The "real" C2C Trail Update - Summer Building Classes

Here is the update from  Gary Chapman, C2C Chairman regarding summer trail building classes:

Hi,

I am passing along the email below to let you know the status of this year's trail training workshops. These courses are free and generally target people and groups who do trail work along the Pacific Crest Trail and connecting trails. Our C2C people have been taking the courses so that they are better able, and National Forest certified, to do work on the Corvallis-to-the-Sea Trail when we get approval in a couple of years.

If you'd like to learn about doing trail work, these classes are a fun and effective way of doing so. I believe I have previously announced the dates of the three sessions: April 16-18 for the Trail Keepers of Oregon session; May 14-16 for the Willamette National Forest session at Westfir; and June 4-6 for the Deschutes National Forest session at Allingham. Check them out and see if they don't pique your interest.

There are several year's worth of training courses so now is a good time to get started on the 100 series courses and then move up to the 200 series. No grades here except if you are seeking saw certifications; for this you need to demonstrate a necessary level of knowledge and proficiency.

It's a great opportunity.

Gary....

Here's Paul's e-mail:

The PCTA/HCFV partnership training events will be open for registration on Feb 15th via this link: http://www.highcascadesvolunteers.com/ Some corrections have been made to the Westfir schedule to include a cross-cut certification class on Sat. (this will fill up FAST, so get your registration in early if you need to use a cross-cut) and to make the sequence of the 100 series more logical for a newbie. There seem to be an incredible number of requests for chain saw certification. This is being offered once at Westfir but four times at Allingham. At Allingham, saw RE-certification is being handled differently with some sessions requiring an 8hr stint and others only 4hrs. Registration at Allingham is also handled differently; you generally indicate which courses you wish to take and the organizers will tell you which session you will be taking on what day. Effectively, you have to commit to the entire weekend at Allingham. As a side note, I will be teaching a Tools Care workshop on Friday evening and a short tutorial on the correct care of F.S. radios during the PCT Stewardship workshop on Sat evening. Both at Westfir only. An alternative to Westfir and Allingham is the TKO trails college at Cascade Locks. You can sign-up for an e-mail when their registration opens here: http://www.trailkeepersoforegon.org/one/

I will be teaching the Tools workshop sometime that weekend.
Paul Martin Smith
PCTA Trail coordinator - Mid Oregon
paulmartinsmith2004@yahoo.co.uk
541 207 3255

Mountain Bikers are tougher

In the March issue of MTA they did a test between a road biker and a mountain biker.  They pitted Burry Stander against Andy Schleck.  They each did a 7.4 mile pavement climb and a 5.5 mile single-track climb and then combined the times.  Burry road time was less than a minute behind Andy's at 36:29.8 and then beat Andy by almost 10 minutes on the dirt climb with a time of 36.39.  On paper at least it looks like mountain bikers are better riders than roadies, but who knows.  Todd Tye who does both feels that a mile on the mountain bike equals three+ on the road (but he also has a heart rate in the 40's).  I can hear the roadies now "how does this thing shift, why are the tires so wide with bumps, and what are those siny discs on the wheels for?"