Why don't you pave Hartwood Acres

[Shiva]

OMG, so I'm riding at Hartwood Acres, and I run across this random tree cutting thing again. A big tree that had some ramping for advanced riders, and a nice LITTLE detour around the roots area for novice riders, or hikers, or horsesw, was cut!!!!

This path now looks like hell, cut wood everywhere, etc.

No one answered my other questions!!! How are you making these decisions?!?!?!?! What is your criteria, how do I give imput!?!?!?!?!

And then me and some buddies were riding, and the one guy was trying to ride thru one of the fallen trees that the middle is now cut out of. Of course the who ever cut it, cut it at an angle and much too small (especially for those with bigger frames). With his pedal levels he couldn't get thru, and took a big crash. Great trail mainenance???

Why don't you just pave all of the trails, that way it wouldn't be too hard for anyone, and we'd know where all of the trails go so there'd be no spurs?

[DirtRagArt]

Shiva,

You need to accept the fact that nothing good happens without compromise.

The sections you speak of benefit both advanced and beginner riders. The right spur preceeding the sawed logs you speak of on Heebie Jeebies (the trail that starts with a grey pipe crossing the entrance) is closed in an effort to cut down on the spidering. You should have seen the signs (though some asshole has been ripping them down and even undoing trailwork that was done).

Given the choice, I wouldn't want those logs sawed. I like things au natural. I also like the challenge the giant log piles pose (I can do all but one or two in the whle park) However, keeping things doable for everyone is important, though. Remember, although it's a county park, it's an equestrian estate and we are only able to ride there by the grace of the land managers.

ALSO there are a ton of trails in Hartwood. Explore, my friend, and you'll find less traveled trails of both extreme difficulty and total mellow-cruisability.

Furthermore, there are a shitload of places to ride besides Hartwood, and I mean right across the street from the park in two directions! North is the Rachel Carson trail system and to the south is the Harmorville trails. Both are more expansive than Hartwood, but suffer from dirt bike abuse.

Now here's the real deal... My boss, Maurice (publisher@dirtragmag.com) is spearheading the trail care taking place in Hartwood Acres. If you don't like the way things are going and think you can help make things better for all of us, I suggest you contact him and get involved.

[Shiva]

Ahhh, finally an actual response (not just a cut and paste response of old stuff)!! Thanks Jeff I appreciate it.

My concern is that there is not a plan in place that has had imput from all arenas. I still haven't heard that question answered.

Why do I care since there are other places to ride? Well, I've been an avid rock climber for years, and have seen many, many access problems. I now see happening at Hartwood Acres what I saw at many climbing (and caving) areas.

There was no information about the planning or meeting process before trail maintenance began, therefore you don't have the people (the average mountain bike rider) behind you. Thus, you have people tearing down your postings and changing your trail maintenance. I'm guessing this is happening due to ignorance (they don't know what you're doing or why) or anger (ie your postings being torn down, which I thought were a step in the right direction).

And I'm concerned about Hartwood Acres because access issues don't just effect one place, all riding areas have access issues. In fact why do you have a separate access forum? It's obvious that it's an on-going problem here and all across the country.

Anyway, now that I've had a real response, I would enjoy getting involved in whatever capacity I can - just let me know.

[DirtRagArt]

Howdy Shiva,

Yeah, I know what you're saying about starting things before posting... truth is, the trail construction and maintenance has been going on for over 10 years (long before I hopped on a MTB). My boss, Maurice, is responsible for most of the bike trails in the park, and thus he's the man spearheading the maintenance. I really encourage you to shoot him an e-mail and voice your concerns and willingness to get involved.

The funny thing is, we're faced with a conflict of interest here at Dirt Rag. While we want to grow the sport and keep our jobs (which are quite enjoyable albiet low-paying) the trouble occuring in Hartwood and other places is directly linked to the increasing MTB population (obviously spurred on by inspiring zines and web sites).

In light of that, I think the very best thing we can do is educate any and all riders we know, meet and see.

Oh, we'll be doing some trail maintence for the Punk Bike Enduro in November. That would be a great opportunity to meet the boss man and also get a tour of the trail system across Saxonburg Blvd from Hartwood.

[SeaWolf]

Where have you run into these problems? From what I've seen, they've hacked paths through the huge fallen trees so that you can either ride through them or over them. I think what they've been doing is great. No complaints here...

[Shiva]

Jeff, keep us updated on the November maintenance. And by the way, is this not just the perfect biking weather?????

[DirtRagArt]

Amazing weather! This morning I sported long pants and a long sleeve jersey for the first time since... well, it seems like a long time. I just acquired a real nice cool weather item, too... a wind vest that's nylon in front and mesh in the back. Highly recommended.

[Greyswandir]

Shiva, DirtRagArt:

It is a shame that the trails are changing.

Many of the obsitcles that have been there for years are now gone.

I too would like to help out with some trail maintance inorder to have some input.

Does anyone know when the next maintance day is scheduled or has it yet to be organized?

-Grey