November 6th Greensfelder Workday Pictorial

This workday focused on some much needed trail maintenance on DeClue in preparation for the winter months. Nearly all of the hillside climbing from the creek to the rollercoaster ridge was debermed and three climbing turns were adjusted or rebuilt to prevent future erosion problems.

Volunteers deberming and rebuilding a climbing turn on DeClue

The finished switchback (first one going clockwise on DeClue) just below the tower parking lot. Looks mighty impressive.

No, seriously, there is some major work involved when building a switchback

Glenn using the fun shredder while Matt smooths caveman style with the flat head of the pulaski.

New Trail Design In Progress

GORC is entering a new phase at Greensfelder and hopes to connect the DeClue trail to the Eagle Valley singletrack segment via a brand new trail on the north-facing hillside across from the internal paved road within the park. This will extend the singletrack portion of the "Greensfelder Challenge" loop and may prove to be the new race course IF weather and trail conditions permit.

At the previous workday, GORC trail armored three critical drainage areas on the Eagle Valley singletrack portion. The trail now rides much smoother and features three less permanent bog sections. The Eagle Valley singletrack may be perhaps the LONGEST sustained climb or descent in the St. Louis region - but this is unofficial. GPS will prove the truth in the coming months.

MonkeyHead Damage at DeClue Fixed

About a week ago someone defaced the DeClue on the infamous "Monkeyheads" section. They removed 14 of the large rocks to groom the descent. GORC assessed the situation and sent out a crack team to repair the damage as best they could. In the end they felt the trail was repaired in a satisfactory condition by deeply embedding the removed rocks. They should weather in nicely.

Without further delay, here's some important info you should keep handy...
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With last year's trail vandalism at the Chubb and now with the painful extraction of some monkeyheads at Greensfelder we at GORC felt it was high time to post the St. Louis County Parks Trail Hotline - 314-615-8911. Now we can all help police our favorite trails.

This hotline is for St. Louis County parks only. Parks include West Tyson (Chubb), Cliff Cave, Creve Coeur, Greensfelder and ALL of St. Louis County's parks.

If you encounter somebody destroying trail first-hand be sure to get involved by calling the hotline at 314-615-8911. Approach the individual if you feel comfortable and respectfully explain that he or she is wrecking the trail through their grooming actions.

Never start a confrontation and remember they probably think they are IMPROVING the trail. However, no matter the situation, always let the county parks staff know that this is occurring so they can better protect their valuable trails.

Trail Workday, Sept. 25th, 9am - 1pm

We're going to do some maintenance work on the Eagle Valley singletrack, and try to complete one of the two switchbacks on the DeClue extension. Don't know where the singletrack is on Eagle Valley? Come and help out this Saturday, and you can find out.

If we can get the trail in good enough shape this fall, we can start working on a connector from the current end of the DeClue singletrack at Scenic Loop Rd. down to the junction with Eagle Valley on the valley floor. This will complete a loop of somewhere around 9 miles that is ~ 99% singletrack, and ridable in both directions.

There will be fewer St. Louis County Parks volunteers than usual at this workday, so we really need a good turnout from GORC volunteers.

Greensfelder Mentioned in STL Today

The park got a mention in the STL Today website for a great place to ride mountain bikes. The trails are in terrific shape right now, get out there!

Here's the link --> http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/fitness/article_91de8027-89db-5921-916c-0cee7685d420.html

Blog Focus Redirecting

The Greensfelder Challenge blog will now be rejigged as an informational digital kiosk containing news, updates and general information about Greensfelder County Park.

Since GORC will be working on its trail system annually it seems only fitting that we maintain a current "progress report" on the status of the park and its trails.

Look for future reports here in the future.

GF Challenge Poll Results

The results of our two polls concerning the Greensfelder Challenge are now in.

77% of responders were happy to see the course utilize more of the park's trails. Hardly anyone disagreed with the course design. Great news.

54% of you would donate money if we ever asked concerning a specific goal or task.

60% of you would help in a future fundraiser. This is also great news.

We thank you whole-heartedly for making this a great event.

Brief Sunday Night Image Captures

Time is short and I'm tired but here is a brief sampling of images floating the internet. This is not the recap, look for that soon. This Greensfelder blog will morph over time into a dedicated all_Greensfelder_all_day information kiosk. But that will come later.

For now, peruse, enjoy.

I've linked to some galleries on the web. They can be found at the bottom of this post.

The picture that sums up the entire race, Josh and Val post-race. We hope everyone had a great time and thank all the people that had kind words for the club, the race and the park.

The GORC crew finally getting some down time from the race. Once tapped, the keg was at maximum flow rate the duration of its very, very important mission.

Matt and Lisa taking a break from retail. We had a great time talking to everyone.

Lisa operating the fluid GORC booth. We had a great turnout and sold almost all our clothing.


Didn't have a picture of Jeff manning his custom-built bbq pit. But you get the idea. Send me some of the owner-operator in action. I'm hungry now just looking for images that attempt to capture the magnitude and flavor of his BBQ.

Bryan Adams, our fearless president, organized the race with DRJ and raced the SS class. I didn't have an image available yet.

Tandem Tank testing the limits of their fork on this course. It held together as I did not hear an explosion in the woods.

Mapmaker Ron in the SS class.

Marathon Larry on the Superfly SS.

Eric Pirtle and Chris Ploch pushing hard through the turns.

Other Galleries 'Out There'

http://www.reprehensible.net/~knoppj/GFelder/

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm67/gsuter/2010%20Greensfelder/

http://stlbiking.smugmug.com/Sports/Cycling/Greensfelder-Mt-Bike-Race/12118130_vhgzQ#861353127_6cumk

http://www.drj-racing.com/files/GF2010_Pics/

The Course is Marked, GO RIDE IT!!!

We got out and marked the course yesterday.
Starting from the Tower Parking Lot there
are yellow ribbons marking gates at every
intersection as shown above. If you don't see the
yellow ribbon after an intersecting trail, you're
probably on your way to being in the Screaming Eagle
cue. Ignore any blue ribbon you see out there.
Only follow the yellow ribbon gates.

We did make a small change based on how good the
trail conditions were. We will use more of the Declue
Extension even though the switchbacks are not
complete. There is one log that I will remove before
the race.

It will be a big advantage to go pre-ride the course
if you haven't been out there in awhile. Also, there are
several new sections that could use tires on them.

I had word of a 40'ish lap time and just a little over
8 miles by a local expert. That sounds like a solid
time to me.