Riding in the wet. Here we go again

[Ridenparadise]

Here's the contents of a post on mtbdirt

"I went out to Nerang to do some Trailcare this weekend and couldn't help but notice that despite the storms, the Hope St car park was filled up with cars at Nerang.

Riding in the rain is not good for our trails, especially riding recent trail repairs.

I think it is time the riding community started being a community and not just individuals who are only concerned about their own personal gain, putting your own need for a ride before everybody else is just plain selfish.

The MTB community could learn alot from BMX, they have a "No dig, No ride" policy at almost any dirt jump area you go to.
Riding wet trails is the equivilant of casing a jump at a set of Dirt Jumps and not fixing the damage. In BMX that simply does not fly. Why do we allow such rampant disrespect in our sport?

If people spent a little of their time caring for the trails they love to ride they would quickly realise just how much time and effort it takes to keep our trail systems alive.


For those of us who are unaware of what it takes, here is just this weekend... I worked on Petes Friday with another two volunteers (Pete, Mark & Myself) for three hours each, making a total of 9 hours.

Then Barneys on Saturday (Louis and Myself) to get the big berm at the top of Barneys draining. 6 hours each, making a total of 12 hours in the rain.

Then checking previous works on Petes and then resurfacing Barneys. (Louis and Myself) 5 hours each sunday, making a total of 10 hours in the rain.


So this weekend alone four people have invested 31 hours into keeping the trails we all love to ride open and fun to ride.

This sort of effort is normal, we have invested aprox 1000 hours in six months.

Im not saying all trails should be perfect, but im saying trails don't need the extra wear caused by wet riding. Tyre grooves don't make fun or sustainable single track, they just make extra work for the few that maintain trails for the many.


On that note I ask that people please respect the tempoary trail closure on Barneys for the next week or two while the big berm drys out. we don't need tyre ruts formed in it, your one time slow and awkward ride through mud ruins everyone elses ride for the next six months.


Sorry for the Rant guys, but it is time we worked together as a community for common goals instead of everyone just out for themselves.

Ash.

mtbtrailcare.com"

 

[SideFX]

Your opinion will differ greatly from others on this forum and in this so called "MTB " community you talk of . I don`t believe in the" no dig no ride policy " . If a trail is too fresh to ride in normal condition - close it ! .

 

[SPECIALIST]

Here's the contents of a post on mtbdirt

"I went out to Nerang to do some Trailcare this weekend and couldn't help but notice that despite the storms, the Hope St car park was filled up with cars at Nerang.

Riding in the rain is not good for our trails, especially riding recent trail repairs.

I think it is time the riding community started being a community and not just individuals who are only concerned about their own personal gain, putting your own need for a ride before everybody else is just plain selfish.

The MTB community could learn alot from BMX, they have a "No dig, No ride" policy at almost any dirt jump area you go to.
Riding wet trails is the equivilant of casing a jump at a set of Dirt Jumps and not fixing the damage. In BMX that simply does not fly. Why do we allow such rampant disrespect in our sport?

If people spent a little of their time caring for the trails they love to ride they would quickly realise just how much time and effort it takes to keep our trail systems alive.


For those of us who are unaware of what it takes, here is just this weekend... I worked on Petes Friday with another two volunteers (Pete, Mark & Myself) for three hours each, making a total of 9 hours.

Then Barneys on Saturday (Louis and Myself) to get the big berm at the top of Barneys draining. 6 hours each, making a total of 12 hours in the rain.

Then checking previous works on Petes and then resurfacing Barneys. (Louis and Myself) 5 hours each sunday, making a total of 10 hours in the rain.


So this weekend alone four people have invested 31 hours into keeping the trails we all love to ride open and fun to ride.

This sort of effort is normal, we have invested aprox 1000 hours in six months.

Im not saying all trails should be perfect, but im saying trails don't need the extra wear caused by wet riding. Tyre grooves don't make fun or sustainable single track, they just make extra work for the few that maintain trails for the many.


On that note I ask that people please respect the tempoary trail closure on Barneys for the next week or two while the big berm drys out. we don't need tyre ruts formed in it, your one time slow and awkward ride through mud ruins everyone elses ride for the next six months.


Sorry for the Rant guys, but it is time we worked together as a community for common goals instead of everyone just out for themselves.

Ash.

mtbtrailcare.com"

thank you man for your time and too the others as well...........i really apreciate the time and expense and risk of trail building (as a fellow builder).......god bless the trail builders u rock

 

[Ridenparadise]

What do you mean by close trails, SideFX? It would take a firing squad to keep people off trails here.

Also, seeing as you are obviously expert in this, if we could close 60k of trail with multiple access points, how should we schedule regular maintenance? Perhaps close one trail at a time and let the others go to shit in the meantime?

Kinda sounds like Ashley may have been talking about you doesn't it, Mr MTB Community?

Every MTB mag features articles about trail advocacy, followed by pics of dudes riding on wet trail, be it race, holiday, park or whatever. Those trails don't just appear out of the air and nor do they survive the plundering of the public without continuous care. When the You Yangs closed for months, it took months for the complaining to die down on this forum.

What Ashley wrote is accurate and reasonable. If you are in the area them PM me and we can help you dig for your fun, but apparently that is above you, or do you get paid for the trailwork you do?

 

[SideFX]

what do you mean by close trails, sidefx? It would take a firing squad to keep people off trails here.

Also, seeing as you are obviously expert in this, if we could close 60k of trail with multiple access points, how should we schedule regular maintenance? Perhaps close one trail at a time and let the others go to shit in the meantime?

Kinda sounds like ashley may have been talking about you doesn't it, mr mtb community?

Every mtb mag features articles about trail advocacy, followed by pics of dudes riding on wet trail, be it race, holiday, park or whatever. Those trails don't just appear out of the air and nor do they survive the plundering of the public without continuous care. When the you yangs closed for months, it took months for the complaining to die down on this forum.

What ashley wrote is accurate and reasonable. If you are in the area them pm me and we can help you dig for your fun, but apparently that is above you, or do you get paid for the trailwork you do?

bbbllllaaaahhhhhhhh..........

 

[trailsnail]

Your opinion will differ greatly from others on this forum and in this so called "MTB " community you talk of . I don`t believe in the" no dig no ride policy " . If a trail is too fresh to ride in normal condition - close it ! .

I agree with you that my opinion will differ with others on here.
But I assure you that it will be a common opinion among those that repair trails regularly.

I'm not talking about normal conditions, turn on the tv and watch the news, when you see floods in QLD, that is in our area right now,and this is when we have people riding trails.
For normal conditions anyone can ride anywhere.

As for the "no dig, no ride" policy I think this is a fair one for your local trails if you ride them weekly, but not relevant if just visiting another trail system.
I see a ratio of 1 in 20 or 5% as fair, so approx one trail-care session every 6 months for your local trails if you ride them once weekly.
Think of it along the same lines as paying rego for the roads you use your car on.

As for closing trail, we tried just that a few weeks ago with logs that require multiple people to shift, as well as smaller logs every 1-2 metres for the entire length of a new trail in an effort to let the trail weather harden, and within a week it was all removed, twice now.
So as Rideinparadise pointed out we have a huge problem down our way with riders seeing themselves as more important than the rest.

Ash.

 

[outtacontrol]

bbbllllaaaahhhhhhhh..........

I would say you are trolling. There is no way you could be that much of a dick...

 

[Urban DH]

I would say you are trolling. There is no way you could be that much of a dick...

you'd be surprised!

 

[markb84]

I have little time to ride between work and family, I make sure I take time to maintain trails and wish I could more often. When it rains I don't ride on trails that will be susceptable to damage from riding, if everyone just did the same there would be a lot less fixing tracks from erosion and a lot more improving tracks to improve the ride. If you wreck trails that you ride you're an idiot, plain and simple. I agree that there is a serious lack of community some times, a single way of thinking with trail maintenance and care goes a long way to making our sport more accepted and making trail advocacy much easier.

 

[Jaredp]

I will say that this thread should be re-titled

"People who don't respect trail closures in my area"

We don't have as much of a problem in Perth. A piece of tape across a trail is pretty good sign to piss off.

My first reaction to the title, and to the first half of the article was.... Mountain biking is a winter sport in this hemisphere get over it.

It's not until most of the way through the article he actually gets to the point. Respect trail closures.

Fair enough.

 

[teK--]

between work and other commitments i dont think i could spare a whole day for trail building unless im on holidays. i respect trail closures whenever they happen and put all the change from buying my lunch into the trailbuilding donation jar. least i could do.

many others may be in the same position.

 

[Dozer]

There are methods to building trails so they can be ridden in any type of weather. I won't go into too many specifics but building a trail in the rain is the best place to start. Many trail builders / trail care nazi's who think someone who puts a tyre track on a trail when it is damp is an arsehole but they should consider looking up a little topic called "drainage". This planet hasn't suffered the effects of those damn environmentally damaging light bulbs just yet and the ozone layer is still intact, that keeps a little thing in our atmosphere called "gravity". Gravity means water will travel downward and not up!

 

[Ridenparadise]

There are methods to building trails so they can be ridden in any type of weather. I won't go into too many specifics but building a trail in the rain is the best place to start. Many trail builders / trail care nazi's who think someone who puts a tyre track on a trail when it is damp is an arsehole but they should consider looking up a little topic called "drainage". This planet hasn't suffered the effects of those damn environmentally damaging light bulbs just yet and the ozone layer is still intact, that keeps a little thing in our atmosphere called "gravity". Gravity means water will travel downward and not up!

Perhaps the message is not clear here. Apart from the fact that we just had over 200mm of rain and apart from the fact that we are working on multiple trails trying to remedy the effects of poor building in the past (read illegal and done without much thought to the future) and regardless of the fact that Qld Parks and Wildlife are supporting the legalising of the trail network in Nerang, perhaps you might like to check this post/site to see whether the issue of drainage has been missedby our volunteers.

http://www.mtbtrailcare.com/Blog.asp

The message was not that you don't ride closed trail. It is that any rider with commonsense knows there are times when trails should not be ridden regardless of closures. During and after a flood is perhaps an exaggerated example. Riding wet trails and not contributing to trailcare is a common combination.

I don't think it is too much to ask respect and support from the wider MTB community, who obviously are divided on their ability, time and interest in assisting with trailcare; but who still have time to ride regularly.

 

[0psi]

There are methods to building trails so they can be ridden in any type of weather.

Not always man. I think alot of it depends on the type of soil you have to begin with. A few of the trails near my place just get chopped to shit every time it rains because the composition of the soil means it just holds water.
Conversely I know a lot of trails higher up the mountain handle rain very well and can be ridden in pretty much anything short of a monsoon. Whether a trail can or can't be ridden in the wet really needs to be on a case by case basis and local riders should really know where to ride in certain conditions.

 

[SideFX]

I would say you are trolling. There is no way you could be that much of a dick...

BBBBbbbbbblllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Hugor]

I don't ride after heavy rain cause I don't really enjoy it, it fucks the bike, and the post ride cleaning faff just aint worth it.
Having just come back from 2 years in Wales which is probably the wettest place on this earth, I have seen that properly built trails can be ridden in all conditions without suffering damage.
The OP is however making a fair point IMO that this is a sensitive period in the trail development and advocacy at Nerang, and perhaps people should take his advice in the long term interests of everybody who rides there.
I have seen similar pleas in Britain from the trailbuilders during the development of a trail, that people don't ride it prior to it being finished, armoured, drained etc, as the builders spend more time repairing rather than building new trail.

 

[jimipolar]

This is starting to read like the locals only vibe there used to be on the best breaks + waves in the surf at Byron Bay.

I get it that it takes a considerable amount of effort to pull together a great trail.

Mother Nature will always do her thing though, it's not really the people riding the trails that are tearing it up. It's the land changing as it always has and always will.

 

[0psi]

Mother Nature will always do her thing though, it's not really the people riding the trails that are tearing it up. It's the land changing as it always has and always will.

-Face palm- Yes, braking ruts are mother natures doing. . .

 

[CorpSe]

I have to say one of my local tracks gets closed everytime it rains....

Mount Annan botanical gardens is the only botanical gardens in the world to boast an XC MTB track...

they close it as its mostly hard packed clay, and this quickly goes to ruin if ridden in the wet... we don't have a problem with this trail closing as we all know that in general its a reasonable place for a run on the bikes, and because of the closures it remains in good condition and as such is always a good place to fall back on for a quick blatt...

I have to thank many trail builders for the excitement they bring...one bloke maintains the Kentlyn loop on his own (from my understanding) and it's a neat bit of kit...that trail is quite demanding and has really bought my riding skills up to a decent level in a quick time....so to whom ever you are mate....Thankyou...

 

[mars mtb]

The message was not that you don't ride closed trail. It is that any rider with commonsense knows there are times when trails should not be ridden regardless of closures. During and after a flood is perhaps an exaggerated example. Riding wet trails and not contributing to trailcare is a common combination.

I don't think it is too much to ask respect and support from the wider MTB community, who obviously are divided on their ability, time and interest in assisting with trailcare; but who still have time to ride regularly.

I think this part above is the crux of the message and is well explained.

A few of us were actually having this same conversation last night in VIC where it is pretty dry at the moment.

I find it most disappointing (read pi55es me off) that people who say they have no time to contribute to a regular riding spot through trail care/building/maintenance/etc but have time to ride, cannot give up at least half a day once a year and contribute in place of that said ride for that day. Imagine the standard of trail networks if everyone who rode (whatever discipline) gave that half a day. The balance is that sometimes people's enthusiasm to help can actually damage the landscape, so in that instance those keen bodies should contact their local clubs, advocates or respective people who know what they are doing and can direct that effort.

We need to remember that all trails, jumps etc don't happen by magic, someone has given up their ride time to make it happen.

Good luck up there.