We are planning a maintenance at Brighton on June 2 at 9:30 AM. Please meet in the Bishop Lake Parking Lot by the trail head. Our focus will be general trimming and maybe some weed whipping on the Murray Lake and Torn Shirt. Please bring water, gloves, long pants.
Optional: You can bring long handled Lopers if you have them. Also, If you do plan to join or have any questions, please email simse@nissan-usa. Thank you!
There will be a trail maintenance day on the Gosling Loop of the Poto on Saturday, June 15th. Work will consist of boardwalk construction and other trail maintenance. Arrive at 9:00 a.m. at the Gosling Lake boat launch. http://goo.gl/maps/6lCsE
Wear work gloves, long pants and long sleeves. Bring water and any tools you have that would aid in trail maintenance.
Email info@potomba.org with any questions. Thanks!
Spring is getting close and it’s time for the first Poto MBA meeting of 2013! Wednesday 3/27 at Arbor Brewing Company in Ann Arbor at 7:30 p.m.
And Andy Williamson from IMBA will be joining us again, so this should be a great meeting.
We’ll discuss:
- Trail plans for 2013
- Officer Elections
- Update on Waterloo
- Fundraising opportunites
- May Bike Demo
- State MMBA Update
- IMBA update
- More?
We’ll have some of the “I Dig Poto” shirts in Red available for $20 if anyone didn’t get one at the ’12 TTC. See the attached photo.
Come join us for great beer, food and all things MTB. See you then.
Michigan State University Pavilion
4301 Farm Lane, East Lansing, MI 48824
More info here: http://mmba.org/mmba-mountain-bike-expo/
The 2012 Abominable Snowman Ride will be held on Saturday, December 15th. The ride starts at 12:00, features a cold (and hopefully snowy) lap around the Potawatomi Trail and starts and ends at the Yurt (see map links below). There is no cost to attend this ride and riders may choose from a number of loop options of varying length.
A fire and some hot chili will be available for riders upon their return to the Yurt. Everyone is encouraged to bring their own recovery beverages.
Helpful links:
Google map to the Yurt (the Yurt is on a dirt road not indicated in this map)
Come out to the Fourth Annual Black Friday MTB Ride at Rolling Hills and Hewens Creek Parks in Ypsilanti Township on Friday 11/23 at 10 AM. This will be a no-drop group ride and is great for novice MTBer’s to get exposure to single track riding and be a great way to burn off that Thanksgiving feast and tryptophan overdose. The ride will be about 13 miles covering about 5.5 miles at Hewens Creek and 5 miles at Rolling Hills along with a few miles of dirt road connecting the two parks. For those who haven’t ridden or rarely ride at RHP, you will get a chance to see new 1.25-mile Munger loop on the west side of RHP which includes some fun pump-track like riding on the Munger Mounds and beautiful open meadows.
Meet at the Rolling Hills Headquarters building (the lodge) at 9:45 AM and then we will head out by 10-10:15 AM. After the ride, we will have some pizza and refreshments at the lodge at 11:30 AM. Please register in advance at Event Brite to attend so I can get a good estimate of riders for the pizza and beverages. Rain date will be Saturday 11/24 at 10 AM. Look for changes on the Rolling Hills or Hewens Creek forums on the MMBA website.
It will be very busy at RHP as there is also a Disc Golf event on the same day who will use the Lodge immediately after us. Please park in the MTB trail head parking lot – enter the park, go straight through the traffic circle and park in the first lot on your right next to a big pavillion ~1/4 mile away from the circle. The Lodge will be about 200 yards away on your left.
Unfortunately, there will be a gate charge this year to enter RHP. It is a Washtenaw County Park so if you already have WCP sticker you are good to go. Otherwise, park entry will cost $5 for everyone as I negotiated a discount for non-Washtenaw residents.
Last but definitiely not least, we have to thank DeWight and crew at Wheels in Motion for supporting the MTB community by sponsoring this event and paying for the food and refreshments.
Register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/org/2898259791
Michael Connolly
Rolling Hills Trail Coordinator
There will be another trail day at Rolling Hills Park in Ypsilanti on Saturday 10/27 from 9 AM to 2 PM to continue work on the Munger woods loop. I regret the late notice, but my schedule just freed up for this weekend.
With only a small crew of 5 and denser undergrowth than expected, we were able to rough cut ~0.25 miles during the last work day in early October. I estimate that’s about half of the total loop length so it may be possible to complete the rough cut during work this weekend. With a large crew of 10 or more, I’m sure that we can finish the whole loop, remove all the stumps and mow the tall grass/goldenrod in the meadow areas. With luck and some sweat, we can complete this loop in time for the Black Friday Ride on 11/23 (10 AM).
The work plan for Saturday will be:
- continuing the rough cut of the trail into the large mounded area in the extreme NW of the park
- Macloed and Pulaski work to clear roots and stumps on the first part of the Munger woods loop which was rough cut on 10/6
- bench cut the small mounds next to the two old track after the end of the E-W fence on the Munger loop to make them rideable
- mowing of the grass/goldenrod in the meadows sections of the Munger woods loop
- if time and crew size allow, repair two off-camber turns back at Mile 1.1 and Mile 1.3
Please come out to help and expand our popular and fun trail. Meet at the trailhead parking lot at 8:45-9 AM. I recommend wearing long pants and long sleeves for branches and thorns and sturdy shoes considering the terrain and trail tools. Bring work gloves, lopers, pruners, Pulaski’s and Macleod’s if you have them. Tell the gate keeper at RHP (if there is one) that you are entering the park for MTB trail work and they should let you in free of charge.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you are able to attend (Post on our Facebook page). If I get enough positive responses in advance, I’ll provide some coffee/snacks to start the day and food and “refreshments” afterwards. Look to the RHP or Volunteers Needed Forum if a cancellation becomes necessary.
We will be hosting this years Batman Ride (Night Ride) Oct 19th, Friday. The ride will be staging at the Silver Lake Parking lot. Arrive at 7:00pm ride at 7:30pm.
After the ride we will have a campfire and typically riders bring food to share.
Come out and ride the Poto backwards with lights!
We will be doing a reroute for the mud hole before the Gosling Lake access road boardwalk.
When Saturday, October 13th, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Where: Gosling Lake Access Road (Google Map Link: http://goo.gl/maps/rIxE4)
Bring gloves and water/coffee. Dress appropriately for working in and around noxious plants. Please RSVP on our Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/MMBA-Potawatomi-Chapter/109307505758198) if you plan to attend so we can get you a Pulaski. If we get enough to eat a bakers dozen of donuts I will bring a box from Pinckney Bakery and some OJ.
A total of four reroutes were completed this weekend on the Murray Lake Trail. Three of them being near the 1 mile mark, and one just passed the 4 mile mark on the Lost Loop. All reroutes were done due to erosion problems. There is still a little more work to be done but all reroutes are open.
