I'm on Board!

Being a runner, specifically with a trail inclination, in the Charlottesville area, I've spent many an hour on the Rivanna Trail in the past few years. Charlottesville's got plenty going for it, but the RT is probably my favorite part. A month ago I attended a monthly trail work day (embarrassingly, only my second), and ended up sort of inviting myself to monthly board meetings for the Rivanna Trail Foundation. The first was last week, and I'm happy to say that not only did they not mind my attendance, they welcomed me friendly and have let me join the board! I'm not entirely sure what that entails, if anything specific, but I love the trail, and am always trying to get people out there on it, so I'm very much looking forward to helping out however I can.

My first task was, sadly, to modify the existing trail map to mark a previously-open section as closed (Sunset to McElroy, down by Azalea Park). At the same time, I was allowed to re-open another section (along the Meadowcreek Parkway), and I think overall there's a bit less red on the map than there used to be - definitely a good thing. This work is a little bit of a stop-gap, as there's plenty of other changes and updates that need to be committed to the map and trail descriptions (old link, but still has some use), but it's a start. It sounds like the board will be happy to let me have a crack at some of the technical aspects of maintaining a correct trail map, with trail conditions and pictures and descriptions and... all sorts of great stuff! Honestly, this is a project I've been tempted to just work on for fun a few times anyway, so I'm delighted to be encouraged to take a crack at it.

Anyway, I'm excited, and thought I'd share. If you're in the cville area and have never checked out the trail before, do me a favor and give it a try!