Saturday, January 28, 2012

It's time to move some dirt! We have received confirmation that the IMBA Trail Solutions team of trail professionals are arriving this weekend to begin the construction process on the first 14-mile loop at Coldwater Mountain. Rich Edwards of Trail Solutions is the project manager, supported by Stephen Mullins and a host of other IMBA folks. They have rented a house locally and will be with us until May or June. This 14-mile loop is scheduled for completion by the end of April, 2012. Both IMBA Trail Care Crews will be at Coldwater Mountain in early March. We will be scheduling a few trail work parties leading up to and including the time the Trail Care Crews are here. After completion of this loop, IMBA will begin flagging the next loop to be constructed later in 2012 and early 2013. When completed, Coldwater Mountain will have 60+ miles of world-class purpose-built mountain bike trails and two Gravity Zones for downhillers. The access park for the entrance to this trail system will ultimately be located near historic downtown Anniston (within easy riding distance). The park is projected to have an IMBA designed and built pump track, skills park, bike washing stations, changing rooms and restrooms, and much more. Stay tuned for more updates...

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Actual trail construction at Coldwater is finally about to begin. All state and federal agency environmental clearances have been received and IMBA Trail Solutions arrives in January. Recall that approximately 15 miles of purpose-built mountain bike trail have been flagged and this loop will be what IMBA and volunteers will tackle beginning January (this is the first 15, of what will be a total of 60 miles when completed).

The goal is to have this first section completed by April 21, 2011 - which is a lofty goal. The access road has been partially paved (first few hundred yards is asphalt). The remainder of the 1 mile roadway is ready for paving, but the wet weather has delayed getting the crusher run on the surface and then the asphalt. State DOT hopes to have the crusher run down in January and the asphalt completed sometime in February or early March.

There will be many trail work parties coming up, so if you have not already, please click the link at the bottom of this page to sign up to volunteer. We will be in touch via email as soon as we have some dates. Our club (NEABA) has purchased and outfitted a large tool trailer to help with the work parties, but we hope other clubs will bring their tools as we have larger work parties. There is a chance that both IMBA Trail Care Crews will be at Coldwater in March to help meet the April goal of completion. This will be an excellent opportunity for area clubs to get TCC training AND help us at Coldwater. Read below for more general project info from the last update. Stay tuned for more information...

Coldwater Mountain bike trail development underway!

Saturday, July 30,2011 - After 11 years of efforts, the Coldwater Mountain mountain bike trail development is underway! Construction coordination and design is being directed by IMBA and SORBA. We have received a total of $600,000 in RTP grants and local matching funds to date thanks to great help from ADECA and SORBA/IMBA. The efforts are coordinated locally by our Association, NEABA, but we will need the support of cycling Associations across the region for this exciting project on this beautiful and mountainous 4,000 acre tract of protected land. The trail system will be designated an IMBA Ride Center and trails will be open only to mountain bike recreation (and hikers/runners). Coldwater Mountain is located less than one mile off of interstate 20, and is 90 miles west of Atlanta and 60 miles east of Birmingham. Recently the IMBA Trail Care Crew visited Coldwater to demonstrate sustainable trail design and construction. Click here to see photos and read the TCC summary. To date, a few miles of trail have been constructed, but are not ready for riding yet. The roadway leading to the parking area is a little less than a mile long, but has proven very challenging to build! What started as a 3 mo project has turned into a 10 month project for the State of Alabama Lands Division, who is building the road. The roadway was originally planned to be gravel, but will now be paved due to it's steep gradient. But it's a few months from being ready for driving (and thus is closed). In the meantime, IMBA's Trail Solutions has spent much time in the mountains of Coldwater scouting and laying out proposed trail routes. Approximately 10 miles of trail have been flagged and we have been waiting for the State of Alabama biologist and archeologist to "clear" the corridor for trail construction (they are ensuring there are no rare plants or historic sites in the trail corridor to be protected). We recently have received word that the biologists have given the green light and we are now hoping for the green light in the next few weeks from archeologists. Once this occurs, we are ready to accept bids from specialized trail building companies to start building trail! We expect actual trail construction to begin late fall, early winter, 2011. While the trail construction companies, with the oversight of Trail Solutions, will do much of the work, volunteers are vital to make sure the singletrack is sweet! And the more volunteer labor we have, the further our grant dollars can be stretched to get the most trails possible from this $600,000 grant. We have had many folks (from all over the place) click the link below and send us their contact info to be placed on the list of potential volunteers. If you have signed up, but not heard from us, please be patient. Our "real work" will start this fall/winter as this first 10 mile section is built. So we WILL be in touch to notify you of trail work party days.

Trail Solutions meets once per year as a group for an "Annual Meeting." The 2011 meeting was at Coldwater. Their entire crew traveled to Anniston and spent over a week at Coldwater earlier this year--walking the property and surrounding area and collaborating on some of the latest trail building techniques. It was exciting to hear their enthusiasm for this project--especially coming from a group that has worked on projects all over the world. Late in 2010, Mike Van Abel, Executive Director of IMBA and Tom Souret, Regional Director of SORBA/IMBA visited Anniston and met with community leaders. CLICK HERE to read the 11/28/10 op-ed piece written by Bob Davis, editor of the Anniston Star, following the meeting.

See below to add you name to the list to volunteer with this exciting project!

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