Arwen's Mom
Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains
I know I do.
How about other trails in NJ?
Like them?
I do too.
Winter is upon us.
And NJ winter is unpredictable.
I remember winters with tons of snow and others I was wearing t-shirts and sometimes those were within days of each other.
Please lets be considerate of trail conditions at ALL the parks, and be willing to politely spread the word to other trail users who may not understand the amount of volunteer work that goes into building and maintaining those trails we love.
Each park and sometimes even a certain trail has a different flavor and reacts differently to the weather conditions. Some parks are rocky with lots of elevation changes and are able to drain well. Some are sandy and not only drain well, but are not as sensitive to riding even when a little moist. The moisture may even make the conditions better by packing down the sand a little. But even at those parks, there may be certain sections you need to avoid. For example at Allaire. While mostly sandy, the tiger woods section is not and sustains damage when ridden under wet conditions. Some parks are clay based, like 6M and are very sensitive when ridden when there is even a little moisture.
I hiked 6M last night. I was disturbed at some of the damage. While it may seem minimal now, over the winter it will only get worse. While sections SEEMED hard and ride-able, you could tell from the color of the soil the moisture content is high. With freezing temps this moisture comes to the surface and then when the sun comes out it melts and ruts are formed when you ride. That night the ruts will freeze. So even if you ride when its still frozen out it sucks because frozen ruts in a nice flowy turn just suck. With each rider going through it just compounds and gets worse. Even if its still below freezing out, if the sun is hitting the dirt, the top layer melts and gets squishy. So be careful when telling people its ok to ride if its freezing out. We need to let the top soil freeze down deeper to prevent damage during that "freeze thaw" cycle some of us are familiar with at 6M.
I know there are a lot of bikers out there that dont visit this forum. So I ask you to just spread the word to other bikers when you see them.
If you do find a wet or rutted spot, consider doing some things differently to minimize the amount of damage you do. Consider actually getting off and walking your bike so you dont create more deep ruts. Yes I have actually carried my bike over muddy areas. When you see a puddle or muddy area we all know that we need to refrain from going around it. Go through the middle. But heres the big part that may be hard for many of you SLOW DOWN when you do. When you go through fast, it displaces more dirt. So SLOW down and most of the dirt/mud will squish back into place. SLOW MEANS LIKE WALKING PACE. And for Gods sake learn to brake and corner with OUT skidding. Skidding on dry dirt I am not very fond of, but skidding on wet is even worse, and skidding out on those corner when its wet and muddy is just awful. I was appalled at the amount of slide marks in the corners at 6M
here are just a few pics of damage that will only get worse as the winter progresses, you may have to turn your monitors sideways to view, sorry no time to edit them, I may have to grab a shovel and fill a few holes on the trails today
this next one is particular disturbing because what used to me a narrow nice turn has become wider, with a puddle and now an alternate line.
How about other trails in NJ?
Like them?
I do too.
Winter is upon us.
And NJ winter is unpredictable.
I remember winters with tons of snow and others I was wearing t-shirts and sometimes those were within days of each other.
Please lets be considerate of trail conditions at ALL the parks, and be willing to politely spread the word to other trail users who may not understand the amount of volunteer work that goes into building and maintaining those trails we love.
Each park and sometimes even a certain trail has a different flavor and reacts differently to the weather conditions. Some parks are rocky with lots of elevation changes and are able to drain well. Some are sandy and not only drain well, but are not as sensitive to riding even when a little moist. The moisture may even make the conditions better by packing down the sand a little. But even at those parks, there may be certain sections you need to avoid. For example at Allaire. While mostly sandy, the tiger woods section is not and sustains damage when ridden under wet conditions. Some parks are clay based, like 6M and are very sensitive when ridden when there is even a little moisture.
I hiked 6M last night. I was disturbed at some of the damage. While it may seem minimal now, over the winter it will only get worse. While sections SEEMED hard and ride-able, you could tell from the color of the soil the moisture content is high. With freezing temps this moisture comes to the surface and then when the sun comes out it melts and ruts are formed when you ride. That night the ruts will freeze. So even if you ride when its still frozen out it sucks because frozen ruts in a nice flowy turn just suck. With each rider going through it just compounds and gets worse. Even if its still below freezing out, if the sun is hitting the dirt, the top layer melts and gets squishy. So be careful when telling people its ok to ride if its freezing out. We need to let the top soil freeze down deeper to prevent damage during that "freeze thaw" cycle some of us are familiar with at 6M.
I know there are a lot of bikers out there that dont visit this forum. So I ask you to just spread the word to other bikers when you see them.
If you do find a wet or rutted spot, consider doing some things differently to minimize the amount of damage you do. Consider actually getting off and walking your bike so you dont create more deep ruts. Yes I have actually carried my bike over muddy areas. When you see a puddle or muddy area we all know that we need to refrain from going around it. Go through the middle. But heres the big part that may be hard for many of you SLOW DOWN when you do. When you go through fast, it displaces more dirt. So SLOW down and most of the dirt/mud will squish back into place. SLOW MEANS LIKE WALKING PACE. And for Gods sake learn to brake and corner with OUT skidding. Skidding on dry dirt I am not very fond of, but skidding on wet is even worse, and skidding out on those corner when its wet and muddy is just awful. I was appalled at the amount of slide marks in the corners at 6M
here are just a few pics of damage that will only get worse as the winter progresses, you may have to turn your monitors sideways to view, sorry no time to edit them, I may have to grab a shovel and fill a few holes on the trails today
this next one is particular disturbing because what used to me a narrow nice turn has become wider, with a puddle and now an alternate line.
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