Phil VW is doing a trail day at Greenbrier Saturday


Greenbrier.
I love to race at Greenbrier. Each year when I race at Greenbrier I have an awesome time... challenging... a bit painful... but an awesome time everytime

the people at Potomac Velo Club throw an awesome event on a fantastic course that includes a variety of classic east coast chanllenges with rock garden climbs and rock garden descents
there are climbs that some have to march while others can ride
then there is swooping singletrack of various incarnations mixed in with some Jeep road double track
well... as great at Greenbrier is... I usually ride there for the race then maybe one time early season in preparation for the race
each time knowing that I had a great time

while feeling the trails could use some expansion to get me to ride there rather than Gambril or The Shed

which brings me to this Public Service Announcement


Phil VW is doing a trail day at Greenbrier Saturday

The WHEN: Saturday November 14, 9am
The WHAT: The park has wanted to bypass the lakeside trail that the fishermen use for a considerably long time. It was flagged some time ago, and we had waited on approvals which are finally here! So we are going to start building this trail!
The WHY: The lakeside trail is unsustainable, and really not that much fun or that long. It is the small narrow segment on the south end of the lake that goes between the dam and the campground touching the lake side. Fishermen crowd themselves along this narrow trail for extended periods of time. The bypass will connect the end of the dam with the orange trail further up the hill, which will bypass 1.) The lakeside trail leaving it to the fishermen. and 2.) the perennially wet areas of the lower orange trail. Eventually the orange and this new trail will be blazed red, and the hugely steep and eroded portion of the red that drops off the escarpment will be permanently closed. This will make the red longer, sustainable and more fun. The race course will use this new trail, so we would like to finish it by spring.
The HOW: There will be corridor cleaning, bench cutting, and rock aligning. The trail is going to have to go through some pretty rough areas, so some special things need to be built. There is a rock garden which we will need to build a rock path through. Think the new blue reroute in the watershed. Similar, but not nearly as long.
The BENEFIT: No new trail has been built in Greenbrier in a long, long time. Over a year ago, I submitted a proposal of several trail segments that will link up existing unused trails, and extending into currently unused area. The proposal is in several phases. This would be the first phase. The park agreed to move ahead in this phase. A good showing of quality and swift trail building will show the park that we are serious about moving forward with the other phases of the proposal. A decent turnout of hearty workers is essential to this success. There are some incredible areas that we can hopefully expand into.
The WHERE: Directions to the park are here: http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1215 Instead of meeting in our usual location by the boat ramp, we are meeting at the south end of the parking lots across from the Visitors Center. Not the tiny parking lot for the VC, but in the big lot towards the beach. Enter the park, bear left at the split, and turn into the big lot just before the campground gate.
I will have tools to use, please bring the usual water/snack/gloves/warm clothes, and be ready to get dirty! RSVP's appreciated! eMail (phil_vw@yahoo.com) with questions.