Nonsense: MORE Maintenance

MORE maintenance gathering.

Photograph by Chuck Bolte.

At some point in a previous blog posting, I mentioned that it would be a good idea for anyone who lives in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and who also enjoys mountain biking to link up with the group known as Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts, or MORE. Because I now live in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and clearly still enjoy mountain biking, I took advantage of a good idea and got in touch with a MORE rider. That rider was the Single Speed Outlaw himself, the man who is unknowingly responsible for inspiring the creation of this very blog. The SSO tipped me off earlier in the week that MORE was having a trail maintenance party at Patapsco River State Park on Sunday, November 25th and added that it would be a good idea for me to show up to the party to meet other mountain bikers and make new friends. Clearly, I took advantage of a second good idea.

Although, it was bitter cold, 18 riders showed up to Patapsco on Sunday morning to eat Christmas flavored donuts, tow BOB trailers full of trail maintaining tools, and to encourage water to flow off of Patapsco’s trails. In short, we rode out the Patapsco Thru Trail, and dropped workers off at various maintenance sites to dig nicks that would provide proper water drainage. Our intent was to encourage precipitation to flow off of the trail instead of down the trail.

A job well done.
Photograph by Chuck Bolte.

The crew worked for a solid five hours before calling it a trail maintenance day and headed back to the parking lot. The group accounted for all of its tools to ensure none had been lost and then we split up, some heading home and others, including me, made for the Bare Bones Grill in Ellicott City. There we proceeded to enjoy refreshment with beer, wine, and ribs.

Mm, mm, good!

XTERRA Skud tests fresh dirt.
Photograph by Chuck Bolte.