Chester "Combined Arms" Trail Day

Saturday, June 4, 2016
9:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Join members of BPC, CFPA, NEMBA and LCRVHC for our 10th annual “combined arms” trail maintenance event! Projects will include; brushing, blazing, and treadway improvement. A pot-luck cook out will follow with hot dogs provided by the LCRVHC. Bring a dessert or side and stay for the raffle. Bring a friend or make a new one! Participants should come dressed appropriately for a day of work in the woods (including work gloves - NEMBA TAs are asked to wear jerseys) and may bring loppers, pruners or bow saws-all other tools will be provided. Participants should also bring along water, snacks, their favorite bug repellent and a healthy appetite!

More information...

Clean Up – Green Up @ Rockland

Sunday, April 24, 2016
Meet at Route 79 Trailhead, 9 AM.

Support Town of Madison’s Clean-Up — Green-Up Day by riding and cleaning Rockland Preserve. We’ll clean the parking area first and then look for trash along a no-drop intermediate level route. Bring a bag to clear trash along our ride.

Reminder: Trail Day @Quillinan Oct. 26

Central Connecticut Chapter and Thule, Inc. are teaming up for a trail work day at the Quillinan Reservoir trails (Quillinan Block, Naugatuck State Forest), Sunday, October 26, 2014, 8:30 AM.

Thule will be providing lunch and we'll be riding the trails afterwards.

Parking/lunch @ Thule, Inc. 42 Silvermine Rd., Seymour, CT.

Trail Building at Seth Low Pierpont State Park, Ridgefield, CT

Sun. Oct. 17

Seth Low Pierpont SP

Ridgefield CT. 

Paula Burton 203-733-2963 

peburton@aol.com,

Help us build a new trail in the beautiful park at the request of the land manager. We hope to get it built in one day, but we need your help. Call or email for meeting place and work from 9am until 1pm. Lunch provided, then go for a ride after at Bennetts Farm.

Trumbull Trails Coalition Work TM: Saturday, August 21st; 9 AM to 12 Noon

We'll meet at the North End - Whitney Ave Parking Lot, Saturday at 9am, and work for approximately 3 hours. Bring along sturdy shoes, work gloves, bug repellent, and water.

Trumbull >> broken, battered and neglected

Kind of iconic for the state of the park now...broken, battered and neglected

The TTC aims to change that!

Trumbull Trails Coalition

Monthly Trail Maintenance Session

Meet at the Commuter lot on Park Street

(off of Daniels Farm Road)

9 AM to 12 noon

Bring: Sturdy shoes, bug repellent, and water

A led Ride will follow

Contact for more information:

trumbulltrailscoalition@yahoo.com

Re: Mianus Monthly TM Trail Report

Date of Activity: May 1

Trail Ambassador Name: K Mistretta-Tucker, R Coffey, R Tucker, D Francefort, and 10 other volunteers

Trail Ambassador Email: rrtucker at gmail dot com

Town: Stamford

Location: Mianus River Park

Trail(s) Ridden: Stamford Trails

How did you use the trail: Trail Maintenance

What was the time of day: 9am-12:00pm

Duration (Hours): 3.0

Distance (Miles): N/A

Condition of Trails(s): Fall Line in need of re-route

Observations: Re-route checked post heavy Monday and Tuesday rains. Holding well.

Trail Maintenance hours: 3.5 hours

Work accomplished: Re-routed eastern edge of Cabin Trail off fall line using sustainable techniques such as bench cutting, rock armoring, and contouring trail along hillside

Trail Maintenance @ Pequonnock River Valley (aka Trumbull), 5/15

Pequonnock River Valley
aka Trumbull
Trail Maintenance

Saturday, May 15
9 AM to 12 Noon

a ride will follow

Trumbull, CT
Meet at the Daniel's Farm Commuter Lot

View Larger Map

Sponsored by CT NEMBA
and the
Trumbull Trails Coalition

for more information contact

Mark Lurie or Rich Coffey

Trail Maintenance @ Collis P Huntington SP, 5/15

Collis P Huntington SP

Trail Maintenance

Saturday, May 15

9 AM to 12 Noon

Redding, CT

Meet at the lot off of Sunset Hill Rd

(Statues Lot)

Paula Burton

peburton1@gmail.com

203-733-2963

View Larger Map

2010 Spring Trail Boss Training @ Brooksvale Park

Saturday, April 24 was Trail Boss training at the Veterans Memorial Pavilion at Brooksvale Park. A good turn out of CT NEMBA members came from all corners of the state to learn about mountain biking advocacy, trail design and building techniques, working with land managers and other important aspects of being a Trail Boss.

Paula Burton got the morning started getting everyone in attendance to give introductions before she began her slideshow. Most of the attendees were already CT Trail Ambassadors and this program was the next step into becoming more knowledgeable regarding trail management.

Paula had the group pair up into teams with someone you did not know and take 15 minutes to quickly design the optimal trail system. The exercise brought up some common themes of trail design. Paula spent the next hour reviewing types of trails, building techniques, trail issues, etc. and included a demonstration on how to properly use a clinometer.

Next we headed outside where Paula and Ryan reviewed trail building tools, their usage and safety. The “Circle of Death” (keeping adequate distance between you and other workers) was stressed as important thing to keep in mind when using tools. Knowing your tools and how to use them safely will greatly minimize the possibility of an accident.

We headed back in for presentations by Ryan Tucker on working with land managers and David Francefort on wood bridges, walkways and rock armoring usage.

After lunch the group broke in 2 groups for hands-on outdoor work. Paula took one group for trail design and assessment, covering issues such as erosion; preventative techniques such as knicks and grade dips; and tips for designing a reroute or new trail. Ryan and Dave took the other group out for benching techniques, which include each person performing a full bench. The groups switched after an hour and each session was done again.

After the program was done, those who brought their mountain bike, were treated to a ride through Brooksvale park and into Naugatuck State Forest led by Keith. Ride was great and the day was ended with post-ride libations. Another successful day of TM training was completed.

Trail Maintenance Work Day @ Hartman Park

April 10th 2010*

Hartman Park

Lyme, CT

9AM- 12:30PM

Email: Thom(at)ectrr(dot)com

* Please note the date change due all the liquid sunshine we have been having lately

Well, the Town's folk were really pleased with last bridge and all the extra work we did!! (thanks again guys)

SO.... Now we're going to do another one :) (two actually, just at the same river crossing)
Bridge is on the orange Trail just under the Big Scramble. We're going to try and get a vehicle to get everything up the fire road and that way we can hike it in on the blue-yellow-orange trail. This is by far the easiest way to the spot.
If you have a 4x4 Pickup and am willing to help get the boards in that would be great.

Please E-mail me if you plan on coming, I'll bring hot dogs for lunch again :)

Trail Maintenance: Cockaponset SF

Date: April 10th
Where: Cockaponset SF

Trail Boss: Bryan McFarland - czimborbryan[at]sbcglobal[dot]net
Time: 9 AM
Parking: Pattaconk Lake
Follow RT 9 (south or north) and take Exit 6. Go west onto RT 148 for 1.5 miles and turn right onto Cedar Lake RD (just passed YMCA Camp Hazen). Follow Cedar Lake RD for 1.5 miles and then turn left onto a paved entrance to Pattaconk Lake. Follow this to the left gravel lot at the top of the drive.

View Larger Map

What you will be doing: Rerouting a trail, cutting and removing fallen trees and gathering stone for armoring a muddy section of trail.

A led ride will follow.

4/2 West Rocks State Park Trail Maintenance

Tom Ebersol will be doing trail work at West Rock on Friday, April 2 and invite people to join me. I will get there at 10 a.m. and work for a few hours. Participants can certainly leave or arrive as their schedules allow. The leader does not plan to ride, but can certainly give out maps and suggestions if others want to ride on their own.

Meet at the Hill St. parking area, 610 Hill St., Hamden, 0.15 miles south of W. Shepard St. If the lot is full, park on the OPPOSITE side of the street facing up the hill. Directions: Rt. 15 to Exit 60 and head south on Rt. 10 to the first light. Right on Benham St. for 1 mile. Right on Paradise Ave. at the light, then quick right to stay on Paradise Ave. for 1.5 miles. Left on Hill St. at stop sign and go 1.2 miles to parking lot. You can download a map in advance by doing a search for West Rock Ridge State Park. If interested, email the leader, Tom Ebersold, at bikehikekayak123@sbcglobal.net. Please click the Read More link below for more information.

From the parking lot, follow the Red-White Dot blazes across the field and into the woods. The work will be taking place about 100 yards into the woods. The location could not be more simple.

The plan is to deal with water issues on the Red Dot Trail that comes out of the Hill Street parking lot. There are two streams that feed into Farm Brook Reservoir and I have a future plan to install bridges over each water course.

Friday will be the preparation stage for that project. I would like to line the sides of the streams with rocks in the area where the bridges will go to prevent any further erosion. There is also a section of trail beyond the bridges that needs to be hardened with rocks.

If you have tools to bring, that would be helpful, including crow bars, a handtruck or wheelbarrow, and shovel. We will need to locate rocks in the woods (of which there are many) and move them to the location.

If I have the luxury of getting too many people (!), there also would be time to work on clearing out invasive plant species, of which there are way too many in this area.

Trail Ambassador Report - Mianus River Park

Date of Activity: March 13

Trail Ambassador Name: R Tucker

Condition of Trails(s): Damp, wet ground

Trail Ambassador Email: rrtucker at gmail dot com

Town: Stamford

Location: Mianus River Park

Trail(s) Ridden: Stamford Trails

How did you use the trail: Trail Assessment and Advocacy

What was the time of day: 9-10:30

Duration (Hours): 1.5 hours

Distance (Miles): 2.5 miles

Observations: Pre-storm walk through, didn't look bad on Saturday morning.

Trail Maintenance hours: 1.5 hours

Work accomplished: Assessed trails with Stamford Land Conservation trust for potential issues and projects.

Hartman Park: Spur of the [weather] moment TM session

It looks like a GO for Saturday morning at Hartman Park to replace a small bridge. with a ride afterwards. :) Need bodies to carry the stuff out, and If someone has a cordless circular saw or a small chain saw to cut up the old one that would be awesome.

Setting a tentative time of 9:00 am, We'll be meeting THE FIELD on the RED TRAIL..

Parking will most likely be at the main lot and ride in SO give yourselves a few extra minutes to ride/hike to the field!!! (it's only around a Miles distance?)

You can walk/ride the road or the trail. If you are bringing something (shovels, saws, tools etc.) you can drop them at the fields entrance from the road.

I'll be supplying Cordless Impacts for assembly. The Town of Lyme/Lyme Conservation Trust is supplying materials. Some soil work may need to be done so if you have a shovel to bring that would be a bonus also. If I get a count I'll Try to bring my little portable gas grill and some hot dogs for lunch after the ride.(bring your own beverage!!)

E-mail me at THOM(at)ECTRR.COM f you'd like to help!!

Trail and driving maps along with other information can be had from the Lyme Conservation Web site's PDF file of Hartman Park

http://www.lymelandtrust.org/web_docs/heritage_trail.pdf

Mianus River Park Trailwork, Saturday November 7th

The Friends of Mianus River Park will hold their regular monthly trailwork session this Saturday, Nov 7th.

With nice weather forecast, this is a chance for you to give back to the Park that you enjoy so much. We'll be filling in a hole on the Inner Road Trail that was created when a city truck got stuck while removing a dangerous tree months ago. And we'll be clearing a drainage ditch that we'd built in that area several years ago.

Please meet at the bridge on Merriebrook Lane, at 9am, to work until noon. Please bring gloves and a long-handled shovel or solid-tined rake.

Any questions, please contact Trailwork Planning Coordinator Ryan Tucker at: rrtucker@gmail.com

Thanks,

Pete Sofman, Communications
Friends of the MRP
psofman@gmail.com

TA Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity:10-17-09

Condition of Trails(s): Dry

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Bradley Park
Trail(s) Ridden: All
How did you use the trail?: TM / Mountain Biking
What was the time of day?: 7:30AM
Duration (Hours): 3.5
Distance (Miles): 5

Observations: Re-routed a section of he orange trail, closed about 200 feet of trail due to severe erosion. The trail section was dead straight up the fall line and has lost between 1 and 2 feet of soil. Wilton Conservation Commission approved re-route to more sustainable area. New section is about 400 feet long maintaining perpendicular to the fall line and should be much more sustainable. The new trail section also has much better flow. Followed up the TM 2.5 hours with a 1 hour ride to test it all out....

Trail Maintenance: Wilton Woods

Date of Activity:10-11-09
Condition of Trails(s): Dry

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Wilton Woods
Trail(s) Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: TM
What was the time of day?: 9:00AM
Duration (Hours): 1
Distance (Miles): N/A
Observations: Got word of additional blow downs in the back of the park, hiked in and found some large trees over the trails, cleared with a chain saw.

Wilton Woods Trail Maintenance

Date of Activity:09-12-09
Condition of Trails(s): Dry

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Wilton Woods
Trail(s) Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance
What was the time of day?: 7:30
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): N/A
Observations: Complete walkway project including placing knicks along the walkway for drainage, transplanting some ferns, and adding large choke stones. Also installed the new armoring on the first stream crossing on the left blue trail.

TA Report: Mianus River Park 9-5-09

TA Report: Mianus River Park Saturday, Sept. 5th, 2009 Condition of Trails: Dry Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C Trail Ambassador Email: mtnbikerdad[at]yahoo[dot]com Town: Stamford/Greenwich Location: Mianus Park Trails Ridden: Various How did you use the trail?: TM, Mountain Biking What was the time of day? Morning Duration (Hours): 3 Observations: Fixed the mud hole at the south end of the "New Trail." Our crew rerouted a high-use trail around a constant mud problem -- a flat area/basin where water has had nowhere to drain. We added a few big rock choke points to keep traffic on the reroute and covered/hid the muddy area with brush and logs. In addition, some of the crew added a rolling grade dip in the section below where potential erosion could harm the trail at the streambed crossing. Photography courtesy of Pete Sofman