The Hitt Canyon/Hitt Pass trail in the north end of the Franklin Mountain State Park is almost complete.  The club has finished working on the east side.  If you know the right people, you can be riding 2 miles of it this week.  Robert Newman is going to finish up the east side this week and all efforts starting December 12 will be on the west side.

Today’s efforts were propelled a great deal by Carol Brown and two volunteers from the El Paso Ridge Walkers.  They spent their time in the extra nice (less windy and a bit warmer) side canyon near the top of the end of the main canyon.  They buffed out this SWEEEET bench cut!

It was a gorgeous day and the ground was extra soft and even muddy in spots.  Club members Brent Sanders and David Wilson worked with park ranger Jesse Kapanga in a super rocky section.  Most rocks were popping out of the soggy ground like champagne corks.  Jen Wilson took pictures of them stuggling with a large boulder that after about 30 minutes of fighting, they gave up and put in a nice trail around it.  That sucker was like a curvy rooted wisdom tooth.

Despite the wasted energy on that rock, we were able to make that section much more rideable. 

At noon, we hiked up canyon to meet up with the Ridgewalkers who were being led by our super trail guru Robert Newman.  We posed for pictures, hiked tools out to Robert’s Cherokee, then hiked out with the Ridgewalkers. 

Everyone had an awesome day and Carol commented on what an amazing adventure she had as she, her grand daughter, and Louis all got to ride up Hitt wash in Robert’s Cherokee.  It’s quite a squeeze!

If you would like to help the BMBA finish this trail, contact us bmbaelpaso@hotmail.com

We need as many volunteers as possible for the following events:

• Puzzler Volunteers – January 17, 2010.  We need all interested in volunteering to email bmbaelpaso@hotmail.com or come to our volunteer meeting Dec. 7 at Sunset Pizza on Mesa.  7 pm.
• Dec. 6 Trail Work Day – Hitt Canyon – Meet at the Bowen Ranch Round House Gate on MLK at 8 am. 
• Dec. 12, 19, and 20 Trail Work Day - Meet at the Flying J at Exit O on I-10.  8 am.

The Puzzler course is almost complete, but we need help on the trail days to make it a fun course. 

November 15th’s trail day was an amazing experience. We found the brand new rock bar that Robert Newman had stashed next to the trail and immediately put it to use. We were able to remove some very large rocks and completely modify the trail from a non-rideable difficult to hike trail to a really nice trail that will be fun and flowy as soon as we start riding it on a regular basis. When will that happen? If you come out and help us build, it will happen before you know it. I’m speculating that if we can get three or four more crew members (in addition to the five that have been coming) for the next couple weekends, we’ll finish by Christmas.

Next trail day is this Sunday, November 22 at 8 am. Bowen Ranch round house gate on MLK.

Today’s trail day was a success despite only having 5 on the crew.  We made it through the toughest section that was loaded with catclaw, lechugia, and jagged rock. 

Next trail day is November 15th.  8 am at the Bowen Ranch gate on MLK.

It looks like we are finally going to be able to construct a bunch of trail this Sunday.  So far we have a crew of about 6 people.  We will meet at the Bowen Ranch Round House gate on MLK just north of the North Hills neighborhood at 8 am.  It’s where the road changes from four lanes to two.  We’ll have some trail tools, but bring your own if you have one.  You’ll also need water, lunch, gloves, hat, sunscreen, boots, etc.  We’ll have room for bikes so you can ride from the end of the road to the trail work area which will save about a half hour of walking.  If you have any questions, please leave them as comments here as they may be questions others may want answers to.

As many of you know, the Lower Sunset trail south of shortcut #1 has been rudely interrupted by Jobe Materials.  There are now No Tresspassing signs posted and many bulldozed roads/paths crisscrossing the desert in that area.  We met with Mr. Jobe Monday night to discuss a compromise.   He agreed to construct a reroute of the trail.  This reroute was being flagged by Robert Newman and yesterday I joined him to check out the reroute.  Robert’s new trail would have brought us right to the boundary of the quarry property. 

I suggested a completely different route that would keep us far away from the Jobe lease.  The new route will come a few hundred yards from the picnic area at the top of the park.  This will allow two new loops to be formed from the one old loop, establish our own “buffer” between the trail and the quarry, allow easier access to the trails, have a view of the trail from a fantastic viewing area, and make the trail stay above some neat cliffs and along a sweet ridgeline providing some excellent descending.  I think all will be pleased.

I have run into some problems.  Robert injured his foot last night.  Taking him out for the afternoon after he had worked so hard with Jesse that morning was a bit too much.  Cesar wants to GPS the route as soon as possible.  Unless Robert has a rapid recovery, I won’t be able to get out there until this Saturday.  When I do get out there Saturday, I’ll need a partner to help me flag and sight grades.  We’ll also need some volunteers to remove the flagging Robert put out.

Please email me at fastmtnbiker@hotmail.com, bmbaelpaso@hotmail.com, or call me at 471-9232 if you want to help out this weekend.  We’ll probably have to work both days to get this done.

If you really want to ride through the destruction on Lower Sunset, you need to sign Jobe’s waiver and fax or email it to him, then call everytime you want to go through.  Click here to get to that info.

Dave

The BMBA group ride has been switched to Heinrich Park this weekend.  Meet at 8.  Mike Rossen will be recruiting people to clean up the area around the Bowen Round House for the 12 hour race after the group ride around noon. 

There will also be a crew headed up to Hitt Canyon to build new trail over the pass tomorrow morning at 8 am (Saturday).  …..AND…..Robert Newman will be out with the park guys flagging a new trail to bypass Jobe’s destruction of the trail on Lower Sunset.

If you would like to join with any of these events and need more info, please feel free to call me at 471-9232.

Dave

Dave

This Saturday the BMBA will be participating in the Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta at the Franklin Mountain State Park. We’ll have a booth set up selling memberships, t-shirts, and our super awesome socks. We will also be raffling off a State Park Pass (a $60 value). Raffle tickets are only $1. Groups rides and trail side clinics will take place every odd hour of the day from 9 to 1. Rob R. will have bikes for non-bike owners to use for beginner rides. Stop by and support the BMBA!

Next week’s meeting is Wednesday (Sept. 9) at Sunset Pizza instead of Monday.  Sunset Pizza is closed on Monday due to the Labor Day weekend.  Our club ride is still scheduled for Sunday (Sept 6) at Heinrich…8 am.

While your club leadership enjoys mountain biking in other areas of the country, remaining members are keeping a close eye on the trails in El Paso.  Every Wednesday, the guys from Rough Rider are working at the West Side Rec Center off High Ridge (3 Hills) putting in some sweet jump lines.  They’d love your help.  There are also some trails being built on the hills surrounding the park.  Volunteer groups are showing up and haphazardly constructing trails.  If you want to help out, please contact Arlen Bowden as he is going to be flagging future trails in the area.  If you want to help with the jumps, contact Hunt Burdick.

Keep an eye out for the volunteer bike patrol this summer.  John Duffy, Adrian Urias, and Richard Gonzalez are wrapping up their certifications and will start racking up volunteer hours.  If anyone else is interested in earning some easy volunteer hours by being an IMBA certified patroller, contact bmbaelpaso@hotmail.com and we’ll set up another park volunteer training for the end of the summer.

Stay hydrated and have fun this summer.