Saturday, July 28, 2012

Death Sentence

It has been 4 days since we recieved the death sentence from the land owner on Tuesday night and I'm finally ready to say something. When I got off the phone with Brad, my wife could tell that someone died. Luckily, it was not a person, but it fells like it was with all the caring and nuturing and developing and countless hours Brad and I have put into the trails since the October 2007 reserection. Don't get me wrong, there has been alot of other people that have dug or dialed over the years, but we have done 90% of the mass digging. Many times during the winter or rainy season when everyone else is riding skateparks. I know we both know about every square foot of the plateu intimately.

As of right now the trails are going to remain open until the snow flies this coming winter then our permission to use the land is revoked. Things need to change though to keep the land owner happy until then.

There has been a lot of young kids going to the trails that are not old enough to drive and just being dropped off without adult supervision. On top of that they are yelling and being loud and annoying the neighbors, sometimes as early as 8:30 in the morning. There have been a couple times when they have been kicked out by the land owner while we have been at work. This needs to stop immediately and you should not be there unless 1 of the main guys are there. Also stay away from the damn storage trailer. It has been broken into atleast 3 times since October 2007. We are sure it has not been BMXers, but if the land owner sees you even looking at it, he will shoot you for trespassing. Then when we get there we will bury you in 1 of many available pre-dug graves.

We have offered to lease the land, buy the land, do what ever is necessary to keep the trails, but nothing is going to change his mind. We have had an open door policy for visitors and trying to get younger kids involved in trails, but all of the unknown people to the land owner is not sitting well. We can't blame him when he has to deal with drunk fucking morons trying to drive their F-250 the whole way back to the trails down a path a 4-wheeler barely fits on, because they heard about the trails. There is not much you can do about idiots finding you when we are trying to promote the trails like we have been. We should have just kept the trails to ourselves, but it is hard when you want to grow a BMX scene, let alone a trail scene.

So in the mean time, be respectful of the land owner, the trails and the handful of guys that have created them. Pick up your garbage, water before you ride, use normal talking voices and don't be there unless a local is there. We are still keeping our open door visitor policy so if you want to come ride before they are gone, get a hold of Brad or another local. We will be planning a blow out "Embrace the Squirell Jam" in the fall. It is really  weird to go from dig, dig, dig, to there is no point in digging, get your runs in before it snows. There is still a lot of fun to be had, so get on your bike and ride. You might have to wait until the rain stops though.

I also wonder if Dave really thinks the world is coming to an end on December 21, 2012 like the predictions and he is trying to tell us to get as much riding in before it is too late. We will see, but I doubt it.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Mid July Heat

 The holding pond is getting used up pretty quickly with these dry days.
 Left Line grew another set over the last week.
 Left Line hip view of new 5th set. Small, but fun.
 The roll-in expansion project has been completed.
 Ankle friendly stairs and filled in corner for Relover Line.
 Filled in corner to make big trains easier for dropping in.
Roll-in view of beginning of trails.

Man is it hot out. Still better then snow anyday in my book. 95 degree + out and a pretty good sized crew for a Tuesday night. Everything that is tarped is holding up good to the heat and dryness. Most of the untarped stuff is also, but there are a couple places seeing wear and tear. I think mostly from the no-brake, non-locals dragging their feet to stop. Brad is laying down the law and getting more kids to put a brake on their bike. Still no good riding pics to put up, but sessions have been getting crazy when I have not been there. Some of the Erie guys have been making the hour drive fairly regularly lately.

The Left Line has been seeing a lot of attention lately and sets are going up quickly. The 5th set went up so quick, I didn't even have a shovel in it. I think some of the younger guys are starting to realize how much work goes into stacking, because they have never witnessed Brad and me do a lip or landing. They come back in the spring and there is "magically" more stuff built. There are a lot of knomes hiding in the woods, but I have not see them dig yet. I'm hoping they also realize the 6 people digging on something should take 1/3 the amount of time to stack. More riding time for everyone or more jumps to ride depending on how you look at it. We still need a good name for the Left Line.

The Roll-In Expansion project is finished besides a couple of nails that need driven and it is looking sweet. Big trains will be so much easier with the corners filled in. Hopefully some paint will be applied soon to the 95% recycled wood structure. Get to the trails, water them and get your laps in.