A Day In The Park For Wayne

Wayne Goodman, local trail builder and friend to the James River Park, was recently injured riding his mountain bike on his beloved JRP trails. He is recovering at the VCU Medical Center’s spinal cord rehabilitation unit. Wayne, who has donated literally thousands of hours of his time as well as money, blood, sweat and tears, is now in need of our help.

A small committee of his friends has formed to plan events and other means to help Wayne in his time of need. We are announcing the first event which will occur on Saturday, December 4 at 2:00 p.m.at the main shelter (shelter #2) in ForestHillPark(note: this is the shelter area where Wayne’s fateful accident occurred). To get there, you should enter the park by heading north on 42nd Street, then turn right into the park at New Kent Avenue.

The plan is to spend “A Day in the Park for Wayne.” We will be taking donations and selling “G-Man” t-shirts where all proceeds will go towards helping Wayne with his finances. The location will be the main shelter at the back of the park. We will have coffee, hot cider, brownies, cookies and anything anyone else would like to donate.

We are also planning to post a donation link on Wayne’s website at http://cantholdagoodmandown.com/ in order that donations can be accepted from individuals or groups wishing to help out but don’t have the availability to attend fund raising activities.

Additional events are now being discussed and further information will be provided as the details are confirmed.

Wayne remains very positive in his recovery and his rehab team reports very encouraging progress. The road is going be long and Wayne knows this will be the toughest race of his life.

As a team, all of us can pull together to help someone who has enabled us to enjoy a park that is unique not only in Virginia but on a national level.

Thank you

Make sure your voice is heard.

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

We wanted to fire off a quick reminder email about tonight’s public forum meeting.

We at Richmond MORE strive to be good stewards and advocates of the cycling community. In doing such we would like to pass along some info that we feel is very important for you as a cyclist to know about.

The Mayor's Bike, Pedestrian and Trails Commission will hold a public forum on Monday, September 20 (That’s Tonight) at The Carillon at Byrd Park, 600 S Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23219 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The presentations will start at 6:30 pm.

The purpose of the meeting is to present the Commission's preliminary findings and recommendations on how to make Richmond a bike, pedestrian and trail friendly town. The Commission hopes to gain input and feedback from citizens.

We ask that you come out and have your voice heard.



Thank You,
The Richmond MORE Board.

Forest Hill Trail Care - Saturday - Jan 30th - More good news!

Greetings Fellow Trail Enthusiants,

Nathan has decided to stage the reopening of the trails in Forest Hill Park. Gone is the plan to close the entire park until everything is finished. In place now is a plan to reopen each section as it is completed.

The first stage to be completed will run from the Reedy Creek bridge, along the ridge below the school, across the cobblestone walkway, and to the switchbacks above the creek. Before this section can be reopened there are a couple of things that need to happen. First, a small crib wall needs to be built behind the school. Next, a 16 foot bridge needs to be constructed across the small creek at the bottom of the switchbacks. In addition, some rock work needs to be done on the switchback turns. The rock work on the switchback turns does not have to be completed before the section is opened.

Nathan and his crew are working almost full time during the week to get this project finished. If you can't come out on the weekend, please consider helping Nathan during the week if you have the time. Because Nathan's schedule can change during the week, it is best to either email or call him before coming out. Nathan's email is nathan.burrell@richmondgov.com. His phone is (804) 357-8897.

On another note, if you have any concerns or questions about the work being done in Forest Hill Park or in the James River Park System, Nathan urges you to contact him to discuss the issue or question. It doesn't matter if you're a mountain biker, hiker, runner, etc., Nathan wants to hear what you have to say.

This Saturday we will be working on the first stage. Nathan will have a small but very experienced crew building the crib wall behind the school. The rest of us will be adjusting and refinding the trail until we get to the switchbacks. This will include fine tuning the backslope and pulling leaves back down onto the lower part of the trail edge.

Again, please respect Nathan's wish for the trails to be closed. The trails are in no condition to be used and if ridden will just make it harder for us to finish the work. As each section is completed, we will announce its opening here and on our website. Please be patient, we are trying our hardest to get these trails open.
If we get snowed out, I'll send this out again next week.

That's it for now, we look forward to seeing you this Saturday.