Theo Grand Opening video link

[99FSRComp]

Here's a link to the video coverage off of the WCCO 4 website at www.wcco.com. (http://www.wcco.com:)

The video: http://wcco.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=7461&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8&Contract_ID=3&Obj_ID=4
It's titled "No More Wheelie-Poppin' Outlaws".:D I think the coverage turned out great and very positive. "Great Job" to everyone involved!!!

[funky-funky-chicken]

A couple of days since the Theo Grand Opening, opportunity for me to catch up on some of the fun that I missed out on. I'm proud of everyone who participated in various capacities for the planning and construction. It's truly a marvelous achievement in many ways.

I understand the excitement of the Grand Opening and festivities, the media coverage, etc. There seemed to be some good emphasis on fact that these are new legal trails. There was even the comment from the reporter something along the lines of ...when it began to rain, the riders went home... The image that stuck in my head was the riders on what appear to be wet trails and mud. The close up of a muddy leg clipping into a pedal, the young man with what appears to be mud spattered on his face...I thought it a bit ironic from a MORC standpoint. Anyone else?

[Magic]

I thought the same thing Ken. But I kept my thoughts to myself for once. I didn't want to start a big brewhaha over it. But since you opened up the can....
:etard:

[Tex]

I thought about that too. But honestly, with how poor the weather was, you would have been hard pressed to find anyone out there without mud splattered on their face. Just from the road ride many of did to get there. Everyone I saw, when I rolled through the beginning section, was rolling through at a very controlled pace, and tried not to tear anything up. That would be why everyone that was descending that last section in the video was going so slow.

I can only speak for myself here. But I know there would have been no way I would have been out there if it wasn't for the Grand Opening. The group that I rode with, spun through it in what was a small lull in the rain. We tried it, it was too wet, we exited. As did other groups of riders I saw out there.

So even though there was some trail riding going on in the extremely wet conditions, it looked like everyone was riding with as much respect as they could for the trail. But as you say, I'm sure alot of it was due to the excitement of the Grand Opening and festivities, the media coverage, etc. Not that that's any excuse.

[guest_s]

I rode the trail last night and little to no damage was done to the trail from the Opening. I think this was because people were riding when it first started to rain and it usually takes awhile for the dirt to get softened up enough for deep tracks to appear. Also, it is a really well built trail and I was actually surprised with how well it held up. In the spring, the ground was really soft and we had to fix a lot of deep ruts. Once the ground hardens, it takes a lot of rain to get the trails to become this soft.

This does not mean to ride the trails wet, it just means some rain or short showers probably won't have much of an effect and it also means the trails will dry out a lot faster.

Simple rule. If your tires are making a rut, don't ride the trails.......any trail!

[Wheels]

The close up of a muddy leg clipping into a pedal, the young man with what appears to be mud spattered on his face...I thought it a bit ironic from a MORC standpoint. Anyone else?

Tom and I talked about closing the trail, but it just didn't seem to make sense with all things considered. We kept an eye on the situation and felt that the trails were holding up just fine during the opening. I didn't see any real damage on my ride through yesterday.

I was glad they said "everyone went home when it started to pour", it probably didn't looks so great on TV to have muddy faces - but I think most on-site understood that we were making an exception.

[Trevize1138]

I worried a bit about that, too: "I can ride in the mud. I mean, the mayor rode in the mud for the innaugural ride!"

It was a special circumstance and, from the POV of the broadcast, who's to say the average viewer didn't just think "Oh, they must have been riding on dry trails until just toward the end when it started to rain ... then they went home." *shrug*

And, yes, the trail held up impressively well to the combination of rain and traffic! Mostly people were riding the beginning section just north of 55, but if you go there today you'd be hard-pressed to find evidence of 200 or so riders doing loops around there in the rain Saturday. Maybe in one spot ... but it's a spot we already know needs work.

[funky-funky-chicken]

I'm not trying to be controversial, I do understand the exception. I think that most of us here who know anything about what MORC and MOCA stand for would hopefully not ride in such conditions.

I just hope such a public exception doesn't come back to bite anyone. I hope that in some people's mind it doesn't lead them to believe that there is a double standard. I hope that some poacher doesn't come back with the answer: "I know how to ride wet trails and not cause damage."

Maybe we should just drop the whole discussion. The more someone reads and sees that lots of people can ride in the rain on wet trails and not cause significant damage, the more it might lead them to believe it's just okay to ride trails when wet.

Moral to the story... don't ride wet. (Even if you saw it on TV.)

[Magic]

I second Ken's motion. Glad to hear that the trail held up. Thanks to all of those who put in the hours of your own time to make this a legal trail system.

[Wheels]

No problem Ken,

There were two conditions that allowed for the exception during the opening. The first one is the amount of rain initially was very light - it was a steady increase over the course of the event, the second thing was that we had enough traffic on the course to keep it relatively dry and solid.

Never hurts to talk about things on the forum, I think it gives people access to information and discussion that's hard to come by if you're not in the grape vine. There are 100's of lurkers around here.

Riding the trails when raining or when wet is always going to increase the risk of damage. The rule I've always followed is that if your digging in or causing any other kind of damage you should get off the trail. That's a pretty subjective statement - but I think all of you experienced riders know how to make the distinction.

[stoneage]

Aside from the demonstration/exception argument, it was good to get the opening out of the way, instead of waiting till next weekend. A lot of people worked very hard to get this thing rolling, and they deserved to be done with it. Nice work everybody!!!!! :) :) :)