TRAKS Day : In Support of KLMBH and Enduro at Bukit Kiara

Last Sunday, September 1, 2013 saw a group of mountain-bikers and hikers helping out at the TRAKS day out at Bukit Kiara. A "Notice of Work" were issued on TRAKS' webpage on Thursday and this time around, the turn-up were good. 

Melody updated on her FB on the TRAKS outing

It was a Sunday and I usually have my longer run in the morning. But as TRAKS day out doesn't happen often, missing a day running is not a big issue. For myself and many others, it is a great chance to learn about trail maintenance and be involved in the social part of the activity - knowing fellow trail users and responsible trail usage. 

With the KLMBH and Enduro Asia happening in September, there is no better reason or excuse to not maintain Bukit Kiara. I run Bukit Kiara frequently and I am part of the symbiotic system between Human-Nature at this place. Giving back to Kiara is easy and all it require is a few hours and some willingness to do the work.

The main focus of the TRAKS day out was, per TRAKS' webpage:

1. The climb out of Taman Lembah Kiara (re-armoring to ensure that mere mortals have a better chance or riding it!).
2. The first switchback on Lungbuster.
3. Triple terrace (fixing the armoring).

I arrived just in time for the work to begin. With about 2hours to spare, I joined the group to work on the climb out. This in my opinion was the most damaged part of the trail that are often used (as it is the trail head) and least maintained. For the record, I've rolled down (read: fell) from the top of the climb to the bottom where the small stream is. Perhaps it is high time to pay tribute to this section and bury (no pun intended) all bad things that happened here. 

March 2013. This part of trail has been damaged badly since. Yes, I've rolled from the top to the bottom rather ungracefully

Further up the trail, sign of erosion in March 2013.

This part of the trail has seen neglect and erosion, mostly because mountain bikers avoided riding on the stones and went off track riding down and dragging their brakes. This action is most uncool as the dragging of rear wheels down will inevitably causes rut to form and erosion to take place. The photo above was in March 2013 when I reviewed the GoTrail. The photo below, taken before the trail work started, showed a badly damaged trail.

The trail on the left and right has grown from 6 inches to 18inches!

And the depth of the rut is at least shin-high or right below the knee.

Major repair needs to be done. Pronto.

The work started with everyone clearing the trail off any loose leaves and branches. The real damage can better be assessed. Once that is done, a lot of muscle work need to be done by everyone to start collecting stones, and we are not talking about pebble sized stones, but big @$$-ed sized to "re-pave" the trail.

Many Hands Make Light Work

Having an Expat the size of HULK, helps...

Re-paving the trail is like a jigsaw puzzle work. Soil and stones are collected and moved manually. 

The teamwork shown by everyone present were superb that the restoration took less than the expected 4-hours. Delegation of duty were "automatic" as it seems everyone knows what they should be doing, and how it will be done. A lot of self-initiative were shown.

Collecting rocks that using shopping bags. Loads of "human-powered" work

Kids can help too. Starting them young. My kids will come next round

The results after 3-hours? Here! 

That left side restored with NO gaps! How is that for hard work by the team?

Superb. Now all ready for KLMBH and Enduro!

The TRAKS day managed to "fix" this and the Triple-Terrace. I am not too sure if the first switchback on Lungbuster was fixed. Will wait for TRAKS' update on their page to confirm.

Stay tuned on this blog for future TRAKS Day. Thank you to all that came and helped.