CRAMBA: Stony Creek

[PK]

Moist.
Moist and very buggy.

Lots of grip out there today.
A couple of puddles scattered about.

All the volunteer work done last month in the Pines really looks good after the recent rains.

Pete.

[Trance]

Pines, Snake, Roller Coaster, Back Nine, all in good shape yesterday. couple slick corners, nothing to be concerned with ... it was HOT though, so I quit early! Thanks to the trail work in the pines. The new gravel is in a good spot.

[PK]

All good out there this afternoon.
Lots of traction.
The fallen trees have been cleared.
(Thanks to all who cleared fallen debris during their ride)
I trimmed a few face-slappers on my ride as well.
Enjoy.
Pete.

[PK]

FYI

https://www.metroparks.com/wp-content/u ... pdf?x91894

[Critter7r]

FYI

https://www.metroparks.com/wp-content/u ... pdf?x91894

"The goals of the redesign process were to: … and also made it possible
to remove the need for mountain bikes to ride of riding on the wider, winter trails."

Can someone decipher what that means?

[PK]

Obviously a bit of a typo.
I believe it's referring to the desire for fat bikes to ride the snow-covered single track without causing a user conflict with the groomed XC ski trails.

Pete

[Critter7r]

so … allowing for fatties on the ski trails instead of relegating all bikes to the two-track?

[PK]

No.
More-or-less the opposite of that.
The two track gets groomed for XC skiers a few days a year when there's adequate snow.
As it stands now, all bikes are banned from the entire area in the winter. (Nobody really cares unless there's groomed XC ski trails though.)
The hope is to have bikes gain access to the single track (Non-XC ski groomed) in the winter regardless of the snow conditions.

From the Stony Creek Metropark Winter Activities page:

MOUNTAIN BIKING
Fat-tire mountain biking is allowed only on the Trolley Trails. Bikes are prohibited on the cross-country ski trails when the trails are covered in snow

Pete

[PK]

It's nice and grippy out there right now. Just a couple greasy spots.
All the main single track was clear of any fallen trees.
Even the Pines is great, thanks to all the volunteers that worked-it-over this past spring!
Enjoy.
Pete

[PK]

Get out there this morning.
Tacky fast.
I don't recall any puddles.

Rant:
In years past, I'd get together a couple of folks and we'd go around the single track and "Dumb it down" a bit.
Re-burying exposed roots and "paving the trail" with strategic placement of rocks.
There would be some form of social media outcry about how it should be left alone and that riders need to learn how to ride "technical" trail features.

Can't help but notice over the years that when these "features" show up and are left alone, the trail tread gets widened, or worse yet, re-routed just to avoid the bumps.
So I find myself constantly attempting to do whatever it takes to keep the singletrack just that. Single Track.

So when we "dumb down" the trails by smoothing out an occasional root or 20, we're actually keeping the trail more challenging by trying to keep it from becoming 2-track wide.

Today I noticed that I've got an anonymous helper or two who share my opinions and had already closed-down a re-route or two before I got to them.
Thanks.

Rant off.
Pete.