Last week they were terrible. Well, a good mile of the trails at the southern end near Hermit Lane were terrible. There was an inch+ thick sheet of ice over the entire trail; completely unrideable. I'm just wondering if anyone's ridden them this week. Most of the snow around town has melted, but since the temps are dropping this weekend I was kind of figuring the trails would be ridable, not sloppy.
Additionally, if anyone knows of any resources for this sort of information, please educate me.
I rode.... Errrrr.... Did a hiking/riding biathlon yesterday. Some areas are ridable, but be prepared to get off and walk. Ice in a lot of spots is very slick even to walk.
As everyone has said... ice with a growing number of clear sections, but to get to the clear sections you'll most likely hit the ice. Even with studs on 2/14 it was tough going, but there was a lot more exposed trail than a week ago. Who knows now with the new snow later that day.
Anyone been down to Wiss this week? I know most of that fluffy snow we got the other day has melted off my yard. Wondering how the trails are. Hoping to find a place to ride singletrack this weekend
I did a trail run with my dog on Saturday during the snow fall (late morning/lunch time) and it was insanely dangerous. Very sketchy in too many sections. I ran about 7 miles, but it was more skating and slip-n-slide in a lot of sections. The fresh powder hid all the ice. I followed someone’s tire tracks on the backside of the stables, at Kitchen's Lane, and I can imagine the pucker factor coming down the trail.
Yup, Eastern side from Mt Airy to Rittenhouse town is a mess. Must have been a lot of hikers out just after the snow when it was warm. Now it's just a field of icy foot prints that are several inches deep.
I just saw some pics of guys out riding this morning and they all had studded tires. I live by the Wiss and have been avoided it like the plague when going for a run early mornings. The trails are a frozen mess. Let's all pray that when the thaw comes that we get a solid week of wind to dry them out!
100% unrideable without studs. Imagine riding down the middle of a frozen creek, except instead of smooth ice it's all frozen, deep bootprints. I don't think that's a very fun riding experience with studs, either. There were no tire tracks at all in the part of the park where I hiked earlier this week.
It finally looks like the thaw has come. I noticed that the trail are now free of snow and ice. It is just a matter of time till the trees wake up and dry the trails out!
Guy I work with lives in Mt Airy and was out walking in the park on Sunday, he said the mud wasn't as bad as you would think. I am hoping that it won't be too long to dry out.
I've seen some pictures, it seems that not everyone is restraining themselves and it appears that the usual suspects have been out riding and screwing things up...
Was out walking the dog on the Creshiem trail this afternoon. Some areas are dry and firm, some are still a bit tacky but drying really well, but there are still some water logged areas. The usual low spots were soggy, along with other unusual areas that must have seen a lot of storm water run off. A little more time will definitely help
wiss is funny in that it can be 90 % great but the 10% that isn't is f@cking horrible...
people then use this as an excuse to ride (i'd guess) because most of the park is fine. problem is it makes the 10% of already horrible spots even worse and they keep taking longer and longer to dry (which of course people never wait for, which then makes them even worse). finally they need to do trail maintenance to fix those areas that would probably be OK if people just gave the park (or even just these areas specifically) a little time to recuperate when it needs it.
i am thinking thursday would be the day to check it out. all the drying that can possibly happen before the rain/snow friday screws it all up again.
so if you do go out, like i probably will thursday, and come across a section of horrible soft mud please get off your bike and walk it. you'll be doing yourself and everyone else a favor in helping the trails dry faster in the future by not making the ruts even bigger.
it's spring; if you're serious about riding through the spring you need a road bike or the determination to drag the mtb out on the paved paths and roads in the area (yes, it sucks i agree, but it is still better than no riding or worse yet f@cking up the trails because you can't be patient). got 45 miles in; mostly in the dark last night. like i said not my favorite biking (much better with a like-minded friend or two for sure; personally i'd never do it alone) but those painful early season miles do feel great in the legs when the dirt finally does dry and it is warm and nice...
LOL why would you even bother? My lawn is soaking wet still.
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