TM Report: Bradley Park

Date: 4/8/2011
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Bradley Park
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: Dry
Observations/Information: Chris K. called and we discuss the issue of kids building a dirt jump park again at Bradley, but this time it was right on the trail! I met him in the afternoon and we dismantled the entire mess, 4 jumps and 2 berms, covered everything with leaves, never know it was there...
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

TA Report: Bradley Park

Date: 3-27-10
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Bradley Park
Town: Wilton
Trail Conditions: Dry, leafy, a few spots with mud (rare)

Observations/InformationWeather was sunny and although a bit nippy - not bad at all once you got riding. Went out for quickie as I've been hammered with a lot of paperwork these days.

Did the Orange Trail counter clockwise, then the Blue and a bit of the Red and headed back out on the White. Trails were surprisingly very dry and rideable, just a bit of mud up top on the ridge.

The interior trails were very leafy and, unless you know the park well, hard at times to distinguish the tread. At one spot I tossed a small log on a small curve to visually illustrate which trees to go thru (yep - I missed it!).

The center of the park--usually a semi-dry swamp--was now a shallow lake and the water flowed fiercely under the boardwalk bridges

TM Report: West Rock State Park

Date of Activity: 10/07/10
Location: Bradley Park
Condition of Trails(s): Damp
Observations: Trails are holding up well despite the recent rains but falling leaves are starting to cover the latest trail re-route on the upper Orange trail. I'll need to go back with a rake and clear it a bit so people are clear on where they need to go. Otherwise I just cut back some overgrowth on the trail.

TM Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity: 8/14/10
Condition of Trails(s): Dry
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort, 3 volunteers
Observations: Crew headed out on Orange trail to back end of property where, Chris K and I did a trail re-route a month ago.  Our project was to bring in leaves and other natural material to cover up the old trail, about 150 feet, we found a local house that dumped leaves onto the Bradley property, so with tarps and rakes we moved 6 tarps of leave and spread onto the old trail and added some branches to blend it all in and was done pretty quickly.  We next hiked to the blue trail where it was reported that various trees were blocking the trail.  We found them pretty quickly and chain sawed them all out. On the hike back we came across another large tree down across the trail and took care of that.

TM Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity: 7/22/10

Condition of Trails(s): Wet, muddy

Trail Ambassador Name: Chris Keczkemethy

Observations: I came across three areas on the Orange trail that were completely blocked by blow-downs.  The one pictured below was just North of the Oak Ledge entrance and was the easiest to clear.  Using my trusty NEMBA TA hand-saw I was able to clean out all the branches and clear the trail:

Now I just need to go back and do some additional trimming so I can broadscast this pile a little more discreetly:

Note to self: get a freaking chainsaw.

We’ll be having a TM day in the coming weeks to clear out some of this debris and also cover an old section of trail that Dave and I recently re-routed.

TM Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity: 7/1/10
Condition of Trails(s): Dry
Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Town: Wilton
Location: Bradley Park
Observations: Heavy overgrowth on southern yellow trails required alot pruning, also hiked the rest of the park to see if any further TM was required and notice that the orange trail at the northern end, which about a 100 foor section is fall line trail is beginning to erode just like the section on the southern end that I re-routed last year. I will be submitting a proposal to WCC next week to be able to re-route that section to make it sustainable.
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Trail(s) Ridden:N/A
How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance
What was the time of day?: 10am
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): N/A

TA Report: Bradley Park

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
Condition of Trails: Muddy, Wet

Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C
Trail Ambassador Email: mtnbikerdad[at]yahoo[dot]com
Town: Wilton
Location: Bradley Park
Trails Ridden: Orange, Blue, Red, Red Dot, White and north Yellow offshoot
How did you use the trail?: Biking
What was the time of day? Late Afternoon
Duration (Hours): 45 minutes

Observations: Weather was sunny and in the 70s but the trail conditions were still bad. Hit the park late afternoon and rode the Orange loop clockwise, veering off many of the side trails. Frustratingly, almost everywhere was soft and muddy. Huge pools of standing water engulfed a long stretch of the orange trail on the ridge in the north. This park will need another week so so to dry out.

TM Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity: 3/27/10
Condition of Trails(s): Muddy

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort, Kyaiera Tucker, Rich Coffey, Chris K.
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com

Town: Wilton
Location: Bradley Park
Time of day?: 9AM
Duration (Hours): 3

Wow, what a crew showed up (5 RESIDENTS WHO LIVE ON THE STREET)...and we needed everyone of them...Kyaiera took one group to tackle the deberm on the orange and it came out excellent, I took another crew and we move the small bridge back over on the trail and added a walkway after to span the mud and then armored with rock the rest of the way. The immense amount of rain with Spring thaw has created various mud pits in the park, just like in most parks. After those projects were completed one crew ended going to the top part of the Orange trail where it was not passable for about 100 feet due to mud and I means lots of mud, the team cut in some culverts to divert the water off the trail.

TM Report: Bradley Park

Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Condition of Trails: Leafy, fairly Dry

Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C
Trail Ambassador Email: mtnbikerdad[at]yahoo[dot]com
Town: Wilton
Location: Bradley Park
Trails Ridden: Orange and Yellow (south side of park)
How did you use the trail?: Hiking, TM
What was the time of day? Mid Afternoon
Duration (Hours): 1 1/2 Hours

Observations
Last Sat was an absolutely beautiful day: shorts and T-shirt weather!


I bought a telescoping rake and tried it out, lightly raking a few leaf-obscured trails in the east section of Bradley.

A cohesive trail network is starting to take shape here. Dave F's plans for a second loop by connecting the yellow offshoot trails at the east section of the park should enhance the riding choices. I'll be creating a iMap for this spot soon as well (the map on the kiosk doesn't really cover all the updated trails in the park)

TM Report: Bradley Report

Date of Activity: 01/22/10

Condition of Trails(s): Frozen

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com

Town: Wilton

Location: Bradley Park

Trail(s) Ridden: N/A

How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance

What was the time of day?: 8AM

Duration (Hours): 3

Distance (Miles): N/A

Observations: Picked up additional wood for bridge project on Orange trail re-route, cut to length and transported to site. Met Chris K. and he assisted on getting the wood out to the site and with construction.

TM Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity: 1/20/10
Condition of Trails(s): Wet, Muddy

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort

Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com

Town: Wilton

Location: Bradley Park

Trail(s) Ridden: Orange, Yellow

How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance

What was the time of day?: 1:00PM

Duration (Hours): 1

Distance (Miles): 2

Observations: Met with Mike Conklin (WCC land manager) to review current projects and proposed 2 new trail connectors that I flagged, he wants me to go back and GPS so he can make sure that they do not go near any private property. Also discussed rock armoring project by newly constructed bridge on Orange trail re-route

TM Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity:12/19/09
Condition of Trails(s): Frozen, Cold

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort, Ryan Tucker, Chris Keckemethy
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Bradley Park Trail(s)
Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenence
What was the time of day?: 8:30
Duration (Hours): 3.5
Distance (Miles): N/A

Observations: Approved project on the orange trail. A section of the trail never dries out and Mike Conklin from the WCC and I hiked out in the fall and made the decision to put in a low walkway like we did at WIlton Woods through a continually muddy area as a trail re-route was not an option. Total length of the walkway would need to be around 70 feet. Gave Mike the wood requirements and he secured all the lumber and had it delivered to their shed in Wilton.

Ryan and I went up to the park early and made a stop at the shed to get half the wood for the project. We arrived at Bradley Park and helpers were just starting to arrive. A good size crew came, around 8 people, and we began by hiking out the 24 4x4's and 16 twelve foot decking boards and tools. Multiple loads were made on the 1/2 mile in to the area we were working and Ryan made a second run to the shed to get the remaining wood.

We began by discussing options on where to start and Mike came up with a great idea on re-routing a small section of the trail to make the entrance on to the walkway better and that ended up being the decision of the day as the flow is now much better and we saved a section of walkway that can be used at the other end. Construction moved along quickly, the hardest part was getting stones to level 4x4's as everything was frozen in the ground. We completed it in 3 hours, but ran out of decking material, my goof on the order, so we will need to get back in to complete the remaining 2 sections.

TA Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity:10-30-09
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 2hrs. / Mountain Biking 1.5 Hrs
What was the time of day?: 12:30PM
Duration (Hours): 3.5
Distance (Miles): 8
Observations: Did 2 hours of reblazing covering all the yellow, and white trails. Noticed that all the yellow trails are requiring tree trimming as they are less traveled trails since all yellow trails end at streets and are only out and backs. I also planned out connecting trails to combine the adjacent yellow trails into loops, and will be making a propsal to the WCC next week. Afterwards, got the bike off the card for a 1.5 hour fun ride through a leaf filled park, temp was perfect and riding was dry and fast.

TM Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity:10-25-09
Condition of Trails(s):Wet


Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Bradley Park
Trail(s) Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance
What was the time of day?: 3PM
Duration (Hours): 1.5
Distance (Miles): N/A
Observations: Reblazed the entire orange trail.

TM Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity:10-24-09
Condition of Trails(s): Dry


Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort, Chris Keczkemethy
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Bradley Park
Trail(s) Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance
What was the time of day?: 9:00AM
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): N/A
Observations: A long bridge was severely sagging because of improper construction, Chris and I brought in a hydraulic floor jack and jacked up the bridge and installed new supports overlapping the weak areas on the bridge. Also straightened the bridge by adding rocks under one end to get it level. We hiked to the back area of the park where there was a short walkway with a gap in between the boards wide enough for a mountain bike tire to get caught in, we disassembled and used new wood supports and reused the decking and re-assembled.
Two sets on dog walkers came by and thanked us for our efforts in the park and they also commented on how much they enjoyed the section of the orange trail that I re-routed last week.

Bradley Park Ride Video

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....

TA Report: Bradley Park

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


Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Bradley Park
Trail(s) Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: TM
What was the time of day?: 7:30AM
Duration (Hours): 2.5
Distance (Miles): N/A
Observations: Removed an illegal dirt jump park that was discovered by the land manager. This was a liability issue with the last jump hucking off a 15-20 drop.

Wilton Conservation Commission honors Dave Francefort

Congratulations Dave! Thanks for all your hard work at Wilton Woods and Bradley Park!

TA Report: Bradley Park

Date of Activity:09-28-09
Condition of Trails(s): Damp


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?: Mountain Biking
What was the time of day?: 1:00PM
Duration (Hours): 1
Distance (Miles): 4.5
Observations: Went through riding all the work we did the day before, park is shaping up. Ran across a dog walker who wanted to assist with park maintenance and I handed him a Wilton Conservation Commission card and gave him my info so I can contact him for the next TM day.