The "Grand Loop" at Potters continues to develop. We've almost finished the first section on the south end of the property and are now laying out the northern section. The difficulty was finding a way up to the ridge that didn't involve substantial hiking. We stumbled upon another older cow path that has been out of use for some time. It should be easily climbable by a rider of average fitness. Once on the ridge, the trail will follow the contour of the land and drop in and out many "finger canyons". We expect this section of trail to add another 5-6 miles to the perimeter loop. 
Signage has always been a problem at the pasture. The trails are numerous, plus the critters and elements are always a factor. Wooden signs always get knocked down when cows rub against them. In short, it has been almost impossible to maintain adequate signage. We brainstormed a number of different options and then it hit us - cow ear tags on metal posts! (thanks to Paul and Larry for the idea) If we cut the posts off at about 4' in height, they will be too low for the cows to scratch on them. If we used a new numbering and color system identified by ear tags attached to the posts, they will be durable and will easily correspond to a map and difficulty level.
10 comments:
Cool idea, and I imagine fairly cheap and easy to implement.
That perimeter trail sounds like fun.
A grand loop at Potter's sounds like just the thing I need to train on for next year's Dakota 5-Ohhh, judging from my results this year! LOL!
Its a very sweet loop !!! Llama & I guesstimate 15 or more miles !! I will be shot when all this is built !!
You guys get some snow? I'm out west next weekend and would love get in a few laps.
Robb
We just got a dusting of snow and a slight bit of rain. Most of the snow went north west of us. The trails are still in good shape. Let us know when you plan to ride and we can meet you out there.
What a blog! I was there at the start of Potters. I even put on a race or two! MG won the first one! I think it was in 1996. Anyway good to see the old hunting ground. I'm sure a lots changed in the last 10 years or more. I think I have some old pictures from back in the day if your would like. e-mail me scottwente(at)gmail[dot]com
Thanks again for the blog.
Scott
Man, I remember that race... That was a long time ago and Potter's was all brand new back in 1996. That was the summer Larua and I got married and I was racing a Y-bike on the Trek grassroots team... Those were good times.
Scott, are you still in the North Platte area? Still riding? I sure hope so. Man, it's been a long, long time, but I look forward to our paths crossing at some point soon. It'll be good to catch back up with you.
I'd love to see pictures from that race...
Cheers,
MG
Scott, great to hear from you! I always wonder about the guys who pioneered riding out here. Every once in a while we stumble upon an old overgrown trail that was cut out of the cedars many years ago. It might be a great topic for a series of articles to cover the history of this place. We'll have to talk.
Kyle
P.S. How did you find the blog?
I saw a post on the FFL to the Paxton peleton follow that and almost crapped myself when I saw a Potter Pasture bolg.
You have no idea of all the good memory's that place has. I think the core group has done a great job of keeping it going. That is the best place to ride in Nebraska!!
Easy to find and all levels of riding. Damn I MISS IT!!!
Scott
Hey Scott - You weren't there at the start. You were the start!! It's still the same old pasture, only better. Lots more trails but everything still pretty much loops off the basic trails that you and Steve worked up many years ago.
Hope to see you at Frostbike??!!
Chad, what a great blog for our favorite little piece of heaven. Good writing and good pictures although we could use a few less pix of the fat guy!!
The railroad has been screwing up my Sunday rides for the last month or so. Hope to see you on the trails very soon.
George
Post a Comment