Those of you who use the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail may be interested in the following email sent to me by George Edwards, a past president of the Gainesville Cycling Club for several years.

 

Thanks,

 

Bob Newman

President, Gainesville Cycling Club

 

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The Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park staff have been working hard on cutting the roots that have damaged the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail, using a "ground saw" rented with funds provided by the Froghat Committee of the Friends of Paynes Prairie, Inc.  GCC Corporate Membership dues have been part of this action.

 

The Trail is more than half-complete in cutting these nasty roots, and I just had an email from Park Manager David Jowers saying he was committed to finishing the job.  I think new decking on the second Lochloosa Creek bridge is next.  In a few months the cut roots will have rotted, and we will use a vibrating compactor to flatten the bumps, and then we will seal the cracks.  Won't be prefect, but it will be a lot better than what we have now, and what we might have in the future if this work was not done.

 

GCC members should be aware that the Park management is truly devoted to supporting our Trail.  Notes of thanks can be sent to Park Manager David Jowers at David.Jowers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or Assistant Park Manager (and Trail Manager) Dylan Gavagni at Dylan.Gavagni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.  These guys work long hard hours for lousy pay to keep our Trail serviceable.  We owe them a lot.

 

Cheers,

 

George