On Saturday, June 28th, PMBA with the tenacious support from FOW and the FPC had an extremely successful Trail Maintenance Day, on the Chestnut Hill side of the Wissahickon creek. For those who are curious of the location of the TMD, just trek a bit North of the Valley Green, in the direction of the ever-watchful Indian, not too far after the gazebo, on the ridge overlooking the creek.

The heat and humidity felt overwhelming but didn’t hamper the work as much as one may think, in fact at times, I believe, it helped our stride, increasing our determination to accomplish our goal, wheelbarrows in tow, wrenching dense rocks as wide as a car door, strategically placing them with tons of dirt, combining nature and craftsmanship, increasing the sustainability of the trail and the overall watershed in that section of the Park. 

The SK-500 was rumbling and churning up dirt under the expert skill of Dave Dannenberg, combined with the work horse Canycom, operated by a couple different volunteers, which can easily carry the volume of dirt of 5 overfilled wheelbarrows at a time, helped increase our production throughout the day. 

Thanks to all who showed up, including the two, one-armed men with slings, the Treasurer and President of PMBA, generously presenting a check of $1,600.00 to the Friends Of the Wissahickon on behalf of all PMBA members. We raised these funds at the Rally in the Valley and they will be used directly for the Sustainable Trails Initiative!!!!!!

PMBA is honored to have partners of such outstanding organizations. You can see our gratitude by our obsession to Protect the Park that offers such a vital spirit to our lives it can never fully be describe only experienced.

The June 14the Mountain Bike Beginner Clinic on Saturday, held by Rob Krotee and Karl Sheuerman, with a surprising total of 12 riders showing up for a great ride.  The majority of the riders were experienced, yet were away from riding long enough that they were "beginning" to get back into the flow again.

The weather was perfect and the trails were prime. They headed out from the Pavilion at Pachella field down “the Coyle trail” and practiced techniques for going over large logs, and then proceeded down towards the Valley Green Inn. The large group kept at a fun medium pace, making sure to be aware of hikers, horses and other riders, kept in a single line so not to crowd the trail.  Some key topics discussed were momentum, over rocks on hills, body positioning while going over obstacles, and shifting on inclines. 

Thanks to Karl for assisting on repairs of brake cables and rear derailleur adjustments. There was also a bent chain that had to have some links removed to fix. There were some stops at Demo, and some tested their skills at log riding and “log drops”.  

They did an out and back after reaching Wise Mills, it wasn’t the longest of rides, but the pace was strong for a beginner ride, with obstacles to test our skills, and a lot was learned. There was plenty of Fun for all.