Trails in the Rain

[swaz]

Yes ofcourse. There also need to be signs saying don't skid, don't litter on the trail and don't use common sense just rely on the signs.

Nothing wrong with my common sense but I would have still ridden a trail in the rain. Not pissing down torrential down pours with rivers flowing through ruts, but if there was a bit of mud around. People new to the sport don't know. I didn't. I think some people are a bit too precious or maybe they don't want to ruin their XTR gear.

Trail regulars can not bitch and moan about people riding on a trail when it is wet when there is no indication of whether the track can/should be ridden. If the local club and council are in partnership some email or text communication could have had a sign updated pretty damn quick. I know of a trail that could have been ridden after these few days of decent rain because the trail builders spent a lot of time thinking about run off management etc.

 

[BM Epic]

I think common sense should prevail, if it looks like running a river, stay off, if its holding water well then it shouldnt be too much of a problem, the trail i have built handles water really well, not sure about torrentail though, i prefer to stay away.
I have seen guys riding in terrible conditions, have spoken to them and they dont give a shit, they will ride any time it suits them, whether it screws the trail or not, this is an attitude i see a lot.
On the other hand i have had lots of people offer a hand and future help if needed.

 

[pharmaboy]

My rule of thumb is if I can see tire tracks behind me on a good proportion of the trail, then it's too wet. ,

 

[MARKL]

How about people build trails that handle adverse weather conditions? It's not that hard to plan a trail that can be ridden in Australia, in Australian weather.

Ridden it?

OMV shouldn't be ridden in the rain, fairly simple it just gets way too much traffic. However on ability to handle Australia conditions it is phenomenal, the standard of build is so far above Stromlo WC build, Copperhead, original Jubes etc. There are only a couple of sections that are really susceptible to damage in the wet but we are talking about one of the most heavily used trails in the country.

My rule of thumb is if I can see tire tracks behind me on a good proportion of the trail, then it's too wet. ,

Agreed

 

[quin66]

Mountain bike. The name says it all.

 

[willsy01]

Mountain bike. The name says it all.

Something tells me you're missing the point...

 

[mtboer]

How about people build trails that handle adverse weather conditions? It's not that hard to plan a trail that can be ridden in Australia, in Australian weather.

Done, Kentlyn NSW.

But, it will not be great for the bike.

It all depends on the trail makeup. If you ride on dirt you get mud and probably damage to the trail. No fun for trail fairies.

Kentlyn holds up well in the rain because it is Sandstone rock and sand. But none of that is good for your running gear.

Riding in those sort of conditions, bring the life of running gear, to about 25% of normal.

 

[crank1979]

My rule of thumb is if I can see tire tracks behind me on a good proportion of the trail, then it's too wet. ,

A good, common sense rule I reckon.

It all depends on the trail makeup. If you ride on dirt you get mud and probably damage to the trail. No fun for trail fairies.

Kentlyn holds up well in the rain because it is Sandstone rock and sand. But none of that is good for your running gear.

Riding in those sort of conditions, bring the life of running gear, to about 25% of normal.

There are plenty of firetrails around to ride in the wet as well if people have to ride in the wet.

 

[spudatm]

I'm astounded by how many people need the internet to tell them whether it's ok to ride a trail. Even then ok is a loose term what defines ok? One person riding in the wet won't shut a trail down but if everyone's thinks that we are in trouble. Ultimately I look at it like this if you are unsure whether to ride don't if you sure but it's wet don't. The vast majority of trails don't benefit from being ridden in wet weather it's just that some will need less remedial work after than others by the trail fairies

 

[quin66]

Maybe missing the point with riding back in Oz but I became hooked on the bike when I moved to the UK and needed something I could do outside all year round in the pissing rain and mud. What is so different about the trails here? To me everywhere dries 10 x faster and you wouldn't have half the usual traffic on a wet day. Cant beat the skills and thrills with riding when its wet. Our bikes are made for any weather and terrain. For the record I don't really ride in the wet anymore,screw that it was fun while it lasted.

 

[natskis]

The notifications are fine......people checking the website appear not to be.

What the actual f**k was I on Sat morn!!!
I could have sworn I didn't see any closure notices

:crazy:

I was referring to the Hornsby Council page:

http://www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/my-lifestyle/sports-and-recreation/cycling/hornsby-mountain-bike-trail

They've got a feed from their twitter account.

Coolio. Will keep an eye on this from now on.
Note though, that notification was released Sat night, and we rode Sat morning.
At this point in time when we headed out, it was only sprinkling lightly.
Maybe that's why I didn't see any notices of closures.

And when the rain did start coming down harder at around 10ish, we decided to finish up.


I did a search of rotorburn for any other indications of if there was a rule of thumb about riding wet trails and only saw a few references to looking out for signs that the trail was closed/website notifications or sections were closed by signs.
But as there wasn't anything at OMV, I assumed that as long as we didn't do any damage to the trail, we'd be good to go.


And for the record,
OMV drains REALLY well.
It's such a well designed trail.
Much kudos to the builders

 

[mtboer]

A good, common sense rule I reckon.



There are plenty of firetrails around to ride in the wet as well if people have to ride in the wet.

I second that. There are lots of good Firetrails to use in the wet if needed.

 

[4dabush]

How about people build trails that handle adverse weather conditions? It's not that hard to plan a trail that can be ridden in Australia, in Australian weather.

Yeah but 200-300mm of rain over a couple of days, how would you design for that??? 460mm is our Feb average. Our trails handle that no problem if people stay off them for just 24 hours after the last rain...if they get ridden they can take a few days to dry out and some mug has to go and try and keep the trails in one piece afterwards.

I have a GREAT idea - if it looks a bit too wet for riding, grab a rake, fire rake, hoe, saw, whipper snipper, cordless or power hedger, shovel and go for a walk and do some maintenance and watch the water and do some drainage work...better still get your usual crew out and have a bit of fun making YOUR trails better.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

We had 40mm of rain on Friday. On Saturday, if you could've even gotten to our trailhead then you could've ridden our track. We'd let you. You'd have crashed frequently and ended up with skyscraper shoes. Probably not enjoyed yourself. Then when you'd finished you'd have spent the next four hours getting all the mud off your bike...and another four getting the remainder off your gear. That's if you could have even got your vehicle out of the trailhead and back onto the road.

I went out on the road bike instead.

 

[Magnum9]

It is the opposite here in Perth, all the damage gets done when the trails are dry. When they are wet is the best time to ride them.

 

[marc.r]

sydney hasnt had that much rain in the last week. if its kept raining heavier for a month then maybe we could consider it seriously wet. in reality, all trails should be easy to ride. the problem isnt that we shouldnt ride in the rain but there should be way more trails. any mountain biker shouldnt have to wait for perfect conditions for their rides. if that was the case I'd feel really sorry for half or europe and north america.

omv is great and should be able to ride after heavy rain but like people have said if 400 people go there and do a bunch of laps of the tiny 2km loop on a "damp" weekend it of course it will get cut up.

if we had enough trails that usage could be spread around then it would be less of a problem. usually die hards who are happy to ride in wet conditions and they are probobly willing to explore more off the beaten track trails so the tracks like OMV can maintained.

 

[natskis]

I second that. There are lots of good Firetrails to use in the wet if needed.

Any recommendations for Good fun Fire trails the Sydney area?

Just in case this rain might not disappear by the weekend.

 

[swaz]

skyscraper shoes.

What is this?

 

[bikesarefun]

It is the opposite here in Perth, all the damage gets done when the trails are dry. When they are wet is the best time to ride them.

Actually it's the same here in Sydney on a lot of the trails. Dry conditions tear dirt trails apart like nothing else, and it's pretty much impossible to do any decent maintenance until we get a good downpour.


Which brings us to another reason not to ride trails in the wet: often your local trail fairies will take advantage of wet days to lay down fresh dirt and patch up damaged features. So, if you decide to ride in the wet, and find that a trail is closed off by the builders (for example with brightly covered tape string across the entrance), FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T RIDE IT. Not only do you run the risk of ruining somebody's fresh work, you might find yourself face to face with a trailbuilder who is (i) positively unimpressed that you've gone around closure tape; and (ii) carrying a shovel. It amazes me how often this happens.

 

[thecat]

It is the opposite here in Perth, all the damage gets done when the trails are dry. When they are wet is the best time to ride them.

Same up here, but last time I tried to say that I got shouted down. Extremely wet 8hr in 2005(?) that ended up being called short due to the water running down it 300 riders. Trails left in best condition they'd been in for ages, zero hrs needed on trail repairs. Dusty 8hr 2008(?) trail blown to bits. Took weeks to fix.
Same experience on our dh trail. When they are dry the soil falls apart and blows away in the wind. When they are wet, to a point, the soil sticks together. Yep you get a bit of mud on your bike. Yep you get some mud pushed to side of trail but on the whole it holds together much better.


The key though is keeping riders on the compact trail bed. We had a small XC clubbie where a couple of riders decided they didn't want to get their bikes muddy and started veering off track to go around a couple of small water holes. This just chopped into the softer ground to the side of trail, stirred up the water and mud and created a big mud pit that required some drainage and rock work after


All that said, no matter what the trail base riding in wet conditions does increase the chance of spreading pathogens like die back and mertle rust so if you do choose to ride in the wet, even on fire rds, make sure you are meticulous in washing down and disinfecting your bike before heading into another area.