Topic: Rain soaked trail

[kiltedranger]

Once an armed man, hunts another armed man and develops a taste for it... nothing else compares.

Just sayin.

Oh, and I took the advise... I don't wanna be the cause for more hard work. Besides, the missus is making me clean the garage now. Humph.

[HalfBreed]

Yee Hawwwwwww.....Give me some Pabst and I will ride through the woods with those antlers...LOL.........Orange Kona would scare those Teethless basters off LOL,,,,

Whats wrong with PBR??
way to offend people with guns...

[SouthernAvalanche]

Dang, I forgot my white towel...Saw two hunters......They ask if I seen any deer...I laughed cause they been out there longer than me.....

PBR is good...
I still have some camo Miller High....LOL

[HalfBreed]

Boyette trails are ok.  Hog damage on Pandamonium, Golf Cart and Baby Nessie.  Ridgeline is wet from Laurens Overlook on.  No puddles and ridable for intermidiate up riders, due to us having the skill to finesse trails.  Only 2 puddles are near the end and can be ridden around.  Main concern is softness of trail.  it is definatly soft.
 
NO CORKSCREW OPTION!
 
PLEASE!!!!!
 
This option has actually settled in with the rain, BUT, it is super soft (you can see it if you stop and look from the passing trail).  If we stay off this for a few days, it will be pristine.
 
Enjoy your ride!!!!
 

 

[Garry]

Boyette trails are ok.  Hog damage on Pandamonium, Golf Cart and Baby Nessie.  Ridgeline is wet from Laurens Overlook on.  No puddles and ridable for intermidiate up riders, due to us having the skill to finesse trails.  Only 2 puddles are near the end and can be ridden around.  Main concern is softness of trail.  it is definatly soft......

Riding around puddles only makes the trail wider and changes the dynamics of the trail.  It is best to stay off of it until it dries.  It won't take long as I don't imagine we will see another 2 to 3 inches of rain in a day soon.  If we do then we just stay off of it until it has a chance to drain.  Makes for a longer lasting trail that we hopefully don't have to go in and repair. 

Ridgeline and Abyss are looking like seasonal trails where we will have to close from time to time to protect.

[HalfBreed]

Riding around puddles only makes the trail wider and changes the dynamics of the trail.  It is best to stay off of it until it dries.  It won't take long as I don't imagine we will see another 2 to 3 inches of rain in a day soon.  If we do then we just stay off of it until it has a chance to drain.  Makes for a longer lasting trail that we hopefully don't have to go in and repair. 

Ridgeline and Abyss are looking like seasonal trails where we will have to close from time to time to protect.

The puddles are small enough that you do not have to widen the trail to go around.  Seasonal for Abyss??  Never that.  Even during the worst of summer it was hardly ever flooded out or muddy.  All that erosion was from runoff.  I know for a fact N AND S Abyss were ridable, without damage, except for maybe 10 days out of the summer.  If you close Ridgeline, N and S Abyss at the same time during the summer, no one will respect the closures.  That leaves nothing to ride.  The solution is more volunteers.  Trail work will always be needed and with the style of trails created here in FL (since none of the drops or Tech stuff is really natural terrain).  Those build ups will ALWAYS need work.

[Garry]

True that the trails will always need work.  Runoff does enough damage, then tires digging into the soft clay does more.  One we can't control, one we can.  Abyss received the worst damage this year then any other year.  But we had unusually heavy rains in a short amount of time.  Just makes sense to give it a break when things like that happen for the long term enjoyment of the trail. 

If people can't respect trail closure for the good of the trail, a more defined blockage of the trail may need to be put up, or it does not have to be maintained and goes back to nature.  It does not get closed to take anything away from anyone, but instead to keep it in good shape for everyone to enjoy.  Also, no matter what, the same core group of volunteers will show up to fix trail issues at all four trail systems (over 125 miles of trails).  So many of the folks who overflow the parking lot (insert name of any trail system) on a Saturday to enjoy the trail aren't there on a Saturday to pitch in to make the work load less.  So, it's simple to ask to make the work less by not riding in it's worst condition.  Drainage issues and armoring are ongoing so closures will be less and less.  Unfortunately clay based trails and steep trails have inherent problems we  users just need to learn to work around for the long term enjoyment of them.

[HalfBreed]

Word.  Makes sense.  I just know the amount of people ive steered away from trails this year (ridinyssg everyday).  3 of the 4 Blacks are closed, those jerkoff individuals will just ride it and do it with no finessing.  I personally know one guy who rode Ridgeline everyday he was there when it was closed, up until you couldnt get through from brush and trees.  He actually was climbing over the down trees for a few just to continue riding.  He and I no longer ride together. 
 
I still say closing the Abyss is unnessesary.  hell, ill work it once a week when summer hits.  should be fine if someone touches it up weekly.

[Garry]

 
I still say closing the Abyss is unnessesary.  hell, ill work it once a week when summer hits.  should be fine if someone touches it up weekly.

That's the plan Kobe.  We have a couple of fixes we're exploring that will give long term protection to those particularly bad sections so even in the rainy season it won't be an issue.  We will try a couple out in different areas to see how they hold up. But until then, we try to discourage hitting the clay trails just after a rain.

[HalfBreed]

you got it

[SouthernAvalanche]

I will help too...I built many trails in Maryland.....I wish I could bring that clay down here....Its slippery but it does not do what this sand dirt does down here....At boyette where do you get the clay......

[slowfatguy]

I will help too...I built many trails in Maryland.....I wish I could bring that clay down here....Its slippery but it does not do what this sand dirt does down here....At boyette where do you get the clay......

There is clay everywhere. Most of S. Abyss and Ridgeline come to mind.

[firebiker]

I will help too...I built many trails in Maryland.....I wish I could bring that clay down here....Its slippery but it does not do what this sand dirt does down here....At boyette where do you get the clay......

The clay is a biproduct from the phosphate mining that was done prior to the 1970's.