Winter Riding/Snowshoeing at Hillside

[Elk River Rider]

Is the trail open to winter riding? I am not set up to ride with this much snow, but I do snowshoe fairly often at Hillside and I saw tire tracks last year. It would seem with the amount of snow we are starting to get that it would be beneficial for me to try to beat down the snow with my snowshoes for other riders. If that is not the case and the guys that ride the Pugs, or whatever they are called, would rather have virgin snow, let me know.

[RiverRat]

Not positive, but I thought I heard that Hillside is open to bikes in the winter.

Also, even with a pugsley, it helps dramatically to have the snow packed in, especially when there is over 6" of fresh snow. So I would say, snow shoe away (as long as the park is open)!

[RichZilla]

Park is open all winter. Only closes for wet conditions (rain and spring). The more the trail gets packed, the better. Even for the Pugs. The only 'bad' thing that can happen is for someone to walk through there without snowshoes. The deep holes that get left behind are very difficult to ride across.

We are trying to plan a pack down session for this weekend. Keep an eye out for updates.

[RichZilla]

We did a TON of trail packing this weekend. We were able to get around the entire 7 mile trail twice, and a solid third time beat-down through section one. We also had another extra quick session through section four, which is definitely the trickiest section to pack in the winter. On the first day I was shovelling all the climbs down to bare dirt as we went through section one. There's a lot of uphills that are really long! I made it about half way through section one before wearing out. We used a couple different methods on various parts of the trail to experiment and find out what works best over time. The minimum packed trail width at any point is at least 12" wide. Plenty of room for squiggling wheels. We also tried to provide a slight berm in the corners to help maintain momentum.

Right now the trail is definitely ready to ride for Pugsleys, in fact, they may be able to clear everything and not push up some of the climbs. As far as the rest of us non-clown bikers, the trail should be ready in another day or two for riding 2.5's on it. As of now, no studs are needed.

I'd like to get some riders out there and provide some feedback on how the packing is working out. All opinions are welcome. I expect some complaints. You can't please them all!




This trail is gonna be so sweet this winter! Keep an eye out for the upcoming winter race series...:cool:

[heavybluechevy]

You should make it known when/if you need help packing the trail down- I know they get together often to stomp at some of the south metro trails, but it's just too far for me to travel very often. My husband and I just bought snowshoes, and need to get out with them once in a while.:)

[RichZilla]

I will definitely post up when a group effort is needed. This past weekend I had only asked a few specific people to help out because of their experience and/or tools available for the job. We were doing a little experimenting so we didn't want a bunch of other "cooks" in the kitchen for the learning experience.

You are welcome to go snowshoeing there anytime, though. Enjoy!

[MY GRAIN]

not sure if the snowmoblie was suppose to help pack the trail but it did not work, i was out there about 12:30 on thursday the 13th and it was a tough ride the snow was a bit soft

[The Goat Killer]

I've done some snowshoeing at Battle Creek this year and yeah I wish those summer hikers would buy a pair of cheap snowshoes instead of maken the trails worse. They like to try follow the snowshoe tracks and just make a big mess for everyone. :banghead:

[RichZilla]

not sure if the snowmoblie was suppose to help pack the trail but it did not work, i was out there about 12:30 on thursday the 13th and it was a tough ride the snow was a bit soft

Yeah, it's kind of like trying to pack dry sand. Trust me, if we hadn't done any of that work, you wouldn't have made 10 yards with your feet on the pedals. Until it warms up a little and then freezes again, that sugar snow won't pack too well. I have a good sized pack of Pugsley'd sisters showing up on Sunday to do a little line buffing. Riding in the winter (when not on a Pugsley) can be a lot more effort than it seems necessary. Sometimes downright frustrating!:banghead: Ride 20 feet, get the bike back on the trail, ride 20 feet, get the bike back on the trail, ride 20 feet, get the bike back on the trail... you get the picture.

How well did it work for you on all the climbs that were shovelled down to bare dirt?

Tires make all the difference. What (brand, model, size) tires and pressure were you running? I roll out on the 2.7" wide Kenda's @ 10-15 psi. Usually works pretty well, except on glare ice.:D

Thanks for the feedback.

[The Goat Killer]

Yeah, it's kind of like trying to pack dry sand. Trust me, if we hadn't done any of that work, you wouldn't have made 10 yards with your feet on the pedals. Until it warms up a little and then freezes again, that sugar snow won't pack too well. I have a good sized pack of Pugsley'd sisters showing up on Sunday to do a little line buffing. Riding in the winter (when not on a Pugsley) can be a lot more effort than it seems necessary. Sometimes downright frustrating!:banghead: Ride 20 feet, get the bike back on the trail, ride 20 feet, get the bike back on the trail, ride 20 feet, get the bike back on the trail... you get the picture.

How well did it work for you on all the climbs that were shovelled down to bare dirt?

Tires make all the difference. What (brand, model, size) tires and pressure were you running? I roll out on the 2.7" wide Kenda's @ 10-15 psi. Usually works pretty well, except on glare ice.:D

Thanks for the feedback.

With snowshoes and ski poles you can go about anywhere no matter how deep the snow or how steep the climbs. :cool:

[MY GRAIN]

My tires are the skinny 2.1 and psi was too high, I did not last long :incazzato:. I plan on getting some snowshoes and will be out there soon. Thanks for the hard work.

[RichZilla]

With snowshoes and ski poles you can go about anywhere no matter how deep the snow or how steep the climbs. :cool:

Agreed! I'm stopping at REI to pick up the new skins tonight. I ordered them online from the closeout section, and had them delivered to the store for free shipping. ~$230 shoes for $100 after coupons.:banana:

[Lezgo Cycling]

Agreed! I'm stopping at REI to pick up the new skins tonight. I ordered them online from the closeout section, and had them delivered to the store for free shipping. ~$230 shoes for $100 after coupons.:banana:

NICE I am getting mine the day after xmas, (cause I know for a fact im getting GC to REI)

[jag]

Agreed! I'm stopping at REI to pick up the new skins tonight. I ordered them online from the closeout section, and had them delivered to the store for free shipping. ~$230 shoes for $100 after coupons.:banana:

Cool, Rich, Your gonna like them. I tried them last night and they kick azz. Up the steep fresh stuff no prob. A lot better than the rentals last year. These don't kick the snow back at the azz like those did last year.

I don't know how we are gonna stay on the trail when we stomp.

[RichZilla]

I don't know how we are gonna stay on the trail when we stomp.

I can see the lure of the off-road excitement tempting me already! I plan on doing plenty of snowshoeing through the woods just for fun. In fact, tomorrow at 1pm.:)

[RichZilla]

Looks like I get to collect the point for the first fully completed lap at Hillside on a bike!:banana:Mainly due to the fact that no one has tried it with the proper setup yet. All the tracks so far were made by 2.1's or narrower, and running about 40 psi. Not gonna work on this trail for a while. No tracks more than a mile in.

I left the front lot at 1:30pm and returned 1:45 later after completing a full lap. I was mainly out for an easy recon ride, with no intentions of blistering out a hot lap. Just going out to see how the trailwork was holding up. The tires I used were Kenda Kinetics, 2.60" wide, and set to 15 psi according to my Blackburn Airtower5 pump. At the 1 hour mark I was almost to section 4, but I was running out of steam fast. Shoulda had something to eat that day I guess. The trail wasn't the problem, my lack of legs after not riding since September was. I barely had anything at all to pedal with.:banghead: The spots where I had shovelled the climbs down to the bare dirt were friggin' awesome!


On a side note, I know this is nothing new, but

:mad:PEOPLE WHO USE A MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAIL FOR WALKING, SUCK!:mad:

The damage that one person can do to a perfectly groomed trail is astouding. Any section where the foot traffic was absent, was a dream to ride. Where there were deep foot gouges, it was extremely difficult to keep the rear tire smooth enough to maintain traction on the climbs. I can promise you that there will be a policy change about this trail's use in the winter, and signs will be posted. Yes, yes, I know that putting signs up won't keep people off the trail without snowshoes or a bike, but at least if we see them doing it, we will be able to educate them and ask them not to continue to do it. Just like we do for riding muddy trails. People aren't allowed to walk on the XC ski trails, how is this any different?

Time to get out and ride peeps...

Just be sure not to bring a knife to the gunfight.:cool: