When is it too wet?

[serowe]

I guess that is a different situation as the track is on private land. The landowner and club can make whatever decision they feel is in their best interest as the track is not open to the public. I wouldn't have a problem racing on private tracks, it is that CTS was held on public tracks that are slowly getting built/repaired by volunteers. Tha said my drivetrain wouldnt appreciate it.

Does anyone know how much rain we got at CTS3?

There are no official rain gauges close to Lysterfield (I've been trying to talk Snozz into installing one ) - my weather station at Ferntree Gully recorded 7.4mm on Sunday; Scoresby (an official BOM site) also 7.4mm; a private site at Upwey 7mm, one at Hallam in Fitzgerald Road 7.1 mm and one at Scoresby (private) only 3.3mm - the only other one at Rowville I can find didn't record any (have to presume his rain gauge isn;t working/recording).

So although it looked heavy, all surrounding areas seem to have received about 7mm between 9am Sunday and 9am Monday.

My data/station is always on line if you want to check it (including historic data) -

http://mtb-images.dyndns.org:1088/weather/index.shtml

 

[Warwick]

There are no official rain gauges close to Lysterfield (I've been trying to talk Snozz into installing one ) - my weather station at Ferntree Gully recorded 7.4mm on Sunday; Scoresby (an official BOM site) also 7.4mm; a private site at Upwey 7mm, one at Hallam in Fitzgerald Road 7.1 mm and one at Scoresby (private) only 3.3mm - the only other one at Rowville I can find didn't record any (have to presume his rain gauge isn;t working/recording).

So although it looked heavy, all surrounding areas seem to have received about 7mm between 9am Sunday and 9am Monday.

My data/station is always on line if you want to check it (including historic data) -

http://mtb-images.dyndns.org:1088/weather/index.shtml

Nice site! That'll be handy.
Wouldn't it be nice to see Snozza install one indeed, so Joe Public can work out when to stay away!

 

[serowe]

Nice site! That'll be handy.
Wouldn't it be nice to see Snozza install one indeed, so Joe Public can work out when to stay away!

Yeah - it's a catch 22 - helps people know what is going on but can also scare people away. Personally I like them because of the historical data they can provide - my site has been running as an automated station since about 2001 and before that with manual records between 1983 and 2001 (guess where I used to work ) Having just changed software I am in the process of getting all of this old data into the displays.

 

[SB]

Too wet you say, well down here in the Otways we have had nearly 500mm of rain in August alone.
Every ride for the last two months has been a mud bath, fun to ride in, cleaning the bike is a biarch though.
Wont be long till we see dust and Tiger snakes..

 

[Cranker]

Bump!

 

[thelankyman]

I am amazed that it only took 7mm to have that much of an effect on the course. I guess the number of riders didnt help nor did the amount of rain beforehand that meant that soil was close to saturated to start with.

 

[.stu.]

Interesting rainfall in Steve's records this winter when compared to the tracks at Lysterfield for CTS2 and CTS3.

June got 91mm of rain and while July only had 36mm, 17mm fell in the 4 days prior to CTS2. This seemed like a lot but the tracks held up a lot better than CTS3.

August then had 36mm in the first week and another 53mm in the 5 days prior to CTS3.

I think it might have been the 89mm falling in the two weeks prior to CTS3, rather than the 7mm falling on the day which caused the tracks to deteriorate so quickly.

 

[Olly76]

When working on the tracks last weekend we had natural springs spewing out water. Really interesting made us re-route a trail that had not even been completed.

Just goes to show that we need to think about how the track is built so it will be sustainable for years to come no matter what the weather and how much rain (even racing should be able if built right). When you see the trails in Scotland and see how much rain they get they would laugh at our minor problems.

PV will have paying for a training session with IMBA on how to build sustainable trails. This will be happening hopefully in the near future and a group of LDTR trail builders will be on this course and then we will put what we learnt into practise around the park.

 

[serowe]

Interesting rainfall in Steve's records this winter when compared to the tracks at Lysterfield for CTS2 and CTS3.

June got 91mm of rain and while July only had 36mm, 17mm fell in the 4 days prior to CTS2. This seemed like a lot but the tracks held up a lot better than CTS3.

August then had 36mm in the first week and another 53mm in the 5 days prior to CTS3.

I think it might have been the 89mm falling in the two weeks prior to CTS3, rather than the 7mm falling on the day which caused the tracks to deteriorate so quickly.

Have to laugh - someone actually using my data!

But seriously - people do tend to forget that, yes, it wasn't the 5-10 mm we had in the few days before an event - but the 50-100mm of CONSTANT rain over the previous weeks.

Also - remember that we have, for at least the last 5 years, been in a drought situation and we are looking like coming out of it (only look like it as much of the country is still oficially in a drought). Much of the rain only soaks in to the top layer of the ground - it will take a while for it to get lower and for water tables to start rising again - but even then, when they do rise, look for more weekends (and wekdays) like the last CTS. After all - this type of mush IS normal for this area...we have been seeing the abnormal, dry, dusty conditions.

 

[softek]

weather website is AWESOME

dude, I use your site to man, to make my decision weather to ride or not, keep up the awesome work. I believe you also take awesome picture aswell right?

 

[serowe]

Yes I do (shameless plug) - www.mtb-images.com.au

And any feedback on the weather site is welcome - new software gives a completely different format and I am still playing around with it trying to get it to give the right information for anyone using it.

 

[jimtron83]

A few things.
I rode Lysti for the first time in many years on the Tuesday after CTS. It was a disgrace. I didn't believe that you could do that much damage with a mountain bike,not to mention how dangerous it is in some sections. I found it kind of ironic that the sign at Trailmix told the public not to ride after heavy rain as it damages the track.
I live 5 minutes from the wombat track and I havent ridden it in 2 months, Why because if I ride it now I'm gunna stuff it then I have to ride a shit track until I help fix it. The solution? I ride the fire trails and dirt roads.
Im sure that there are plenty of crew that do the right thing but knowingly stuffing up trails that others have built and maintained for a placing in a race??? You must be kidding me!

 

[Mad Hatter]

I was at Lysterfield last Sunday. Thought I should have a look at what all the fuss was about. (I was there for other reasons and had a few hours to kill anyway) I thought that most of the trails were in quite good condition. Nothing too wet or damaged through the Blair Witch, Hug and Redgum sections. The Northern end of the Middle trail was starting to look bad so I walked around a few sections. Then I came to the Upper Buckle and Buckle trail. I walked the entire length of these trails (of to the side through the bush) as they were beyond description. I tried to avoid the trail later by riding the East West Track. My mistake, that was just as sloppy (was this used as part of the course for the CTS race?) I sat by the Buckle trail at the East West Track junction to have lunch with a mate and counted over 40 riders (in about 45mins) continuing on through the soup. Their choice, no one had told them not too.
I`m not sure what the answer is to my original question, but surely part of the process for venues to stage events is to have some sort of strategy in place to allow areas to recover. The amount of riders that use Lysterfield Park is huge, so shutting down all the trails would not be an option, but surely the condition of the Buckle and Upper Buckle warrants closure and detours around the area via fire roads?

 

[red gum]

anyone know how wet the bendgio tracks are for golden tr race

 

[casnell]

Interesting to ride at Forrest yesterday, lots of standing water and almost no mud. Apart from being wet it was great with loads of grip. Very little evidence of traffic, and very ridable despite the water. In fact the bike hardly needed a clean the water was so un-muddy.

 

[dcrofty]

When you see the trails in Scotland and see how much rain they get they would laugh at our minor problems.

Actually, I suspect they might struggle a little more than you imagine. Trail building where it rains a lot means that you tend to get the drainage right straight away. When I worked in Vancouver I knew that if it wasn't raining one day it would be raining the next and I could see if what I did worked and fix it.

Building in Australia is a nightmare because you have to imagine what the water might do and then wait months to see if you were right or not!

I think I tend to piss people off a lot when I build because everyone else is trying to put in features or improve flow and I'm obsessing about what the water will do. Its a good habit to be in though, I usually get the last laugh.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Golden Triangle Epic postponed - too wet.

When is it too wet?
Right at the moment in Bendigo.
With the highest rainfall over the past month than seen in many years and more forecast for the coming week, the Bendigo MTB club has taken the gutsy decision to postpone the annual Golden Triangle Epic until later in the year. (check http://www.goldentriangleepic.com/ for details)
Hats off to the organisers. Not an easy decision too make.
Cheers
MH

 

[GeurieMTB]

Geurie 3+3 postponed

Hi all,

weve got 20-40mm forecast today (fri) and tomorrow, heavy windstorms and potential branch drop, and despite having a great draining track were not prepared to see 50+ riders doing laps for 6 hours, all the hand carved singletrack goodness would be too heavily impacted. If we were hosting a major event we might consider hosting it, but for a club run, non-profit making event we dont see the point of potentially destroying much of whats been years of hard work...so sundays race is OFF

We will let all concerned know of the alternative date when we determine it.

Dubbo has had its wettest july and August in decades, the soils saturated so any rain we get has nowhere to go -- its certainly a very nice change after the last few years.

 

[serowe]

Hey guys - I know these aren't the best message to have to post - can I suggest a thread be started to post cancellations/postponements? Whilst I am sure many will see the Geurie 3+3 message, a static thread on them (postponements) might be the best way to ensure people know.

Just a suggestion - and (in a way) good to see clubs looking at the overall picture.

 

[johndh]

The Bendigo Club is not regretting the decision to postpone the GTE to the 5th Dec as the forecast is for 50mm rain, flooding and storms etc etc tomorrow and Sunday. We have gone from drought to flood?? (very wet anyway) in a matter of months! Too bloody wet, but better than too bloody dry!!
They are predicting that Oct is going to be very wet aswell, so when is it too wet? will come up again for other event organisers.