On the build day, we split into two groups. One worked on stabilising some parts of the benching in the first third of the trail, whilst another tackled a disintegrating berm around halfway down the trail. So far, it’s pretty good. Thankfully, a deluge on 16th May helped bed everything in – one problem with the previous month’s work was that it dried out, and had no rain to bed it in. Part of the work on the straight section was to replace dusty, grey earth with some orangey mineral soil, which seems to stick together a lot better. The stuff on the straightaway – you’ll be able to recognise quite a lot of the work because it’s big orange patches of earth – is really firm now, with good water runoff and a very stable bench.

The berm (see pics) is holding together well and has already shrunk down from its original, slightly improbable, size.

Berms tend to shrink a lot after building, no matter how much they’re compacted, and we expect the end result to be a lot smaller than it is at the moment.

As it is, the berm’s holding a good line – under the direction of Dave Farmer, we put in a slightly wider entrance line. We need to tweak the exit a little, and the plan for next month is to work on the second, right hand berm.

Other work during the day included clearing the barrier logs placed along the side of the trail to stop riders making new, lower lines, and a little bit of surgery on a dropoff just before the fall line at the end of the trail.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 May 2005 )

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