You are hereManly Dam update for 23 Feb

Manly Dam update for 23 Feb


hawkeye's picture

By hawkeye - Posted on 23 February 2013

Area: 
Manly Dam
Status: 
Red/Closed

Green as of 1pm yesterday. Not now. Has bucketed down overnight and this morning.

If you really must trash your bike riding in the wet on sandy Northern Beaches soils, Duck Holes and Centre Track at Terrey Hills will be open and are the best-drained trails in the area.

The Dam will take a couple of windy/sunny days to dry out I expect. Sad

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donkerr's picture

I just ran around it - granted not all the places where the bike trail is but where I ran seemed in pretty good condition. Are there many places that would actually be ruined if a couple of hundred tyres went over it when it's wet? There's a lot of rock and sandstone on that trail, and I would assume very few people actually want to ride when it's like this. Not wanting to spark a controversy at all but I'm not sure what parts could actually be damaged irreparable any more.

Legseleven's picture

Well said Sir! The do gooders on here tend to forget mountain biking is a winter sport! It always make me laugh that people who suggest the dam is unrideable have usually just done a lap, they've had their fix!

Unless the rangers say otherwise, get out there and enjoy it! Of course oil your chain and cassette before hand to protect your bike from the horrors of muddy sand!!

hawkeye's picture

*sigh*

And you wonder why trail advocates get burned out. "Do gooders" ... FFS, what is it about wet weather that brings out the morons.

OK, I'll bite. It doesn't have to be "irreparable" to be damage. I'm not going say any more lest I get wound up and say something I'll regret.

donkerr's picture

I use this website for information on trails. I live in the inner west and don't ride the dam when it's red. I ran the trail today because we have had quite a few wet weekends and I'd prefer to be outside in the weekends rather than training indoors. I'm not a moron however I'm not an environmental scientist. The track didn't look under stress today. Can you tell me which parts come under stress when it's so wet please.

hawkeye's picture

Generally, anywhere there is standing water or the areas that get soft when damp and don't take impact loads so well.

Typically:
- the landing zones off the drop-offs heading into 19th Hole,
- the clay pan landing at bottom of 19th Hole,
- some sections of the Churchill Cr playground trail that don't drain well,
- the entrance to the Cootamundra Drive bog section that we haven't remediated yet,
- the steeper techy clay section that starts from behind number 41 Sourthern Cross Way to Nyrang Rd that gets soft and more erodible when damp, and is now in quite disgusting condition
- the fire trail section behind North Manly public school and
- sections of the Golf Course singletrack where the trail is worn significantly below ground level due to wet weather riding.

This is not an exhaustive list. Fire trails, not worried.

As you can appreciate, degradation and hollowing out of the landing zones trips up lots of beginners, and is more difficult and expensive to repair... when we can eventually get to them.

In making the call this morning, I was going by the condition of the ground in my street, which I've found is a reliable indicator of soil saturation in the area. It was wet.

So no, legseleven, I didn't get my "fix" before making the call. So now I'm open to "Ah, but you haven't ridden it so how do you know" - you can't win. Evil

If you want to ride, I can't stop you. But I hope you're conscious of the example you set, and as payback come along to trail maintenance days to help out. I can tell you I thought building and repairing trails was not that hard. There's a lot more to it.

The moron comment wasn't primarily directed at you Don. The do-gooder comment got up my nose.

As I'm writing this, the rain is pissing down again. So it looks like another spin class for tomorrow's training ride... Sad

Juliea's picture

It's guys like yourself that keep the trails in good nick and safe for everyone. Unfortunately you don't get much thanks for your hard efforts!
Was wandering what the comment meant about MTB being a winter sport? Has this got some relevance to the amount of rainfall? Hmmmm, not sure where he was going with this one...we don't live in the tropics here, no wet or dry seasons, can rain all year round where I live (northern beaches)!

Nathan_Baird's picture

Just rode around. Thought it would be dry after 3 days. Started out pretty good until Paris-Roubaix section before Wakehurst. From there on it is pretty wet and muddy. I won't be going back until we've had two more sunny days.

If you're desperate ride the sections from the Dam to Wakehurst, go back via the road and repeat.

hawkeye's picture

Thought it would be amber by now. How was the Allambie side singletrack?

Nathan_Baird's picture

That was the worst of the lot, from the fire trail down the single track.

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