Upkeep of Infrastructure

This week we are clearing and cleaning the bicycle trail that will be used in the mountainbikeing weekend this comming saturday.
We have to make sure that:

• Ther are no branches hanging in the road from above (because cyclists tend to stand when they go through a particularly difficult patch)
  
• There are no branches stuckning into the road from the sides.
• That there are no old stumps in the road (from previosly chopped down trees) that can dammage tires or cause a serios injury if a cyclist falls.
• That all the Aarvark holes are closed up.
• That all the ruts caused by the constant use of the roads by Quads are filled and scraped.
• That there are no thorns in the road.

We are also makking a new road in between two koppies for a more scenic route. This is so much more work, we have to:

• Map out the new route just above or just below the rocky ridge that runs between the koppies (this is becuase there is more veggetaation on the ridge but just below or above it there is less vegetation)
• Log the GPS coordinates so that we can find the route again later.
• Walk the new route to familiarise ourselfs with it.
• going along the route and clearing chopping brushcutting and cleaning as we go along so that we dont have to backtrack later.

Equiptment we are using:

• Rakes-toremove thorns that fell on the road after chopping.
• Pangas-top chop away branches ahead and to the sides.
• Axes-to chop big branches and trees that are in the way as well as the stumps of previosly chopped trees that are in the road.
• Shovels-to fill ruts and holes
• Brushcutters-to cut grass and shrubs.

Safety equiptment we are using:

• Goggles
• Gloves
• Shin protection