Today was as hot as a dig day ever was,
the midges were militant and the flies were pretty aggressive too.
We raked and raked and raked then did a bit of digging.
Just a bit.
Not much.
Well… about 10 to 15 barrows (x 5)
We built a sweet little berm using nothing but soil (and sweat), rode it a bit then went home.
Beans.
The next round of the 2010 BCC TickerTape DH Series* is on BBMS and thanks to all the recent hard work we’ll be using the brand new bottom section for the first time!
Its Dig Day this Saturday and there’s plenty to do!
We’ll be aiming to continue work on the new bottom section of BBMS which will include; bench cutting the new line, building a catch berm, building up a drop and then continuing to clear the trail to the very bottom.
Hopfully plenty can make it out, it should be great weather and would be ace to be able to open this new line by the end of the day. Oh, you might need insect repellent though but dont worry if you haven’t got any – we’ll be selling it on the day!
See you there… (starts at 10:00am and finishes at 16:00, any help during this time is greatly appreciated)…
Yesterday we completed the lower section of puppets, raked and groomed the whole trail and then smiled as we imagined racing it in two weeks time at the next TickerTape.
We drank tea, ate chocolates and debated the ethical robustness of GM food (I know….not what I was expecting either).
The afternoon was spent trail doodling, sketching a new lower section for BBMS with our tyres.
Turns out we did a pretty good job, getting the feel and flow just right, so we raked it to unearth the ground features and define the trail.
Clearing loam (a foot deep in places) really takes it out of your arms and back, but seeing the trail evolve is infectious so we carried on raking until we couldn’t anymore.
Hello everyone, just a reminder that there is a dig day this Sunday (2nd May).
The Day will be split up into 2 parts;
1st part- we will be continuing work on puppets, to get the course ready for Mays Tickertape (judy line), mass raking section of the bottom part of puppets is encouraged.
2nd part- TDS (Trail Development Sessions), BRING your BIKE and your IMAGINATION ! Together as a group we will discuss and test (session) different (and entirely new) line options for the bottom of BBMS that may well become a new properly defined bottom section to BBMS…
Hope to see plenty of you there, DO BRING WATERPROOF CLOTHING as it is expected to rain. Don’t worry though as there’ll be warm drinks and doughnuts for everyone to enjoy!
(given that it’s Easter weekend that’s pretty good – what with so many people being away)
Everyone worked hard through the rain and constant bullying – “I can’t see any digging!!!! Chedge stop standing there, Ben jump up and down on the mud, Josh…Josh….JOSH!!!!”
By the end of the day we’d finished the massive berm at the bottom of ‘Battery Hill‘ (on ‘Puppets‘), dug up two monster stumps and started the long loamy raking mission to clear the bottom section of the trail.
The lads below had become a trail digging version of the A-Team, so it seemed only fair that they get to name the feature they’d worked so hard to make. After everyone had a go riding it, giggling like kids riding a massive new berm with a kicker at the end (!) they had made their decision…..
What I hadn’t expected was that they would choose to call it “Weeeeee Boing“, yes, as in the sound of someone riding the berm whilst saying “weeeeee”, then “boing” as they jumped off the end. And Yep. I know…. no really.
But do you know what? It’s a great name because as far as I’m concerned they, and the others who worked hard on it last dig day, have earned the right to call it what ever they like.
Well done Ben, Ben, Ian, Josh, Max, Robin and Sam – you’ve made a monster and then gone and called it Betty.
(Puppets is now officially open again, although the bottom section will still need some work to finish it off)
Come along to the dig day this sat from 10:00 until we get tired (so around 17:00 ish)
We’ll be working on Puppets and will stand a good chance of getting it all finished which will mean we can open the trail up again!!!
So, the usual drill – you bring a rake, lunch, some elbow grease and hard graft and we’ll match that with tools, doughnuts and some elbow grease of our own. Beans.
p.s. look what we were building this time last year…(worked out pretty well ey..?)
Yesterday was a glorious day, the sun was shining and our little allotment was crawling with people raking, digging, clearing and collecting.
Russell Burton spent a couple of hours teaching Neil and I how to route XC trails with clinometers and some magic numbers. We learnt loads and are really looking forward to our next lesson in a few weeks time before restarting work on E-17.
18 people made it out and collectively managed to rake and remark every DH trail, clear and rebuild some tired drainage and add some new drainage in too.
Puppets saw an awesome effort that has left it looking more tech and difficult than ever before. The old berm at the bottom of ‘battery hill’ has been completely removed and the beginnings of the new are well underway. But time ran out as did the timber supply so the trail’s been closed until the next dig day where we’ll finish it off and move on to the lower section.
Thanks to everyone for all their hard work …and for eating all the doughnuts!
This Sunday is the first Dig Day of 2010, and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
The winter hasn’t been kind to the ground and has tested our drainage to it’s limits, but thanks to some great work last year the damage is minimal. This Sunday we’ll be giving all the tracks a once over, some TLC. They’re almost weather resistant, but need some tweaking here and there.
We’ll also start building the next big feature on ‘Puppets’ a large berm-fly-off at the bottom of the ‘Battery Hill’ section.
We’ll bring the lot sof tools, tea, coffee and cakes, you just need to bring some elbow grease (and a rake)…
After a very hectic first two months for the committee we’re chuffed to be getting back into the swing of things with Dig Days and TickerTapes returning to their rightful places on the BCC events calendar. Check it out to see what’s going on and when…
I know, that’s ridiculous - it’s always special!
Flickr
Vimeo
Facebook
Twitter