeting time:
9am Saturday 28th July

Meeting place:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=946521&t=k&om=1

Note; there is room for approx 4-6 cars at the above meeting place, it may make sense to car pool from Stepaside you could park down in Stepaside village (car park of the Step Inn possibly) and drive-up from there, it's only 5 mins or so.
There will be a load of wood just over the gate on the right hand side which will need to be carried-up as far as the Tree Trunk of Trauma.

Trailbuild co-ordinators:
Fergal Kilkenny
Steve Scrivener
tba 2

Confirmed attendees:

Fergal Kilkenny
Ben Fehily
Ryan Sherlock (for the morning - then off for long road spin)
Richie Close
Steve Scrivener
Paddy (to confirm nearer time)
Cormac

Tools / gear required:
any of the following=>

Rake
Spade
Loppers
Shears/hedge cutters
Hammer + nails (though there will be nails and screws up there)
Electric Screwdriver & screws
Chicken wire - this would be really handy if anyone has some that they don't need

Clothing
Gardening gloves
Safety glasses
Boots
Combats/old trousers

Work to be done:

Carry wood up into MADjestic
Rake/enhance/clarify MADjestic XC route (ie; lay logs along the path)
Barrow-in sandy soil to MADjestic muddy/upper berm areas (assist with drainage)
Create/clear trail from Daggetts path aerials (detail tba)
Clear thinned trail from fireroad (the one that had the two jumps that leads to Docking Bay 54)
De-mud Exit from new MAD CC (rock-roll) from the new MAD CC
Create Run-off slope to no-dabs fireroad from trail that goes across to the fireroad where no-dabs entrance is.
Clip-back branches from the Chocolate Chute
Trim back/clear the Ferny trail that runs down to the Ballyedmonduff fireroad
Create link from end of MADjestic to ferny trail above

RC: Correct if already done:
Secure TTOT from swaying from side to side
FK: done to a certain extent but may need more steadification, but I'm pretty sure that when you ride it, it will not sway as you ideally will be travelling in a reasonably straight line (hopefully)

Take away 2 pallets that are vertically nailed onto the trunk as they cannot be ridden.

FK: yep - they were only placeholders, one of them has been reinforced with planks already, the other one will get done also

Saw down that tree?

FK: err....which one?

Clear a decent run off from the second log jump, possible small trunk that needs to be dug out
FK: Will need a few runs at this to see what the landing area is like - but you're right, there's not much landing space...

Low-level features for beginners

2007-07-03T02:08:00.000-07:00

Richie Close came up with a good idea to add low-level ladders/features etc to the MADjestic trail, this will encourage beginners to enhance their balance/skills confidence.
The first one that will be made will be from the first log on the course, Richie has some nice brige sections already pre-made thanks to his garden furniture after getting the chop!
We will be looking to assemble this on Fri 6th July starting mid-morning if anyone wants to come along and help!

Current trail/route description

2007-06-30T01:24:00.000-07:00

As of today, the route goes kinda like this:
Access the trail from the exit of the new MAD club course ('rock n roll') crossing the path and betweeen the rocks into the forest.

Hard left and follow the trail around to the right, bypass or hop off the first obstacle (2ft plank drop off) then bypass or take either the ladder or the jump, then another small 1ft drop off, thru 2 small berms then either take the ~5ft drop-off into right hand berm or take the gap through the wall then, across to the first log jump, or roll-over the log on the left.

Then a long fairly straight and fast singletrack until the sharp left hander down the hill then across paralell to the fireroad and down the gap in the wall, then climb until the second log jump.

Over this then onto the TToT, when it is complete, you will either:
- bypass this,
- take it and roll-off the end before the jump,
- be a real mountainbiker and jump off the end of it.

Then into left hander which carries you across over the wall bridge then across and into the bombhole and we'll have to clear a path to continue down the hill ......

Full loop complete

2007-06-30T00:56:00.000-07:00

So there's a full loop now complete for this section which takes in all aspects of the course.
Thanks to Richie Close for coming up today and beefing up the berm just after the platform drop - nice one Richie, looks pretty bomb proof!

Now this is an XC loop that ANYONE can ride, there was a wall-drop but this has been sloped-off, a bit rough at present but I think it'll do the job.
Note; there's always the option to take the obstacles/woodwork if you want.
There's one chicken run that needs to be made at the second log jump (short ramp)before the TToT, this should be pretty easy to clear - any volunteers?

This present loop this is just an intial loop, which can definitely be expanded over the summer, I'm planning on having the option of a higher line to include a wall-drop, which will then lead to the TToT section, either that or taking a DH line off after the first log jump and bring it through the large bomb hole and from there to the TToT - this would need a lot of woodwork however, as the bottom of this bombhole is a swamp which would need to be bridged - we'll see....

It'd also be good to join-up the bottom of the existing DH track to the lower path of MADjestic at some stage, as there's some work being done on that section to improve it.

The on-ramp to the TToT has now been built from the big sleeper that Shane carried-up singlehanded, fair play Shane, your head may have nearly exploded in the process but you got it there!
I wasn't going to bother with the on-ramp until the rest was built but I was itching for a bit of carpentry so now it's done and it's fairly rock solid - it looks like it will split at the top but don't worry, it's been reinforced underneath.

I also continued-on the trail after the bombhole which is close to the lower access/entry point to the trail, there's definite possibility to link it to the narrow path that runs down the field paralell to the fireroad - this will need 3 or 4 people going at it for a few hours to complete.

Next steps:
Steve has a load more wood to bring up, this should be enough to finish off the TToT, except maybe for the landing ramp:
Conor - is that big gate still an option? it'd be great if we could get that.

We need to arrange an evening, likely next week, when we can get people to carry the wood up.
It won't be as far to carry it this time so that's a bit of relief!

Path cleared after TToT...

2007-06-28T16:40:00.001-07:00

I got a fair bit done tonight - cleared the landing zone just after the TToT, it was 2ft deep with branches in places, then cleared a trail over as far as the bombhole, making a rock and soil bridge along the way.

The bombhole is ok, Oisin and Kate stopped by for a chat and Oisin tried the bombhole on their way back and it was definitely rideable.

The steep kicker on the exit of the bombhole will need speed to clear it, we might run a line up the shallower slope to the right of it as an option.

The remaining ladder section for the TToT could be done with just 2 main supports along the tree, with ladder rungs across the top, the landing section however will be considerably more work as it needs to be long and wide, it may have to be a combination of rocks/soil and wood.

Summary of work to date (June 27)

2007-06-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

This thing started back at the beginning of June in order to utilise this large area of forest that wasn't being used at all.
It started as trails normally do by walking through sections to try find potential lines, then the raking & clearing, rock-laying over holes/dips, then some berm-inating, followed by creation of some obstacles & other 'interesting' sections.

A lot of great work has been done by the lads in the past month - thanks a lot to all who have helped so far, especially the hallowed wood-providers!

It was a tough slog getting all that wood into the forest but we got through it ok.
Only problem now id the the Tree Trunk of Trauma has consumed nearly all of the wood and is hungry more for more.
At the time of posting there's still at least 20ft of the TToT to be completed, not to mention the landing ramp, and all the clearing/marking needed to join this section to the existing one....plenty to keep us busy.