Trail conditions

[Tom S.]

Go play in the snow before it's gone! :cool:

[gopherhockey]

Yes, Tom is right - hit it while you can! Supposed to get warm this weekend - probably see the snow all gone (hopefully). Fences will be going up at Lebanon closing all trails soon (possibly this week) - so get out there and enjoy it if you are a skiier or shoer...

[gopherhockey]

Ok, so most trails are now open. The first night I took a few laps I was throwing up a little mudd, but just 24 hours later the trail greatly improved. The expert loop has some soft spots, but for the most part conditions are great. If you tend to dislike when the trails get rock-hard like pavement in the summer, this is the time to get out and ride.

As always this is just a discussion to compliment our <a href="http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/trail.php">Trail Conditions</a> page.

[Hardtailforever]

I rode Lebenon this afternoon (Sat 4/12) and it was outstanding. The trail was tacky but not wet. There was only one small soft spot that I noticed. I crashed and didn't even get that dirty. I neen't have cleaned my bike when I got home, but I'd just picked up a can of pro-detailer high gloss, so I just had to anyway :D

I don't think anyone has to worry about getting riders out before it rains... the lot was packed when I got there. Trail wasn't too crowded, though- only saw like three people actually on trail. I hope things shape up this well at the other trails around town soon.

Great job to those of you doing work out there!

[gopherhockey]

Obviously everyone knows we opened all of Lebanon (but the beginner loop) about a week ago.

You all know we have also had recent rains and (it looks like) continued rains through the weekend and into next week.

It is going to seem like I'm preaching (if it doesn't already) but PLEASE be careful not to ride the trails until they have a few days of dry weather to firm up again. Pass the word along, if you drive by Lebanon and see bikers out there stop and shoot them on sight.. ;)

The choir has been notified. (now if we could find a way to notify those that are probably out there right now causing damage..)

Preacher

:etard:

[gopherhockey]

I'm curious if anyone took a chance and was at Lebanon at all today? I think it is safe to say it is still pretty wet considering we haven't even had 12 hours of no rain and sunshine yet (let alone the usual 48 that seems appropriate) - but I've been surprised by that trail at times and how well it can bounce back.

If anyone has been there, please update us or update the trail conditions... even if it was muddy - don't be afraid, we won't yell at you... well, not too much anyway ;)

I'd kind of like to know the conditions for tomorrow's trail work day as well. I'm guessing by then it will definitely be ok to at least get out and work on the new xx loop.

[Trevize1138]

I'm planning on hitting the trail after work today, but I imagine someone else might get there and report back before me. I'm guessing it will be dry enough considering it's the 2nd day of sunshine in a row =)

[gopherhockey]

Yup, I'd guess today might be acceptable conditions.

Hit it early though, trail work starts at 5pm! ;)

New XX loop work and dueling dingo's tonight!!!

[Trevize1138]

Originally posted by Tom S.
Get James out there with his vid camera and then use Dueling Banjos for the soundtrack. I can see it now, first TrailDale and then Tim and back and forth and then we can see who is the best Dingo player!:D :banana: :etard:

I feel I'm missing out on some inside joke here ... :fool:

[gopherhockey]

I think about the movie Deliverance every time I see Tim too... :D

DOH!

[Tim Wegner]

John unfortunatly you have let the secret be known. Seriously thanks to everyone for their help last night. Lots of work got done. I agree with John that XX should be open by the end of May. :D

[Trevize1138]

Once you guys were done with the maintenance I must have done 5 loops around the XX loop on my motorcross bike. That section ROCKS!

[gopherhockey]

Originally posted by Trevize1138
Once you guys were done with the maintenance I must have done 5 loops around the XX loop on my motorcross bike.

Impossible, we made it too difficult for silly motocrossers to get around that trail ;)

[Trevize1138]

Whut EVAH! I'm taking my ATV there tonight to really rip it up!:crazy:

[gopherhockey]

I'm telling on you. Tim... sick em' (now you've done it!) hehehe...

:etard:

[Tim Wegner]

Hey knock it off. If you guys keep on runnin' your ATV's and such on the trails my next purchase will be a CAT HD 9. I will bulldoze all the trees at Lebanon and make it look just like my home state of NoDak.:sick:

[Trevize1138]

What's wrong with NoDak? Bismarck reprazent!

:cool:

[Tim Wegner]

Hey Chris
Bismarck is great! lived there for 20 years and had many good times riding the trails out there. I was referring to the trees which we removed so the big farm machinery wouldn't have to make so many turns.

Actually, the IMBA rep from NoDak and I did a presentation last winter in Grand Forks on building trails as tourist attractions for some of the towns in the state. The majority of the interest was from the NE part of NoDak. As you know there still is a very nice large hardwood forest in that part of the state. Who knows maybe they will have a trail in that area to rival Mah-Dah-Hey.

[Trevize1138]

See, that's what I miss about NoDak, none of these damn trees to get in the way of the real scenery. =P

Yeah, some great riding in Bismarck, and of course the Maah Daah Hey (I'm there in a month! woo hoo!). There were actually a couple really really small places north of Moorhead that was somewhat fun riding, too. not too familiar with the landscape of the Grand Forks area, so I'll have to take your word on that. However, isn't the Red River Valley sorta ... you know ... flat as hell? ;)

I take it you know Loren and Jennifer Morlock (sp?), then?

[BrightYellow]

Grand Forks... I went to school there for 27 years, or maybe it was 5. Either way, I never ran across much single track. There are some trails up at Turtle River, but I'm not sure they allow bikes anymore. Also some trails down by the river, but only about 1/2 mile total.

Mostly we did a little Urban Assault! Amazing the technical riding you can find on campus...

[gopherhockey]

I'm a proud ex-Grand Forks resident myself (10 years - most of them in college ;)

UND.. was fun at the time, but the hockey team stinks.. hehe

[Hardtailforever]

:fool:

I'm taking my ATV there tonight to really rip it up!

Don't even joke about taking motorized vehicles onto those trails. It's bad enough we have people checking them out before their done, riding when it's wet, ducking fences, riding horses or whatever. The last thing we need is people ruining a perfectly good trail-in-progress with atv's or motocross bikes.

I have nothing against people riding atv's, but with the rain we get in MN, they make a trail unridable by mtb in no time. Take the Spirit Mt XC trails as a prime example. By June those trails are so torn up in places that it's better to wade accross than ride just to keep your bike from getting totally trashed by torn up grass and mud. And those trails have "no motorized vehicle" signs all over the place. I don't even want to think about what would happen at Lebanon. If people see posts about riding motocross bikes and such on the trails, even if you're kidding, it'll be the end of the trail as we know it.

[Trevize1138]

I guess I wouldn't worry too much about people trying to get away with taking motorized vehicles on the trail. Especially with how popular Lebannon is and how much MTB traffic goes through every day, one can just *imagine* the @ss-womping such an individual would get if a group of mountain bikers caught them ripping up the trail with an ATV. :shocked:

[Maverick]

I think I would pay to watch that beating take place. 1 unfit ATV rider against 25 hardcore MTBers, would kind of look like something from LA :fool:

Could be interesting, just think about it.......

[TrailPatrol]

I am pretty anti-ATVs, (and I hate snowmobiles) which were always illegally riding in our parks when I was a ranger. For the record, ATVs and dirt bikes at not allowed in any park in the metro system. Under the Natural Resources Law, they can be confiscated after several cited violations in any given park. (I have never heard of it happening, but the law is on the books.

That being said, on some of the forest roads I patrol up north, I run into them fairly regularly. Last July 4th weekend, I saw and talked to 2 groups of 2 ATV riders, one of who lost the spark arrester to his machine right in front of me. Another gave me an ice-cold soda from his cooler! (Talk about trail user cooperation!) They were surprised to see me out on a mountain bike in "such hot weather". I gave directions to a couple of mountain bikers without helmets or water on a 85+ degree, humid, sunny day, and talked to a guy with his family and dogs in his pick-up truck on the Pancore Lake loop, (yes, it is legal) who, upon seeing my Forest Service uniform, pulled over and asked me, "Can you tell me if I’m lost?" (He was.) I also caught a glimpse of a Timber Wolf watching me from a hilltop on the trail before it slipped back into the forest.

ATV users are getting kicked in the teeth by the DNR and the legislature now, and just like us mountain bikers, they are asserting that the problem lies with a few bad eggs, not all ATV riders. In both cases there is some truth to that. The people we both have problems with are the ones who ride when and where they're not supposed to, with no regard for the long term, short term and "political" impact of their actions. Granted, a 25 lb. mountain bike leaves a lot less of an impression than a 300 lb. ATV (let's not get into any talk about rider weights here!) but the state is trying to give them places to ride, yet still restore the damage they have done.

Now, if there is/was really a gas/oil crisis in this country, don't you think the first thing they could and should do is ban the uses of ATVs, snowmobiles, personal watercraft, powerboats, golf carts, weed eaters and race cars? The crisis is the oil companies as much, if not more so than the oil supply.

Just a closing thought there. :eyeroll:

Ride safe,
:banana:
Hans

[SickBoy]

Aren't most golf carts electric? :)

[TrailPatrol]

Boy, is this off the topic, or what???

It's about 50/50. A lot of them run on gas/oil mix lawn mower-type engines. The gas powered ones are supposed to be more reliable.

Ride safe,
:banana:
Hans

[Trevize1138]

Of course, compared to most automobiles, motorcycles and even ATVs are amazingly fuel efficient. Motorcycles, especially, are a great alternative for many people in the summer months 'cause of the fuel savings.

You'd never catch me riding a motorcycle, though, I like my skin the way it is :P. What I love is seeing the guys on crotch rockets with no shirt and no helmet zooming along doing wheelies and other tricky stuff. I guess they don't need a helmet if they have nothing valuable up there to protect in the first place. ;)

[mtnbykr]

"I also caught a glimpse of a Timber Wolf watching me from
a hilltop on the trail before it slipped back into the forest."

that's cuz you look like a big yella sausage....:laugh:

[from another thread on this forum...]

k

[TrailPatrol]

What you see in my new avatar is what I wear on patrol. (Personally I like the one with the tank, but it uses too much gas and tears up the trail) I don't wear the sausage suit anyplace where it's delicate fibers might get snagged.;)

I think I look really oaf-fish-ill, don't you? I think we are really way off the topic here, too! The Protocol police are are gonna be all over us. ("My name's Lundell, and I carry a badger...:fool: ) (Actually a gopher. :D )

Later,
:banana:
Hans

[gopherhockey]

Hey people, this is really getting off-topic now... ;)

Hehe.. I like the avatar, nice job!

Perhaps we should have a "who has the best avatar" voting contest. I think I can install something like that...

So far I like Tim's (because I forced it on him hehe)

:kiss:

[TrailPatrol]

Originally posted by gopherhockey
Hehe.. I like the avatar, nice job!
:kiss:

Yeah, and it's only 100 x 93 pixels!

:banana:
Hans