off the bike – the stuff behind our DirT crew

smooth flow into technical chute

the ride into the feedzone never going to be an easy task.

we’ve added 2 sections at the bottom of the slope, incorporating a technical line and a longish contour chicken line.

the trail crew got better in these few recent day and they are really master mason when it comes to rock work.

Jason led the team on the last berm, and got a huge berm built, a berm in which we’ve attempted no brakes high speed test run,

a continuation of what’s before it.

cutting the chicken line

culvert crossing, the rock drop got to be built on top of the drain

stockpile of rocks, key to fast construction

almost done. technical line being build, and chicken line at the foreground

big berm for fast ride, no brakes!

technical rock garden, good enough for a Super D

variety of lines to be taken

lines

the Pave

The objective of the day is to complete the prototype of the rock garden.

with a reduced workforce of just 4 worker, 2 operators and two of us (Jason and me),

we managed to complete the rock garden for the first round of testing.

A view from the top, Rocks Garden in front, chicken line to the left

stonehenge

scattered rocks

read ahead while you ride, there's a few line through this

1ft drops throughout

we attempted unsupervised trail building the past 2 days, in hope certain simpler task can be done without close supervision.

the end results is about 85% satisfactory and we are glad the example made earlier can be pretty much replicated.

The old horizon hill is a water gulley, washing pebbles and sand when it rains, and is now cut 1/2 ft deep at certain section rendering some serious problem going towards YOG.

A thin slice of  pave is what we needed and in hope this should counter the granite chip riding surface in which seriously drag the rider down.

this is what we found 2 days after.

paved horizon hill

we need some soil to smoothen the ride further, should be a great section

This is going to be the toughest part of the build,  some long section of rock armor work to be worked on for the next one week.

the old descent from the horizon hill at tampines bike park requires massive rebuild, specifically a rock garden descent to the feedzone area.

with massive 1 foot deep rut running on this fall-line, we figured the only way this trail going to survive the rain is to have it rocks as part of the riding surface.

initial build, bottom of the rock pave, 3 flights of stair case like rock terrace

rock armor 101, the workers are now pavement building certified. time for more complex stuff

great use of road kerb, we've to embed some huge one as anchor

big rocks for small drops, is easier to ride it than to build it!

the easier section, top section of the rock garden

transformation in progress

While the skill mason get the rock garden going, we’ve the excavator and machinery dudes to carve turns into the slopes, things really works in parallel.

top section of the long climb embedded switchbacks

interesting white pave, the feedzone

the long climb from the bottom, rock bridge not completed.

BMX soil in position, the big berms and doubles are marked

the continuous climb requires days of work to get it right.

the crew is now pretty well trained in shaping the reversal, dips and climbs.

and switchback will be in the next menu.

Jason manages the past 2 days at Tampines and we’ve completed the lower climbs with 2 text book crown turn and a bunch of mole hill like dips.

workers got carried away with berm in the middle of the trail. some to be undone.

ridable section of the climb, some touch up to be done

crown turn nicely done

should flow nicely especially if you take the ride down!

We’ve a big team for the build today and as usual it’s best to split the team to various work area to be safe and efficient.

Jason took the machine team for the day  with the objective of soil dumping the bottom of the flume ride and get it ready to be shaped.

Machine all at a go

I lead the team of pretty skilled thai work gang, and we carve out the bottom legs of the mega climb that’s required after passing the feedzone.

a typical contour line cut and switch back will bring riders from the feedzone through about 8-9 legs of switchbacks before hitting the summit.

initial climb lines, we design it to be ridden both ways. should be a fun section

With a good afternoon spent, we managed to hand shape one of the bigger inslope turn (read:berm for the rest of you) to be ready for some test ride.

shaping the pre-turn dip

carve it, no brakes!

initial cut of the long climb

2 hours of test riding. the fun part of trailbuilding

the best looking if not the best ride thus far, with a full day earth moving, earth shaping and compacting. we’ve a nice 6 inslope turn in series, challenging riders in a fun yet physical way.

shaping the ride

Compaction is key,more compaction in the coming days

the ride

just the exit left to be done.

love test riding this section (well don't try this without the helmet folks ... )

The momentum is picking up over the past few days.

We are officially into Day 4 of the mountain biking trail building for Tampines Bike Park and we are on schedule for completion before the Mountain Bike Carnival.

With about 12 ground crew and 2 excavators, we have plenty of resources for a big trail day.

An autonomous team consisting of 1 excavator and 4 ground crew starts the rock gathering and valley clearing process, in which we expect them to toil through for another 1.5 day.

The rest of the team join us at the banana berm descent where we left off.

With Jason handling the 5 ground crew cutting the dream flume ride,

I have the excavator in punching 3 big grade reversal into the 1 ft thick organic sediment and 2 other crew helping to shape the lips for the flow.

The net work done include 3 massive reversal in which one can pump through fast before hitting a flat turn (will be banked later)

and the initial clearance for the dream flume ride on the banana berm itself.

cutting the dream flume ride

imagine the lines ...

we can only wonder how thick the organic earth can be

triple reversal in need of some tidy up - a fast fun section

the vegetation is great for various task, nice coverage for a fresh cut trail

with about 10 workers available for the day.

Jason and I split the work team so to work on two areas at the same time.

While my team work on completing the ‘Zig Climb’, Jason started the exploratory cut at the banana berm area,

effectively solve the various bottleneck when it comes to trail cutting.

clearing the organic stuff

grade reversal done massively

almost there after a few test ride

tiding up

compaction is key

it flows both ways

briefing - how grade reversal is done

a spectacular turn in the making

unfinish product - flowy upper legs and technical exit

meanwhile things taking shape at the entrance of the bike park, pipes and drainage are almost done, and the top coat will soon cover the main area.

colors of dirt

our mini entrance - BMX anyone?

the february sun really flaunt its ray the whole afternoon.

We took the trail out of the valley towards Ziggurat and build a V-section switchback upwards, taking the opportunity to train the bunch of construction crew on build techniques.

The short 30metres section should take a total of a day with the help of excavator.

Initial build of the rolling crown switchback.

after 3 hours of rock moving and excavation, the foundation of the switchback is ready for the next phase tomorrow.

meanwhile at the BMX area, the area is flatten and graded for drainage.

desert storm