Wasn't there a race there today (Sunday, 25th)?... Maybe that was part of the course?
I was there yesterday near the powerlines and there wasn't anything orange to be seen except the mud all over my tires (yeah, went right instead of taking a left).

 

I don't know if there was a race there but I did see some eX2 trail signs that would have been used for a race.

The area I'm talking about is on the right side, when you first drive into Wakefield. Instead of turning left into the parking lot with the softball fields, you'd turn right.

Yeah, some of the powerline spots were still damp so I came out with orange tires, too One section was still full of puddles and I was hoping to hit those little jumps. OH well, maybe next week, if it dries out.

 

We're losing some trail

They're building new softball fields by the bowl area. We'll be losing some of the trail closest to the parking lot. Being the Wakefield MORE liason, it still came as a total surprise to me with no advanced warning that I was aware of. I'll try to find out more...

 

F'ing fat-azzed softball players!

IMHO, the bowl is one of the few worthwile sections to ride at wakefield, why doesn't the regional park authority just get it over with and pave the whole f'ing place already instead of bleading us dry one cut at a time.

They're building new softball fields by the bowl area. We'll be losing some of the trail closest to the parking lot. Being the Wakefield MORE liason, it still came as a total surprise to me with no advanced warning that I was aware of. I'll try to find out more...

 

Sad News

Do we need any more Softball fields? I know of at least 7 within a mile of the park.

I guess Kickball and Softball players need there own fields. Sheesh, hope they like mud or have plans for astroturf.

 

to clarify

I'm not sure if they're building new fields or just more parking lots for the existing fields (hey, how about a baseball stadium while we're at it). Either way, we're going to lose some of the bowl.

Do we need any more Softball fields? I know of at least 7 within a mile of the park.

I guess Kickball and Softball players need there own fields. Sheesh, hope they like mud or have plans for astroturf.

 

Since. . .

they believe in spending grandious amounts of money on a skatepark that is guaranteed to break some bones. And being the MORE rep and all, any way they'll allow the building some obstacles/jumps, etc? Has MORE looked into that?

It really has become as close to being a paved trail out there as it could.
I'm not a hardcore rider by any means, but the only fun I had out there last week was on the one little trail in the woods by the powerlines with the small drop, log rolls, etc. Jumping over this mound of dirt between Wakefield and the tunnel to Accotink, and the most exciting part was watching the trout from the wooden bridge (it's become that bad out there)

voodoo-1

 

I agree w/ voodoo-1. First they groom the trails, then they destroy some of the only ones not groomed. Sounds like the park authority is trying to send a message.

I was thinking about this more last night, & if they are building new fields, why not build them on the wasteland area between the existing fields and the creek trail? That area has always been such a mess that nobody can enjoy it. In addition the bowl area drops down hill almost immediately, meaning they're going to have to spend tons of money leveling it out while the wasteland is flat. I'm also sure they could have found a way to expand the parking lot by the rec center instead of destroying good trail. Heck, they could increase their parking capacity just by moving the recycling bins somewhere else.

Either way this seems like a really dumb idea by the park authority. Anyone who's first choice is to destroy trail to build fields or parking lots has no business running a public park.

they believe in spending grandious amounts of money on a skatepark that is guaranteed to break some bones. And being the MORE rep and all, any way they'll allow the building some obstacles/jumps, etc? Has MORE looked into that?

It really has become as close to being a paved trail out there as it could.
I'm not a hardcore rider by any means, but the only fun I had out there last week was on the one little trail in the woods by the powerlines with the small drop, log rolls, etc. Jumping over this mound of dirt between Wakefield and the tunnel to Accotink, and the most exciting part was watching the trout from the wooden bridge (it's become that bad out there)

voodoo-1

 

I'm not sure if they're building new fields or just more parking lots for the existing fields (hey, how about a baseball stadium while we're at it). Either way, we're going to lose some of the bowl.

I just went to this site: http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/parks/feedback.htm and wrote a polite note protesting the loss of trails. Others may wish to do the same.

 

I'm not sure that this applies, but I will gladly suffer the emasculation of Wakefield's trails if it relieves any pressure to do the same at Accotink.

Doesn't it make sense to corral beginners and casual riders at Wakefield?

Doing so means less beginner traffic at Accotink, whose trails already suffer from too much lazy riding and beginner-wear.

Actually, it's not the beginners that bother me. It's the chump-change brain-donor squared-corner rear-brake-only sucker-ass-fools that enrage me.

My $.02.

 

Thanks Drewdane. I just did the same.

 

disappearing log piles

Lemme see if I can do some splainin'. A lot of damage was done to the park from Isabelle. Trees were down that you could not build anything ridable over. So someone from MORE flagged a few spots for the park authority to clean up to make the trail passable. What happened was that the park authority crew went ahead and cleared up much more than the areas that were flagged. Hence, no more log piles on the creek trail. The current park policy (I believe) is that no new obstacles can be constructed without park approval. But that naturally fallen trees can be built up (chainsawing is not natural, nor is letting a bunch of beavers loose). I will ask about the possibility of setting up some more technical stuff for the next scheduled workday as a temporary fix.

Now for the good news: look out for a possible IMBA redesign of the entire Wakefield trail system this year!

they believe in spending grandious amounts of money on a skatepark that is guaranteed to break some bones. And being the MORE rep and all, any way they'll allow the building some obstacles/jumps, etc? Has MORE looked into that?

It really has become as close to being a paved trail out there as it could.
I'm not a hardcore rider by any means, but the only fun I had out there last week was on the one little trail in the woods by the powerlines with the small drop, log rolls, etc. Jumping over this mound of dirt between Wakefield and the tunnel to Accotink, and the most exciting part was watching the trout from the wooden bridge (it's become that bad out there)

voodoo-1

 

Now for the good news: look out for a possible IMBA redesign of the entire Wakefield trail system this year!

Hey nowww, don't leave us hangin' like that! Did you get one of those IMBA grants? How much of a redesign are you talking here? Better drainage, I'd assume but how is anyone going to re-design that whole place?! Will the other side of the creek get used at all?

 

I know. . .

about the hurricane/chainsaw happy part.

Work on getting that approval of building up new obstacles (plenty of downed trees to use out there. If they can build up that huge skatepark. . .we should be able to pile up a few downed trees and thorw some dirt around.

An IMBA redesign would be great. . .right now it's got the same design as i-95.

voodoo-1

 

Below is the reply I received from the Park Authority today. So what's the deal with the reroute Joe?

Dear Mr. Scardaville,

The Park Authority staff at Wakefield Park have been
working with MORE
to redesign the trail loop in the area of the new
ballfields. They have
developed a new trail routing that solves some existing
problems with
the trail layout and provides almost as much mileage
within that lovely
area of the park. Prior to closing the sections of trail
that will be
impacted by the new fields, the trails will be rerouted
by a group of
volunteers - possibly sometime in the next two weekends.
You might want
to contact the local representative of MORE and volunteer
to help!

We appreciate your input and assure you that we have
considered the
impact to the trails. We don't want to lose anything
either!

Jenny Pate, Trail Coordinator
703-324-8726

 

You beat me to it!

I got the exact same reply.

Below is the reply I received from the Park Authority today. So what's the deal with the reroute Joe?

Dear Mr. Scardaville,

The Park Authority staff at Wakefield Park have been
working with MORE
to redesign the trail loop in the area of the new
ballfields. They have
developed a new trail routing that solves some existing
problems with
the trail layout and provides almost as much mileage
within that lovely
area of the park. Prior to closing the sections of trail
that will be
impacted by the new fields, the trails will be rerouted
by a group of
volunteers - possibly sometime in the next two weekends.
You might want
to contact the local representative of MORE and volunteer
to help!

We appreciate your input and assure you that we have
considered the
impact to the trails. We don't want to lose anything
either!

Jenny Pate, Trail Coordinator
703-324-8726

 

Not Sure

Jenny Pate, Trail Coordinator
703-324-8726

Not sure about any of what's going on as I'm not the Wakefield liaison, but I will put in a good word for Jenny. She is one of the few that is *really* working hard for us. She is pushing forward and making things happen.

I know there have been a lot of talks recently between the Wakefield/Accotink park rangers and the MORE board members. Not sure how much Joe has been sucked in, but looking in from the sidelines, it's been a pretty good battle...

DT

 

I saw the proposed reroute in the bowl area. It looks pretty good and should be ridable in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for workday announcements. We're losing some of the first downhill from the parking lot but really not as much as I originally thought.

Also, have any of you been riding the little bit of new trail by the tennis courts? Looks like it's settling in nicely.

 

New trail by the tennis courts? I've been missing that. If you're facing the tennis courts, from the parking lot, which side is it on? Are you talking about the fix with the rocks you guys did on the last workday by the creek? That's working out really well

Well, it sounds like the new stuff in the bowl should be interesting and I'm glad we're not losing too much.

Do you know when they're going to start working on the new softball fields? And will we be able to still ride over there while the work is going on? If not, how long are they saying to wait?

 

new trail

From the parking lot, go up fireroad behind the recycling bins and between 495 and the tennis courts. Ride past the monkey bars and look for a teeny weeny path going up the overgrown pile of dirt to your left. It's right after the bridge entrance. Kinda hard to spot if you're not looking for it. Only about a 1/4 mile of fun, but we'll take what we can get.

As for the rest of your questions: I don't know, I just work here.

New trail by the tennis courts? I've been missing that. If you're facing the tennis courts, from the parking lot, which side is it on? Are you talking about the fix with the rocks you guys did on the last workday by the creek? That's working out really well

Well, it sounds like the new stuff in the bowl should be interesting and I'm glad we're not losing too much.

Do you know when they're going to start working on the new softball fields? And will we be able to still ride over there while the work is going on? If not, how long are they saying to wait?

 

Not sure about any of what's going on as I'm not the Wakefield liaison, but I will put in a good word for Jenny. She is one of the few that is *really* working hard for us. She is pushing forward and making things happen.

DT

I'll second that. She is the one I dealt with last year, to try to do some work to the Colt's nect section of the CCT. She is pretty much in charge of the whole CCT. She was willing to set up a time and come walk sections of the trail with me to determine what we could go. It never happened because of that little anomoly we had, called hurricane Isabelle.

 

From the parking lot, go up fireroad behind the recycling bins and between 495 and the tennis courts. Ride past the monkey bars and look for a teeny weeny path going up the overgrown pile of dirt to your left. It's right after the bridge entrance. Kinda hard to spot if you're not looking for it. Only about a 1/4 mile of fun, but we'll take what we can get.

As for the rest of your questions: I don't know, I just work here.

Ah, very cool, I always wondered if anything was back there. I'll have to go check it out the next time I'm out there. Thanks!

 

Joe, it looks like they've already started cutting new trails back in the bowl. Are we allowed to start using them yet? I was out there yesterday and they were so fresh looking, I was afraid to go on them but I could see tire tracks from other riders so I wasn't sure if I could ride it or not.

Cheers,
Kristina

 

on a similar subject. . .

Although it's not really related to the trails. . .it is related to Wakefield.

So, I went for a quick ride this evening (630ish), and popped out of the trail near the sub-station (or whatever that big flux capacitor thing is) and this guy is running with his pants down. He pulls them up as I get closer, and pass on by. I hit the woods again, and pop out at the top of the hill to see this same guy running with his pants down again.

The first time was cool. . .I just went with maybe they slipped down since I have a problem that my pants are always falling down (lack of ass to keep them up). . .but to see it a second time was definitely odd. What the hell is up with that? Anyone else ever run into freaky crap like that, or do you go for naked runs in a busy park?

If you want to run naked, at least go somewhere that there aren't a ton of bikers, and other runners out (especially at the time when most of them are out).

voodoo-1 (damn natureboy better look out for poison ivy)

 

naked people and such

I was out for a ride on the C&O a few months back and saw a naked woman about 50 yards off the trail. She appeared to be meditating. She was in the same lotus position about an hour later when I saw her again on my return trip.

Although it's not really related to the trails. . .it is related to Wakefield.

So, I went for a quick ride this evening (630ish), and popped out of the trail near the sub-station (or whatever that big flux capacitor thing is) and this guy is running with his pants down. He pulls them up as I get closer, and pass on by. I hit the woods again, and pop out at the top of the hill to see this same guy running with his pants down again.

The first time was cool. . .I just went with maybe they slipped down since I have a problem that my pants are always falling down (lack of ass to keep them up). . .but to see it a second time was definitely odd. What the hell is up with that? Anyone else ever run into freaky crap like that, or do you go for naked runs in a busy park?

If you want to run naked, at least go somewhere that there aren't a ton of bikers, and other runners out (especially at the time when most of them are out).

voodoo-1 (damn natureboy better look out for poison ivy)