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Continuing work at Summerset State Park on May 15, 9.00am. Please meet us at the main parking lot. From there, we’ll disperse to different sections of the trail for two different projects.

Project one will address a slight “water” issue on the interior of the North Trail, namely, there’s little trail left in one spot and a lot of water around it. We will be building a bridge. If you have a cordless drill, I enthusiastically encourage you to bring it along (because it’s a LONG way to carry the generator in).

Project two will be finishing up the work we began at the last work day, cutting the second half of Nude Beach.

If we have a good turnout, we’ll probably send a group out for some vegetation devastation.

As always, please wear sturdy footwear, eye protection, gloves and water.  As promised, we will be serving lunch and beverages afterwards. Hope to see you there!

Forum is up and running and we’ll be unleashing that by the end of the week. Some of you may have already received your log-on information. If you’re a paid member and you haven’t, hang tough, it’s on it’s way. If you aren’t paid… WHY NOT! Click membership at the top of the page and join in the fun. We will eventually be opening the forum to everyone. As discussions & topics develop, we’ll start creating new and different discussion boards. For now, we’re starting with a general board and one for each trail. Log on and give it a whirl.

Registration for the May 23 IMBCS race at Summerset should be up by the end of the week.

Tom Anderson is working on GPSing Hillside and Rollercoaster. We’ve struggled with getting accurate maps of that area since the trail is so dense and there’s a lot of canopy cover for most of the year. Once a good map can be produced we will be requesting signs printed by the city.  We’re also considering building a map/kiosk for the area. We’ve also discussed signage in Denmans. Our agreement with Water Works makes signage tricky, but we can do it, so we’ll be working something out for Denmans as well.

We’re considering different resolutions to the “drainage” problem at the end of Rollercoaster. The bridge installed last week was just a bandaid. If you have any suggestions, let us know. Remember, our agreement with the city states that we have to have permission from them before constructing, so please get in contact with CITA before attempting any building.

Polk County will vote in mid-May on an agreement with CITA concerning management of Sycamore Trail. This agreement has lots of good stuff in it that we like, e.g., doubling the length of the trail, narrowing the tread and maintaining singletrack and patrol via bike. Rob Versteegh is on point for the Sycamore project and he’s got a lot of interest from Ankeny and north-siders. Stay tuned.

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day in Des Moines has been rained out twice! Now we’ve got two bikes to give away. So, we’re going to be announcing a date shortly for TKMBD in June (to beat the fall rain… hopefully).

Trail work at Banner remains unfinished after last weekend’s deluge. We’ll be hitting it up again on May 15. Work will be complete on the new section of Nude Beach. We also have a new bridge to build on the interior of the north trail. This will complete the work needed to hold the IMBCS race in May. More info to follow on start time and who will be serving us lunch!

Just a friendly reminder: if you are leaving marks on the trail, either because it’s wet, or because you are skidding, please stop. These actions damage trail. Also, because all of Center Trails, Denmans and Sycamore are bi-directional and multi-use, please yield the trail. If you are going down and they are heading up, it is the downhill traveler who must yield. Be courteous. Most reading this are probably mountain bikers. Let’s set a good example for our other trail-using friends. It’s also not a bad idea to ring your bell around blind corners to avoid collisions.

Next meeting is May 24, 7.00pm at Smokey Row. Until then, happy trails!

UPDATE: Lots of rain today and more on the way tonight; no build on Saturday morning. Look for a May date to be pinned soon to finish the job. Thanks!

Time to finish up the from theApril 10 effort. Meet before 9 a.m. at the park entrance to head to the worksite or call 515.229.3737 if you arrive after we’ve stepped into the trees.

Join us Saturday, April 10 at Summerset State Park as we release the new tool trailer (thanks, sehgal foundation!) and pullerbear into public service.

We’re building an extension of the ‘Nude Beach’ trail — a fast, half-mile segment adjacent to the park’s interior road.

Meet by 9 a.m. at the park entrance to head to the worksite or call 515.229.3737 if you arrive after we’ve stepped into the trees.

We’ll wrap around noon for some lunch. If the forecast holds, all trails in the park should be rideable that afternoon.

Please join us, and bring your friends. Thanks!

Peace

The ground has thawed and the design work continues at Summerset this Saturday at 1 p.m.

Ready to create a new trail?