This is Berm Peak, my backyard and the site of a future home mountain bike park.
So far we dug a climbing trail from behind my garage to the highest point on the property.
It’s called the Berm Peak Express.
At the top, we cleared out a trailhead and built the Flight Deck, an elevated platform
for rolling in on.
This Flight Deck is the high point where all our downhill trails will start.
Today, we’ll figure out what those trails might look like.
Now that I’ve hiked through here a few dozen times, I know it like my own backyard.
I recognize the trees, the topography, and all the landmarks.
But to show you what I’m talking about, we’ll need a map.
This white border is the property boundary of Berm Peak.
To the North is Moonshangle Thickets, which is very steep and packed with Rhododendron.
To the South is Stumpthorne, which is where we’ll be building our first trails.
Its also contains the highest point on the property, which according to my phone is 2323
feet.
The low point of the property is down here, in the Moonshangle Panhandle.
Assuming my phone’s barometer is at least accurate relative to itself, we have a total
of 127 feet of elevation change from the highest to lowest point on Berm Peak.
This is a very imperfect topographic map of Berm Peak.
If you pedaled your mountain bike along one of these lines, you would be on a flat traverse.
Pedal across the lines and you’re climbing or descending.
If we wanted to build a really fast downhill trail, we would go perpendicular to the lines.
That’s called a fall line, and it’s exactly what we did on Berm Creek.
That run was over in a matter of seconds, so I think we can do better this time.
If we avoid fall lines and zig zag our way down the hill, we can make our downhill trail
a lot longer.
Such a trail would start at the Flight Deck, wind its way across the slope, and make its
way to the lowest point on Stumpthorne.
That’s pretty much next to my driveway.
To make this trail a loop, we’ll connect it with a climbing trail which will be named,
you guessed it, Berm Peak Express.
In the end, Berm Peak Express will have a lower, middle, and upper segment that climb
the full property.
As for our first downhill trail, excavation starts today.
A bunch of you suggested I use bright sprinkler flags to mark the trail, and I think that’s
a good idea.
The flags are highly visible, and really easy to collect later on.
On turns we need more flags, and on straightaways we need almost none.
I’m starting by very roughly clearing corridor.
For this first pass, the machete seems to be the best tool since it’s lightweight
and fast.
When I remove a shrub I leave the stump extra long so it’s clearly visible when coming
back through.
To remove the stump entirely, I just pull away the top soil around it, stick the reciprocating
saw in the ground, and cut in a circle.
I’ve been removing these little stumps in under a minute with the reciprocating saw
method, and unless I find a way that takes 30 seconds, I’ll continue to do so.
While this little saw is safe, lightweight, and great for the small stuff, there are some
things it just won’t cut.
Yeah, it actually sounds like a Powerwheels.
While this battery powered chainsaw may not have a throaty exhaust note it does have plenty
of torque and eats up anything I throw at it.
Johnny from Crafted Workshop lent it to me, and he’s not getting it back without a fight.
But I stand by my original decision to use the reciprocating saw for group trail work.
For safety and liability reasons, I can’t be passing this thing around to friends like
it’s a rake.
The fiberglass trail markers I ordered haven’t arrived yet, but for this trail a wooden sign
is very appropriate.
The name Woodpecker will make a lot more sense as we progress down the slope.
Once we’re finished clearing corridor, we can improve the trail and build features.
We’ll keep working up here in Stumpthorne until we’ve learned all we can, and then
take our lessons to Moonshangle where the topography is more challenging.
For now, this map is just a place for ideas.
My friend Stu used a CNC plasma cutter to make this sign for the flight deck, and it
looks awesome.
I’m mounting it off to the right leave space for a roll in—you know, a roll in, instead
of a 6 foot huck to flat.
After installing that sign I got sidetracked and started thinking about what this roll
in might look like and ultimately, took a break from Woodpecker to do some testing.
I’m sure there’s a true science to cranking out perfect mountain bike features, but for
me it’s all done by trial and error.
I’ll never build anything I wouldn’t ride myself, unless Phil’s in town.
To get this roll in just right, I need to figure out a grade where it’s rollable,
but just barely.
When your only voice of reason is Kevin, you’re in big trouble.
Ultimately, we decided to dial it back to 126% grade, and get to work.
This is a lot like the roll in on the other side of the Flight Deck, except a little narrower
and probably not easy to climb.
I know, this roll in doesn’t lead anywhere except for Berm Peak Express, but it’ll
be a fun way to get back home after a long day of building.
It was almost dark out when we finished the roll in, so I’m not proud of my first attempts
or the janky edges on the planks.
But the following morning I cleaned her up, and gave it another shot.
This roll in feels awesome.
You get way behind your seat, and once your front tire hits the ground it all just works.
I’m calling it the Pucker Plank, and crediting a very clever Instagram follower for that
name.
While the pucker plank doesn’t get us anywhere now, it does give us plenty of speed for the
future moonshangle trails which will start before the first turn on Upper Berm Peak Express.
As you can see, this is all a work in progress.
The last seven videos have all been Berm Peak related, so we might need to switch things
up a little moving forward.
Still, building this backyard trail is my main priority.
Now that we have a loose plan in place, all the tools we need, and a solid roll in, our
only limitations are the boundaries of this property.
By the looks of it, we’ve barely scratched the surface.
Thanks for riding with me today and I’ll see you next time.