Trail Work

This morning the Santa Cruz Bicycle Industry Coalition (www.sbic.org) sponsored a trail work day. Here is the text of the invitiation to volunteers:

Wilder Ranch Path Clean up Day

Help cut back overgrown vegetation that is narrowing the path and sweep the path clean of debris. Join the bike community in this first monthly clean up event hosted by the Santa Cruz Bicycle Industry Coalition. Besides improving Wilder path you'll be provided with drinks, snacks, powerbars, and be eligible for prizes from Giro, FOX Racing Shox, and Santa Cruz Bicycles! Also support from Aptos Bike Trail, Another Bike Shop and Family Cycling Center as well as all the local Bicycle Industry Coalition members.
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Help improve a path which kids, families and individuals use for exercise and transportation to Wilder. Clean up equipment will be provided but if you have some, bring work gloves (bike gloves will do).

Previously, I had plans to go to the Santa Cruz Little League Opening Day. However it got rained out. (It did not actually rain, however the fields were so wet, that we had to cancel the opening day ceremonies). Since this plan fell through, I decided to volunteer for the trail work.

About 9 or 10 of us met at 9AM to begin work. We met at the South end of the bike path at Shafer Road (shown in the picture to the left). Note that this picture is post-cleanup. It was much more overgrown when we started. Sorry, I did not take a "before" picture to compare it with.







Two of us were asked to guide, steer, bully a "mower" to cut back the grass and shrubs along the bike path. The mower looks rather antiquated and it takes a little bit to master it's use. However, once you get used to it, the mower does an impressive job. The blade is pretty heavy duty, not something you want to mess with. There is a long, complicated name for this particular type of mower, however I forgot it as soon as I heard it.







This is Dave, my "mower" partner. He mowed the right side of the trail from Shafer Road to Wilder Ranch (about 1.75 miles). I walked ahead of him looking for rocks, branches or other debris that might get "kicked" up by the mower. When we got to Wilder Ranch, we switched roles and worked on the other side of the trail on the way back. We completed the 3.5 mile trip in about 3 hours.





Hmm, I should have zoomed in more for this shot. In the distance are two guys trimming trees that are starting to droop over the path.









In this picture, you can see a how we mowed a 3 foot swath next to the bike path.

At the end of the work, the organizers were quite generous with gifts for the workers. I walked away with a water bottle, a t-shirt, 2 baseball caps and a 22 ounce beer from Seabright Brewery. One of the women volunteers went home with a new bike helmet.

A photographer from the Sentinel showed up and took a few pictures. Thus, there may be an article and/or pictures in the Sunday Sentinel.

Interested in volunteering for trail work? There are a number of oppurtunities listed at this site: www.trailworkers.com/volunteer.cfm. The group does good work. In the past, I have volunteered to work in Wilder Ranch. Most of the trails hold up very well during the rainy season. A few of the trails are in problematic areas and need maintenance every year.