Chuck has been volunteering at the San Felasco hammock intermittently since it was first opened to bicycles and has been involved for the last five or six years with the volunteer effort to maintain them. “I remember working on the Tung nut trail when it was being made, and I was there when the fence was put up at the bicycle trail head. I ride at San Felasco usually three times a week, at least a couple of hours each time. If I’m going to spend so much time doing something, it only makes sense to spend a bit more to make it more fun”.
During the rides, we are frequently coming across areas on the trails that need some sort of improvement, this is a topic of frequent discussion on the rides. Then the volunteer workday is the opportunity to put thoughts into action. I like the trails to be fun, fast, and safe. This certainly does not happen by itself, but require some effort. I look forward to each workday, and the opportunity to make the park better, make it more fun to ride there, and bring more people out to the trails.
Chuck’s latest project has been putting some berms on some of the sharp and awkward turns to make them more fun. “I greatly enjoy hearing from other riders their thoughts about this project. I also enjoy doing mechanical maintenance and consider myself an amateur mechanic. I spend a fair amount of time maintaining the equipment that the CSO and the park uses to maintain the trails, such as sharpening chainsaws, maintaining the mowers, and I am about to start doing the maintenance on all of the off-road vehicles that are used on work days, to try to eliminate the cost of dealership maintenance. I do all this because I love having the park here, and I love being a part of the support structure for the trails. The other volunteers are great, they are all here because they love having the trails here, and they enjoy taking care of them.”
If you’re like Chuck and enjoy the using the park’s trail systems and would like to volunteer your time to help maintain and improve them, join us Saturday, April 9th @ 8:30a at the CSO park headquarters. Lunch will be provided and a good time is guaranteed!