Another fine day and Alistair got stuck into his track straight away, the rest of us finished up the good work that was almost completed on the corners from last session. It was good to see the Allen family pop out and see the progress and we managed to touch up a heap of areas. We also had a visit from some pals from Lisa’s work, they had a spin on their bikes and managed to get all the way up to Eagles Nest looking for us. At the end of the session we all went for a hoon down to the River Track to ride the berms and whoop dee doos.
It is very pleasing to state that we now have a rideable trail to the 4WD Track, which gives access to Eagles Nest (not finished yet) or down down down the speedy 4WD track to the trails near the Creek, which have seasoned really well over winter and riding extremely well. The River Track will eventually wind it’s way back to the start of Chicken Run, but for now it’s the “road” (un-metalled, single lane dirt) and that in itself is a fun ride back to Haven and Chicken Run.
Shailer has been working on his Secret Track and he is very pleased with the progress, with it being about 75% complete. This is the first track he has built from start to finish.
The last weekend of August, which was unseasonably warm, saw Lisa and Shailer plant the remaining plants we have had donated – the ECan EEF (Environmental Enhancement Fund) grant, the allocation from Trees from Canterbury, and the numerous donations from Deb & Lindsay, The Library guys, Lisa’s mum, Dave & Lou, and our neighbour Lou. Thank you all very much. We were keen to get everything in the ground before spring took too much hold, requiring us to irrigate more than we would like. We were stoked to have it completed and they all look pretty happy, and to top it off, we had a great patch of rain the following Monday to help them on their way.
So there are only a few spots left to tidy up or fine tune as we learn how to build better and better trail, by the beginnings of Summer, we should have a good network for riding bedded in, and a have a heap of new tracks on the drawing board or commenced to get stuck into over next Winter. Scolly is pulling together a team to plan for the construction of our Skills Area, which we hope to get started pretty soon.
We are probably going to look at Summer as a maintenance period as opposed to hardcore digging, so that everyone gets to ride too!
Stay tuned.
We look forward to riding with you all over Summer. Come and be part of the Haven experience.