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Call out to Hummingbird Trail Crew

3K views 42 replies 19 participants last post by  ET_SoCal 
#1 ·
rode the trail the other day and I am glad you did some work

but

you took 2 rocks out that give you some air
you filled in ruts towards the end that give the trail some ball$
and you (I don't what you were trying to do to some of those corners).....you took down the edge your tire sticks to when railing corners

so my question is why or what you were trying to do to the corners by making the trail wider:nono: :nono: and taking the edge away (better served working on the inside of the turn because most people ride this part)

why take out the 2 rocks (one almost the last turn then you do that last descend and the other on a straitaway that you can boost (step up) into that little hill)

why take out the ruts.......I mean if you want a smooth trail go over to the Handicapped accessible trail called Chumash....this is Hummingbird....I originally helped build this trail in 1991.....very discouraging that the trail was pu$$ified...while I am at it...man I hate how Chumash little rockgardens were taking out too...it is mountain biking....not sidewalk riding...we have obstacles...be a better rider by conquering not taking the what you percieve hard out
 
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#2 ·
lunchbox, you know the people who do that type of maintenance are hikers right. I like the trails to be somewhat challenging and not sanetized as well, but I don't think you'll find who you're looking for on this forum. I think you'll need to hunt down the simi valley trailblazers if you're curious as to who's doing that type of maintenance... try Thursday evening @ Chumash, that's their regular hike.
 
#5 ·
Here you go-- it was indeed the Trailblazers: http://www.simitrailblazers.com/activities/index.html

...and probably the nicest bunch of folks you'll ever meet. They planned, built, and maintain most of the Simi ST's that we all enjoy. I believe we owe them a huge "Thank you" for that! Since they aren't mtb'ers, they wouldn't understand about your preferences. Their goal is to keep the trails in good condition. Regardless, every heavy storm takes a toll on Hummingbird-- have patience and the ruts will be back.
 
#6 ·
Dusty

Dusty Bottoms said:
Rut removal is a standard water shed procedure, and part of trail maintenance 101. HBird is a multi-use trail, can't say I'm surprised that ANY user group would employ techniques that would help preserve the trail, and prevent erosion.
You are right on about the ruts and there is more. Where ever you find ruts you will find trail widening. Most trail users avoid ruts by riding/walking to the side. This will eventually widen the trail and in many cases form a new rut which people will avoid and widen the trail even more and so on. Any depression in a soil surface will funnel water and the end result is a rut. That's why bikers should avoid skidding and riding when the trail is soft from rain.
The point of trail maintenance should be sustainability. I am not in favor of making trails easy to ride or safer but I am in favor of making them last and keeping them single track.

Thanks for the opportunity to give my rut speech.
 
#7 ·
chopper and dusty - totally agree with keeping the trails sustainable and singletrack...

Lady - agreed, the Simi Trailblazers are good folks, I see 'em every Thursday on Chumash and I've known Mike K for 20+ years...

<sarcasm>I do think you'll want to check with SMT though, because he built hummingbird in '91...he posted it above... </sarcasm>
 
#8 ·
I too am all good with trail maintenance, when done right.

It's been said before, the Trailblazers are nice people. And, who else is out there doing this on a regular basis. I keep on telling myself to get out there on an organized trail care day, but it has been YEARS since I've actually done it. So, I too give them kudos.

HOWEVER, some of those folks need to go back to class. I can remember more than one time they simply fill in those big old ruts with loose and soft dirt with no moisture in it.

The only thing worse than big old ruts is big old ruts hidden from view with nice, loose dirt.
 
#9 ·
GMoney said:
<SARCASM>I do think you'll want to check with SMT though, because he built hummingbird in '91...he posted it above... </SARCASM>
I can't really tell if you're kidding or not, so I'll bite for the edification of others. I know Mike K. too & touched bases w/ him yesterday. To set the record straight, Hummingbird was designed and built and is maintained by the Rancho Simi Trailblazers as a multiuse trail. Mike K. was there from the very beginning. He & 3 or 4 others (SMT not among them) laid out the trail. Several small groups helped in the trail-building, including boy scouts, girl scouts and church groups. Perhaps SMT was once a boy scout?

I've also helped build several local trails-- that doesn't mean I can dictate how those trails are to be maintained or claim them for a particular user group.
 
#11 ·
GMoney said:
Lady - I was kidding.
I know who really built the trails, I've been a resident of Simi for 30 years now. I'm also friends with SMT and know when he's blowin' smoke...the comment was intended to give him crap...
You know, that's what I figured...;) Nevertheless, SMT has young "followers" who might actually believe that Hummingbird was designed & built for dh'ers. I don't want
Hummingbird to end up closed due to the bluster & prevarications of one user. SMT, behave yourself.
 
#13 ·
LadyDi said:
I can't really tell if you're kidding or not, so I'll bite for the edification of others. I know Mike K. too & touched bases w/ him yesterday. To set the record straight, Hummingbird was designed and built and is maintained by the Rancho Simi Trailblazers as a multiuse trail. Mike K. was there from the very beginning. He & 3 or 4 others (SMT not among them) laid out the trail. Several small groups helped in the trail-building, including boy scouts, girl scouts and church groups. Perhaps SMT was once a boy scout?

I've also helped build several local trails-- that doesn't mean I can dictate how those trails are to be maintained or claim them for a particular user group.
SMT Your Up! time to walk the plank.......
 
#14 ·
Hey, man, you don't talk to SMT. You listen to him. The man's enlarged my mind. He's a poet-warrior in the classic sense. I mean sometimes he'll... uh... well, you'll say "hello" to him, right? And he'll just walk right by you. He won't even notice you. And suddenly he'll grab you, and he'll throw you in a corner, and he'll say, "do you know that 'if' is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you"... I mean I'm no, I can't... I'm a little man, I'm a little man, he's... he's a great man. I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas...
 
#15 ·
post of the year...

brendancahill said:
Hey, man, you don't talk to SMT. You listen to him. The man's enlarged my mind. He's a poet-warrior in the classic sense. I mean sometimes he'll... uh... well, you'll say "hello" to him, right? And he'll just walk right by you. He won't even notice you. And suddenly he'll grab you, and he'll throw you in a corner, and he'll say, "do you know that 'if' is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you"... I mean I'm no, I can't... I'm a little man, I'm a little man, he's... he's a great man. I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas...
truer words have yet to be spoken...:D
 
#20 ·
SHIVER ME TIMBERS said:
rode the trail the other day and I am glad you did some work...it is mountain biking....not sidewalk riding...we have obstacles...be a better rider by conquering not taking the what you percieve hard out
smt I am bummed too, now it's gonna be too easy to ride UP :madman:
 
#21 ·
brendancahill said:
Yes! I didn't think anyone would catch that qoute. I saw Lady Di's post, and I knew Captain Willard needed to make an appearance (i know, i know. you get the point. did hopper even have a name?).
Not so far as I could tell. The web pages I pulled up trying to link a photo of him into my post just listed him as "photojournalist in the cast list, if they listed him at all
 
#22 · (Edited)
LadyDi said:
Since they aren't mtb'ers, they wouldn't understand about your preferences. Their goal is to keep the trails in good condition. Regardless, every heavy storm takes a toll on Hummingbird-- have patience and the ruts will be back.
well lets start in by saying when they filled in the ruts (and horse shoe holes) they did with loose dirt that will never stay in the holes they tried to fill in. Maybe some of the people working need to go back to the class they teach (I am going to one to be certified by the Park District - so I don't know what they teach, but hopefully something good for trail maintenance).

anyway.....those ruts originally started by horsesback riders and erosion have been there for over 5 years....they didn't even do that much work.....2 guys in 4 hours could have done a better job that would be more sustainable then they did.....

all I am saying is they took out the edge of the turns which now will erode because the dirt is soft and filled in the holes with dirt that will blow away from wind and just plain trail use:nono: :nono: :nono:

I like that they tried, but I think they did more damage to the trail, then good
 
#23 ·
LadyDi said:
Nevertheless, SMT has young "followers" who might actually believe that Hummingbird was designed & built for dh'ers. I don't want
Hummingbird to end up closed due to the bluster & prevarications of one user. SMT, behave yourself.
to call Hummingbird a DH trail is not acurate. HB is a good trail but more along the lines of an extreme XC trail. To me a DH trail would have jumps and drops. I think HB is one of the best trails for learning how to develop skills for switchback corners, letting your bike roll through rockgardens and at the end flowing the corners to the bottom(not cuttting them as I have seen recently ). HB was the first trail I rode Mtn Biking. It has sentimental value to me. I rode it for 9 months strait while I was learning. For the last 4 years I have been on that trail about 20 times. Lately, I have just started riding it for training and conditioning.

My big concern is all the cut outs on the trail.......fences and tree branches are not working.....best thing is to dig pits.....stops the rogue bikers from cutting fast.

FYI.
...2 years ago I spent about 25 to 30 hours fixing the trail after the heavy rains....there were a few ruts was 2 feet deep and about a foot wide that I fixed .I built some water bars out of dirt to help out with erosion.What was cool about the waterbars is that you could ride over the bar pedaling up, but also jump over them coming down........I notice these are gone (kind of dumb because the trail won't drain and now next rain the same problem will be there again).

a few weeks later after doing the above work I posted here about a group trail day and we had 4 riders come out and do some more work. I think ET was one or it was Scottay or maybe both
 
#26 ·
GMoney said:
Lady - I was kidding.
I know who really built the trails, I've been a resident of Simi for 30 years now. I'm also friends with SMT and know when he's blowin' smoke...the comment was intended to give him crap...
actually went out with the park district back around 91 w/my surf buddy John......we cleared some brush...moved some rock, carved out some sections, and cut some branches of the larger trees/brushes....they also handed us some s and told us to knock down some brush....I think they worked over a month on weekends working on it....we had about 25 people out the day I went

so no smoke their
 
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