New Park in St. Charles County- Indian Camp Creek

Mike Dunston, the trail steward for a couple of parks in St. Charles County has sent along some photos, and a description, which will eventually make its way to the GORC Trails page, of one of the newest parks there: Indian Camp Creek. ICC is located 7 miles north on US 61 between Wentzville and Troy. Turn left (west) on Dietrich Road, go .7 miles, turn right (North) into Park Entrance.

The trails are multiple use trails passing through cedar thickets, winding through the hillsides and skirting the bluffs along the creeks, through the flood plain of the Big Creek, and across several restored prairies, giving views of the numerous rock outcroppings, small ponds and historical relics ( e.g. flint chippings from Indians, farm homesteads, family cemetery).

The Black Eye Loop meanders along the Big Creek flood plain, giving little if any elevation change. Tight, twisty and wooded, it is primarily dirt with one or two very short stretches of sand. There are a couple dry creek crossings throughout that may require the novice to walk, but everything else is non-technical. The loop within a loop design allows you to ride the trail in both directions giving the rider different views of the Big Creek. A variety of wildlife abounds for the enjoyment of the trail users. To access the Black Eye Loop trail head, park at first parking lot past the bridge. Ride about 500 yards toward the Red Roof Pavilion. Entrance to the trail will be in the field on the right; it is marked with white carsonite signage.

The Cedar Thicket Hill Loop starts off with some small undulations in and out of the cedars that gradually grow into a short but semi-steep climb. At the top of the climb, the dirt tread transitions into a bed of (cedar needle type stuff) as the trail width is narrowed by the closely spaced cedar trees.

A large Park map showing the trails is located at kiosk near the equestrian parking lot (first gravel road to the right). These trails are shared with equestrians and hikers so please use appropriate etiquette. More trails are being developed on a continuing basis.

GORC's New Secret Weapon

If you've been on any of the newest trails that GORC has been working on, you've probably been surprised at how fast so much trail is being built. On of the reasons, in addition to the super hard work and dedication of all of our volunteers, is this amazing piece of equipment, the Weed Wrench. In the past, where we had to spend a lot of time with pulaskis grubbing each and every sapling or small tree at the roots, now a single person or small crew can go along and remove them in a fraction of the time.
The retractable jaws clamp on to the base of the sapling, and then applying leverage to the handle closes the jaws and pops the tree out, rootball and all. Depending on which size you get, (we have the Heavy model), some stubborn ones will then require a few snips with loppers or a hack with a pulaski, but the efficiency is pretty amazing. It also seems like whoever is the lucky person to get on this detail doesn't want to give it up for the rest of the day! Why not come out to one of our workdays and give it a try yourself?

SIUE Workday- Saturday, December 16th

Thanks to the hard work last weekend of the approximately 30 volunteers who cleared all of the nearly 6 miles of existing trail at SIUE, we'll be able to spend this workday completely on the construction of the new Trail #4. The damage was impressive, requiring 4 hrs. of work for nearly every crew, of which there were 2 for each of the 3 trails. Kirby's crew also cleared the section under construction, so they worked for over 5 hours! As usual, the workday will begin at 9 am, followed by food, and a ride-- the weather looks like it will cooperate this weekend, yay!

SIUE Update

Well, we all knew that the ice storm had done major damage at SIUE. Here's a rundown: the map shows the downed trees which will require sawyer work. 34 on Loop #3, 21 on Loop #2. The ones marked with asterisks will require extra work. This does not even address the trees/branches which can be moved by hand or cut with loppers. Unfortunately, many of the downed trees also brought down tangles of grapevines or briars. It also does not include Loop #1, which others have looked at and discussed at some length. The kiosk on Loop #2 at the Morris Bikeway narrowly avoided being pulverized.
Unless there's a large turnout for the emergency workday on Sat. Dec. 9th, these trails will remain unrideable for some time to come. If you can spare the time, please come out and help. There's plenty of work to be done even if you're not a sawyer.

Castlewood Workday Cancelled 12/02/06

Due to a variety of weather related conditions, the workday for Sat. Dec. 2 has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled at a later date. The park is closed today (Friday), and it is unclear if it will be open at all tomorrow. The Bonkhard Adventure race scheduled for tomorrow has also been cancelled.

Come and help build a new trail at Castlewood Sat. 12/02/06

Yes, you read it right. GORC has designed a new trail at Castlewood, and we need your help in building it. This one is going to be called the "Rollercoaster", and it's in the northeastern corner of the park, off of the Grotpeter. If you like the last GORC-built trail at CW, the "3%, or Love Trail", then come on out and help, because it will be more of the same. Meet at 9 am on Sat. December 2, at the Ranger Station. Visit the GORC Forum for more details.

"...it played in Peoria"

Kirby and I went up to Peoria for a tour of Farmdale Reservoir, site of the 2007 Midwest Mountain Bike Festival. We weren't quite sure what to expect since every time the PAMBA gang comes down to STL, they're all on big-hit bikes. So it was a pleasant surprise to discover that in addition to the stunts and jumps, Farmdale has miles and miles of XC trails. Think of all the 6 or so miles of the skinny, fun stuff at SIUE, multiply that by 3 to 5 times, and you've got Farmdale. We're not sure how much singletrack there is, but we rode the whole afternoon until nearly dark, and they told us we had probably only hit about half of the trails. If you go, make sure to ride Schroll's. It was definitely the favorite for both of us. There's an area to play around on North Shore stuff, a Mountain Cross course, a downhill run, and a jump area, so no matter how you like to ride, there's something for everyone. There are also 3 other trail systems in Peoria, so there's plenty of riding to make it a weekend destination.

The "Mound"

Yesterday, I did something that I'd never done in all of the years of riding at Lost Valley: I climbed up on top of the "Mound". It looks quite a bit different from up on top as you can see the unexpected shape, as well as how big it actually is. You can also see pretty far in all directions.

First Sunday Ride- Change of Venue 11/05

Steve has moved the ride from Greensfelder to Chubb this month. As usual, it starts at high noon. See the message board for more details.

Monthly Meeting Wed. 11/01 7 p.m.

Come and see one of Kirby's new streamlined meetings. Guaranteed to be over in 1 hour or less, so you can concentrate on the important things, like drinking great Schlafly Beer!

New Signs on Berryman

This past weekend, a GORC crew, with help from John Roth, added some new signs provided by the Forest Service to the western side of the Berryman Trail between Berryman campground and Brazil Creek campground. With any luck, we'll be able to finish putting them up on the rest of the loop in the next couple of weeks.

Burnin' Sensations

This is the last Burnin'-themed title. I promise.
Ok, we know the Pimp and 3-Bowl like to do everything together, right down to riding (formerly) matching Buzz Bombs. But breaking them in nearly the same place is getting a little carried away. This crack in Larry's frame had them sharing a bike for most of the race.



John F. Stinkbait was in fine form, decorating the climb up to the campground with an assortment of inspirational items, slamming alcoholic energy drinks, emceeing the awards, defending his buddy... A regular whirlwind in a thorn tree.


Kirby and I did a ride from the campground that he named "the 3 Fingers." Start at the campground, and head up the new connector and hit all 3 branches of the Ozark Trail between 32 & DD- North Trace Creek up to DD, Middle Fork up to the DD/32 intersection, and South Trace Creek up to 32. South Trace coming back is especially fun. It's a 20 mile roundtrip according to his cyclocomputer, and another excellent ride you can do from Council Bluff now that the new connector is open.

Burnin' Google Earth Update

For those of you who are getting ready for the Burnin' at the Bluff; Google Earth has added a major update of the imagery for Missouri. These latest ones taken in 2005 showing some rather stunning views of Council Bluff Lake.

Calling all single speed freaks

Check out this folding single speed. It only weighs 12.6lbs and can easily carry a rider weighing up to 13stone 5 lbs. It folds up to 67cm x 30cm x 16cm which is roughly 26"x11"x6". The lightweight wheels provide such an amazing angle of incidence that you can easily attack pavement cracks with confidence. And with some strategically placed lead weights, you could even make this meet the minimum weight restriction for the Tour de France! GIDDYUP!

New Telleck Branch Connector at Council Bluff

Ever been riding at Council Bluff and seen the trail that heads off from the first bridge? You know, the one you rode a couple of hundred yards, came to the swamp caused by the beaver dam, and then had to turn around, or do a balancing act to walk across the dam, all the while trying to avoid the briars? Well, that's a thing of the past! The OTA spent this past weekend cutting a new reroute into the hillside above the old trail. It's now wide open to use Council Bluff campground as your base and head out for one-way rides of 8, 16, 25 miles or more, depending on which section of the Ozark Trail you want to ride. The second page of this map gives an overview of what's out there.

Ozark Trail Update

It's been a lot of work, and slowly but surely, the downed trees from the strong spring and summer storms are being cleared away. 2 out of the past 3 weekends have seen some GORC members helping out, clearing our adopted North Trace Creek section. About 11 of the 16 miles are now clear. GORC also cleared the Council Bluff trail, which as some of you may have heard had over 40 trees down on it 2 weeks ago.
This past weekend, the OTA had a maintenance workday and cleared all of the trails from the Telleck Branch to DD and 32, including some work on North Trace. Just to show how difficult a task this is, by the time a couple of us rode over the Trace and Middle Fork sections north of Hwy. 32 the next day, there were already 3 new trees down!

Gorc beauty makeover

As many of you know, we at GORC pride ourselves on our ability to makeover some of the areas trails. But the trail themselves have asked that we highlight one of their hidden talents. MAKEOVERS! As you can see they specialize in facials. I received the Moonlight Ramble facial.

The trail has many secret ingredients they use, but they have allowed me to talk about a few of them. Pavement. Don't underestimate the power of pavement. It comes in several different colors. From black to grey, or even red! I chose the black pavement. We used just a touch below my left eye, under my nose, and my chin. I got a couple of cute temporary tatoos as well. I know! On the face? but they just looked like little mouse whiskers and I took them off later.

Julie on the other hand received the Lost Valley facial. Hers was a mixture of gravel and dirt. They grind the two up into a mixture and she chose to focus on the right side. The concoction started above her right eye and followed it down to her chin. She chose some tatoos as well, to go above her eye. Very nice, but she chose to keep them hidden for our monthly galla. She wasn't too sure if GORC would except facial tatoos. Julie is new to the club. I had the privilege to be there for her first facial. Afterward, she had so much excitement we were worried she couldn't walk out. So, a very nice fireman cut the chain and let the trail chariot come pick her up. Curb side. What service! It was also Bryan's birthday. Julie missed the pretzel, but we'll get her one of her own someday.

Anyway, I am sure you have seen a lot of others touched by the hands of the trail. Each one of us are able to get our own unique makeovers. No two are alike. Some are full body makeovers! The price of these makeovers can be anywhere from free to whatever co-pay your insurance charges. But believe me, they are worth it!

Want to know what it's like to have a borg sit on your head?

This helmet is kind of crazy. It can play music, let you talk on the phone, listens for sirens, has a gps, voice recorder, and motion activated turn signals.

Say goodbye to the mundane task of counting cracks in the road on your commute to work. This thing will even let you record a note saying "crack ahead" and play it back when you hit those GPS coordinates. The only thing it needs is a mechanism to allow the wearer to pay attention to the road while riding...

http://news.com.com/2100-1008_3-6111162.html

Biking in Mark Twain National Forest

While wading through the Forest Service site for Mark Twain National Forest, I came across a page which lists all of the trails open to hiking and biking. There were a few I didn't know about. I'm not sure what kind of shape they're all in, but it's nice to know that other options are out there.

5.17 gallons of fun

There will be a 5 gallon keg of schlafly summer kolsch 1n group campsite B, free for volunteers. Non-volunteer hangers-on can donate $$$ or be sneaky, depending on how light the keg is. Enjoy the last of the summer seasonal brew. It'll get there Friday night and last as long as it lasts. So we'll have fun rain or shine. It's not too late to come down and help us this weekend, with the trail, the food, and the beer.

Now Mesa Cycles is giving anyone who helps a discount on their entry fee to the Burnin' at the Bluff 12-hour race on Oct 7th too.

Please sign up on our forum here.
http://www.gorctrails.com/board/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1724

If you don't like signing up in public, you can email tom at onespeed at gmail /dot/ com too but there are no guarantees I'll get it after lunchtime friday. Or just show up. We ain't picky.