Heeeyho Readers! More updates from our little ranch!
The spirit of mountain biking lives within a healthy forest.
Those who follow this page already know that I'm building a small DIY mountain bike park. The idea is to connect different cattle-made trails to create a short track circuit of about two kilometers. Later I might add some wooden ramps and other obstacles. The end result is a fun place to ride inside a private preservation zone. We don't plan to deforest to create trails, but use what's already there.
Although we have natural trails, most of them need repair. Work is now concentrated around opening the existing trails, removing fallen branches, stumps, etc. At some point someone left behind the remains of old eucalyptus trees (non-native species), that ended up blocking the trail.
Before & After
Blisters pop on my hands after a weekend hoeing and raking dirt. I first pilled branches and logs from the fallen eucalyptus; those are going to our firewood storage. Then I worked my way to remove stumps and raking anything else to the side.
Entrance before
Entrance after
Responsible trail building is crucial. It's important to see if we are not disturbing any animal furrow (hasn't found any so far) or killing natural fruit trees (common around here). We value natural fruits. A lot! This time I found two tangerine trees growing amidst the bushes.
Natural tangerine
Tangerine seedlings
Those two tangerine are the result of birds carrying seeds into the forest. It would've been better if we didn't disturb the plants, but... They are going to a place with more sun, so should be fine.
Continuation before
Continuation after
The part above is a continuation to the left of the first two photos. It took a full Sunday to get to this result and it's far from done. {Sigh}. The idea for this section is to incorporate some rolling ramps.
Now to the most satisfying section
It blows my mind every time I see the before and after of this section. Just to give an idea of how bad it was: I couldn't walk into the trail. I tried. Someone cut down a huge eucalyptus tree and left behind everything that was not suitable for planking.
Before
After
One eucalyptus tree alone yielded firewood for the entire winter. I read that one eucalyptus consumes around 30 liters of water per day. Holy pepperoni! Plant a bunch of them and you kill everything else that is native from the area.
Before
After
It's amazing to see how much space we can create by just organizing stuff. There's no need to deforest and destroy. With patience we are able to find old trails to restore.
I still don't know what we'll do to areas that won't be part of the circuit. I've been thinking about the concept of agroforestry, since the soil inside the forest is incredible.
What would you do?
Until then... more blisters on my hands, please. Hard work is renewing.
Peace.
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~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.