Workday Canceled 1/17/10

DUE TO THE HEAVY SNOW COVER, THE PLANNED

WORKDAY FOR SMITHVILLE TRAILS WILL BE CANCELED.

DON'T FORGET THE NEXT ONE!!

Winter Riding Tips!

ATTENTION TRAIL USERS: Please Read!

Please be aware of ever constantly changing conditions of the trails during the winter months. Often times the trail surface will be frozen and solid in the morning but thawed and wet during the afternoon. Also the trails can be frozen in the shaded areas, but muddy on south facing slopes or areas the direct sunlight reaches. Please note that if you are leaving tracks on the trails while hiking or riding or there is mud on your shoes or bike, then you are doing damage to the trail.

Sometimes it's best to just turn around and call it a day, as damage to the trail is very difficult to repair and all of the singletrack at Smithville is maintained by volunteers not the Land Manager.

Thank you for your help!

For more information on trail building, maintenance and etiquette please visit Earth Riders Trail Association's (ERTA) website!

Successful November Workday

A hearty group just shy of twenty workers tackled a lengthy reroute on T-N-T from the intersection of the Northside trail to the top of the Prairie Grass field. By 1 pm the corridor was cleared, de-staubed, benchcut (where needed) and 4 vertical armored creek crossings were completed. With temperatures in the 60s it didn't take long for the trail tread to start getting lots of traffic! A great big THANK YOU to all our volunteers that contribute to the success of the Smithville Lake MTB and Hiking Trails!

Trail Workdays

Here are a list of the workdays scheduled for the mountain biking and hiking trails at Smithville Lake for the time period of October thru April. All workdays will be from 8 a.m until noon, unless otherwise noted.  If you plan to attend for the first time, you can get more information by emailing smithville@earthriders.org.

10-24

11-28

12-20

1-17

2-13

3-13

4-17

The Corps of Engineers has some special (ADA and youth) hunts throughout the year. The hunting/park closed dates are:

11-21 & 22

12-12 & 13

5-8 & 9

Dress appropriately for the weather (layers!) including boots. Bring eye protection, gloves and water for yourself. We will typically have enough tools, so just bring yourself and a friend!

Work date Correction

All: The Stocksdale work date has to move to 10/31. It will not be on 10/24.

ERTA Workdays

http://www.earnyourdirt.org

SpiderFest a great Success

The head count was very close to 100. We didn't get an exact count with people still out riding, changing, milling around smartly, etc. If didn't make it up, you missed a good one. Wow pretty much sums it up.

We raised $386 for ERTA. THANK YOU!

I've got a lot of people to thank which is always a great problem to have. The people that volunteer to make this type of stuff happen is just amazing.

Just a quick shout out to:

Clay County Parks - Thank you so much for allowing us access for trails as well as letting us host events every year

Platte Valley Bank - Lynn Horner Thanks for the HUGE grill and grilling since I was running around probably more than I was helping. Thanks Geoff for stepping up for the last round of burgers. Mmmmmm cheese!

In-A-Tub - Aaron Beeman Thanks for ALL the meat, stuff to go on it, cheese, napkins, utensils, I'm sure there was more

Paci's Cafe - Joe Thanks for some excellent beverages (around 140 some). Holy cow!

Paceline Products - Chris Thanks for the Chamois Butt'r and some other give aways

Smithville Trail Crew - You know who you are and you know what you have done to make it all happen. A special shout out to Steve Rice for the tractor time to mow the fields/trail. He still keeps coming back even with all the thorns in the tires he has to have repaired. Tim K - awesome salsa and trimming. Many others from the group that brought food and worked last week to make the trails awesome for last night.

The Trail Nerds - Bad Ben & Company Thanks for the homebrew and making it more than just an MTB ride. Glad to be able to partner up with trail runners and have both groups involved with the trails.

Earthriders MTB Club - Without members this stuff just wouldn't happen. Memberships help fund fun stuff like this, volunteer to make it happen and promote the sport.

I'm sure I missed something or somebody. Shout out if you can think of any I missed.

Ben