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Wet weather trails
As there seems to be a few trails currently going through planning with various councils and land owners, is there any chance of making one of them a wet weather trail? It gets very frustrating that there is no where to ride when the rain comes.
I've been on one in Christchurch and although it wasn't technical, it had a few humps and flowed well. The surface was a fine gravel that drained well and was hard packed so maintenance shouldn't be too high. Look up 'bottle lake forest' if you're interested.
I wasn't into mountain biking while living in England but surely they would have a solution over there too.
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Its a lot different over here, firstly the surfaces that we have, lots of sandstone covered by fine dirt, we get a lot of dry harsh weather followed by biblical floods which no matter how well built cant take that amount of rain, it is a matter of different place, although there are tracks around here that ride well in the wet, but best thing is to steer clear if its wet, i cant understand why so many people have to ride after big downfalls of rain, ruins tracks and drivelines??
P.U.M.P. held a party think-tank over the long weekend to address this exact issue. The primary wet weather track is a slick rock, black top trail that runs up and around West Head, Akuna Bay and Terrey Hills. The track doesn't have an official name but I'm sure you can view it on Google Earth.
However, the alternative of sitting on one's couch and not moving for three days had the vast majority of support.
Indeed. After being stuffed full by my father-in-lw on Sudnay I no longer have to worry about slashing sidewalls on sharp rocks. I carry a spare. Around my middle.
the lot,the whole bloody lot!!!-people will still ride wet trails no matter how bad they are....
" i cant understand why so many people have to ride after big downfalls of rain, ruins tracks and drivelines??"
That's my point, if the trail was suitable to be ridden straight after the rain, it wouldn't ruin your bike or the trail. When the rain goes on for days and sometimes weeks, of course people are going to go stir crazy and want to get back on their bike.
perhaps its simply cost prohibitive. the top half of snakes and ladders at Glenrock is to my mind 100% weatherproof - it was built professionally where they brought in a layer of crushed rock and packed it down (plenty of people on this site will know the exact manner of construction). there are sand trails around that can be ridden in the pouring rain as well.
As always though, its volume of riders in the wet that makes the difference - trails that survive brilliantly in the wet usually, turn to mush when an event is on, and a couple of thousand riders go over it while wet. My wet weather trails are not built out of great materials, but buggar all people ride them, so they have the leaf litter and shallow roots etc hold it together in the rain. More trails, less riders per km of trail, less damage.