TM Report: George C Waldo SP

Date of Activity: August 26, 2010

Summary of effort:  Worked on finishing the benching in a few spots on the trail.  I've had some questions about turns lately and how to make a trail "flow",  When working on the design, the over all difficulty of the trail needs to be taken into account, the terrain, the slope, where the last turn was ( transitions) .  

A minimum turning radius is 10 ft. To prevent cut throughs on the trail, placing the turn around an obstruction such as a large blow down, a stone wall, a large tree, boulders, etc helps. A pile of brush is not a good turn around point. It is too easily removed. Turns should be placed on relatively shallow slopes if possible, and should have grade reversals or dips before and after the turn. The treadway is outsloped except the part directly on the fall line.  If a trail is folding back on himself, the trail should be at least 30ft or more from itself if possible. 

Wider turns are faster and need better sight lines from both directions.  Sometimes,the only way to test the flow is to ride the trail, and then modify if necessary.  Turns can be used to create flow, slow down traffic, create technical challenge, make transitions from one part of the trail to another, or just to make the trail fun. 

Trail Ambassador Names: Paula Burton,

Location: Waldo SF
Trail Ambassador Email: peburtonataoldotcom
Town: Southbury
Trail(s) Ridden: Where's Waldo
How did you use the trail? Mountain bike
What was the time of day? late Afternoon
Duration  3 hours
Distance (Miles): ?