Annual GORC Appreciation Party

Get ready for the annual GORC Volunteer Appreciation party on October 30th! This year it will be held at Cliff Cave park following a much-needed workday. Cliff Cave offers a wealth of geological curiosities and oddities throughout the park that can be explored while on your mountain bike. Sinkholes, caves, bluffs overlooking the Mississippi, haunted demon hollows and car wreckage. All can be found in this twisty trail-laden park.

This edition of the volunteer appreciation party will feature a poker run. Yep. We are holding the party earlier this year instead of the traditional GORC birthday of December 12th when we typically freeze to death. We're hoping for great weather and a large turnout so we better see you October 30th. Bring candy, too, Matt says so.

Look for more details on the GORC website either on the message board or home page as the date nears. We would like to get a head count so be sure to post up on the board.

DON'T FORGET YOUR COSTUME -- it's halloween weekend after all!

Summary of Spring 2010 Work

"Car Door Loop" at Matson

More new singletrack at Matson

Another busy Spring. Our trail mileage was down due to the number of workdays that had to be devoted to maintenance. Next time you're out in marginal conditions trying to decide whether or not to ride, please remember that these maintenance days take away from building new trail. Here's a brief summary which lists the trail name, what type of work was done, the number of workdays, and the mileage of the sections worked on:




Cliff Cave - New Construction/Reroutes 1.5 workdays  0.5 miles
Matson Hill - New Construction/Reroutes 4 workdays 1.50 miles
SIUE - Maintenance/Reroutes 1 workday 0.10 miles
Castlewood - New Construction/Reroutes 2 workdays 0.40 miles
Chubb - Maintenance/Reroutes No official workdays 0.10 miles
Greensfelder - New Construction/Reroutes 2 workdays 1.0 miles
Creve Coeur - New Construction 2 workdays 1.0 miles

Greensfelder Figure 9 Epic

Ok, so it's not a Figure 9, and it's not exactly an epic-- yet. Give us some more time on that part. Nevertheless, you can now get in a ride right in your own backyard that until recently, would have had you driving a fairly long way.

There's less than a week until the Greensfelder Challenge Race on May 8th, when we'll finally get to showcase the hard work that's gone into reroutes, maintenance, and brand new trail on the Dogwood, DeClue, and Eagle Valley trails. If that's not enough, all of the proceeds from the race are generously being donated to GORC!

GORC is having a big party at the race, and you're invited. Even if you don't want to race, come on out and ride the trails, and see what's new. Not interested in doing loops on the race course? You can get in a ride of ~18 miles (of which 1.25 is doubletrack and pavement) that makes use of all of the singletrack GORC has built, and doesn't include the same trail in the same direction. You can get the map here.

The short overview is:
- Begin at the Roundhouse main parking lot
- Dogwood
- DeClue CCW
- Deer Run down to Eagle Valley
- Left on Eagle Valley to new singletrack- up to Visitor Center
- Left on bridle path to Scenic Loop
- Scenic Loop back to DeClue
- Declue and Dogwood in the opposite direction that you did earlier.

We had hoped to include the singletrack on Eagle Valley in the race course, but it's not quite ready for prime time. The lower leg up the first switchback will require some dismounts at several swampy spots, but we're hoping to fix them in the near future. The upper leg is in great shape.

There are big plans for more trails at Greensfelder, so come out on race day, and ride, have some fun, and see how you can get involved. The more people we have at workdays, the faster we can get new trail built!

Creve Coeur Workday- Saturday, March 27th

What: Help continue construction that will extend the Bootlegger’s Run Trail along the hillsides overlooking the lake.

When: Saturday, March 27th From 9am - 1pm.

Where: Upper Creve Coeur Lake Park (Entrance off Dorsett Rd - Follow Signs to the meeting area at the North end of the park). (See GORC's Creve Coeur page for directions and details of the park).

What to bring: Gloves, Sturdy shoes, eye protection, and something to drink on the trail.

GORC & St. Louis County Parks provide: Trail building tools, instructions on trail building, and safety guidelines

Signup and more information is available here.
Please contact Sue Kuhnert at 314-615-8822 or email skuhnert@stlouisco.com if you plan to attend.

Volunteers will be rewarded with give-a-ways from Big Shark Bicycle Company with lunch and breakfast snacks provided by St. Louis County Parks. Afterwards, if it's dry, we'll ride the trail that was just built.

Matson Hill Workday- Saturday, March 20th

When: Saturday, March 20th, 2010. From 9:00~1:00.

What: We're having the 1st of four workdays this spring at Matson Hill Park, and everyone is invited. Mountain biker, hikers, and trail runners are all welcome, so don’t be bashful about showing up.

This is the continuation of a multi-year project, and we hope to TRIPLE OR QUADRUPLE the current trail mileage at Matson by the time we’re finished.

Where:
From the Highway 40/94 interchange,
• Take Highway 94 South for 7.4 miles to F (turn right on F).
• Stay on F for 3 miles, then turn left on Stub Road. Follow Stub Road for ~.5 miles to gate, and follow directions from there. Or,
• Click this for a Google map link. Clicking the green bike will give you the “get directions” link. (For some reason, the last instruction just has you turning left off of F, without naming the road. That's Stub Road.)

What to bring: Gloves, Sturdy shoes, eye protection, and something to drink on the trail. It’s also a good idea to read through the “What to expect at a workday” post. Bring your bike or trail shoes if you want to try what you built after lunch.

Why: To add more multi-use single track (natural surface) trail to the existing Matson loop. This is Phase One of a multi phase project, eventually utilizing 400+ acres of new Park property.

Please RSVP via ONE of the following (to make sure we bring enough food):
The St. Charles County Park's (SCCP) office [636-949-7535];  through the WebTrac registration system on the parks website, http://parks.sccmo.org/parks/; or on this thread.

GORC & St. Charles County Parks will provide: Trail building tools, instructions on trail building, safety guidelines, and lunch.

NOTICE: In case of bad weather, please call the St. Charles County Parks (SCCP's) Trail Hotline (636-949-7475, option #2). SCCP's will only leave a message about the workday if it's cancelled.

Castlewood Workday- March 13th

On Saturday, March 13th we will be working on one of our favorite but most neglected trails. The Cedar Bluff Trail at Castlewood is in dire need of our helping hands. An 1800+ foot re-route has been planned to begin restoring this trail to its former greatness. Please, come be a part of this great event that will help keep Cedar Bluff Trail useable for years to come.

Details: From 9:00 am till 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 13th. Meet at the Sherman Beach Trailhead off St. Paul Road in Sherman, MO. Parking may be limited, so carpool as much as possible.

Directions: Sherman Beach Trailhead is located off St. Paul Road in Sherman, MO.
From Big Bend Rd. and 141 take the following:
Big Bend Rd. west to New Ballwin Rd.
Take a left onto New Ballwin Rd. RdTurn right onto Kiefer Creek Rd.
Turn left onto St. Paul Rd.
Follow St. Paul Rd to Sherman Beach Trailhead

For google maps directions, type 1582 st. paul rd, sherman, mo into the search box.

What to Bring: You’ll need gloves, eye protection, water, and warm, protective clothing.

RSVP: Lunch will be provided by Lone Wolf Coffee Company following the workday. Make sure you let us know if you are going to attend. That way we can make sure everyone gets some delicious grub following all the hard work.

What is Provided: GORC will supply trail building tools, safety instructions on the tool usage, and information on how to build and maintain trails.

Why: The Cedar Bluff Trail has been subject to abnormally high amounts of erosion over the last several years and is in need of attention. This re-route will provide a more sustainable, enjoyable piece of trail.

After the Workday: Chow down on the great lunch provided, and then, trail conditions permitting, ride!

SIUE Workday- Saturday, March 6th

When: Saturday, March 6th, 2010. From 9:00~1:00.

What: We are doing some much needed maintenance work at SIUE. The trails received very little TLC last year, so let's get them spruced up for Spring '10.
We will be doing a short re-route around the mudpit on Trail 1, as well.

Why: SIUE is a super popular trail system that gets a lot of use, and is all dirt, so it needs quite a bit of work to keep it truly sustainable.

More Info: Please RSVP via this thread where you can ask questions or find more details.

Directions: From the Highway 40/94 interchange, Take hwy 255 North past Interstate 270, to New Poag Road. Turn Right or East at the end of the exit ramp. Stay on New Poag Road until the first intersection with a 4 way stop sign. This will be University Drive. Turn Right onto University Drive. The road will immediately bend to the left, at the end of the bend on your right is a gravel road, turn onto the gravel road. Follow the rock road past the hedgerow on the left, the road will make a 90 Degree turn to the right and then back to the left, then it will dead end. The Northernmost Trailhead is located at the 90 degree corner of the woods near that dead end.

What to bring: Gloves, Sturdy shoes, eye protection, and something to drink on the trail. It’s also a good idea to read through pilznr’s “What to expect at a workday” post, available via this link.

GORC will provide: Trail building tools, instructions on trail building, safety guidelines, and lunch. There will be giveaways as well. Bring your bike. There will be some sort of a ride afterwards, even if we cannot ride the trails due to conditions. There are miles and miles of bike paths in Madison County for your riding enjoyment if it is too muddy.

Sponsor: The Cyclery is sponsoring this workday and will be providing lunch from Blimpies, some great swag. Stop on by their shop after the workday and say hello. They are good people.

They're located at 2472 Troy Road, Edwardsville, IL 62025 and you can contact them at 618-692-0070, Store Hours: M-F 9-8, Sat 9-5, Sun 12-4.

Greensfelder Workday - Feb. 27th, 9am - 1pm

Yellow line represents new trail reroute to eliminate fall line at the end of the DeClue trail. Blue is existing DeClue. Trail in Blue after Yellow line intersecton will be reclaimed back to forest. This will be about a .35-.45 mile piece of new singletrack built to IMBA standards.

Date: Sat, Feb 27, 2010, 9am to 1pm
Location: Eureka, MO

Join GORC & St. Louis County Parks at Greensfelder Park on Sat, February 27th, 2010 from 9am to 1pm to help build new trail and re-route sections of existing trail at Greensfelder Park.

We will be re-routing a short steep section at the end of the Declue/Greenrock Trail where it ties into the Scenic Loop road.

Come out, work with us in the morning, we'll serve you a nice lunch, and then we'll bike or hike afterwards.

How to get there: You're headed for Greensfelder Park on Allenton Rd. behind Six Flags. You should park at the Tower Lot. Take Interstate 44 to the Allenton/Six Flags Exit 261. Go north on Allenton Rd, past the Six Flags entrance. Allenton Rd. bisects Greensfelder Park. Lunch will be afterward at the Mueckerman Shelter located at the corner of Allenton and Hencken road.

What to bring: Gloves, Sturdy shoes, eye protection, and something to drink on the trail.
What GORC & St. Louis County Parks provide: Trail building tools, instructions on trail building, and safety guidelines.

Maplewood Bicycle is sponsoring this workday and will have coupons available after the workday. Check out their website for training classes related to bicyclists.

Advance registration is required. Also, post on the messageboard if you are attending. Please contact Sue Kuhnert at 314-615-8822 or email skuhnert@stlouisco.com