Chiyoda Inspection

Today I hiked at the Chiyoda Trail just around the corner from me. It's a short trail through a small section of woods, near the relatively new community center.  From the community center, it leads to the Bird Sanctuary trail, which goes to North Ponds Park and the Hojack Trail.

Unfortunately the terrain is flat and low, so it stays wet if not swampy. The town has begun to add some fill to make it better, but it will take a lot more to make it a good trail.

There's an interesting old rock farm wall that crosses the trail, and I hiked along that too. I call it the Great Wall of Chiyoda.  It ended at a blank yellow sign. Strange.

Some photos of my trail and wall inspection:


I'm also experimenting with geotagging photos and creating trail maps for FWT. Here is a test map:

2012-04-15 Chiyoda Trail Inspection

FMCP Trail Work

The number of trails that the Friends of Webster Trail (FWT) maintains is increasing as we add Four Mile Creek Park (FMCP) and extend Whiting and the Hojack trails.  So we've decide to have trail works days on two Saturdays of each month instead of the usual one.
I'll be leading one each month and Jeff, our Trails Committee Chair, will continue to lead the other.

This morning I led FWT's first one of the year at FMCP.  The turnout was on the low side with only 12 workers showing up, so we didn't get all the work done we had originally hoped to.  But we got a lot of work done:

• widened the descent before the first bridge and spread stone over it to prevent mud
• removed some of the stumps where brush had previously been cut
• cleared several new trail sections to reroute previously cut trail to higher ground
• installed a culvert pipe to give water a place to flow under a trail

"Leading" the work was more "getting the ball rolling".  We have a lot of experienced trail workers that don't need any direction and are able give direction to others as needed.

Current Hill Challenges

I left work a few hours this afternoon to do some riding. The weather was nice and my brain was fried.

I rode at Whiting and Webster park.  You'd think I'd get bored at these places, but there are still a number of hills that challenge me and I continue to make progress.

At Whiting I made it up a major hill on the red trail.  I believe this is the second time I've done it, the first being back in September.  Later I rode the yellow trail in the opposite direction I usually do, to attempt the steepest hillclimb on that trail.  I didn't make it but I got further than ever.  In the past I made it about halfway, but this time I was at about two-thirds.  Although the incline is certainly near my limit, I think it's the roots that make it most difficult for me.  Changing direction on a steep ascent to avoid larger roots is tricky.

Just writing about this makes me excited to try again.  I guess I like a challenge.

Muni at Whiting and Webster Park - 2012-04-13

Whiting and Webster Ride

I had a good ride today at Whiting and Webster Park.  I made some good hill climbs and am taking advantage of my high gear in more places.  I rode about 12 miles.
My shoulders are a bit sore and I'm a bit saddle sore... typical of first rides of the season.

Muni at Whiting and Webster Park - 2012-04-07

First Muni Ride of 2012

It was about 50°F this afternoon and I left work a few hours early to go for my first muni ride of the year. It pretty much felt like I picked up right where I left off, unlike last year when I felt more out of shape on my first real muni ride.  Maybe the P90X helped.
My plan was to ride into Webster Park too, but on my way out of Whiting who did I see? Jamie! Coincidentally he was heading into Whiting for his first muni ride. He has been practicing his riding but had yet to hit any real trails.  So instead of heading into Webster Park I rode with Jamie.
He's doing vey well for having started in November.  He had bunch of good long runs and made some gutsy attempts to climb and decend some hills.

It's kind of surreal.  At the end of last season Jamie saw me riding at the trails, and now he's riding!

Muni at Whiting and Webster Park - 2012-04-03

KH April Fools

Kris Holm put up a funny April Fool's page today. I'm not sure it will be there for long so here are the screenshots:

Catching Up

Things have been busy lately and I have neglected my blog a bit, so here's a summary.

P90X
P90X Phase 3 has been a failure so far.  With spring here my mind is just not in it.  I'm also fairly burnt out on it.  I thing the biggest problem is the length of the workouts.  I think I'd like to create my own workouts that are about half as long.  I lost 10 lbs in two months, and got a bit stronger.  It was certainly better than continuing to be dormant.

Riding
While I read about the local mountain bikers getting out to the trails, I have yet to ride.  During the nicer weather my uni wasn't ready, life was busy, and I figured the trails were still a bit wet.  And whenever the weather hasn't been perfect I've shied away from riding.  But soon I will ride!!

Weight Weenie
During the winter I collected some lighter weight parts for my muni.  I'll be posting about those details soon.


FWT
I'm still somewhat active in The Friends of Webster Trails.  We have our monthly meetings, but I also attended a public meeting on March 5th regarding concerns about extending Whiting Road Nature Preserve's green trail to the north.  Some area residence are concerned about things like protecting deer, having hunters in the area, privacy, crime, and noise.  Fortunately for the trail lovers, the town decided to continue to allow trail development.  FWT will work with the neighbors to try to keep everyone as happy as possible.
I'm also planning on leading one of the two FWT trail work days each month.  The first one is two weeks away!
I've also been working a bit with another FWT board member to improve our maps and abilities to create and change them.

GROC
 I don't think there's been much GROC activity happening lately.  Everyone's probably busy riding!

Webster Park
Monroe County had a public meeting on March 21st for residents to offer suggestions on the Webster Park Master Plan.  The attendance was nowhere near what it was for the Powder Mill Park or Ellison Park Area master plans.  But a few from GROC and FWT attended, as well as people with a variety of other interests from butterflies to pickle ball!  As far as opening Webster Park to offroad cycling, for now it will not be considered.  Perhaps that's why attendance was light.  We must wait for the current Tryon and Bay Park West evaluation period to be completed, sometime around November.  So maybe next year.


That's all for now!