We’ve made a lot of progress so far on the sections in Sawmill Creek, which is a good thing because now the creek has started running and probably will continue for the winter. So I think we got the bulk of the work done on those just in time.

Hope to see a good turnout for our next work weekend this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 3/4. We have plenty of room in cabins if anyone would like to spend the night, and maybe we have some room in the lodge. If interested, give us a call and check with Catherine, we’ll accomodate as many as we can. Bring bikes, chainsaws, leaf blowers, and any other implements of destruction that might be useful. We’ll probably be working on the practice area and WR section 15 on the hillside across from the cabins and Dry Water Creek and also on the limestone ledges above the logging road up the hill to the right from the cabins. Tony bulldozed a lot of stuff out of the way up there, but there is still lots of cleaning to do. We’ll start bonfires and burn the brush and small trees as we clear them. We’ll be clearing to the point that spectators will be able to see, so we’ll cut out a lot of small trees.

We spent last week with Tony Bussing on a rented bulldozer clearing all the trails around the property for the national loop and also the area around sections 13-14 and Spooks landing. Greg Clark & Tony & I pretty much got the Friday national loop sorted out. It will be a nice long scenic loop around the property, our version of the Ute Cup. Maybe we should call it the “Trail of Tears”? Nah, no whining will be allowed!

We’ve also had a local guy clearing the woods around the tent camping area so as to open that up for more parking, camping, vendor space, etc. You will see some big changes next time you come, which I hope is this weekend for many of you! We also have developed a plan for parking the thousands of spectators that we are expecting, which will involve the use of a neighboring farm and shuttle busses.

We now have a plan for the facilities and parking and maps of the loops with all the spots for sections picked out for both the WR and the Friday national. I have made some maps superimposed onto air photos of the property. On Friday (2 days from now) the FIM delegates from Spain and Brian Behling of the NATC will visit to inspect the facility and our plans. After they have provided their input, I’ll get loop maps and paddock maps up onto the web asap.

One final note, it has been decided that the AMA National Championship for our Pros will ride on the blue gates during the Trials World Championship (corresponding to the same splits as the Junior World Championship) as the most appropriate level of difficulty for our national. AMA Expert class will ride the green gates, as corresponding to the Youth World Championship. Support and Expert Support classes will ride Friday on a totally different loop.

I think we’ll have Randy Sharp try out some of the WR sections this weekend, so maybe someone should bring a camera. Or a first aid kit.

see ya,
dan