Right. i dont want to be writing this, but unfortunately i have too: Due to recent events and actions undertaken by some individuals either new to the pump track or new to trails and trail etiquette has left me no choice.
Naren and Duncan put a hell of a lot of work into building the first set in the trails line and getting it working, earlier in the year they were running and running well. The amount of time, Naren especially, had put into getting the lip just right was an impressive display of perfectionism.
Unfortunately the weather has been so bad this summer, the trails have only really be running enough to try the line out a couple of times, this and other factors, such as new people coming to the track, a lack of communication between diggers and the really hit and miss weather has led to the regrettable decision to remove the first set and replace it with rollers as well as some other changes to the line. This decision great upset Naren especially. He, very understandably, feels it a complete lack of respect to is hard work. He was, at one point, so pissed off he essentially told me is was done digging at the pump track. Duncan, was just as pissed off. Those two are some of the 'originals' at the pump track. They helped take it from a place i had found and had as a pet project to something amazing that has attracted loads of riders, both 20 and 26'ers. That fact, besides the fact i had become good mates with them, is enough to piss me off.
So, what to do? well the people who took the offending decision by now, hopefully, know they have pissed people off and have learnt that it is incredibly disrespectful to remove peoples hard work without even asking wether its cool to do so, no matter what state the trails maybe in due to the weather or whatever.
I know my role in the incident, the fact i am a middle man between the new and old diggers so maybe some blame lies at my door and i have apologised to the relevent people and i hope the people involved in the demolition will come and apologise to Naren or Duncan (or both) next time they see them and we can put this regrettable period behind us.
In future if anything new is to be dug or anything changed, it has to agreed by the original diggers. Thats our privilage for putting in a hell of a lot of hard work up to this point. If you dont like what exsists already dont march in and chop and change it, think about the shear man hours that has gone into it and put yourself in the position of the the original digger and dont interfere without consulting someone who knows whats what. If you dont like the way this is done, Please feel free to go and find your own spots to dig.
Hopefully this a hiccup and doesnt spoil a cool atmosphere and the continuing development of our spot.
Rant over. Feel free to comment or come and chat to me down at the pumpie.
Thanks for reading.
George.
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3 comments:
alright boys
fair enough, i hear ya,
i guess different spots have different atmospheres and expectations of behaviour, 'unwritten rules'if you like and i guess i overstepped the mark a bit on this one.
all i can say in my defence is that i was concious of the fact that there would most likely be one last dry spell before winter (ie. this last two weeks)and was pretty desparate to get some fun trails running. i asked round the people who i had dug with there regularly, and heard no objections. time being of the essance, me (and a couple of others) put nuff spade hours in to get the line running, only to find out after 2/3 weeks of solid digging that the jumps were actually still 'in use'.
and here we are.
anyway, we're all grown men so lets just get on with things yeh?
see you down the woods
will
I see you point dude. i think it was a case of crossed wires etc.
ah balls too it. as you say, we are grown ups. dig on!
Ok i maybe a little late in this reply but i feel i really need to say what im feeling about the 'changes' and get it of my chest.
I put a lot of work into those jumps but no where near as much as naren, and for someone to come along and stick a spade in narens lip is probably the worst thing anybody can do! It shows a conplete lack of respect and no knowledge of any kind of building (and ridin) skills! every trails/riding spot in the country pretty much has the same unwritten rules, dont knock down the local diggers hard work!
Knocking down a jump and filling in the bowls when the weather is about to get bad meens your gonna have lots of lose mud which will soak up the rain and be a big boggy mess, and cause big ruts in the bowls, which is what has happened!
I dont think theres anyway me and naren can forgive whats happened, but we can get on with it and rebuild and hope something like this doesnt happen again.
I hope people understand where im coming from and we can all just get some good ridin done.
Duncan.
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