manly dam in the rain?

[chickadee]

has anyone done manly dam in this kind of weather?
is it ok or is it too slippery.

please don't be mean to me, i have only done it a few time and really want to go, but not if it isn't going to be fun.

[junior]

it will heaps do-able. just very wet.

[scblack]

easily do-able, the only bit to be careful of would be probably around the creek. Most of it is good, maintained tracks, so no problems.

[chickadee]

cool,
well I'll be up there later than!!!!

[Techno Destructo]

You really shouldn't ride the trails when they're wet.

1. It's very bad for the trails by causing heavy erosion which damages the trails and make ruts that never go away.
2. It's bad for your bike... moisture and grit get into every little nook and cranny and have the potential to do a lot of damage to your rig.

At least try to think about the first point, being that it hurts the trails. People riding in the rain were the main cause for the damage to the trail that got entire sections of the Manly Dam officially closed for months while they tried to repair it. We don't want a replay of that... even with all the new work they did to it recently.

If you really need to ride, I recommend going to somewhere covered/sheltered from the rain, like a parking garage at a mall or something, and practicing your manuals and/or bunnyhops, or whatever else technical you need to improve.

That said, nobody can stop you from going out and damaging the trails... just try to think of who you're really hurting in the end.

[RCOH]

Everything TD said is true.

BUT

One the best things about MTB is the ability to do it in all kinds of weather. It is a new challenge, makes the old tracks you know well seem like new ones (much like riding at night).

I say go for it, get muddy. It's fun.

[chickadee]

you've got a good point Techno, maybe i will reconsider and head back to bed till the rain clears and it drys up a bit. :cry:

i hope it's better tomorrow i wanted to do some jumps.

[Squidly Didly]

Yeah TD's such a party pooper :P

Nah in all seriousness we've had many problems with Manly Dam. As TD said, certain parts of the track have previously been closed for a long time. The lack of people turning out to help on maintenance days didn't help us re-open it any quicker either. If you must go for a pedal and get yourself dirty, check out Oxford Falls or Red Hill. There's huge amounts of trail riding up here. Red Hill's that lil bit closer, and if you don't know your way around, just chill at the jump park for a bit. There's always people there, if not passing through.

Good news is that the weather looks to be clearing up over the next few days! Patience...

moisture and grit get into every little nook and cranny and have the potential to do a lot of damage to your rig.
Ladies and gentleman, this is coming from some-one who puts his bike on the jetcat so it can be subjected to copious amounts of salt spray. ahh so amusing :D

[Rik]

As mentioned above, riding trails in the wet isn't cool, what is a single tyre track opens up in to a gaping rut rather quickly, especially on very wet trails, and even moreso when there's a fair amount of traffic passing through.
I beleive a big cause of this problem is due to the poor design of trails, alot of which go straight down the fall line, thus, the line that water will travel straight down. Not alot of thought is put in to draining the trail, or erosion prevention, so as soon as you get a few bikes through, they turn in to creeks, and becomes an endless cycle of erosion. Bikes ride, it ruts out ever so slightly. Rain flows through, opens the rut up more. Bikes stick to rut as it's the easiest way down, rut opens up more. Rain flows through, opens up rut more again... etc etc.
So what was a singletrack ends up being a gaping 2m wide channel, which definately isn't good for the environment.

[ktd]

I can't enjoy a ride after a big wet on ST - the fun is weighed down by the conscience. I've been out on Oxford Falls day after rain once and there was still lots of water on the tracks. You know what it's like before and you can see the new ruts forming. I finished the lap and came home. :cry:

I make an exception for tracks which are very sandy and/or rocky - in the case of sand, riding after a wet makes it a lot easier as the sand is packed.

KTD

[Techno Destructo]

moisture and grit get into every little nook and cranny and have the potential to do a lot of damage to your rig.
Ladies and gentleman, this is coming from some-one who puts his bike on the jetcat so it can be subjected to copious amounts of salt spray. ahh so amusing :D

That's my commuter, everybody! Not my good rig! :oops: