Well myself and Jamie Keast started into tackeling the job of redesigning the track infield for better drainage for next season last weekend. We also started some redesign work on the track as well.
Firstly with Jamie in the excavator and me in the big 700 deer dozer we set about digging and grading. Jamie started into rebuilding the bottom corner by the big pond digging it all out and putting in one of the culverts. I started in to grading the infield in that area so as any water will now drain out and not collect anymore in that area. The track has been raised slightly in that corner and the infield all swailed towards the inside and then sloped towards the culvert all the way from the corner before the finish line. I then went to the back end of the track and started into the infield from the back double to the whoops. Jamie started on the outside of the whoops and dug a small retention pond to again collect run off in that area as well as building a burm to close up part of the property line where some locals had been using to get into the track. I scrapped and pushed alot of the good topsoil from the infield up onto the whoops to raise them up above grade at the same time regrading that whole area. Jamie then dug another small retention area in that area to again drain better. That complete infield area is now properly graded.
We then tackled the back double as this was part of the track we wanted to redesign. Jamie started in and bust the double up to move it and change the angle. I started into changing the configuration of the corner leading into the double. The corner is now a longer more sweeping corner slightly double appexed on the inside line leading into the double, which should create for more of the jump face and landing areas to be used thus more passing area. Jamie has made the jump longer as well which will mean more thought before taking it on. When you land now you will go straight rather than that slight right hand corner that used to be there. The mole hill that was infront of the next corner Jamie moved to the right a bit to straighten it with the landing of the jump and will have two heights, the higher being on the left leading to the inside of the following corner. This corner is also being re configured to make it longer as well and on the exit there will be another slight up and over mole hill before getting to the whoops. 
Jamie then focused on extending the smaller pond over by the tree corner by the road. I started into raising the tree corner back up and pushed alot of the displaced dirt from the outside of the track back into the corner. I was amazed at how much great dirt had been pushed of the track from one thing and another. By the time I had finished with the corner I had raised the inside of the corner up by close to 2 feet which will also help for the drainage as the inside low area I was able to grade and swail towards the pond. Jamie had dug out quite a bit of dirt from the pond and we raised up and built a road way between the pond and the track with the clay and saved the good soil to go on the track. Jamie then dug a shallow swail in the infield starting at the newer big table all the way down between the track edges to meet up with the swail he dug leading to the small pond. I have yet to dress that but when we go back in that will get done. This was on of our main concerns and problems with water building up last season and this should help drain this area alot better and not allow water to build up and remain in that area. As I mentioned Jamie dug a swail running right around the bottom infield area between the corner leading to the old table and bottom jump and has dug a drain to fit a culvert in the corner leading into the old table which should help drain alot of that standing water that sits there. The culvert will go in the next time we are in and the corner rebuilt. 
Finally Jamie cast all the extra dirt that was sitting beside the old table up on top of it and it will now be a much bigger and much longer table approx 110ft. We will dress it the next time we're in and it should be quite the jump. We will also do the rest of the track changes and finish dressing the rest of the infield the next time we go in which will hopefully be in the next couple of weekends. It was supposed to be today and tomorrow but as you can gather from the weather it wasn't going to be. You see even in the off season the weather is still effecting me, I will be glad to see the end of this year and you can probably guess what I'm wishing for for the new year. The sand and gravel for the entrance is on stand by as agian it was supposed to come in this weekend but have delayed it until it dries up again. I'm actually going to be out of town doing something for the next two weeks so it looks more like december before we will get back in to finish things off. 
I had taken some pics of the track but unless you realy know what your looking at in respect to everything they really don't work so hopefully when everthing is all finished and dressed I will take some new ones and let you see how things look.