Scott Johannen Sr. Project trail building

After the final full week of Senior Project, im a little sad. My days at Proctor dwindle, and I haven't reached my goal. I made the first section of trail as strong as I could in the time that I had. I wish I could have completed it, but I've still learned a lot from what I have done.

After 2 weeks of work, Im not exactly happy with how far the trail has come. The rock garden blocking me from continuing has really slowed things down. Im disappointed that I wont be able to complete the trail fully. Even though I don't think I'll reach my main goal, I can still make the beginning part as good as I can. Next week will be all about finishing touches on what I've already done.

Today I focused a lot of my time on late blog posts and writing my final evaluation essay. This took up most of the day because of how much I procrastinated over these past weeks. I borrowed a Go-Pro from Jaime Migoya, and got a few videos of me riding the trail. Upon further review, these videos were shot at the wrong angle and they showed more of the bike than the trail.

I was very tired from a long weekend of hard racing and crashing, so I took it easy today. I started a bit later since the cycling season ended and I could stay out later into the day. I made the final touches to the trail by brushing off all debris and making it look nice.

This weekend I have a big mountain bike race, so I made sure that I was well fueled and hydrated today. I brought a big backpack of food and water up which slowed my progress today. I decided not to try to make any further progress down the trail, as it would not be finished at the end of the project. Instead I polished a few sections to try and make them perfect. Perfect is impossible.

I was very tired after my race yesterday. I slept in a bit, made it to lunch, then spent a little time touching up a few minor imperfections in some corners.

Today I continued to lop the few branches left that could possibly be a hazard while riding. I also re routed section that had tight corners and tight trees. One big problem with mountain bikes is that many riders prefer very wide handlebars which means that if there are trees too tight together, the handlebars wont fit through and some riders will ride off the trail to avoid the trees. Three feet of space between trees is a good rule of thumb. Any narrower than that starts to become more difficult.

The first couple days of Senior Project I spent scouting the woods, looking for possible sites for my trail. I found many different features that I wanted to incorporate into the trail, and I also located wet spots and rock faces that were best to stay away from. I found a good starting position off the main trail with a cool natural roller built by tree roots and dirt. I raked the first portion of trail in one huge effort, but came to a halt when I got closer to mud pond. Rocks littered the way in front of me. It turned out to be nearly an impass for me and my trail. The amount of time I had left in my project was not enough time for me to be able to work through the rocks and build a rideable trail through. A job like this needed many more hands and many more precious hours. I decided to re-evaluate my main goal of completing the trail end to end. Instead I focused on making the beginning section of trail as fun as possible and leave it there for others to complete.

Today is the day of my final Proctor race. I decided to get a nice sleep in and focus the whole day on making this race the best yet.

I rode the trail again this morning. I lopped some branches that I missed last week and I cleared a new section as well. After lunch I did some work trying level a few sections at the beginning. 5 hour

I rode the trail again today and it felt good. The beginning section still needs a good amount of work and I have barely even scraped the surface on the back section. I touched up a few spots in the middle. Lots of work still to be done but i'm making good progress. 3 hours

Today I moved a few dead logs off the trail. I've been raking what I've built so far to keep it open and make the dirt more packable. 4 hours

Today I was limited on time because of a race in the afternoon. I rode the trail and I was able to mark a few spots that needed work. 3 hours

Today I focused on Josh's feedback and raked out new parts of the trail that bypass some of the bad parts that I had made last week. I also marked further down the trail so that I can start work on that soon. Tomorrow I plan on chopping all the branches that are in the way of the first part so that I can ride it and make adjustments. 4.5 hours

Josh Norris and I walked what I had raked yesterday. He gave me some thoughts about how to have a fun trail and showed me a few spots that could be routed better. In many spots, the trail made a turn that was too sharp or unnecessary and josh pointed out straighter and faster lines through the trees. 5 hours

This morning I began a bit earlier than normal. I finally started building today. I started from the main trail and planned out my trail. I used a leaf rake to pull the leaves and sticks off where I wanted the trail to go. The ground was still wet so the leaves did not rake very well. I made it halfway through the whole trail in 5 hours. The next section will take much more time because its super rocky and will need more hours. 5 Hours

The plan for today is: Lop first section of trail and make it rideable for testing Flag further down the trail if there's time Today I spent all my time Lopping all branches in the way. My trails weaves around a bunch of hemlock trees which make for a lot of branches to chop. I pulled down a few dead trees that were leaning over the trail. The trail should be ready to test ride tomorrow. 5 hours

I spent most of my morning learning about building trails. Trail building is said to be an "art form" because of the many different ways they can be built. I focused on learning to lay out a trail properly so that it can last a long time and will flow well. Tomorrow I will begin the process of building. 3 hours

I spent most of the day today, bushwacking behind Mud Pond, planning out where the trail could run. I set some pins on the GPS app on my phone so I could follow the trail again. I tried to find routes that would flow well, but still have some challenging sections. In many cases I had to turn around and re-route the plan because there were too many rocks or water. I will have pictures in one of the next blogs when I begin raking. 5 hours

  My Senior Project is based around building a trail in Proctor's woodlands, that can contribute to the many amazing trails we already have. I am building it specifically to be a fun but challenging mountain bike trail, that beginners can get through and advanced riders can have a lot of fun on. I started my day off with a little hike behind the tennis courts to check out a few spots for the trail that my Mentor (Josh Norris) and I had talked about earlier. I walked a few possible routes and came upon a few overgrown trails that could be revived into really nice trails. I met with Josh and we talked about what he had in mind and how that could work with what I found earlier in the woods. We came up with a game plan to check on a few ideas and get building within the next few days. 4.5 hours