State of the Dirt: Spring 2022

 

Thanks for your support of Falls Area SingleTrack! 

We’re looking forward to continuing our mission to protect, create and enhance quality trail experiences for mountain bikers in cooperation with other trail users in the Sioux Falls area during the 2022 season!

Our goal for 2022 is to be more diligent and more engaged with community interaction moving forward. That being said, be on the lookout on our social channels and website for trail building and maintenance opportunities. We will be bringing back community volunteer sessions this year. (Finally!)

 

What have we accomplished in the last two years? A ton! Here are the key take-aways:

 

FAST is now a 7 member board.

Photos of FAST board members.

Current board members include:

Ben Blomberg, President

RP Dezell, Vice-President

Thad Barnes, Treasurer

Tuesday Vander Weide, Secretary

Jim Massa, City Liaison

Reva Graves, Marketing/Communications Director (not pictured)

Brad Blomberg, Board Member-At-Large

 

The Trail boss program

Because we all have differing availability, and strengths, and because of the decreased number of our board, we are in the beginning stages of adding a trail boss program to FAST. What does this mean? ALL of the fun trail building and maintenance and none of the politics. FAST is developing this program to foster the next generation of FAST board members. This program allows for hands-on experience with trail building, maintenance, group session leadership, community engagement, training, and policy knowledge that is associated with our organization. A trail boss is assigned to a specific park and their responsibility is to scout, manage and assist board members with the needs of the trail system. 

Andrew Hoy has graciously allowed us to make him our guinea pig with this program and we are hoping to implement this in other park trail systems in the near future. 

If this is something that you are interested in, please get in touch.

 
Photos of building trail. Resurfacing a bridge and installing trail signs.

Leaders Park

  • We resurfaced 2 large bridges that are now wider and feature steel uprights to support the guard rails.

  • We have added more signage and trail maps to the trail.

  • We have added a new section of trail to the south part of the park. That will give you an additional, more challenging option for climbing out of the trail system.

 
Photo of Yankton Trail Park singletrack trailhead.

Yankton Trail Park

We continue to maintain trails at Yankton Trail Park. Everything is looking good and riding great.

 
Photo of FAST trail crew building a bridge.

Tuthill Park

After the original TrailArts build that was finished up in 2020, we have:

  • Added in additional trail to the river bottom

  • Added a more advanced hand-built line along the hillside closer to the river.

  • We are planning to replace the main drainage bridge and several others with an upgraded bridge design that will be studier and better suited to handle the water flow within the park.

 
Photo of trail work at Legacy Park.

Legacy Park

There is singletrack on the west side now! Heck Yeah! We have added around 3 miles of trail. This trail is a machine-built, multi-use trail system, twisting through flat terrain in a small grassy open area along the Sioux Falls bike path. This trail is perfect for beginner mountain bikers, runners, and hikers to enjoy year-round and features mostly natural dirt surfaces.

 
Photos of trail work at Spencer Park.

Spencer Park

We have added in a hand-built trail, twisting through tight trees along the Big Sioux River. This trail is great for practicing your balance and bike handling skills and features natural dirt surfaces, tight corners, stumps, rocks, log rollovers, and more.

 
Photo of trail at Pasley Park.

Pasley Park

We are continuing to work on adding in singletrack along the river in this park. We have been engaging the Lincoln High School mountain biking team for this build. The kids are really excited to participate in the build and willing to learn how to make a sustainable trail. We are thankful for their eagerness to learn and we are pumped to be able to share our knowledge with the next generation of mountain bikers. This trail is not 100% completed but will be finished up this season. We will continue to update you on the progress.

 
Photo of trailcrew working at Dunham Park.

Dunham Park

What? There’s even more trail on the west side? 

We are super excited to open this section of trail very soon. Trail boss, Andrew Hoy, and his west side trail crew have been putting in hard work and long hours to finish this trail up. Andrew has been a crucial part of making this trail come to life. We appreciate his willingness to take on this project. If you see him out in the wild, be sure to give him a big FAST high five and thank him for his work. We will continue to update you on the progress and will hopefully be opening this trail up to the public very soon.

 

Great Bear

Photo of Mayor Paul TenHaken tweet about FAST.

As you know, back in 2021, our friend the mayor tweeted this:

“People have asked for years about singletrack bike use at @greatbearsf Today, I signed off on the agreement to go before council for future trail work in partnership with Falls Area Single Track (FAST)” @paultenhaken

We are so happy to have his support on this potential project. FAST will be applying for IMBA's Trail Accelerator Grant Program to help fund the planning and design for this project. We'll know by early August if the project is selected and will open up some opportunities to coordinate with trail building professionals.

 
25 by 25 logo

25 by 25

So with all these new trails, where does that leave us on our goal of 25 miles of trails by 2025. With all of the additions, we are at around the 15-mile mark.

 

Trail etiquette and policy

FAST trail etiquette is the following:

  • All FAST trails are closed during wet conditions

  • No unauthorized trail changes or additions

  • Stay on designated trails

  • Obey all signs, gates, and barriers

  • Leave no trace, pick up your trash and pet waste

  • No motorized vehicles

  • No horses

  • Plan ahead, bring water, tools, a pump, and wear a helmet

  • Yield to all trail users

  • Yield to uphill riders

  • Never scare animals

  • No hammocks over the trail

 

We have seen a large increase in inquiries about eBikes, OneWheels, and electric scooters on the trail. FAST’s policy always aligns with the city of Sioux Falls on these matters. There are no motorized vehicles allowed on ANY trails with the exception of Class 1 eBikes. See the policy here:

Sioux Falls Bicycling & Recreational Trail Ordinances https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/siouxfalls/latest/siouxfalls_sd/0-0-0-55313

If you happen to run into an individual on any unauthorized motorized device, please nicely inform them of this policy. We want to be a positive force for the sport of mountain biking and they may not be aware of this rule. For a full list of FAST trail rules, and etiquette for each trail system, visit our website. We have also put together this great article about spreading positivity on the trail you can view that here.

 
Bike and Gear Swap Poster Art.

Bike & Gear Swap

The swap continues to grow and was a great success in terms of networking and fundraising. This year it was hosted on the patio at Remedy. 25 vendors braved the cold and the wind with us that day as we sold our bikes and outdoor gear. Around $800 was raised for FAST.


 

Tools/Equipment

Since our last state of the dirt, we have continued to stack our arsenal of trail-building tools. Due to the generous support from FAST members and local business sponsors, we have added the following:

  • Grillo tractor with attachments

  • A trailer for storing and hauling our equipment

  • Plate packer

  • Saws

  • Trimmers

  • Blowers

  • Power tools

  • Rogue Hoes

  • Rakes

All of these have been essential tools for us and our builds the past two years. We could not have made so much progress without them.  

 

RTP Grant

FAST was awarded a Federal Recreational Trails Program Grant in 2020. We are planning to use these funds to upgrade 4 bridges at Tuthill Park this spring.

 

Events

Follow our social media channels for updates on upcoming rides, volunteer sessions, and other events happening throughout 2022. Some may include:

  • Trail Maintenance

  • Trail Ribbon Cuttings

  • Sioux Falls Mountain Bike Races @ Tuthill Park

  • Trail Challenge

  • Take a Kid Mountain Biking

  • Fundraising Events

 

Website

If you haven’t noticed already, we have a new website! Be sure to browse around.

 

Swag

We still have hats, stickers, and shirts available to purchase. Get in touch with a FAST board member, email us at fallsareasingletrack@gmail.com or purchase one online through our website store.

 

Membership

There is strength in numbers. FAST continues to be an independent 501c3 non-profit organization. We are a volunteer-driven, membership-based organization that relies on membership dollars to cover operating costs. All of our work is performed by dedicated volunteers, but the tools, materials, insurance, equipment rental, and a thousand other necessary items all cost money. Your support helps us make strategic investments that will ease the cost of maintenance and allow us to plan and develop new mountain bike trails in the Sioux Falls area. 

Falls Area Singletrack is a chapter of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA). We have taken the steps in aligning with IMBA and unifying a worldwide mountain biking movement. Organizations more closely connected to IMBA have an increased level of support for sustaining our local group's infrastructure including joint membership. A FAST membership is also automatically a membership with IMBA. 

Membership processing through IMBA is now $39 for a membership fee per member per year or $50 per year for a family membership. There is also a monthly membership option for as low as $5 per month. Join or renew your membership today!

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8 Easy Ways To Spread Positivity On The Trails