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To ride or not to ride..?
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I've always heard conflicting opinions on this so I just wanted to put this out there- when is it okay to ride this time of year? I've always assumed that if its cold enough and the ground is solid or entirely frozen then its okay to ride. What does everyone else think?
I'm getting back on the mtb after a few years and just want to make sure I am following the rules and not causing any harm. Thanks in advance for any info / feedback. |
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18 Replies |
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Posted by: Billy Davis  18 Jan 2010 04:01 PM |
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Hi Ben
Welcome back to mountain biking. Unfortunately you picked a not so great time to start riding again. You can ride the trails this time of year if:
1. There is a hard freeze and before or after the sun is out. (Early mornings or night rides in the cold) The sun thaws the surface very quickly even if it is freezing out.
2. Snow on the ground. The snow was packed nicely plus cold temps made riding at Cherokee really fun a week or so ago.
The trails are so sloppy after the snow melt, we couldn't even hardly walk on them at the Waverly trail day this Saturday.
One place that holds up a bit better this time of year is Duffield, but even there will be a mess right now.
A ride that you can always do is the riverwalk out and back. |
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Posted by: Ray Smith 18 Jan 2010 04:07 PM |
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Billy summed it up nicely.
Sadly, it's not likely that we'll be able to get on the trails around here for a few weeks or more unless it freezes solid again.
We'll see ya on the trails when they're dry or frozen! |
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Posted by: Chuck Clark 18 Jan 2010 07:01 PM |
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I agree with Ray and Billy.
One thing I watch for is when everything is starting to turn green. It is amazing how much moisture the vegetation pulls out of the soil. Somewhere around May, someone rides fairly soon after a rain and swears up and down they didn't leave a trace while the rest of us say: "yeah, right, sure....." Then, someone else posts the same and you know you are switching to the late Spring/early Summer pattern that makes riding here pretty cool.
However, the payback is dealing with this time of the year with temps swinging above and below freezing causing a perpetual freeze-thaw reaction of our clay soil which turns it the consistency of slime. Add rain, low sunlight and vegetation in a dormant state and it's no secret why we all get pretty cranky during the winter. |
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Posted by: Steven Webster 18 Jan 2010 07:19 PM |
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Posted By Chuck Clark on 18 Jan 2010 07:01 PM
vegetation in a dormant state
Yep, that's me in the winter  .
This topic would make a good article for the "new" KyMBA.org. Volunteers? |
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Steven Webster
Web Guy, BikeClicks.com |
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Posted by: Darin Jett 18 Jan 2010 09:24 PM |
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Great thread for a new rider like me. |
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Posted by: Chris Ward 18 Jan 2010 09:37 PM |
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There was like two inches of mud on the trails at Waverly Sat...that is what you get after a two week freeze thaws and 3 inches of snow melt away.
Riding in the mud causes damage to the trail that results in accelerated erosion which is our friends at Metro parks worst enemy.
Pass the word on.... |
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| www.mtbshred.com/ |
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Posted by: Will Bain 18 Jan 2010 10:39 PM |
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i'm new to mtb so could someone please explain how it damages the trails to ride them when they are really muddy and its going to rain that night?
I come from the world of cyclocross where the best riding weather is mud, but i don't want to damage the trails. After riding for only a few months in Seneca and Cherokee it's driving me crazy to stay away. (aka i've found out how great helmet cam vidoes are) |
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Posted by: Chuck Clark 18 Jan 2010 11:15 PM |
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Posted By Will Bain on 18 Jan 2010 10:39 PM
i'm new to mtb so could someone please explain how it damages the trails to ride them when they are really muddy and its going to rain that night?
I come from the world of cyclocross where the best riding weather is mud, but i don't want to damage the trails. After riding for only a few months in Seneca and Cherokee it's driving me crazy to stay away. (aka i've found out how great helmet cam vidoes are)
I'll shoot. It is true there is some "trail healing" as Rusty often puts it occurs as things warm up. The riding in the late Spring and Summer tends to "polish" things pretty flat from the ruts of people constant riding of tacky trail surfaces. However, many of those ruts just get perpetually deeper and serve to hold water on to the trail. Where we have higher clay concentrations, the water stays on the trail forever and each tire going through digs a deeper and deeper rut. Cyclocross tracks tend to only be ridden for a short time each year with a long repair period and in grassy areas which helps (eventually). I used to be in charge of trail building/maintenance through KyMBA at Taylorsville Lake State Park. That county has the best ponds in Kentucky due to the high clay concentrations. It was also horrible to try and design trails as every hoof print became a pond which cause the trail surface to soften which made riding anytime but drought or deep freeze damn near impossible.
Worse than ruts is the soil that gets dislodged from the trail ends up downhill and, as in the case of the No-Net Trail in Cherokee, in the creek causing worsening root tangles, poor trail surface, etc. People keep riding, braking/sliding which kicks up more mud and worsens the situation. Great trail design will hold up well to a fair bit of "tacky" riding, but that nice bench cut trail ridden too often when it's nasty will cause the soil to slough off the hillside, and/or make riders perpetually go around it worsening ruts through that area.
Even the best, most well-laid out trails will get beat up with constant wet weather riding. So Will, you are correct. You shouldn't want to damage the trails.
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Posted by: Chris Ward 19 Jan 2010 07:27 AM |
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Erosion is what removes the ruts...... Yes the trails do repair them selfs (sometimes) through an eroding surface, which ends up in all of the places we don't want it to be. |
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| www.mtbshred.com/ |
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Posted by: Joel Nelson 19 Jan 2010 09:06 AM |
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Like others have said, it's a bad time to ride the trails. It's not a bad time to ride the roads though (if you're into that sort of thing). |
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Posted by: nick leonard 19 Jan 2010 09:30 AM |
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what really sucks is when folks go out and ride now and rut it all up. then you wait for that perfect frozen day to ride your trail so you don't cause any harm. you show up (maybe with a 3 hr drive to get there) take the 30-45 minutes to change in the parking lot to get all that cold weather gear on and then you go out to the trail. you are so pissed off riding all that bumpy rutted up mess. french lick has started closing down there trails when conditions are even remotely questionable. i was told that mostly 2 guys did all that damage and caused the controlled shutdown. thats a brand new trail that the golf pro shop guys built after the pros came in and designed it. now its a rutted up mess that will probably be spring/summer before its smooth again. |
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Posted by: Chris Ward 19 Jan 2010 12:44 PM |
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During trail work on Saturday, we told two guys in the parking lot that was too muddy to ride, they went out for their ride anyways. They weren't gone long apparently it was so bad they were un able to ride the trail from my understanding.
Funny that the road riding thing is brought up, apparently road riders migrate to the trails in the winter time because they don't want to deal with the wind/cold on the road. We need to work on educating the road riders to let them know riding the trails in the winter time is the worst time of year to ride unless the trails are frozen...
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| www.mtbshred.com/ |
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Posted by: Sean Moore 19 Jan 2010 02:59 PM |
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Posted By Steven Webster on 18 Jan 2010 07:19 PM
Posted By Chuck Clark on 18 Jan 2010 07:01 PM
vegetation in a dormant state
Yep, that's me in the winter .
This topic would make a good article for the "new" KyMBA.org. Volunteers?
Good idea. I'm on it. |
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Posted by: Ben Lamar 20 Jan 2010 11:45 AM |
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Thanks for all of the input...definitely have a better understanding. I'll stick to the roads for now. |
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Posted by: Joel Nelson 20 Jan 2010 01:37 PM |
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Today is the perfect day to ride...
...or not. |
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Posted by: Darin Jett 20 Jan 2010 03:06 PM |
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Based on the forecast and recent weather, I don't see any trails in my future for a long time...
I did try the Wilderness Loop last month one day after it had been dry for a while and thought it would be rideable on the way there. Negative, I didn't go 30 feet before turning around and barely made it back without falling over. |
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Posted by: Chris Ward 20 Jan 2010 07:37 PM |
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The worst is when you have a 60 degree day this time of year, people will not be able to resist hitting the trails. |
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| www.mtbshred.com/ |
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Posted by: Eric Gadlage 21 Jan 2010 10:30 PM |
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Actually I believe Alex and Alex still put in quite a bit of work on those trails at French Lick, not just layout. You don't trust just anyone behind the ditch witch.
I know 2 or 3 guys that rode up there when they weren't supposed to. The problem was they didn't sign in or they would have been told not to ride. It is a real shame to not consider the trail conditions. I believe they only did 1 lap and had a hard time doing that.
Too bad it will take a lot of work to fix the damage. That is work that could have been used to build more good trail.
Like someone said above, these riders are normally road riders. |
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