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Good News: Black Diamond area

1K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  Summit Ridge Guy 
#1 ·
[HR][/HR]Most of you are aware of the land east of Summit Ridge that was owned by Plum Creek and then purchased by Herbrand was clear cut early this spring. Well, King County Parks is in the process of buying it all up!!!

Three of the parcels are now in their inventory and the balance (bigger chunk) will be in the first quarter of 2014. I have already let all our local gnomes know and I will be initiating some planning meetings with the county.

Building and riding is a clear cut is going to be new to many of us. If any of you have any hands on experience with building in a clearcut area and have some lessons learned to share, please share.
 
#2 ·
Lesson 1: Take advantage of the unlimited sight lines and use the contours as much as possible (milk the routing!).

Lesson 2: If possible, steer clear of any major slash piles.

Lesson 3: Clear your corridor wider than you think. Seriously. Also, be sure to also remove any stumps and logs/branches beyond your trail corridor (this makes lesson 4 much easier).

Lesson 4: Own at least one weedeater and be prepared to use it 1-2x a year for 15 years.

Lesson 5 (this is a nice-to-have): Build with a mini ex if possible!
 
#3 ·
Weedeater and Mini X. Yes. Clearing a wide corridor is so insanely important as well, with the growth that'll spring up, in addition to the dangerous edges of the trail with slash....

Glad to hear about this.
 
#4 ·
Yeah, all that. But also keep in mind that the routing needs to be done with a lot more care. It'll turn to powder in the summer and get hammered by rain in the winter until trees grow in. Puddles also form easier. Hard corners will turn into braking bombshells, and ruts form easier. You'll get more melt-freeze from raidant cooling in the clearcuts (forests are amazing insulators), so mucky spots will turn to goo immediately in the winter.

So you just gotta make sure your routing is totally dialled. Bring your A-game when flagging and don't be afraid to make adjustments as you start to build.
 
#5 ·
To add to the wider trail clearing ( got snagged on the foot pedaling by and had a bad wreck earlier in the year from a sawed off end a little too close to the trail and hidden by spring growth...) is walking the line with a chain saw just cutting the slash as you go so you don't have to play "pick up sticks" for freakin' ever... Great time saver. And, just getting to it all as fast as you can as the new growth really makes it a pain even 6 months after the cut.
 
#7 ·
More good stuff:

There is a grant proposal being reviewed in mid September. We are seeking grant money from the county for the proposal below. If you support this please drop my Bike Masters and Boards in Maple Valley and sign the letter of support. Your signature will go a long way to show the county you want this.

Community Mountain Bike Park
When you head south on 169 towards Black Diamond you will travel under the power lines just past Millwork Outlet. If you look east you will see a huge open expanse under the power lines. Well, myself and some of my trail brothers have a proposal in at King County to get some grant money to create mountain bike park area under the power lines. We have already preliminary approval by the county for the park but now we want to put the idea to the dirt and get some funding to get this off the ground.

Purpose/Vision:
It is critical that we maintain a focus on youth sports for our local community. We have very big plans! The proposal for this park will include but is not necessarily limited to;

1) A top shelf dual slalom race venue. The idea is for this to be a relatively long and fast track with features that are entirely roll-able but big enough to help kids progress to pro level competition. It would include a real gated starting platform. The track is planned for competition use, and to be open year-round to the public.

2) XC race track. This is being planned to address the specific needs of youth racing organizations. The track needs to be as close to 5 miles as we can possibly squeeze in. It must have a lot of open areas that allow for passing and for spectators. We will need a staging/start-finish area out in the clearing somewhere, too. This needs to be convenient to parking for 200 cars.

3) Two pump tracks. One for kids, one with progressive intermediate to advanced features. While the kids PT is a must, the overall plan is a bit in question as we will likely have an epic pump track going at Summit Ridge before we even break ground on the county park (more on that very soon!)

4) Dirt jumps. These would be different than Summit Ridge in that the grades will not be as steep, most jumps will be table-tops with small and large options, and they will be short trails in the open with very easy access back to the top. The focus here is more on skill building and accessibility for coaching rather than huge showy air. We are also considering some bmx type jumps that would cater more to smaller bikes.

5) A mini slope-style course with cool, nice looking, well designed and constructed wooden features. This would be a more advanced compliment to the dirt jumps and...

6) "Skills zone" consisting of various drops, short technical climbs, skinnies, etc. in an open and accessible area, again focused on learning and coaching.

7) Last but not least, a mini downhill track. Our idea is to resurrect Supercharger, re-route a couple of turns to improve flow and sustainability, add a couple rock garden features, and extend the trail into the clearing for a spectator-friendly finish zone. It is very important to me personally to preserve the feel(and name) of this local classic as much as possible, while providing something no other community bike park has. I value everyone's feedback, input and emotions on this idea so please let me know what you think!
 
#14 ·
I don't think he's complaining that Duthie isn't desirable, or that having more places to ride with similar opportunities isn't appealing. I do agree with him that I personally don't desire to have ANOTHER Duthie. As long as the area offers more trails and it has it's own flavor (which it certainly already does!), it doesn't matter if it offers similar types of trails. I just don't want to see a virtual copy, personally. Not saying you were implying that, but as soon as I heard about the dual slalom, etc., I personally started wondering how many ways this would emulate Duthie. We don't really need that. All in all, I'm for making this as sweet as possible, again with it's own distinct flavor. We will take as many trail systems as we can get, right?

I'd be happy to toss some dirt to show my love as well. I think anyone that wants input and/or to complain should at least offer that, for God's sake. It's like complaining about the president, but never voting. :)
 
#9 ·
I think it is incredible! Not long ago we almost lost ALL the trails out there to "development", so its nice to see a big chunk saved and diversified for full families to use. being able to include my wife and kids in a sport I love is a big deal, and having options other than Duthie would be HUGE.

What's wrong with taking advantage of all that open space and creating a little something for everyone?
 
#11 ·
Perhaps getting this as well as Swan Creek and someday the Wooville Brightwater park going will eliminate all the Trossachs road parking issues Doofie is having? Imagine a huge new 74 stall lot at Doofie half empty? ;)

This is indeed great news. Especially if there is some elevation there to play with which it sounds like there is.
 
#12 ·
I could ask if there is something wrong with Duthie? :confused:

With all the recent news in the Black Diamond area we will be able to continue to offer a huge diversification of riding options for our community. The "bike park" area (which by the way being that is it under the power lines we really need to come up with a kool name for the park) is currently a vast expanse of un-used area. I see the park is a way to bring life to that area.

I look forward to working thru this process with some creative visionary types and developing a real cool venue. Can't wait to see what the area looks like in 10 years!! :thumbsup:
 
#13 ·
I look forward to working thru this process with some creative visionary types and developing a real cool venue. Can't wait to see what the area looks like in 10 years!! :thumbsup:[/QUOTE]

I think it would be a great idea to have a sit down with Evergreen to go over a "lessons learned" from Duthie agenda. As a builder used to less traffic, I know it was a HUGE learning curve for me and I believe it was for all the other initial bulders as well. No matter the type of trail/feature envisioned. That includes what Debbi and the instructors get feedback on as well. Maybe a new thread for the name for the new "park" should get going.... I can see a "training circuit" of several trails/features called, "the Power Hour".... :)
 
#16 ·
I see this as a valuable addition to the community and the existing infrastructure..

Also, if I lived in Covington, Auburn, Ranvensdale, the 'claw, Maple Valley, the chances of me riding Duthie are highly unlikely. Hell, I live in Bellingham and I've only ridden down south less than 5 times in 5 years....and only once at Duthie. A sad fact.

We've proposed something very similar on Galby for years for an area that isn't being utilized and would also be easy access for beginners/kids. Skills zone, jump lines, dual slalom track, drops, skinnies, etc. The one difference is we'd probably build a CX track because of all of the die-hard CX racers up here. An XC "course" really could incorporate just about any loop on the hill.

EB
 
#18 ·
Skookum!!!!!!!!!!! Sightings have been so few and far between.

A buddy and I rode out on the logging rodes thru the clear cut yesterday. What a different perspective on the ground and contour. And the realization of where things are relative to where you thought they are now that the trees are gone. I think from a planning perspective this will be a real cool process. :)
 
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