Fat Tire Trail Riders Blog

New trail at Whitworth

2010-09-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

Our club was contacted by someone at Whitworth interested in building a trail behind the University. We helped route the trail to ensure the trail will be sustainable and fun for everyone. I was more than happy to help supervise a group of Whitworth students since it's always fun designing and building new trails!

It was a very productive morning. We covered a lot of ground since the soil was easy to work with and we had a big crew.

The trail is open for hikers, bikers, runners... It is located just north of the University, running parallel to the powerlines. The trail is about 3/4 mile long and will connect with an existing trail so that a loop can be made.

Kettle Fest 2010 report

2010-07-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Kettle Fest 2010 was a great success! Riders from across Washington State, Idaho and B.C. came out to enjoy 5 days of some of the best trails that can be found.

On Friday everyone pitched in to help with trail projects. People split into groups to work on clearing and brushing trails, making rock cairns, making a culvert crossing sustainable, and working with the Backcountry Horseman in microblasting rock from the trail. Showing that we care about the trails and are willing to put in hard work to maintain them can only help in advocacy efforts to keep the trails open to mountain bikes.

Thanks so much to our sponsors New Belgium Beer, Hermosa Tours, Diamondback Bikes, and Ridemonkey.com.

We had close to 30 riders on Saturday's Jungle Hill Ride which always leaves everyone in a state of bliss. Here is some video of this year's Jungle Hill ride, thanks to Lee Lau.

Thursday's ride was a new route which everyone liked: up Old Stage, and continuing on the Kettle Crest trail all the way to Sherman Pass and down to the campground with an easier opt out at Jungle Hill. Here is video from Thursday's ride:

New Pumptrack at Beacon

2010-06-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

Work has started on a new pump track at Beacon (near the dirt jumps). The pump track is going to be in the shape of a figure eight and will have lots of berms and rollers. Here is the progress so far.

Rollers leading into a large berm:

The rest of the track is roughed in but will need lots more work done to create the rollers and berms.

Jumps rebuilt

2010-06-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

Some old jumps that were deteriorated at Beacon have been recently rebuilt. The lips were rebuilt and the landings were lengthened. The jumps are much smoother now!

On the tabletop jump pictured below I rebuilt the lip, added some dirt to flatten out the top and smoothed out the landing.

The landing had lots of ruts from dirt bikes so I filled in the ruts and reshaped the road so water drains properly. Here is the landing now:

The last few jumps on Ryan's Gulley (next to the dual slalom course) have also been improved (thanks Dave). There is now a tabletop jump which leads to 3 gap jumps that are rebuilt with new lips and landings. We added some case pads to the landings so now people will be less likely to crash if they come up short. The last 2 jumps are pictured below:

IMBA Trail Care Crew visit

2010-05-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

Just confirmed with IMBA for a trail care crew visit to Spokane on September 25-26. As part of the Trail care crew visit there is a Trail building school which includes both classroom and field instruction. This is a great opportunity for people who want to learn proper trail building technique in a fun environment.

The last Trail School was very successful and built a fun trail leading into the Skills Park at Beacon (named the IMBA trail).

Here's some pictures from the last Trail Care Crew visit

Wall Ride

2010-05-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

The new wall ride at Beacon is almost finished! Dirt will be added at the bottom of the wall ride to transition between the wood and the trail.

It is located on the Kessel Run trail which we are adding expert DH lines to. Beginners can still ride the existing Kessel Run trail since the expert lines split off from the main trail and are optional.

Beacon BBQ

2010-05-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

Come enjoy a FREE BBQ hosted by the Fat Tire Trail Riders Club on May 23 at Camp Sekani! There will be prize giveaways (thanks to the Bike Hub).

Everyone is invited, whether you’re interested in building trails, learning more about Beacon Hill or just having a good time with other mountain bikers.

FTTRC’s main focus is trail-building and is very willing to work with riders to build trails. We believe in having trails for all ability levels and types of riding. Some of the projects still to come include technical DH trails, more XC routes, a downhill jump line, a pump track, easier tabletop jumps, a Freeride trail, more features in the skills park and more jump lines in the jump park. If you have an idea for a trail or feature just talk with us.

FTTRC needs more support in order to complete all these trail projects. There are several ways you can help. You can support us by making a donation, helping build trails, becoming a member, or buying a Beacon trail map.

New mountain bike club

2010-04-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a meeting where it was decided that a new mountain bike club would be formed to serve the Coeur d'Alene area. FTTRC might have some kind of loose affiliation but the new club will be a completely separate organization. The main reason people wanted an organization for the the Coeur d'Alene area is to build trails and keep other trails open to bikes. There's a few areas close to Coeur d'Alene which have lots of potential for building mountain bike trails. I hope to see this new club grow and I look forward to working with them in the future.

buffing the Rabid Rabbit

2010-04-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

It was raining at Beacon this morning so I decided to do some maintenance to one of my trails, the Rabid Rabbit. There was a number of places where grooves had developed this spring from the mud. The rain was helpful since it let me see all the places water was collecting on the trail. I smoothed out some of the grooves and improved the drainages all along the trail.

I also put up one more trail marker, at the top of the Rabid Rabbit. I'm going to try and get a BOB trailer to make the task of installing trail markers easier.

Riding down the Rabid Rabbit later in the day...

Trail work at Dishman and Canfield

2010-04-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today I went over to Coeur d'Alene to help with trail work. A new trail is being built on the City owned portion of Canfield Mountain. There were over 30 volunteers. The local bike shops and North Idaho Freeride Association both helped to bring volunteers. An employee for Coeur d'Alene Parks department was there to oversee the building. He was excited to have our support and seemed very enthusiastic towards mountain biking trails.

On Saturday I helped out with the WTA/REI trail work party at Dishman Hills. WTA is a trail building association for hikers although the trails they build are multi-use trails. Me and Dan Webber spent the morning widening a switchback so it was rideable for bikes. I'm hoping WTA will host a work party at Beacon in the future.

Helping other groups is a win-win because of the positive relationships that are established. Locals in N. Idaho are talking about forming their own mountain biking organization or forming an affiliation with FTTRC. Stay tuned...

talks with Canadians

2010-04-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

Just gave the Trails Manager of Kootenay Columbia Trails Society in Rossland a tour of Beacon Hill. He was a really cool guy and gave me some maps for the trails in Rossland. They have 12 paid trail builders which makes me very jealous :) He has ridden the Kettle Crest trails and is interested in bringing down Canadians to the Kettle Fest this year. I'm also going to have to check out more of the trails in Rossland!