Ridenparadise
Likes Bikes and Dirt
As you know, we recently requested riders stay out of the Nerang National Park due to the effects of cyclonic wind and rain. Thanks to those who did. No thanks to the clowns who rode past trail closure signs and three tape barriers to poach Barney's which was closed for a major re-design of the large berm at the top. Fortunately it did no damage.
We went out yesterday and this is the trail status:
Barney's is open. The new berm is faster, has a different exit line and new drain (which is still a tad soft but all good) and the riding surface is buff
Word is that there are many trees down out the back, especially on Pandora and Avatar. Be aware that trees are still falling
Explosions, Neverending including Fun Park and Super Loop will be still wet enough to avoid and likely also damaged by downed timber - we didn't get out there
Bailey's was damp in places but solid
Vertigo will be similar, maybe wetter
GG's is probably not good
Happy Valley is good from B&Bs to Exit trail which is also OK. Happy Valley to Netti and Roys should be avoided to let the streams settle without rider damage for a bit longer
B&B's is OK, but a large tree fell across the log-over 1/2 way down and has damaged the outslope edge. It will fail in time, but is OK for now after we moved all the fallen timber (seeing no-one else cared enough to bother). There was a hole on the upslope line to the little jump from a large branch that penetrated. It has a couple of rocks in it for now. Should be OK except for sissies
Don't know about Three Hills, but there is probably a lot of downed timber. From Exit trail to the bottom is still wet, but we missed all the puddles and had fun doing it
There seems to be some idea getting around that the new section of Three Hills is open. I guess the lack of entry from the current trail, the trailwork sign and the fact it goes nowhere isn't a big enough hint? DON'T RIDE IT. You are pushing in a stupid entry and doing unnecessary damage to the park to ride a closed trail.
Casuarina is good and volunteers spent a lot of time clearing bridges and serious debris in the last week. It's riding as well as it can and better than it did a month ago thanks to the work
Pete's is good to go after repairs down low to rider-made bog holes and a couple of big trees that fell across the trail. Thanks to those with muscles who moved the fallen tree farther up Pete's
Brett's (Mongrel's) is good apart from areas marked for work since before the rains
Wimps and Norco Flow will be seeing regular maintenance work starting this Sunday. Beware of trail closures or you may kill someone working for your fun. This is QPWS authorised maintenance and if you are not on the nominated work party then you will not be doing anything but riding there. Is that clear to whomever has been digging recently?
While not in Nerang, the Hinze Dam trail has been closed due to massive tree-fall. See http://www.gcmtb.com.au/home/ for updates. Interesting that they recorded 700ml of rain in 4 days, so the estimate of >200ml at Nerang is probably very conservative, given the locations are less than 15km apart
Take care riding as there is still a real danger of downed or falling timber even if there is no wind. Take the time to clear some debris off the trail. Try to ride lines on the outslope of puddles as that will be less likely to stop them draining. If you find something big that needs attention contact http://www.mtbtrailcare.com/Contact.asp or better still register to assist as a trailcare volunteer. The registration form is linked on any trailcare day listing in the calendar section of that website and we need as much help as possible to get all Nerang trails authorised (legalised) by QPWS ASAP. More help = better trails forever.
Cheers - go get after it until the next major weather event of the Summer
We went out yesterday and this is the trail status:
Barney's is open. The new berm is faster, has a different exit line and new drain (which is still a tad soft but all good) and the riding surface is buff
Word is that there are many trees down out the back, especially on Pandora and Avatar. Be aware that trees are still falling
Explosions, Neverending including Fun Park and Super Loop will be still wet enough to avoid and likely also damaged by downed timber - we didn't get out there
Bailey's was damp in places but solid
Vertigo will be similar, maybe wetter
GG's is probably not good
Happy Valley is good from B&Bs to Exit trail which is also OK. Happy Valley to Netti and Roys should be avoided to let the streams settle without rider damage for a bit longer
B&B's is OK, but a large tree fell across the log-over 1/2 way down and has damaged the outslope edge. It will fail in time, but is OK for now after we moved all the fallen timber (seeing no-one else cared enough to bother). There was a hole on the upslope line to the little jump from a large branch that penetrated. It has a couple of rocks in it for now. Should be OK except for sissies
Don't know about Three Hills, but there is probably a lot of downed timber. From Exit trail to the bottom is still wet, but we missed all the puddles and had fun doing it
There seems to be some idea getting around that the new section of Three Hills is open. I guess the lack of entry from the current trail, the trailwork sign and the fact it goes nowhere isn't a big enough hint? DON'T RIDE IT. You are pushing in a stupid entry and doing unnecessary damage to the park to ride a closed trail.
Casuarina is good and volunteers spent a lot of time clearing bridges and serious debris in the last week. It's riding as well as it can and better than it did a month ago thanks to the work
Pete's is good to go after repairs down low to rider-made bog holes and a couple of big trees that fell across the trail. Thanks to those with muscles who moved the fallen tree farther up Pete's
Brett's (Mongrel's) is good apart from areas marked for work since before the rains
Wimps and Norco Flow will be seeing regular maintenance work starting this Sunday. Beware of trail closures or you may kill someone working for your fun. This is QPWS authorised maintenance and if you are not on the nominated work party then you will not be doing anything but riding there. Is that clear to whomever has been digging recently?
While not in Nerang, the Hinze Dam trail has been closed due to massive tree-fall. See http://www.gcmtb.com.au/home/ for updates. Interesting that they recorded 700ml of rain in 4 days, so the estimate of >200ml at Nerang is probably very conservative, given the locations are less than 15km apart
Take care riding as there is still a real danger of downed or falling timber even if there is no wind. Take the time to clear some debris off the trail. Try to ride lines on the outslope of puddles as that will be less likely to stop them draining. If you find something big that needs attention contact http://www.mtbtrailcare.com/Contact.asp or better still register to assist as a trailcare volunteer. The registration form is linked on any trailcare day listing in the calendar section of that website and we need as much help as possible to get all Nerang trails authorised (legalised) by QPWS ASAP. More help = better trails forever.
Cheers - go get after it until the next major weather event of the Summer