Originally Posted by
yotwo66
Question: What's involved in track maintenance?
I started running a 4wd Slash last year at the Toy Box and Foley - never been to an outdoor track before. As I understand it, patrons of RHF are supposed to help with track maintenance and make donations. What's involved? Should I bring my own rake/shovel? Are donations/fees collected on-site during races only? Would love to get some open practice time in on my weekdays off - just want to make sure I'm abiding by the appropriate conventions. Forgive me if these are old questions - I only ask as I was not able to find the answers after a whole bunch of nosing around, so I figure some of the answers may bear repeating.
Track Maintenance is pretty straight forward. You can see the jumps and layout and sometimes a groove develops especially during all of these huge rains they have been seeing up there. Ruts can be smoothed with a little shovel patching and/or landscape rakes found in the open shed. Rock picking is always a big help before you run. Just walk the track and any rocks that are loose, just throw in orange buckets or in those areas. We were out there running today and during the running we kicked up some rocks so we just took a few minutes and picked a few rocks. We just try to keep the surface smooth for obvious reasons. As long as your not reshaping jumps (given your not used to doing it) go ahead and smooth if you want to do it. We will probably be posting a work day soon. Work days can consist of some work and more running depending on turnout. Just go out there and have fun.