The trails have been chock full of riders for the last several months and volunteers have stayed busy beating down briar bushes and cleaning up after overnight storms. The dust is again beginning to settle on this summer much as it has in past years, with a few slightly browned leaves littering the switchbacks.
As I'm sure many riders have noticed the trails have been maintained far better than in previous years, not to knock previous years work, but only to praise this years that much more. From the several late night sessions prepping the trails for 2,000 riders at DirtFest, to the mid summer evenings spent lopping off ends of briars only with the owls to keep us company summer looks like it will end with some of the best riding trails in the east riding their best.
This year unlike years in the past we have used non-traditional methods to maintain a large work crew in a little community. For those not aware Huntingdon, Pa. is a borough of less than 7,000 with not much or many in the surrounding area. So how do you maintain and continue to build on 33 miles of pristine mountain bike trails. The credit goes largely to a select few who will remain anonymous until told otherwise, that continuously visit the trails week in and week out in search of perfection. Several relatively new to the sport riders paired with a handful of old school traditionalists have helped keep these trails riding great.
However, as volunteers do get tired we need to periodically go outside the traditional means of attracting riders and work on growing the volunteer base by attracting non-riders. This means utilizing programs that are set up exclusively to get help to community based organizations that are ineed, such as AmeriCorps, United Way, and Community Work Programs operated by our states Correctional Institutions.
This fall be sure to keep an eye out for new faces on the trails. Whether it is Caleb our ever hard working Americorps trail steward or some of our new department of corrections friends, the trails will be in better shape this fall than any previous one. Looking to get involved personally? Check out the annual work weekend happening October 19-21st
As I'm sure many riders have noticed the trails have been maintained far better than in previous years, not to knock previous years work, but only to praise this years that much more. From the several late night sessions prepping the trails for 2,000 riders at DirtFest, to the mid summer evenings spent lopping off ends of briars only with the owls to keep us company summer looks like it will end with some of the best riding trails in the east riding their best.
This year unlike years in the past we have used non-traditional methods to maintain a large work crew in a little community. For those not aware Huntingdon, Pa. is a borough of less than 7,000 with not much or many in the surrounding area. So how do you maintain and continue to build on 33 miles of pristine mountain bike trails. The credit goes largely to a select few who will remain anonymous until told otherwise, that continuously visit the trails week in and week out in search of perfection. Several relatively new to the sport riders paired with a handful of old school traditionalists have helped keep these trails riding great.
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| Huntingdon High School Students hard at it during a Clean-Up day! |
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| Outdoor Adventure Women of Central Pa helping out with the finishing touches on VeeCee Trail |
1 comment:
How many visits to the Bakers Hollow Road Trailhead for the Allegrippis Trails at Raystown Lake and Old Logger's Trail were recorded in September 2012?
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