last time we built this curved wall ride along with a steep singletrack section to get speed for
it by the time you reach the wall ride you will have faced a gauntlet of back-to-back technical
jump features and so the next section will be slightly toned down so riders have a moment to
collect themselves some people roll off the wall ride you come here and you just roll through
but if you boost off the wall ride it's going to take you to this side so there has to be some kind
of a way to transition into the trail the first order of business comes immediately after the
wall ride where you just kind of land in a pile of loom we need to build a transition here which
is Kevin's department after the transition is a rugged corridor which will need some
single track if we want to carry speed we're gonna have to bench this out and make it flat problem is
we have a few big sycamores over here and we're gonna have to cut into the roots to get it done
we're not bringing the machine through here and we're not bench cutting we're gonna build a bridge
this bridge won't feature a treacherous skinny line or a jump at the end it'll
be easy and safe it's a chance to catch your breath on an otherwise relentless trail while
the framing is far from complicated we do want the bridge to bank towards the hill slightly
while working on this angle your eyes are not to be trusted so I'm using a level
this bridge will feature a smooth turn through the trees but the frame itself doesn't need to
be curved at all we can install the planks long and smooth out the turns by cutting
the planks at different lengths that is if we have enough of them so that's it for the big
oak planks I have some treated wood and I have some thinner oak planks which I wouldn't use for
that structural stuff this pile of oak has been going strong since earlier this year
but this bridge project is going to stretch our supplies thin
as lumber prices come back down I look back on our milling efforts as very smart
it got us through a period of history where a single 2x4 was eight dollars
but even still these oak planks are quite valuable for surfacing
features they provide great traction and look cooler than anything you can get from Lowe's
while I carefully lay out these planks Kevin is finishing up the transition off the wall ride
I think we're gonna just just make it this off cut's not gonna be enough to do
anything we'll use that for a smaller bridge yeah this is something else
I'm thinking to get up on this thing we'll be going pretty fast we can just have a really low
chipper just kind of chip up onto it because it's more fun than rolling onto it right our bridge is
all but done now we need a way to get on and off of it rather than build wooden ramps into the dirt
we decided to use stone to get on and off the bridge and although it is a safety bridge
we'll be entering with enough speed to do a little more than just a ramp onto the bridge
when building with stones this size you need to bury each one almost completely in the ground for
it to remain stable otherwise it's going to move or wash away so we're locking them in together
like Tetris blocks and then using smaller rocks and dirt to seal them into the trail
since this section is going downhill we're making
sure water drains off the trail before it even reaches the rock lip
so the bridge ends here and we're gonna avoid burying planks in the
ground by building rock over here it'll be a nice transition let's move some rocks
after the bridge we're building another off-ramp out of stone and dirt using the same methodology
after that it's plain old vanilla single track all the way to the property line
we're gonna build a couple little options over here and then we are going to hand cut
all the way to the property line not that far
since riders are going to be carrying significant speed through the wooden bridge
I'm creating an a and b option at the end you can either cruise up to the single track or launch up
another rock kicker again this is optional but if you have the energy it's another jump Kevin
is benching out the small section of trail before the property line small as it is it's a lot to do
by hand and so it's pretty incredible how much dirt Kevin can move by himself in a couple hours
I wonder if it would have been cheaper to clone you than to buy a machine this hand
cut goodness will be mixed in with the machine cutting we'll be doing next time
as this turn is going to start with a giant berm although this trail is named after a
thumb bucket it really combines a lot of trail building concepts into one project
alright so we're gonna give this a first try I'm not really worried
about anything it's just more of will it work did we get the gap right on there did we get
that little bonus step up working yeah it would really suck if this doesn't let's give it a go
oh okay I think in order to catch this you got to start way on the right side of the bridge
the way I naturally want to exit the wall ride is all the way to the side of the trail it makes
it hard to line up for the bridge particularly if you want to hit the rock option afterwards
so we're making some adjustments to the transition so all this dirt is coming over here
that way we're positioned for the bridge when you're finished building a transition like this
all the work of procuring and sifting the dirt has already been completed
so to alter it doesn't take very much time at all and now this line is tuned up and ready to ride
he just got that
owwww!
so that hurt a lot nothing's broken to line up for the jump you got to go on the right side of the
bridge I landed left I figured bridge has got tons of traction I'm just gonna turn muddy tires got me
even a safety bridge doesn't like muddy tires but a set of knee pads would have made that an
inconsequential mistake yeah my bike did get pretty pretzel
gotta straighten out the bars I got a bunch of dirt how do I get dirt under a lock on grip this
section is purposely low octane but it's going to fit into the grand scheme of things perfectly
after this section will be a really deep berm followed by more machine cut trail if you want to
see us build that make sure you subscribe to burn peek and if you want to see us building the rest
of thumb bucket check out the playlist below it's also not too late to get you or someone you love
Berm Peak merch for the holidays we have riding gear sweatshirts gloves and even youth jerseys
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check it out in the link below thanks for riding with me today and I'll see you next time