“There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills”

Ryder’s and Muddbunnies 2nd TAP Trail day

Words:  Laura Gill

Sunday’s TAP trail day saw Ryders Eyewear and Muddbunnies get together once again to work on three sections of Pangor in need of a little TLC. Trail builders turned up to be greeted by copious amounts of java courtesy of JJ Bean and a box of Timbits (Thanks Sven!). We were than able to select our lunches from two huge platters of wraps provided by Whole Foods, it’s got to be the first time I’ve enjoyed smoked salmon on a trail!

We then divided into three groups and got down to business. The topmost area to be worked on was treated to a fancy holding-pond system, hidden by a bridge up-top to help prevent the trail turning into a stream during the wetter months of the year.

A middle section of trail was in need of some rocking in and a little drainage, a few sweet new lines were created by clever placement of some rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bottom most region was selected for a reroute, and an impressive yellow-brick-road (minus the ‘bricks’) of new trail was beginning to take shape when my group went to help out after lunch. We weren’t sure if we would finish the reroute to a state where we could close the old washed-out section, but we were able to finish it and then some! The old trail was entirely decommissioned, with time for some fern replanting too! The new trail section is an amazing 140ft of golden rocked in awesomeness and we were able to smarten up a drop/jump section at the end too!

It has to be said, the Gold-Gods were being good to us that day. All three regions required copious  amounts of the sought after trail-topping to create a bike friendly, hardy surface. Each of the three teams struck gold (sorry, couldn’t resist) and we found massive gold-mines, relatively close to the trail, each more than capable of fulfilling the trail section’s needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I personally found the trail day to be one of the most rewarding, the organisation that went into the day meant every team was able to be extremely productive. The after-party was once again a rooftop garden BBQ at Ryders Headquarters, a fantastic end to a most productive and fun trail day!