Dig stoke, who else likes to play in the dirt???

[forty]

Whatcha got?
I know theres some peeps in here who like to get dirty, lets see your handywork!

poking through some pics of back "home" and reminiscing about the great build scene, since moving from OR to MN things are a bit, well, different...

the first feature i helped finish off at blackrock






getting put into action

[forty]

this is the biggest project i was part of at BR

whats starts as these...




we turn into this!




with a whole lot of this in between





then you get to test your work




buddy killing it

[forty]

lots of time spent maintaining/updating old features




some tinkering with angles and curves



fresh wood, it only lasts so long in the pnwet...



and of course you have to make sure your work holds up...

[forty]

and then its off to MN...

getting into the dj side of things, something new to me and always a nice excuse to add a new bike to the quiver





its been a "wet" spring out here




but we managed to get some decent work done, local guy made a little impromptu promo vid

[toast2266]

nice. I loves me some dig stoke.

[forty]

been doing some trail work as well

berms are still berms no matter the state



minnesotans seem to like rocks



lots and lots of rocks...



its not OR, but your always in good company when digging trail

[::: :::]

great pics!
great thread idea!
any online links for diy trail building?
i'm moving soon and am thinking about a jump line in the new property

[forty]

im no expert, just free labor and do what im told... but for the most part its common sense to build trail, water management, sustainability, flow, just use your noggin and its pretty basic stuff
i havent run across any amazing sites but a little googling gives you tons of info, the imba guidelines are a well respected place to start
im looking forward to the 2.5 acre dj/4x/skills park we are going to build later this summer and some pros are going to come help out, should learn a ton then, getting hands on with others who have more experience is the best way to learn imo
biggest piece of advice for dj/jump building, get dirt, lots and lots of dirt, think you have enough, get more, more more more, you cant have enough dirt
same for wood, we milled who knows how many trees into 2x10ish rough cut planks, piles and piles, and it goes fast, that wall ride took an ungodly amount of wood, dragging it up the hill by hand sure was fun... but build over winter and come spring you get to shred the goods and are a few steps ahead of those who sat on the couch in the off season, my legs/back/shoulders were beefcake when others were just dusting off the cobwebs

[toast2266]

great pics!
great thread idea!
any online links for diy trail building?
i'm moving soon and am thinking about a jump line in the new property

I haven't seen any really good online tutorials; there's so many variables that any instructions are necessarily pretty basic.

But yeah, what forty said. Especially for bigger jumps, it takes more dirt than you'd think. If you're just digging holes on site, pay a lot of attention to drainage (unless you live in a really dry area). Ponds in front of jumps makes the jumps a bit trickier.

Also: resist the temptation to bury a bunch of shit in the jumps to make up for a lack of dirt. Whatever you bury in there will often come unburied over time, and then you have to rebuild your jump.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Sexy berm action.

[forty]

come on, i know some of you have some dig stoke to share...


hit up the future site of cottage grove bike park today, got some silt fences up and starting to clean the site of debris and bringing in the first loads of dirt
2.5 acres to play with, when completed it will have a 4x course, dj lines, pump track, tot track and skills area

[Yeah!]

Nice work! Wish I had that many people to help. At my park it's usually just two of us and the mcleods; occasionally a couple other buddies come out.

We've built ~3 miles of singletrack in the past year. No features like yours, just technical, flowy XC stuff. I'll try to get some photos.

[strawjack]

Where I'm building trails there have been so many years of leaves building up that there is no dirt! It’s just compost intertwined with roots. Getting down thru it with a shovel is a bitch. If you can dig there seems to be no end to the compost. I have pretty much given up. It’s damn soft too!

I'm trying to use more natural wood to build (after my wife gave me shit about the teeter ) which I did agree, but I will take it down when it rots out. So, now I'm try to use downed hardwoods. Lately I've been thinking about using rough sawn lumber which would be ideal to build with since it's full demension. Stronger, cheaper and will last longer.

I've posted these elsewhere in here. I have others that I haven't take pics of. I've been doing most of this solo too...a lot of work!

[josef]

Forty which trail is that very first feature you posted on at black rock?

[forty]

Forty which trail is that very first feature you posted on at black rock?

that would be E-Rock Village, on Grannies Kitchen a little ways after the new wallride on GK2 and then cross Sickter Gnar
you can also see it if you are on Banzai Downhill and look up and to your left just after the first of the two small dirt drops on BD2 near the end
its about 6ft to ground and 8ish to transfer, 3 crank strokes after the corner and send it!

[brannen]

Nice work man! i missed BR on my way back to Whistler this year, but will be hitting it up on my way back to the states in Oct, bummer you wont be around to ride again. I did get to hit the trail I built in NorCal though, ill look for some pics. . .

[forty]

Nice work man! i missed BR on my way back to Whistler this year, but will be hitting it up on my way back to the states in Oct, bummer you wont be around to ride again. I did get to hit the trail I built in NorCal though, ill look for some pics. . .

yeah that is a bummer, although i will probably be in OR for a week late in oct for grape harvest and intend on bringing a bike, ive upped my game considerably since last time, would be fun to keep up with you!
my buddy you met now has a tr250 and has stepped up a bit also, should hit him up when you are heading through, and he will be possibly be hitting whistler july 4th'ish if you feel like giving him a little tour at all


i spent this afternoon finishing off a dj/pump track park in maple plain here in MN, dirt was concrete and no onsite water, not perfectly dialed but its rideable now after some manhandling, storms moving in tonight should set things up perfectly assuming its not a massive downpour...



always a good day when you have dirt under your nails

[forty]

not my handywork, but the machine guys have been attacking the bike park site and getting a start on the slopestyle course, should be getting out to start tweaking things and getting handtools started in the next week or so and then the real fun begins!

[forty]

things are starting to take shape, 4x is about half complete, slopestyle and dj lines are roughed in, these pics dont do the scale justice, place is pretty legit, im amazed how well its coming together so far, cant wait for first 4x races

[josef]

This is looking sick man. Is this on someone's private land or did you guys get this cleared on public land. Either way it looks to be coming together awesome.

[forty]

believe it or not this is a city park, free for all once completed!
the city has given us the land, hauled in the dirt, bunch of machine time plus a few city workers helping out occasionally, and the rest is up to us
pretty incredible how much freedom they have given actually, im stoked on this place, its easily the biggest free public bike park in the midwest once completed, im not aware of anything this scale between here and CO

just back from the site, working our way down the 4x line and getting the slopestyle course started, looking good so far, got my first test run in, havent been on a bike much the last 4 months, felt a bit tight, took a lap to loosen up and stop casing everything haha
some kid poached the track yesterday and broke himself off, collarbone crunched, closed means closed kids!
still lots to do before anything is "complete", fun stuff!

[forty]

getting closer...
after some kickass work at the 4x track we had some crazy weather come through with damn near golf ball hail (as my cars roof can attest to) and inches of rain within an hour
we got things back into good shape over the weekend with the help of some local groms which was sweet to have getting involved, and are well on the way to completion for a Fall opening
check the short promo vid a volunteer made a few weeks back, place is gonna be fun when completed!

[Bobcat Sig]

Fuck, this thread was won in the first post. That is some hot dig pr0n.

My humble contributions ...





Nothing spectacular other than a rad shot:

[forty]

nice stoke bobcat!
who designs your pump tracks?
that shits harder to make than it looks, we are constantly fussing with things to get the flow right, never turns out like our sketches started as, or even close sometimes haha

[bbense]

Moving dirt old guy version...

http://www.bermstyle.com/sunset-trai...ute-completed/