If you would like to join in on these activities, then please fill in the form on the volunteers page.

Volunteer here.

Thank you.

The weather; rain, some more rain, and then some. We could have gone boating in the puddles forming on the old trail bed just below us.

Some people have asked about the rationale of building a new section when the trail its replacing in their view did not look too bad. Our view is building a new sustainable trail section to replace a section which, with the increased biking numbers & recent forestry work, will significantly deteriorate in the near future is the future.

The new section follows the contours, camber  and gradients of the terrain making it more sustainable and resistant to weather and bike erosion/trail creep. The driest trail on the Hurtwood during this rainy period has been BKB. We hope you will enjoy this new section once its completed.

Here is a short video on the new section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze_biAQQcao

Now if you don’t mind, we are all off to jump into the nearest body of water, such as a river, lake, pond or swimming pool, as we think it might be a bit drier.

BKB will be closed from around 9am – 1.30pm, but the closure may extend into the afternoon.

There will be diversion signs in place again so please follow these and don’t enter the taped off areas.

Note that the Peaslake Trailquest MTBO event will also be taking place on the same Sunday morning. We have checked with the organisers and BKB is not part of the event.

If you aren’t involved in either the maintenance morning or the Trailquest event, you may well be better off avoiding the Peaslake area completely on Sunday morning as it will be extremely busy.

Trail volunteers carried out maintenance in the meantime on parts of the trail which would be difficult to work on while the trail is open. Thank you to all who volunteered yesterday and to all the mountain bikers who observed the closed trail signs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3PU0xxG3F8

Hurtwood trails volunteers

In 2007, the Friends of the Hurtwood challengedvmountain bikers to prove that well made and wellvmaintained trails would draw bikers away from pathsvused by walkers and horse riders, thereby reducing conflict.

The numbers of bikers recorded by electronic monitoring devices using BKB, the popular downhill zigzag from the Holmbury reservoir down to Ewhurst Road, answered that conclusively. Now the bikers’ challenge is to create a trail maintenance volunteer group that will develop the necessary skills and last.

A new recruit for the Friends

The volunteers on Sunday were members of a core mountain bike trails group of Friends, set up last year to run open maintenance working days.

Guided by experienced trail curators David Lees and Mark Hammond, they tackled problem stretches of BKB. The aim was to show them how to engineer and maintain bike trails so that they are both interesting and durable.

David Lees and Mark Hammond originally got involved in trail maintenance on Leith Hill with a group called Redland Trails. In 2005 they were invited by the Friends to advise on the Hurtwood trails. Last year Peter Copping asked them to start a new group, recruiting people who have an interest in maintaining the trails and putting something back into the Hurtwood.

They now have a database of some 160 interested mountain bikers, and have launched a website – www.hurtwoodtrails.co.uk. The aim now is to recruit more people to join the core group willing to learn the skills needed to supervise volunteer days. Additionally, the group is keen to promote awareness of the Hurtwood and Friends membership. They took part in a bike demonstration day organised by the Head for the Hills Cycle Shop and gave out leaflets. Shop owner Dan Webb asked for donations and raised around £350 for the Friends. Other demonstration days involving different local bike shops are planned.

“It’s about sharing the Hurtwood,” said Mark Hammond, “Giving something back. These hills are for everyone and the idea of these trails is to keep the different user groups apart as much as possible.”

Riding the improved line

David Lees said “The important thing is to establish trails that are durable and sustainable, using techniques developed by the International Mountain Biking Association and explained in a short series of videos www.hurtwoodtrails.co.uk/trail-building-methodology. The Hurtwood is accessible to all, so the emphasis here is on all-user trails, not downhill or jump tracks. Trails must be fun to ride to successfully draw riders to use the existing trail network rather than try to build new trails. Trail maintenance creates opportunities to increase enjoyment while diverting trails away from areas of conflict.”

Anyone interested in the joining the trail volunteers should go to the website www.hurtwoodtrails.co.uk or contact ranger Mark Beaumont on 01306 730100.

A special Thank You to Jane Garrett for this article and the pictures!

This does mean however that we will have to close the trail to mountain bikers while the digger is working as the two don’t mix together terribly well. We aim to start at 9.30am and be finished by 1.00pm although the maintenance may continue into the afternoon to make the most of the digger being on site.

Diversion signs will be in place on the day, so please follow these or plan a different route in advance.

Thank you.

The next small section was replaced with a new trail. This improved the durability of the trail and added a small “swoop” into the trail.

A photographer was present today to take photos which will be published for the Friends of the Hurtwood newsletter along with an article on Hurtwood Trails’ current and future activities.

Many thanks to the volunteers who came along today.

It was at this point where members of Hurtwood trails commandeered the kitchen and dispensed teas, coffees, and lots of cake, and the odd plaster.

We would like to thank head for the hills for the opportunity to attend this event and especially thank the riders who attended and who each gave a financial contribution to Friends of the Hurtwood.

The “dip” on the very first section was rebuilt as it had become a bit of a wheel sucker, and then the first section was repaired. This section is quite flat requiring drainage holes to be dug alongside the trail.

The entrance to BKB (by the road) was then cleaned up, but this will require more work to it as it is quite flat and suffers from standing water. It is currently a bit of a mess again.

Finally, the bottom of the “roll in” on the second section was cleared out. This is essentially a drainage ditch, so a large amount of debris and mud had built up.

The next build day will be in January 2012.

Thanks to all those who have helped so far.

Hurtwood Mtb.