I woke up at 330 am and after the mundane thoughts quieted down and my mind focused on the creatures singing outside, the idea of a parking lot came.
South West Field - that would be a great parking lot for all the mountain bikers.
It was never a great pasture field, kind of sandy, so maybe in a rainy time it wouldn’t get too muddy. It’s right on the road, so easy access. It is relatively flat, and only starts to slope down at its northern edge. The Northern edge is wooded and is a steep slope down to a little creek. The western edge of the field is the property line. The Southern edge is Austin Rd. There’s a fence along both these lines. Road fence would need to come down and a driveway chosen. I believe a driveway could be built somewhere along that southern line. The Eastern edge of the field is the orchard with a beautiful grape arbor giving Concord grapes, and about 6 apple trees and a pear tree.
I don’t love the idea of a parking lot, but I understand it’s necessary and I definitely want people to come to the farm, so this is an ideal place. It’s probably the only piece of the farm that could be given over to cars and we really haven’t lost anything. It was cut for hay in 2021, and maybe also in 2022, so there are not any trees and fewer rose bushes than anywhere else. It’s the only piece of the farm that has been cut for hay in 30 years.
At the North East corner of the field there’s a path down a hill into a barn yard. I’m imagining bikes unloading in the parking lot and then riding down that path. After the barn yard they would reach a driveway, call it the western driveway, or house driveway. This runs from the road, north past the LP tanks, to the red barn. From the driveway, a path could be made heading East, behind the house and across the yard to the Eastern Lane. This lane begins at the road next to the milk house and runs North. Bikes could follow this lane north out to the fields.
Another option is for the bikes to unload in the parking lot and travel back down Austin Rd to the East, entering the property at the Eastern Lane and riding north to the fields and woods and trails we’re going to build.
OH I’m SO excited about this!!!
Now I’m imagining a sort of staging area or starting line for a race or time trial. Of course it could be anywhere up in the fields, but there are two areas at the bottom of the hill by the swamp, before the eastern lane takes you up the hill past the grey barn into the fields.
The swamp is on the eastern side of the lane and there’s a culvert under the lane where a creek flows out of the swamp and travels west. That’s the creek mentioned above, at the northern edge of the parking lot.
West of the lane and north of the creek, there’s a small, flat open area. It has berry bushes on its southern edge. It runs to the red barn. Also west of the lane but on the south side of the creek, there’s an open area that is fenced in with hog panels. It was the pig pen. There are some small trees and an old, tiny building that leans heavily to the west and needs to come down. Both of these areas are flat and might be good staging areas. Between the road and the fields out back, these are two of the only flat areas, besides the cement slab in front of the grey barn.
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| the eastern lane |
