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Offline firebiker

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Question on SWAMP trails
« on: May 17, 2007, 10:52:46 PM »
How did all the SWAMP trails come to be? Were you all approached by the folks at Alafia, Boyette and Croom? Or did you come to them with the idea? What does it take to have more areas created. (Besides the odvious sweat and labor) What were the legal obstacles. I have a place that I would love to see some single track. The county for which I work is planning "bike paths." But with the projected budget shortfall it is unlikely.
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Offline Garry

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2007, 11:08:42 PM »
Quote from: firebiker on May 17, 2007, 10:52:46 PM
How did all the SWAMP trails come to be? Were you all approached by the folks at Alafia, Boyette and Croom? Or did you come to them with the idea? What does it take to have more areas created. (Besides the odvious sweat and labor) What were the legal obstacles. I have a place that I would love to see some single track. The county for which I work is planning "bike paths." But with the projected budget shortfall it is unlikely.

Mostly from invites to build trails on the properties.  It takes a willingness for the land managers to have the trails put in.  Alafia personel has been very generous in helping build the trails there.  Morris Bridge also gets a helping hand from staff.  Croom and Boyette club volunteers pretty much do it all.
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Offline firebiker

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2007, 09:31:11 PM »
Do you have any advice on how to get the ball rolling on something like that? The park was the former landfill. It closed in about 1994 I think.
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Offline SandPine

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2007, 10:15:41 PM »
From reading the Ridge Riders forum, I know they got invited to come give advice to a new park going up somewhere east of Lakeland.  I think they were just asked to come give advice and not necessarly come out to build the trails and mantain them.

Could a formal invitation be given to SWAMP official to come in and give advice?  I know all the SWAMP leaders are up to their eyeballs on other things but it may not hurt for someone to send an official invitation.

How about IMBA, how does one contact them to come give advice to build IMBA saction trails or whatever they call it?
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Offline firebiker

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2007, 08:08:57 AM »
It's something I'd like to explore. From Sarasota, I'm looking at about an hour drive time to Alafaia and Boyette. So I'm lucky if I get there once a week. And I wish I could devote more time to trail maintaince. But now with the baby my time is limited. I'm in the house by the computer more than outside. So, I would love to see some kind of trail system down here.
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Offline Garry

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2007, 10:15:32 AM »
Quote from: firebiker on May 18, 2007, 09:31:11 PM
Do you have any advice on how to get the ball rolling on something like that? The park was the former landfill. It closed in about 1994 I think.

It can be a little tough sometimes getting things started.  There is a lot of information through IMBA's website about procedures and tips on how to get started.  SWAMP maintains over 100 miles of trails as it is and some workdays are pretty hard to get enough volunteers to take care of keeping them up, rerouting, and adding new trails.  If there is a bike club nearby that could spearhead the effort that would be great.  Not saying SWAMP wouldn't want or be willing to help out - just that the more trails that get added, the more volunteer base is needed.  Local bike shops, Boy Scouts, combination of hikers/cyclists/equestrian user groups can band together.  Whatever it takes to show numbers of interested people to get land managers to take notice.  Hope this helps.
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Offline firebiker

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2007, 10:50:16 AM »
Yeah. I understand. It's tough to rely entirely on volunteers. It's really amazing the job they do. They do so much. I was just thinking that perhaps with some trails to the south it would increase membership. As far as other clubs go, there are none that can compare to SWAMP. I'm a member of IMBA as well but I think what drives the local trails are the local people.
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Offline Garry

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #7 on: May 19, 2007, 03:13:53 PM »
No doubt the locals are what keeps a club and trails going.  I was just saying that IMBA has some ideas that can help out or insight in opening new trails and how to approach land managers.
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Offline firebiker

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #8 on: May 19, 2007, 04:32:20 PM »
Thanks. I'm going to research this further.
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Offline EllsRider

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2007, 05:06:30 PM »
Downhill course anyone ? If you build it, they will come.  Landfills usually have some decent hills, a fourcross course would be the shiz-nickles!
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Offline firebiker

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Re: Question on SWAMP trails
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2007, 07:08:35 PM »
This one is 93 feet at the top. It is grass covered. There is an r/c plane field there. We use it sometimes to find locations of brushfires. Everytime I'm up there all I can think about is what it would look like with a ribbon of singletrack.
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