headin’ south
We’ve barely turned the calendar over to September, but signs of autumn are already showing. Dark, chilly mornings, fungus rising and leaves are already falling… Let’s hope the Wasps get the message! Frequent readers will remember my affinity for working on a deadline, so, following the props we received for our Westside Wheelup last minute course upgrades (Danimal North), we immediately moved the crew to work on one of the stages for the Witsend Enduro. Danimal South has been on my “to-do” list for some time, but it hadn't shown much urgency. Hosting a race is a good catalyst to get the ball rolling. The crew was “hot” following a few weeks of dry-lock armoring work and Danimal South was in need of some serious smoothing. We also had some bonus muscle for the week: “Big Rock Rob” was back for another volunteer stint and he lived up to the hype!
Our goal for Danimal South was to minimize janky pedaling. We Started at the junction with THC/Rock Rabbit where the holes between fat roots were sucking riders’ momentum (or scaring them into the pristine moss). The Michals and I had a chat after pulling the huge stump by Moose Knuckles: “The line looks way better now,... How would you feel about bridging the hole-riddled root mess instead of armoring?” “Oh yeah! Let’s do that!” It took less than 30 seconds to locate a recently fallen cedar that would provide the frame and we had enough decking ready to go at our stash. Further down, we widened some sections to give riders space to lean, built rollers to pump and redesigned the trail to eliminate an awkward switchback. There are also some jumps in there for riders who notice that kind of thing! Rob and I pulled out a monster rock that was hindering a turn and relocated it to the steep straightaway: we built a squiggle/grade reversal. Good luck to all the racers!
PS: Volunteer digging events are back! Sign up here for the next one!
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
