More rock arriving
What a fabulous day up at Stainburn for the October dig day in fact it was almost too warm, but who is going to complain at this time of year. It was a small crew this month just a 4.1 people turned out so we decided to concentrate on completing the new black rock section on the decent line.
Before you ask the 0.1 was Dave who turned up with a bad back and slightly hung over, medicinal apparently to ease the pain in the back, so he was only capable of poking out a drainage channel and taking a couple of photos on his phone to prove it, but every little helps as they say. Unfortunately he didn’t bring the gillie kettle so no brew at lunchtime!
We started by pulling all the rock out adjacent to the trail and dumping it in the dug out trail bed that had been started several months ago now. This was carefully re-arranged into the latest awesome Stainburn rocked up trail. We also started eyeing up a very nice ‘feature’ rock, it was the only thing left, that we thought would make a very nice entrance to the trail.
The rock to be moved, notice how much was below ground
Unfortunately it turned out to be twice as big as expected and probably weighs close on two tonnes. It remains in-situ until such times as we get the manic gleam in our collective eyes and it will be moved, not sure how far but it will move. It does now have a moat and drainage channel down the back but that’s another story.
So it was back to barrowing rocks from the remains of the wall over by the plantation and it is surprising how much can be moved in a day by a dedicated crew of idiots sorry I should say enthusiasts. We estimate about 10 tonnes in total all of which was pitched and locked into the new trail. All that is left to do now is finish the run in on the corner, something for the November dig day if the weather plays ball.
The stump feature at the end of the new section
But that was not all; we excavate a drainage ditch that was well and truly overgrown in the hope that this will keep the water table a little lower and we re-engineered the run out to incorporate a new ‘feature’ over a stump that was encroaching from the side of the trail. All in all a great day although I think we will all be feeling it for a few days afterwards.
You will be pleased to know we left this new section in a ridable state and would welcome your comments and feedback. But before you say anything it is Black, you have been warned, now get your bike out and enjoy.