Status updates for local trails and mountain bike venues/rides

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Permalink Reply by Snakehips on July 3, 2010 at 22:43

Hey Iain,

I know the functionality you mean on nobmob.com. That site is where I met my Sydney riding buddies & got me thinking about setting up The Berm when I got to Canberra. The trail status thing is a good idea, it's something I've thought about and would love to canvass others' opinions on how it could be done. However for me the format used on nobmob isn’t ideal for a couple of reasons:

1) The status given to a trail on any given day is subject to the thought process of the person who’s updating it. For example on nobmob right now, Manly Dam is at status Amber, and the comment associated with the trail status is: “Quite a few puddles, and needing some work in places. Debatably ridable..”. Now I know Manly Dam and it’s either dry/damp and rideable, or when it gets too wet the council close it off to mountain bikers. So would I drive for an hour (as many Sydneysiders must) to ride an Amber Manly Dam tomorrow? I would, but others might be put off because of the status.

How would Majura have been graded the week after Capital Punishment? I would think Red, or at least Amber, but in fact I’ve been told by people who rode it the weekend after that it was fine apart from a few squidgy corners, so maybe Green?

2) Statuses only get updated when someone rides a track and takes the time to update the website. So if someone goes to a track and puts the trail on Amber or Red because a creek is too high to cross (eg Anderson’s firetrail in the Blue Mountains, or maybe Vanitys Crossing in the Brindies here), the trail’s status won’t change until the next time someone a) goes to that trail (if they indeed do, because of the status!) and b) remembers to update the website when they get home.

3) The functionality that the technology platform The Berm uses has limitations, but there are ways and means I would think..

The ideal scenario is that I quit my job, go ride Canberra’s tracks every day and update The Berm myself so that there’s a consistent report. Unfortunately financial constraints prevent that. If there are people out there that ride trails every day and can do the job voluntarily, that would be an excellent alternative! I do think there’s got to be a way to provide an up to date, objective status on our trails, it’s just a question of how that happens. I’m hoping to get to the stage not too far down the track where the Trails section is totally ramped up, with meaningful status data interspersed with route descriptions, maps etc..Have a look at the Whistler Bike Guide trails section to see how this can look..

As before, this is a good time to ask for ideas… Get ‘em in! And thanks for getting me to think about it a bit more Iain. Cheers!

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Permalink Reply by Richard Douglas on July 6, 2010 at 10:29

Great idea.

I only get the hear on the old grapevine about the condition of the local tracks, especially when it comes to the devastation and limited number of tracks available at Sparrow Hill.

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Permalink Reply by Michael D Hanslip on July 9, 2010 at 14:32

Hey Morgan,
if there was a "forum" for each trail site, and the entries are dated, and if you wrote an intro to each area, then you would end up with an ongoing process whereby someone goes to ride trail X and comments on the site and a week later because of the date you know that it is probably no longer relevant even though it is the last comment offered.

For Stromlo the blurb would read to the effect that the place dries out quite quickly, but persistent rain and heavy rain leaves mushy spots that one needs to be careful of. And that really heavy rain we had earlier this year washed the bridge on the backside out completely so it is not invulnerable to big weather.
Then when I put in an update saying on Tuesday I found Slick Rock unrideable because of the wet conditions you would look at the dry weather we've had since then and conclude that tomorrow it would probably be OK.

Might be a worthwhile thing if the plethora of members to The Berm get in the habit of contributing, and if you can make your initial description post "sticky" while the rest of the forum shows newest first.

Maybe?

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Permalink Reply by Snakehips on July 21, 2010 at 22:36

Michael D Hanslip said:

Hey Morgan,
if there was a "forum" for each trail site, and the entries are dated, and if you wrote an intro to each area, then you would end up with an ongoing process whereby someone goes to ride trail X and comments on the site and a week later because of the date you know that it is probably no longer relevant even though it is the last comment offered.

For Stromlo the blurb would read to the effect that the place dries out quite quickly, but persistent rain and heavy rain leaves mushy spots that one needs to be careful of. And that really heavy rain we had earlier this year washed the bridge on the backside out completely so it is not invulnerable to big weather.
Then when I put in an update saying on Tuesday I found Slick Rock unrideable because of the wet conditions you would look at the dry weather we've had since then and conclude that tomorrow it would probably be OK.

Might be a worthwhile thing if the plethora of members to The Berm get in the habit of contributing, and if you can make your initial description post "sticky" while the rest of the forum shows newest first.

Maybe?

Looking into something similar to this but hopefully better Michael. Not being a computer nerd is no problem with a Ning site, but it does have limitations. However I believe I may be able to get the trails section up to scratch soon. Stay tuned...

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