I'm Back

Well I know its been awhile but I've been busy. Things have been going well lately except for the riding thing, the last time I was on the bike I was at the ridge last Wed. and once again I go down.The difference this time was it hurt, hit the dirt on the 90deg coming into Kevin's heaven and went down once again like a bag of shit, wow thats something new.
So the weekend was good, got to spend a lot of time with Tess and Erica, Sat took Tess to get her ears pierced and it went better then i figured it would, a little fuss and muss but in the end it was all good.
Sat. night we had some peeps over (the sug and his lady friend) had some drinks and food then oldnslow showed for awhile then his lady and one of their offspring, so all and all it worked out to be a good night.
Sunday we decided to drive to Cabela's in richfield, that place is huge, did some lookin around, the waterfall and the stuffed elk and deer are cool. Found some new paw covers for Max for like 10 bucks, good price and there good and heavy duty.
So enough about me and lets get to some good stuff, I open my e-mail yesterday and I get a post from Metro, some guy slamin me for my idea of putting wood chips over the glass in hoyt part, he calls me out like I was the one to fill up the back of my van and lay them out, so I figure I would drop him a line to let him know it was not me and I figure you guys would get a good laugh at it.
E-mail #1

Club Message from:Metro Mountain Bikers

If it's who I think it is, we did NOT agree to that during the last
meeting, and for good reason.
I've ridden that section at least 30 times without a puncture, and
despite being a new rider, have actually railed it the last 6 or 7 times.
That was fun, and boosted my confidence a lot that I could do all the
necessary weight shifting and whatnot quick enough for the turns.

Now I can't do that. Ya wanna know why? BECAUSE I CAN NO LONGER SEE MY
LINE THROUGH THE MULTIPLE ROOTS, ROCKS, AND STUMPS THAT MADE THAT THE
CHALLENGING BUT RIDEABLE SPOT THAT IT WAS.

The glass is just a "cosmetic defect," dude. It's all flattened down
flush with the level of the soil, if you actually looked at it before you
dumped that stuff. Now it's slippery, and people will crash there as the
woodchips slide out of the way and they hit one of the aforementioned
obstacles that they can no longer see.

If this was who I think it is, not only have I never seen you ride the
trail, --and I'm out there alot--I don't remember you being at any of the
work days.
Maybe you were at some that I missed, but that was very few.

Well, I guess it helps that you put them on the sand sort of, but leave
well enough alone when the trail just looks, but isn't really, bad in a
given spot.

My Reply:
Lets see..... If it was put down it was Ok'ed though Metro and I don't know about you but I think its sweet, yes it will need to get some good rides on it but it was done to better the trail.
I have been riding those trails for over fifteen years and the glass has always sucked but since Metro turned them around we now have to think more about others and not so much about our selfs. The chips will also help walkers with kids and pets not to get hurt. Don't take this the wrong way but this is about everyone not just you, as soon as it sees more riders it will get better.
Spinninmud
P.S. My trail day is everyday(but not as much as of late) I am on that trail, I pick up garbage, help move fallen trees and help out anyway I can. Some of us have to work on weekends but we do what we can during the week.

****If your going to try to burn someone with a post you should really know what and who your talking about.

E-mail#2(And the last line about my e-mail address is the best)

Hey. One of the Trocadero guys wrote me about this--and in polite fashion, by the way. Let me copy and paste what I wrote to him on why I think the woodchips are a detriment, not an asset, to the trail:

Well, perhaps from a hardnose rider's perspective, that would seem like a better setup, but one thing I didn't mention in my little "rant & rave," that I fully stand behind, is that if you've ever walked or worked on the trail there, you'd notice why the glass isn't really a problem.

Unlike most of the trail that's the nice low-erosion fast-drying hard clay, that section is all loose fill. Marty Weigel explained to me that parts of that Hoyt forested area were an actual landfill years ago and that's why you can dig up some crazy stuff out there. The dirt is almost like fluffy topsoil and the glass simply gets compressed in every time you ride there, and even in a fall, you wouldn't notice it.

The wood chips are actually gonna be giving people more trail rash, and possibly splinters too.

Ride it a few more times and I think you'll see why it was better just left alone.

--Nate

Oh--and lastly, if you crash there, you're probably gonna hit a tree before you hit the ground--the trees make it the narrow corksrew-type deal that it is, and they're all big....that's another reason why I want the chance to see what my front tire is up against. See your line, ride your line, and you won't crash. Plain and simp.:)

That's what I wrote to Casey Masterson, who had a Trocadero e-mail address. He signed his e-mail with his name.

It wasn't approved at the Metro May meeting--I specifically remember that. Normally when changes are made outside the meeting, someone uses a ClubMTB group message to inform people, and I didn't get any message.

I also have yet to get the May minutes, but Harold is very thorough and accurate and I'm sure will document the discussion and decision made.

A couple final thoughts: after reading what I wrote to Casey, do you really think this is somehow "all about me?" I don't know where you get that idea. That's great that you have 15 years in on this trail, but when I started into MTBing a year ago, having had to abandon other sports due to hip trouble, after 12 years off a bike, I dove in headfirst, gave it my all, and continue to, doing many trail days, setting up a project you hopefully will soon read/see more about to get action photos for our website and the kiosks, talking to the kids at the BMX "park" to make them feel less threatened and hopefully thus reduce the vandalism, informing other users of the reason for opposing direction for bikers and walkers, etc... Basically, following Marty & Harold's lead, as they're the guys who've been most welcoming to me and shown why they're very respected and positive in their involvement with the scene.

I always love it when someone says, "don't take this the wrong way" and then uses it to take a free shot at somebody. As I mentioned, Casey was all-class in his reply in favor of the wood chips and I truly believe I was in my reply to him.

Lastly, a little thing to think about: Unless you're into mud bog buggy & truck racing, your e-mail address could tend to lead some to believe you think it's OK to ride and rut-up rain soaked trails even though you probably don't, so you might wanna change that to give yourself more credibility as a by-the-book responsible singletrack user....just a thought

I will post more of the mail response later
See Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa