This Weather!!

[Marc]

Even if it is fun, you are causing irreversible damage to the trails. Call me crazy, but I actually care about the trails and would rather skip a few weeks of biking than kill the trail.

I have yet to see evidence of that.


Perhaps the trail characteristics and traffic volume are different in this part of New England.

 

[Jonni]

Yeah, I would agree with that at least from the hiking perspective. I'd rather be patient and wait for some dry ground (if we ever get any) then hike in the mud.

 

[thetrailboss]

Yes, DO NOT HIKE ON MUDDY/WET TRAILS!!!! You are causing massive damage if you are. Wait for it to dry out. Do your part....

 

[Marc]

Trust me, TB, down here in CT in southern central MA, it doesn't make one bit of difference. I'm not the type that would destroy a trail so others couldn't enjoy it.

The only place I've been biking north of the northern MA is Killington and 75% of the time the weekend we pick to ride up there is wet and/or rainy. We ride anyway. Their trail maintenance is so prolific that it doesn't make a difference there either.

 

[skibum1321]

Trust me, TB, down here in CT in southern central MA, it doesn't make one bit of difference. I'm not the type that would destroy a trail so others couldn't enjoy it.

The only place I've been biking north of the northern MA is Killington and 75% of the time the weekend we pick to ride up there is wet and/or rainy. We ride anyway. Their trail maintenance is so prolific that it doesn't make a difference there either.

There is a big difference between a little muddy and hub deep mud though. At this point everything will be so saturated that most trails will be deep mud.

 

[Marc]

There is a big difference between a little muddy and hub deep mud though. At this point everything will be so saturated that most trails will be deep mud.

I actually found very few places that had mud that deep, because obviously hub deep mud is unrideable.

If there was a lot of water somewhere on a trail, it was because there was a drainage stream flowing down it, which meant hardpack underneath (and poor trail construction and planning as well), or there were large standing puddles with water that was hub deep, but the ground beneath was firm enough to ride through. And if you're riding through hub deep water, it doesn't take much mud or any other kind of comprimised traction to case out.

I don't know, maybe it's because I do all of my riding in a watershed area so I'm used to some trails being wet all summer long, but I noticed no reduction in traffic this weekend due to the wet conditions (except if they pussed out because they didn't want to get all dirty).

 

[JimG.]

Bitch and moan about the weather...oh boy! I'm hearing it all day at work too, especially from the "I hate Winter" crowd. Well tough toenails! Too much complaining.

Me, I'll be up at 4:30am tomorrow for a morning lake trout fishing expedition. The weather is perfect; fish don't mind the rain at all. Wind might be an issue, but the fish don't care about that either and that's what anchors are for anyway.

Hoping to land a 15+ pounder!

Wind was ridiculous...even with 2 anchors we were getting blown around. Cold front blew through about 1/2 hour after we started fishing at 6am. The conditions could not have been worse...cloudy, drizzle, wind, clearing skies, gusty wind.

The fish decided to sleep late. Had a great time anyway!

 

[YardSaleDad]

Wind was ridiculous...

Tell me about it. Only got one short flight on the training hill in all weekend