Last week, we built a mountain bike trail in my backyard, the Berm Peak Express.
We built it wide and flat, so it could double as an access road to the trailhead at the
summit of Berm Peak.
Naturally the summit is where all our downhill mountain bike trails will begin, and today,
we’re making the summit even higher.
The plan is to build a large 6 foot tall platform to roll in on.
This will allow riders to get up to speed almost instantly, making better use of our
limited space.
This platform will be the largest wooden structure I’ve ever built for a video, and if you
don’t believe me, just ask old Ridgy.
Any wood I use on Berm Peak will need to be hauled out here by hand.
In the Pacific Northwest, rot resistant species like Cedar can be harvested on site and used
to build features.
Not out here.
In the Southern Appalachian mountains, very few trees would be considered rot resistant,
and so treated lumber is the most resilient option for outdoor projects.
But the chemicals in this stuff are nasty.
So, I’m working on obtaining some rot resistant lumber from a local mill to experiment with
in future videos.
Still, it’ll all need to be hauled up here too.
Like the bike wash station, we’re building what is basically a deck.
But this time we need to dig much bigger holes, and contend with roots.
This reciprocating saw has been a lifesaver in these tight spots where swinging a machete
just isn’t possible.
Since continually exposing this saw to dirt and moisture may shorten its life, I’m interested
to see by how much.
Since we’re on a slope, it’s very difficult to map these holes to my plan.
So digging them wider than needed is important.
Wide holes allow for adjustment later on, and this is crucial since I don’t know what
I’m doing.
You would think that building a rectangle would be simple.
But this is a rather large rectangle on an uneven surface.
I’m using temporary braces to hold everything in place, while trying to position 12 foot
6x6’s to a reasonable degree of accuracy.
With each adjustment, we get closer to this structure bring square, level, and plumb.
Okay, so we’re installing joist hangers again, but it’s going a lot smoother this
time.
In the bike wash video I expressed how difficult these were to install and a bunch of you guys
pointed out that there’s an easier way.
Just position the hanger, bang on the tab near the top, and then install your fasteners.
That’s how the hanger was designed to be used, but I never took a close look at it.
Thanks to you guys, I get things done quicker and have leftover time for things like shovel
cannons.
With all our joists installed, it’s time to turn this thing into an actual platform.
These deck planks are a lot like the ones from the bike wash, but way cheaper.
They have warps, bows, and knots in them, that make them undesirable for pretty home
improvement projects.
But for the flight deck, nobody will know the difference.
I waited to get this far in the build to prune this tree because I couldn’t reach it before.
But, it’s nice to have the rest of it encroaching on the deck just a little bit.
Since the plan is to build ramps off this thing in every direction, it may be hard to
find a way around this tree in the future, but we’ll try.
With a proper surface for standing and riding on, the Flight Deck is now officially a deck.
You know what that means.
Some trials skills would have made that huck to flat a tad easier.
Now, let’s move on to making this thing usable.
You may have noticed these posts extending much higher than the structure.
They’re for a railing.
To stiffen the railing, we’re adding another post in the center.
That’ll get fastened to the beam with lag screws, and we’ll cut a hole in a plank
so it looks like it belongs there.
Now given the purpose of the flight deck, it may seem pointless to add a railing to
it.
But with multiple riders congregating up here I want something for them to back up against.
We can assume they’ll be facing the ramps, so this reduces the risk of someone slipping
backwards off the platform.
But there’s another reason for the railing.
All our trail building tools will be stored right here, at the trailhead, so we’re building
a rack.
These pipes are made from leftover material from the shovel cannon.
But in this much smaller configuration, they can only shoot gardening trowels.
But we’re not finished with the Flight Deck just yet, we still need an easy way to get
bikes on top of it.
This 12 foot ramp will be as long as the flight deck itself, so it makes for a really mellow
climb to the top.
A lot of ramps like these contain nubs to use as footing when hiking up, but this ramp
needs to be smooth so we can use it for riding down to a future trail.
Of course that will require some landscaping.
For now, we’re using the underside of the flight deck to store some lumber, and the
Endurbarrow Version 2/AKA the shovel cannon.
But I may do a little more with this spot should the need arise.
And with that, I think we’re off to a pretty good start with the flight deck.
It’s tempting to point downhill and start cutting trail tomorrow, but this is the only
acreage I have.
We need to get it right the first time and make the most of this space.
So next week, we’re going to summon the brain trust, take a serious walk through these
woods, and come up with a plan to turn this place into a mini bike park.
Thanks for riding with me today, and I’ll see you next time.