I was inspired by Arkansas Outdoor's recent post
Revisiting an Old Friend when Joe started the blog speaking what I refer to as Camp.
"Entrance to Yucca to Center to Port-A-Potty to Outer Loop to Airport Loop to 10 Bridges and out. I know, it makes no sense unless you ride mountain bikes at Camp Robinson." I suppose this occurs in other sports or anywhere people must communicate routes or reference local landmarks in some sort of abbreviated form. In the case of Camp Robinson those people are mountain bikers and the words they are speaking are the names of trails. What's interesting is the volume one can speak to another who understands Camp by simply rattling off a list of trail names.
First, the basics. In Training Area 02 on Camp Robinson, there has been a series of Mountain Bike trails for well over 20 years. Very few can provide an exact history and many are often wrong about timelines and how things have progressed over the years. What is known is that today there are close to 40 miles of trails in TA02 and those 40ish miles are divided into 25 or so named sections/trails:
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Circa 1998 This is one of the oldest maps of the trails.
Note: Berm Trail no longer exists and many of the trails
that exist today are not on the map. The trails are primarily
hand-drawn. Ten Bridges was much shorter and was called
Twin Bridges. |
- Entrance
- Zig Zag
- 5Mile
- Dogwood
- Yucca
- 10Bridges
- Christmas Tree
- Christmas Tree Extension
- Turn Turn Turn (Tx3)
- Outer Loop
- Airport
- Budha
- Ball O' Nails
- Helter Skelter
- Advanced Trig
- Porta Potty
- Elevator
- Dead Elvis
- Can O' Corn
- Merlin
- Shipwreck
- Pipeline
- Double Dip
- Freeway
- Center Road
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Circa 2003 this is one of the first GPS versions of a map of the trails in TA02 |
I am sure I missed one or more trails and arguably, some of the trails are not trails. Some of the trails were there when the mountain bikers first started riding in TA02 and the rest were built by a local club called
Central Arkansas Recreational Pedalers (CARP.)
Furthermore, the trails are connected in a network that resembles an asymmetrical spiderweb; Christmas Tree-which while it is a trail name-it also referred to an actual tree that was 'The Christmas Tree' that served as a sort of central hub to the trails. In an earlier time, it truly was like a hub but as trails were developed, only the core/original trails connect to spot where 'The Christmas Tree' used to be before the TA02 remodel. Most of the trails are connected to one another by shortcuts known as 'lanes' creating a seemingly endless number of possible combinations. Some of the trails have new sections/destroyed sections and are just a little different from how they used to be but for the most part they have stayed the same and a map can be found
here.
The complexity to which the sections are connected is where the confusion and the beauty of the trail system lies. Unlike most trail systems where a single trail is miles long, on Camp Robinson most trails are only a mile or two long. Given that the average camp rider only rides five to fifteen miles in a given ride. This means that unless one is doing laps on 5mile (which in reality is just shy of five miles in length) one must ride on multiple trails. Once one enters a trail, it may not be far before one encounters a lane that leads to another trail. Unfortunately, not all trails are marked well and it is possible to switch trails without realizing it. This past weekend we passed a group of riders on 5Mile only to meet them again on Yucca. I asked them how they had managed to get to Yucca and the first rider replied that he had no idea. However, once one is familiar with the sections and how they are connected, one can create any number of 'rides.' Rides that never take one far from a road or the parking lot. A big advantage to a mountain biker whose bike has been disabled due to a mechanical malfunction or who has to been riding with friends and must respond to a deadline or phone call.
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The creek crossing on Love Trail offers a challenge to most riders |
Like the terrain in TA02, the trails are varied and offer a smorgasbord for all who visit Camp. The trails range from very easy to very challenging. When picking and choosing trails, one can either end up with a challenging wheel tester of a route or a relaxing that-was-easy kind of ride. For example, a new camp rider might choose to ride 10Bridges, Airport Loop, Tx3, and Yucca out. This route would provide a relatively smooth eight or so miles with little change in elevation (climbing.) Or one might choose a route that includes Budha, Ball O' Nails, Advanced Trig, Outer Loop, Elevator, Dogwood, Merlin, Shipwreck, and Zig Zag. A challenging route that smokes legs with rocks the size of horse heads and momentum killing switchbacks.
By speaking Camp to one another, riders can quickly communicate the route or combination of sections they want to ride. For serious competitive riders, they may express a desired heart rate, amount of climbing, or technical skill they wish to work on in their route selection. A more recreational rider's choice reflects how much challenge they are seeking or, most likely, it represents their favorite trail or one they have not ridden in a while. In either case, it takes time to become familiar with all of the trails and what each has to offer.
Each rider must become familiar with the trail system and maintain an inventory of how each trail is divided into sections by how it connects to another trail. For example, Outer Loop is bisected by a lane that connects it to Porta Potty. Starting from Christmas Tree, the first section of Outer Loop is smooth and fast. Past Porta Potty, Outer Loop turns into a rock covered wheel testing leg burner. It is necessary when deciding a route to determine if one really wants to ride all of Outer or just a particular section.
Each trail and direction of travel on the trail has a particular (relative to the rider) value and as a route is discussed, those values are subconsciously added up and if the cumulative value exceeds the threshold for a rider on a given day, a rider may offer suggestions to ease or increase the difficulty of the route accordingly.
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| If a pace sits too long, the groove is gone. |
Most importantly, when one Camp speaker (Camper) encounters another, the ride takes on a new quality. Without fail, a ride with more than one, is called awesome. The quality is worked out in the dialogue and confusion is minimal. Especially if one Camper leads and the other marshals or herds; experienced group riders working together can read the group in addition to quickly communicating routes and facilitating flow. If the group or pace has to stop too long to discuss/explain the next section as well as debate whether the dude got lost or not, the groove just sort of leaves the scene and everyone realizes how sweaty and tired they are and conversations turn to heading back to the truck.
Camp is confusing and figuring out a route can be very frustrating for those who know the trails and those who do not know. Usually the conversation goes something like this:
Camper: "So what do you want to ride today?"
nonCamper: "I don't care, I like Dead Elvis."
Camper: "How do you want to get there?"
nonCamper: "Whatever is fine."
Camper: "How about Zig Zag, drop down Shipwreck, Can O' Corn to Dead Elvis?"
nonCamper: "Sounds good, is Can O' Corn muddy?"
Camper: "Wet in places, but it's in pretty good shape. What do you want to do after Dead Elvis?"
nonCamper: "I don't know, what connects to Dead Elvis?"
Camper: "Well, we can do Ball O' Nails or Flatlands to Elevator, or if you are feeling really frisky, we can do Advanced Trig."
nonCamper: "You can do Advanced Trig but not me! I guess Ball O' Nails."
Camper: "Long side or short side of Budha?"
nonCamper: "Whichever, I am following you."
versus a Camper to Camper conversation:
Camper1: "So what do you want to ride today?"
Camper2: "I am feeling pretty good and I haven't been on Advanced Trig in awhile, so how about Zig Zag, down Shipwreck, Can O' Corn, Ball O' Nails, Budha counterclockwise to Advanced Trig, Flatlands clockwise, up Elevator, Porta clockwise to Outer, and Ten Bridges out."
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5Mile clockwise, to Yucca, to Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree Extension Clockwise,
Christmas Tree to Porta Potty Clockwise, lane to Outer Loop (easy side) to Ten Bridges out. |
I am not sure how long it takes to learn the names and to develop an inventory. I know that it pays huge dividends to participate in route conversations and to ride alone with a map. However, I highly recommend that one start with a Camper who is willing to mentor and who takes the time to stop frequently and ensure that the new Camper understands where they are.
Unfortunately, those who speak Camp seem to be more rare today than ever. There was a time when the CARP group was very active and rode at Camp Robinson regularly. Most of those guys seem to have adopted road bikes on the River Trail as their new poison. I rarely see any of the original CARP guys except for Basil on the trails and I see Basil more frequently than anyone else. Others were motivated by the races on Camp and were only familiar with the trails that were a part of some race course. Now that the races have gone, so have those who were seeking to pre-ride the course. A few of us have spent a lot of time
maintaing the trails and the culture of Camp. New riders are showing up and some of the old riders are rediscovering what the trails of Camp Robinson have to offer. Guys like Joe.
