Nashville, TN: Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew croons over new singletrack

This city isn't just about the finest in country music, but fine trails, too.

Sunny spring weather and fun rock outcroppings made for a pleasant ride at Hamilton Creek Park.
The Nashville crew takes a break for lunch and to pose for a group shot before heading out for trail work.
State Trails Coordinator Gary Patterson showed his enthusiasm for the future of mountain biking in Tennessee by lending his ear and his muscle to meetings and trail construction alike.
A rock sling comes in handy! Plentiful and sizable slabs of limestone and granite served as retaining wall for an insloped turn. Local rubble and gravel, combined with harder to find soil, will provide drainage for water and a smooth ride through the turn.
These cedars along the downhill side of the turn help to keep the retaining wall in place.
Excavated and replaced moss lines the trail and will readily take hold on the adjacent rocks.
It can be a challenge to define the trail in open, flat areas. As the trail passes through the open glades, rock cribbing and cairns line the tread to keep users on the trail and protect the fragile plant life.
Riders take a break at Hamilton Creek Park to investigate a common trailside "found art" feature.

The Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew visited the Country Music Capitol during March 3-6th for the second of three Trailbuilding Schools in the Volunteer State this year. Crew leaders Chris Bernhardt and Jill Van Winkle and Tennessee IMBA reps Shana Payne, Doug Culberson, and Sam Poyner met with land managers to build on the positive relationships that bicyclists have established within the city and state. With the birth of a new SORBA chapter, construction of a new trail system set to open this spring, and challenging existing trails, the Nashville chapter is poised to make an entrance onto the mountain biking stage.

While short north to south, Tennessee is nearly 450 miles across, and in that distance spans numerous distinct biogeographical regions, from the rolling, pine-oak forests in the west to the rugged Appalachian Mountains in the east. Located in the center of the state is Long Hunter State Park which has unique and fragile biota. Rare cedar glades are littered with limestone slabs and occasional pockets of cryptobiotic soils, while supporting carpets of reindeer moss and early spring wildflowers, including the threatened Tennessee Coneflower. The sustainable trail design techniques espoused by IMBA are particularly critical in ecosystems such as this.

Long Hunter is home to a new stacked loop trail system currently under construction. The trail system is set to open late this spring with a 3-mile beginner loop and a 3-4 mile intermediate loop, with plans for an additional 3-4 miles of advanced trails. The park will also feature a technical challenge area near the trailhead, for mountain bikers who want to sharpen their riding skills.

Over 30 people showed up for the Trailbuilding school and two workdays at Long Hunter, including a gang from SORBA Chattanooga, who brought with them a stocked tool trailer for plenty of good-natured dirt slinging. The seasoned Chattanoogans, along with IMBA reps Shana, Doug, and Sam, helped the Crew lead small teams on the weekend's trailbuilding projects. The result was nearly 1000 feet of new trail, including several armored sections, highlighted by a sweet insloped turn. For the weekend's encore, Dan Hensley led the Crew and volunteers on a ride through the rock gardens and twisting singletrack loops at Hamilton Creek Park.