| Baker's Dozen is a mountain bike event at Lick Fork Lake Recreation Area on
the Horn Creek Trail. The area is located about 8 miles South from
Edgefield SC. This event is being sponsored by Central Savannah River Area
chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA). Teams of
bikers will ride as many laps as possible during 13 hours. The team with
the most laps at the end of 13 hours wins the event. The team categories are
solo, 2-rider, 3-rider and 4-rider. The trail is a 7 mile loop. The event
date is May 3rd. This event was requested by our members, therefore this is a no frills
event. It is low key, therefore low cost. No t-shirt, no concessions. We
do have water!!!! First place team members for solo, 2-rider and 3-rider teams have bragging
rights and will receive an etched micro-brew glass. The cost is $20 per person and you are required to be a SORBA member. The
reason you have to be a SORBA member is because SORBA is providing liability
and medical insurance (this is included in the $20)(USFS requires we have
insurance). SORBA memberships will be available at the registration table
($20 for individual). Registration table opens @ 0800 and closes at 0950. The event starts at
1000 and ends at 2300. Start/finish volunteers and course marshals will be working at the event. Each team should provide one volunteer, but not a requirement. All riders are required to have the following safety equipment:
CPCS, ANSI or ASTM certified bicycle helmet
Minimum 10 watt bicycle design light that is operable (team members riding
at night)
Light mount that mounts either to bicycle handlebars or to a CPCS certified
bicycle helmet
Water or sports drink Contact Paul Farrow at pfarrow@sorbacsra.org for more information. |
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| Our plans for Saturday are still up in the air with the possibility of rain - if there is significant rain on Friday or if it looks like it will be raining on Saturday morning, we will cancel the event. Given the current state of weather prediction we would like to leave the possibility open at least until late tomorrow night. We do need a head count of people who plan to attend by 6PM tomorrow night so we can plan for food. We will keep this very casual and laid-back due to the unpredictability of the weather. If you are unsure Saturday morning about whether the event is on or off, feel free to contact me via email - aallen@sorbacsra.org / telephone (706) 868-8168/ cellphone (706) 799-0209 Please let us know if you plan to attend and remember to bring a dish to share (please let us know what that is so we don't have 20 bags of chips :), a chair and the beverage of your choice. From Augusta - take Fury's Ferry Road north into South Carolina (hiway 28) until you reach Modoc - turn right onto hiway 23 - you will travel approximately 9 miles to the intersection of 23 and 230 - turn right onto 230 (you should see a volunteer fire department building on your right) - heading south for less than a mile on 230 you will see a sign for Lick Fork Recreation Area on your left, turn left just before that sign, travel a mile or so and you will see another sign for the recreation area on your left - turn right into the recreation area. Drive a short distance then turn left, follow the road on around until you reach a small parking area - this is the Horn Creek trailhead and the location of our picnic. From Aiken - take 23 out of Edgefield until it intersects with 230 - turn left onto 230 (you should see a volunteer fire department building on your right) - heading south for less than a mile on 230 you will see a sign for Lick Fork Recreation Area on your left, turn left just before that sign, travel a mile or so and you will see another sign for the recreation area on your left - turn right into the recreation area. Drive a short distance then turn left, follow the road on around until you reach a small parking area - this is the Horn Creek trailhead and the location of our picnic. I believe 230 is still closed due to bridge repair so from North Augusta you will need to determine your best route from those above. |
| Saturday - June 7th - 10:00am I realize the weather for this week looks very inhospitable but we've already discovered the forecasters
can be wrong. That said, we are going ahead with our plans for our 4th Annual National Trails Day Picnic
and Ride (this is a splendid tradition since most chapters celebrate the day with trail work:). If the trail conditions and weather are good, we will meet at the Horn Creek trail head at 10:00am for
a ride followed by a picnic that will begin at noon. SORBA-CSRA will provide the hamburgers/hotdogs and
such and we'd like you to bring a dish to share, a lawn chair and your drinks (we will have PowerAde for
after the ride). This is a nice little recreation area with a lake and a paved walking trail around the
site so definitely bring your non-riding family members if you'd like. If you haven't participated before come on out, it's loads of fun to get a bunch of mountain bikers
together to break bread together and share war stories. I will be sending a follow-up notice with
directions towards the end of the week. I would like to know if you are coming and what you plan to
bring (we don't need 50 bags of chips :) and will ask for your RSVP by Thursday evening. I will hold
off shopping until Friday so we don't buy anything unnecessarily in the event we must cancel. If you have any questions, please call or email me - Angela Allen (706) 868-8168 or
aallen@sorbacsra.org Additional Notice: |
| We decided to ride this trail today to access any damage and make plans for a work party.
I was frankly shocked by what we found. The trail was obviously underwater by as much as 8 to 10
feet in some areas (as evidenced by the mud coating the leaves), a 1/2 layer of silt is on the trail
in most places rendering it extremely slippery. We rode in just 1/2 mile and found that the first bridge
has been moved again by water, the bypass down across the creek is very slippery and treacherous, there
were 2 trees down, there were 2 separate debris fields each about 20 foot across covering the trail.
This is debris that include logs, sticks, mud, etc that is a foot or two deep and looks like the beavers
have been building a home on the trails. At that point we decided that the other three riders would
cross over to check out Turkey Creek while I hiked down at least half way on Wine Creek. What I found
hiking that 2 1/2 mile section of trail was (we still need to check out the remainder of the trail): I personally think this trail is currently a lost cause and we need to have the US Forest Service close it temporarily. Our attentions need to be directed to the other trails that can be put back in good condition with perhaps a workday and then we need to get a plan in action to deal with Wine Creek. Unfortunately this won't be a quick fix. Turkey was basically ridable but there were 2 or 3 trees down that need to be removed, there was slippery silt covering the trail in a few places, 1 bridge is completely out, one of the boardwalk bridges has been misplaced and needs to be moved three to four feet, again nothing that can't be dealt with in a good work party. They only went to the 5 mile mark (which had also been underwater by a foot or so). We saw a couple coming off Modoc and stopped to talk to them, they indicated there was a tree down and a few slightly muddy areas but other than that the 4 miles of the trail they rode were in pretty good shape and they had a good ride. If you have any additional information, please let me know so we can give an update. |
| For details and results of the Baker's dozen ride, click here .
Many thanks to Paul Farrow and all the volunteers and riders for a great event.
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| The upcoming work party will be a material moving party only. Will need two people with trucks (plus two additional material handlers) to volunteer to haul materials from the Martinez area up to the Horn Creek Trail. Would prefer to do this Saturday afternoon around 1pm. The material will be off-loaded at the intersection of sections 3 and 4. On Sunday around 1pm , hopefully the trail will be dry enough for a couple of volunteers to move the materials down the trail (approximately 1 mile in) using the power wagon. We will also have a couple of wheelbarrows available to move some short 6X6's down the trail to the site of the new crib wall (just beyond where the other material will be located). Hauling the materials in will be time consuming so if you can't work at 1pm but can work at 2pm or 3pm we'd love to have you. If you are able to help, please contact Angela Allen (706) 868-8168 or aallen@sorbacsra.org |
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| I have made some changes to the site to ease the navigation. For starters,
no more Members button in the navigation bar on the left. This is replaced with the Forum button.
All member password functions are still there, but they are accessed in a different way.
The Calendar Update is now accessed by a button link at the bottom of the Calendar page.
As is the Patrol Form, it is now accessed directly from a button link at the bottom of the Patrol page.
The Patrol Form now requires it's own username and password, but the Calendar and Forum still use
the same username and password as the "Member" pages used before. Hope this helps. |
| You can either view the newsletter in your browser by left clicking the link,
or right click and "Save Target As" to save to your computer for viewing later.
Click Here for newsletter. |
| You can either view the newsletter in your browser by left clicking the link, or right click and "Save Target As" to save to your computer for viewing later. Click Here for newsletter. |
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