Some words of wisdom from CLIMBs Mike Viti
During the freeze/thaw season in winter, we ask that folks please try to stay off the trails if their tires are making deep ruts over the majority of the trails. 75% dry firm trail is the accepted norm. Some mud is unavoidable but mostly mud will wreck havoc on your bike's expensive components and cause damage to the trail.
There's a new technical term for you during the freeze/thaw cycle...smooshy! (soft-mushy) Here is an attempt at an explanation on the difference between wet and mushy trails.
PLEASE AVOID MUSHY TRAILS!
THE FREEZE/THAW CYCLE AND IT'S EFFECTS ON THE TRAILS:
When temps go into the 20's and lower at night the trail surface starts to freeze from the top down to a few feet below the surface. With a warm spell during the winter, there is a chance for the top layer of the trails to thaw, but the frozen layer underneath keeps the water from draining and causes pudding to form, which will allow deep rutting by wheels or heels to form. Then it freezes over again and becomes a frozen rutted mess.
If you notice this stuff happening on the majority of your ride, please ride somewhere else and choose the more firmer fire roads or paved paths. You will be rewarded with better trails next season and there will be less finger pointing. Basically, frozen trails are good and firmd, dry trails are good and hard, thawing trails are soft and smooshy like an ice cream sunday left out in the sun.
Why is that? The ground underneath the trails are still frozen solid, sometimes to a depth of two or more feet. When the sun warms the first two or three inches and it starts to melt, the water can't drain because of the frozen sub-soil and viola' you have mushy porridge. You will usually find this more common in open field areas not shaded by trees.
Creating ruts may erode the trails and fill up the drains we've built. It will also erode the relationships we have built with the land managers and fill the opponents of mountain biking with ammo to use against us at the next trails meeting even though heels cause almost the same damage.
Let's try to minimize the extra work for our trail stewards and advocates by showing some respect and consideration. Riding in the early morning when the trails are still frozen is an option but avoid the late afternoon if temps are above freezing.
Thanx!
THE REGULAR WARM SEASON WET TRAIL EXPLANATION:
This is totally different than riding mushy trails, riding a lightly wet trail is OK as long as the majority of the trail base is firm. Usually it is acceptable to ride certain trails during or just after a light rain. Usually the trails that are sandy are fine to ride when wet because the moisture packs the sand down and creates a firmer base.
However, if heavy rain occurs or there has been a prolonged period of rain that has caused the trail base to get soft over the majority of the trail...please let the trails dry out for a day or two. Certain trails that have clay based soils such as Cunningham Park will take a longer time to dry out. Cathedral Pines has clay/loam soils that are covered in organic matter, which also does not dry out as quickly.
So basically firm trail base with minimal soft or mushy areas are good to ride...mostly soft mushy trails are not good to ride. Explore the paved paths as an alternative. Otherwise the mud and grit may cause expensive damage to your drive train and suspension.
ALSO: Please stay on the designated trails and do not make short cuts. Try to stay in the middle of the trail and do not trample the plants along the sides of the trails. We would like to keep the trail narrow.