Trails Update: Oct 23, 2020
Great company!
Get Over It is a pretty technical trail. It rides quite technical with all the roots and boulders and bridges… And its build was quite technical with all the roots and boulders and bridges.
The time has come to upgrade some of those bridges. In August, I assessed the scene and wondered if the 100 foot bridge was really necessary... It looked like we could simply bench the trail into the dirt to replace most of it. A quick(er) and clean fix!
As far as I knew, Tim Andrews, with help from Jerome David and Jonathan Mahec, built the trail around 2007. With the goal of connecting Mel’s Dilemma to Bob’s Rebob, they found a mysterious section of abandoned trail. It turns out the trio had the skills to GET OVER the remaining hurdles (boulderfields and bogs) to complete the link. Tim admitted to me that he quite enjoyed chainsaw carpentry and had perhaps built some “unnecessary” bridges.
Monsoon season dispelled my august assumption...
“AH! Crap! I’m in up to my knee!”
Renee sounded more annoyed than distressed as she struggled to liberate her foot from the omnipresent mud. The entire area is a strangely steep bog!
Complete new bridge it is then.
I prefer to manage these bigger bridge projects like IKEA furniture since we’ll need to close the trail for a few days (once we remove the decaying structure).
The first step is to make sure ALL of the parts are in the box:
-180 pieces of 4 foot wide Decking
-7 “uprights” for bases
-14 X 5 foot long sleepers
-22 stringers
See where the bases actually end up before measuring and cutting the long parts!
Plus: tools, nails, fuel, etc...
Other than building the new Rebob/road intersection and a day of drainage work on LOTS, we spent most of the week sourcing and preparing bridge parts.
At one point, over the sound of the chainsaw, Benoit yells:
“HEY DAN! THERE’S SOMEONE HERE TO SEE YOU!”
I hit the kill switch to meet an energetic septuagenarian rider climbing through the mud towards us.
“My name is Jake, I was one of the original WORCA members!”
Without skipping a beat, he adds:
“I saw the new bridge and the trucks and couldn’t resist coming over to finally meet you!
I love your work and the weekly updates and wanted to say thank you!”
Blushing, I thanked him for helping get WORCA started and wanted to know more about our new friend. It turns out we have a lot in common… Doc Jake used to write a bike column for Charlie Doyle’s “Whistler Answer” (predecessor publication to the Whistler Question) and we’re both huge fans of prolific trail builder Chris Markle. In talking about chipmunks and trail building, Jake mentioned that he and Charlie (Doyle) had attempted to connect Mel’s to Rebob at one point in the 90’s... the “Abandoned trail section” mystery is solved!
What a serendipitous encounter!
Nature Showtime
As we finished the new Rebob junction, “Tic” surprised the crew with an afterwork adult beverage! An apt celebration for a project that’s been on my to-do list for a few seasons.
In the quickly dying light, while reminiscing about the last trail day on the Chipmunk Rebellion, a couple of squirrels ---a squirrel couple, if you will--- displayed an adult nature show!
What a special week in the woods.
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
