A little explaining

I knew that's what I'd have to do if I didn't spell out what "The VRT" stands for so here it is: The Vah River Trails. I guess that also gives you an idea of where these trails are (hint: by the Vah river). They are being built on the flood-plain between the river and the high water dike. This area is mainly covered by overgrown wooded areas, and it is in one of these that the trails are being built. I found the area while I was riding around one day. It almost looked like someone had laid out jumps years before, but it has turned out that those mounds are really just piles of junk covered with dirt. Anyway, this was the biggest reason for why this place seemed just right for trails. There were an abundance of mounds and small hills already there and most of the work would be just cleaning out all the undergrowth so trails could be made.

Right now we've got four jumps finished and many more that need to be "cleaned up" before we can start on them. The whole area that will be made into trails is probably a few acres in size, which means plenty of space and work! I would post some pictures, but I haven't taken my camera there yet. I might be able to get some video though, because one of the boys was using his phone to document our progress.

Now, you may ask why are we building trails? There are a couple of reasons actually. First off, I knew that there were a number of places around the city that had jumps, all of which are used regularly, but they are mainly only jumps, no trails. Not only that, but most of the jumps have gaps that are really wide and/or the jumps themselves are big. I don't really see jumps like these being friendly to the newcomer (which most of these boys are) and this was one of the reasons I wanted to start something new. Secondly, by building a completely new set of jumps/trails I would be able to spend working time with all the boys. This has been my main reason for doing all of this in the first place and why not work with them as well as ride with them?

The first couple of days that I was working alone, I made the decision to give the whole "new trails" idea up if no one was interested in it. Little did I know that within a few days there would be a whole group of boys using shovels and rakes, pulling down vines and cleaning up brush. I've spent about twelve hours of working time with them and they are already talking about what we'll be able to do next spring. We think we can get a good portion of the work done before it snows and that seems to be our goal right now. Actually, this afternoon we'll be going at it again, that is unless it rains. I'll be sure to keep up on any news about this whole project so stay in touch (and ask questions if you have any).