Office day with Ida...

Well, today was the first chance we have had in a very long time to sit and get the office caught up. I think we got about half way through. Thank goodness this storm came through dropping ridiculous amounts of rain or I probably would have put off the boring computer and jumped on the bike. Tomorrow we head to Boone to check out a new county acquisition then to Charlotte to see some old friends and see what they got going on. Office day number two will be Friday, finally Saturday it is RIDE TIME!

If I get any cool photos from either site visit they will make it on the blog so the week probably won't be a total wash, pun intended.

CoooooL......!

A new spot that OGT is managing in North Florida. I went up there today to take a look at the "potential" of this place. I will just refer you to the title of the post.

What the....?

Well, it has been a busy weekend. We spent some time in Tavares on Halloween and then headed to Orlando to check some stuff out on Monday, photo at the bottom. Today, I finally made the ride out to the Land Bridge at Santos, and it was really cool! The photo above is of the crossing, you are in the woods and start climbing a hill that seems way too big for Florida, then look to your right and there it is I-75, in the photo below. It was an excellent ride and everything I needed right now.



Orlando Woods.



Tomorrow we head to Gainesville to chill with some of Jenn's friends and for me to try and get caught up on some paper work. Then, I head to check out a cool property with some Florida folks on Friday. Enjoy your day and GET OUT AND RIDE!!!

Rippin' and Packin'

Well, it is flowing. The whole day was spent riding in the pump track and doing a bit of final dialing. The photo above is of one of the kids helping pack things in. Below is fresh tracks on the yet to be full packed berms, then the very bottom is, well, this is the fun stuff.

The Rythm of the build

Well, we are into the home stretch, I should be riding this beast by the end of the day. Above and below is a photo of how these things really get done. It is all about hard work. One of the best things about digging is it requires repetition and a zen like efficiency. Below Rob, the lot owner, gives a berm his touch.



The results are sculpted packed lines ready for tire packing and final rake downs. How many options can you count coming out of this berm?



The day ended with this great sunset in the background over the lake. Great Day!

Making it with the machine

Here is the typical start to many a pump track. Beautiful piles of soft pliable soil. The process from here still has many options to go both the right and the wrong way. Below is what I have done with it on this particular lot. Just because it was done this way here does not mean it is necessarily what you should do for a pump track you are building. These things are an art and each one should be a creative extension based on a number of factors.



Then after the dirt is placed the detailing and "finish carpentry" begin. I always start with the clean up of the piles first, it feels like it closes a chapter and allows you to concentrate on the big goal in front of you...the digging, the packing and the repeating.

Florida flowbuilding...

Outside of Ocala and Orlando is a buddy who has a pumptrack in the backyard. He has spent the last couple months trying to build a flowy wonderful escape in his backyard, but alas it wasn't working so "who ya gonna call?" PUMPTRACKERS!!

We spent the first day simply tweaking what looked close and will spend tomorrow in the machine dropping new dirt and tweaking the "upper" two-thirds of the track.Hopefully we will be riding it by Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.