Dominion promises to repair damaged bike trail

Volunteers with MORE work on the bike trail in Wakefield Park. [MORE]

If you enjoy riding a bike on the Cross County Trail in Wakefield Park or by Lake Accotink, you can thank an organization called MORE (Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts) for keeping the trail well groomed.

MORE, in fact, has built and maintained more than 700 miles of sustainable, natural surface, multi-use trails in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The bike trail at Wakefield in Annandale is one of the most heavily used in the region.

It’s not always without problems, however. After MORE volunteers spent 250 hours recently to make the trails in Wakefield Park bank and drain just right, a contractor with Dominion Energy inadvertently destroyed much of their work.

The contractor was removing vegetation with a mulching mower to keep the area around the power lines clear and didn’t know there was a well-maintained bike trail there, says MORE President, Ernest (Ernie) Rodriguez.

All is not lost, though. After WJLA’s “7 on Your Side” intervened, Dominion apologized, promised to fix the damage, and is working with MORE to figure out how to avoid similar situations in the future.

MORE’s motto is “Riding Bikes and Building Trails since 1992,” says Rodriguez, “and that encompasses what we are all about: riding bicycles in a fun, inclusive, and welcoming environment. Of course, we need trails to ride, and hence, the ‘building trails’ aspect.”

“Our big thing is sustainability,” Rodriguez says. The goal is to make sure trails drain properly so the water flows off in a sheet and gets absorbed into the soil and does not carry silt downstream or cause erosion. “It’s all about water management.”

As for the fun, bike riding aspect of MORE, the organization hosts all kinds of bike rides all over the region.

At Wakefield Park, MORE hosts family bike rides on Mondays at 5:30 p.m., women’s rides on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., and group rides for all levels on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.

MORE volunteers will be working on Wakefield Park trails June 1 and June 8, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. both days. Those events are hosted by The Bike Lane bicycle shops, which has locations in Springfield and Reston.

The volunteers are trying to get the trails ready for the Bike Lane’s Wednesdays at Wakefield race series June 12-July 10 on Wednesday evenings.

For more information about getting involved with MORE, visit https://more-mtb.org/