jburatti
02-22-2005, 08:40 AM
So here it is. Word Doc and hard copies available. Share with anyone with deep pockets! - james
ADVANCED TRAIL SCHOOL PROPOSAL
Have the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews made you a basic trail building pro? Do you want to maximize the trail potential of the Texas Hill Country using rock and advanced armoring techniques? Do you want to build a burly downhill run that will stand the test of time and not erode into a rutted mess? Do the terms stone pitching, flagstone paving, raised tread construction, and boulder causeway sound like fun?
For the past eight years central Texas trail builders have been fortunate to have received some of the best trail building instruction ever offered with annual visits from the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews. Since 1997 they have taught volunteers and land managers alike how to build sustainable trail at many favorite local riding spots including Canyon Lake, City Park, Government Canyon, and Barton Creek. Graduates of their training have worked on practically every trail open to mountain bikers (and bunch that aren’t!) in central Texas. All for free!
Now it’s time to step up your skills and I’d like to bring in a pro to help – IMBA Trail Solutions. From the IMBA Website :
Trail Solutions is IMBA's professional trail consulting program, offering flexible, fee-based trail services that range from trail planning, design, and construction to education and problem solving. Our mission mirrors that of IMBA - to create and enhance trail opportunities.
This program builds on the time-tested success of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew and draws on the unique experience and expertise of former Crew leaders Rich Edwards and Joey Klein. During their travels, Rich and Joey worked on more than 500 trail projects in all 50 states and a dozen foreign countries. Land managers frequently commented that so much more great work could be done if only the Crew could stay a few more weeks, or even months, rather than just a weekend. To meet these needs, the Trail Solutions program was launched in 2002.
Since that time, Trail Solutions has been involved in dozens of trail projects and provided professional services to the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, State and Municipal Parks, and private ski areas all over the United States and several other countries. As part of a 501c (3) organization, net proceeds from Trail Solutions projects are reinvested into IMBA's education and advocacy programs.
Trail Solutions is a member of the Professional Trailbuilders Association, assists the National Trails Training Partnership, and is often invited to speak at international, national, and regional trails conferences.
WHAT: I’m proposing 7 days of advanced trail training and demonstrations. Specific techniques we’ll focus on are yet to be determined. I’ve expressed that there is interest in:
• rock armoring of trails, downhills runs, and stream crossing;
• building structures with rock (including moving by hand);
• incorporating limestone ledges (going up, down, around, and over);
• mechanical trail building (with a mini-skid steerer, trail dozer, etc)
• northshore building techniques;
• and, of course, proper safety techniques.
DATES:
The proposed dates are:
Arrive: Saturday April 6th (Wednesday)
Trail Assessment and Training Demos: April 7th thru April 13th (7 days)
Depart: April 14th
COSTS:
IMBA Trail Solutions normally charges $550 to $600 per day for non-development or short-term work (this program focuses almost exclusively on long term projects). Thanks to our great relationship and potential for future visits they are asking $500 per day. I can host Rich at my house to eliminate that cost if we host the event close by. (See Location info below)
Cost is $3500 for the full 7 days, plus cost of materials or rental fees if we choose to pursue mechanical trail building. $5000 should cover everything. Space for hands-on training will be limited due to the nature of the work we’ll be focusing on. For now, the event is open to anyone who can help us pay for it or organize it. I’m hoping the central Texas IMBA-Affiliated clubs will want to help sponsor the event, although private funding will be welcome! Those providing funding will have choice on attendance and influence what techniques we focus on. It’s pretty wide-open right now in scope.
All proceeds benefit IMBA and generally come back to us in the form of grants, tools, and crew visits.
LOCATION:
Two locations come to mind to host the training: Canyon Lake and Texas State University’s Camp.
Canyon Lake has hosted a number of IMBA visits and was featured in the IMBA-USACE Memorandum of Understanding as a pilot project. Camino Real Cycling Club has had great success there and continues to add new trail while repairing the legacy trail system. It is about 60 to 90 minutes from Austin and San Antonio.
University Camp is a new project J. Harvey (who works for the Corps at Canyon Lake) and myself have been leading. This is 120 acres of typical Texas hill country topography located near Wimberly along the Blanco River. We have embarked on redesigning the entire trial system due to severe erosion on the poorly planned existing trails. Drive time is 45 to 90 minutes from Austin and San Antonio.
Other locations can also be suggested.
CONTACT:
Please contact me if you are interested in learning more or sponsoring this great opportunity to take Texas trails to the next level!
James Buratti
mbo@single-track.com
512-560-3865 (cell)
1909 Uhland Rd
San Marcos TX 78666
RESOURCES:
IMBA Trail Solutions - A Wealth of Experience, A Passion for Trails
http://www.imba.com/trailsolutions/
Trail Solutions: IMBA's Guide to Building Sweet Singletrack (book)
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/trail_solutions.html
Trail Building and Maintenance
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/
Armoring - Using Rock to Harden Trails
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/rock_armoring.html
Dropping-In to More Technical Challenge
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/itn_15_3_dropin.html
INSPIRATION
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/armoring_11a.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/armoring_10a.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/dropin_top.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/armoring_2.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/armoring_3.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/long_logride.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/rock_drop2_small.jpg
ADVANCED TRAIL SCHOOL PROPOSAL
Have the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews made you a basic trail building pro? Do you want to maximize the trail potential of the Texas Hill Country using rock and advanced armoring techniques? Do you want to build a burly downhill run that will stand the test of time and not erode into a rutted mess? Do the terms stone pitching, flagstone paving, raised tread construction, and boulder causeway sound like fun?
For the past eight years central Texas trail builders have been fortunate to have received some of the best trail building instruction ever offered with annual visits from the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews. Since 1997 they have taught volunteers and land managers alike how to build sustainable trail at many favorite local riding spots including Canyon Lake, City Park, Government Canyon, and Barton Creek. Graduates of their training have worked on practically every trail open to mountain bikers (and bunch that aren’t!) in central Texas. All for free!
Now it’s time to step up your skills and I’d like to bring in a pro to help – IMBA Trail Solutions. From the IMBA Website :
Trail Solutions is IMBA's professional trail consulting program, offering flexible, fee-based trail services that range from trail planning, design, and construction to education and problem solving. Our mission mirrors that of IMBA - to create and enhance trail opportunities.
This program builds on the time-tested success of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew and draws on the unique experience and expertise of former Crew leaders Rich Edwards and Joey Klein. During their travels, Rich and Joey worked on more than 500 trail projects in all 50 states and a dozen foreign countries. Land managers frequently commented that so much more great work could be done if only the Crew could stay a few more weeks, or even months, rather than just a weekend. To meet these needs, the Trail Solutions program was launched in 2002.
Since that time, Trail Solutions has been involved in dozens of trail projects and provided professional services to the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, State and Municipal Parks, and private ski areas all over the United States and several other countries. As part of a 501c (3) organization, net proceeds from Trail Solutions projects are reinvested into IMBA's education and advocacy programs.
Trail Solutions is a member of the Professional Trailbuilders Association, assists the National Trails Training Partnership, and is often invited to speak at international, national, and regional trails conferences.
WHAT: I’m proposing 7 days of advanced trail training and demonstrations. Specific techniques we’ll focus on are yet to be determined. I’ve expressed that there is interest in:
• rock armoring of trails, downhills runs, and stream crossing;
• building structures with rock (including moving by hand);
• incorporating limestone ledges (going up, down, around, and over);
• mechanical trail building (with a mini-skid steerer, trail dozer, etc)
• northshore building techniques;
• and, of course, proper safety techniques.
DATES:
The proposed dates are:
Arrive: Saturday April 6th (Wednesday)
Trail Assessment and Training Demos: April 7th thru April 13th (7 days)
Depart: April 14th
COSTS:
IMBA Trail Solutions normally charges $550 to $600 per day for non-development or short-term work (this program focuses almost exclusively on long term projects). Thanks to our great relationship and potential for future visits they are asking $500 per day. I can host Rich at my house to eliminate that cost if we host the event close by. (See Location info below)
Cost is $3500 for the full 7 days, plus cost of materials or rental fees if we choose to pursue mechanical trail building. $5000 should cover everything. Space for hands-on training will be limited due to the nature of the work we’ll be focusing on. For now, the event is open to anyone who can help us pay for it or organize it. I’m hoping the central Texas IMBA-Affiliated clubs will want to help sponsor the event, although private funding will be welcome! Those providing funding will have choice on attendance and influence what techniques we focus on. It’s pretty wide-open right now in scope.
All proceeds benefit IMBA and generally come back to us in the form of grants, tools, and crew visits.
LOCATION:
Two locations come to mind to host the training: Canyon Lake and Texas State University’s Camp.
Canyon Lake has hosted a number of IMBA visits and was featured in the IMBA-USACE Memorandum of Understanding as a pilot project. Camino Real Cycling Club has had great success there and continues to add new trail while repairing the legacy trail system. It is about 60 to 90 minutes from Austin and San Antonio.
University Camp is a new project J. Harvey (who works for the Corps at Canyon Lake) and myself have been leading. This is 120 acres of typical Texas hill country topography located near Wimberly along the Blanco River. We have embarked on redesigning the entire trial system due to severe erosion on the poorly planned existing trails. Drive time is 45 to 90 minutes from Austin and San Antonio.
Other locations can also be suggested.
CONTACT:
Please contact me if you are interested in learning more or sponsoring this great opportunity to take Texas trails to the next level!
James Buratti
mbo@single-track.com
512-560-3865 (cell)
1909 Uhland Rd
San Marcos TX 78666
RESOURCES:
IMBA Trail Solutions - A Wealth of Experience, A Passion for Trails
http://www.imba.com/trailsolutions/
Trail Solutions: IMBA's Guide to Building Sweet Singletrack (book)
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/trail_solutions.html
Trail Building and Maintenance
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/
Armoring - Using Rock to Harden Trails
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/rock_armoring.html
Dropping-In to More Technical Challenge
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/itn_15_3_dropin.html
INSPIRATION
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/armoring_11a.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/armoring_10a.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/dropin_top.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/armoring_2.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/armoring_3.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/long_logride.jpg
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/images/rock_drop2_small.jpg