Rain was only part of the reason behind the prolonged closure. Yes, the unusually vast amounts of water that fell did some "damage" (remember, we're talking natural processes here, and water-driven erosion will occur, whether there are trails there or not). But the main reason was that the rain uncovered some asbestos pipes from old quarrying/other works, and these had to be dealt with properly before the public could be allowed back in.
I know the asbestos got authorities' knockers (whoops, knickers) in a knot, but there were at least 2 other fairly long closures I remember everyone whining about because of rain events that we would consider an afternoon storm here: good to go tomorrow morning. I am not being critical of the Youees. A lot of it is degraded granite like Canberra and Jindabyne and really is rain resistant where there is a gradient. However, the parking area on the Little River side and a lot of the pond area are flat, which means silt accumulates there and mud is the result. I haven't ridden there in the wet, but if it is wet next time I am in Melbourne, I won't ride it. If I am really hanging, I will just take my bike and cruise the "city" and coast and muck about. If I lived in Geelong and I was here on holiday and it was wet, I'd do the same.
I do ride in the rain and I really like it at times (it's generally warm rain). Thing is though, you don't have to ride in the bush to have fun on a mountain bike. Therefore, I really don't go too much for the argument that "I had to do it because I was on holidays with limited time" or "I have no spare time, so I have to ride the trails in the rain". Unfortunately the biggest difference between those 2 statements is that the visitor making the first statement is more likely to get off the bike and help me do emergency trail maintenance in the pissing rain than the local making the second statement! It gets even more aggravating seeing the same faces punching out their obligatory 29millionkm per week regardless of the trail conditions and never having the spare time to help, let alone think about it.
I thought I'd cross-post a vid from this week's Rotorburn headlines. It's from Fruita in Colorado USA. The trails look really awesome and there's a lot of rock. Fruita is in a dry, but fairly mountainous area and the town is more than 1000m above sea level. That means long dry periods and cold, lightly snow-covered winters. The trails in this video look well built and they maximise natural terrain features that assist sustainability and fun. One of my last high school geography exams asked what creates the features of desert geography. It's not wind or temperature of course, but water.
http://vimeo.com/64306302
Now that you have seen the video, think what 100mm of rain over 36 hours would (and one day will) do to these trails. Unfortunately, they will be stuffed because all those natural and fun features will channel water along the trail so far that it tears through the side and rips the trail to shreds - gone! If we build new trail here without much more frequent and dramatic grade reversals, it is going to create recurrent maintenance issues we don't have time or manpower for.
In the 20 odd years I have been in SE Qld, there has not been one year without at least one 200m in 24 hours rain event where I have lived. (If you live south of Qld and east of the GD Range, you can subtract 50% of these rainfall numbers for a local flavour). Sometimes those weather events are just water off a duck's back to the trails and sometimes they cause serious damage. You can't predict it. Last year we had heavy rain in January, then a few weeks without much and then it dumped again. 8km from the Nerang trailhead, Hinze Dam recorded more than 600mm in one day and it kept coming. The creek near the velodrome flowed continuously until September, when normally it would die off a few weeks after big and persistent rains. Water poured through subsoil channels where roots lay over and through rock bands (on top of clay) and perhaps the channels had enlarged as soil contracted in the dry spell. Who knows, but it oozed or hosed through and under trail and turned some lower areas into a bog that lasted more than a month.
Some of those weeks in February and March were only a little bit wet, but the trails remained totally sodden and so was all recent volunteer trail work. We had to close one section of trail, but riders rode the closures down and fucked it. They didn't care, because it's MTB. Tough and wet trail made them "better" riders and obviously they had so little time they had to ride through the closures or they would miss out. Guess who did care - Qld Parks and Wildlife - the land manager!
Sorry for the saga, but as part of a very small number of trailcare volunteers trying to raise the status of MTB in the eyes of our land manager, a government department, it is hard to disconnect from the issue of riders' selfish disregard for the trail itself. Sadly, there is a consensus explanation from those who do damage trails that their individual impact is not important and if the trail can't cope, it hasn't been made well enough. Also, who cares anyway, because the sport will go on....
I like building trail as much as riding (lie), but even motorways erode over time and can totally fail given the perfect storm and I cannot guarantee that trail I work on is going to handle everything forever. Also, when people point out the general durability of our local trails, they have not been there for the thousands of hours volunteers have worked to repair and maintain all those trails and make them last. Hard work helps keep us all riding. Just because you don't see it or help do it doesn't mean it doesn't happen and it does not ensure it will continue to happen.
So next time you attack a trail that should be given a another day or two to regain a pulse, perhaps it is worth thinking about who will see your tracks and think it is OK to follow them.
