FATS status for out of towners

[n8te]

Heading up from pensacola fl, plan to ride fats on wed 3/11/09.
As of 3/6/09 only two trails are open and the weather looks nice over the next couple of days. What are the odds that all trails will be up and running by 3/11?

[n8te]

NICE. 23 views and no comments, appreciate the input.

[seenvic]

No more rain, should be good to go.

Any more rain, not good to go.

I rode out there Saturday. The place needs work, not riders.

[brianW]

With only one loop open I rode elsewhere this weekend and I am sure many did the same. Since I had no first hand knowledge of the conditions at FATS I felt it was best to let others reply.

I rode another local trail and it had some muddy spots. This is a trail that usally dries out pretty fast.

On the plus sign no rain in the forcast 'til the end of the week and it has been very sunny and warm. Great to help out the drying process.

[ted]

Mar 9, 2009 7:03:37 GMT -5 n8te said:

NICE. 23 views and no comments, appreciate the input.

N8te,
There really is only one person in charge of opening and closing FATS. I'm sure he was playing with his twins and 2 year old last night as they were gone all weekend while Daddy played in the woods. Therefore, it may take a little time to get a response.
Please don't think we're a bunch of jerks that don't want people to ride our trails.
You're always welcome.

[seenvic]

Mar 9, 2009 7:55:32 GMT -5 ted said:

Mar 9, 2009 7:03:37 GMT -5 n8te said:

NICE. 23 views and no comments, appreciate the input.

N8te,
There really is only one person in charge of opening and closing FATS. I'm sure he was playing with his twins and 2 year old last night as they were gone all weekend while Daddy played in the woods. Therefore, it may take a little time to get a response.
Please don't think we're a bunch of jerks that don't want people to ride our trails.
You're always welcome.

Farily close.

I've been too busy to open/close FATS lately. Paul has been a huge help the last few weeks.

I had all the kids all day Sunday. Had a great time, but what a day to not be able to ride at all.

I did ride part of Deep Step Saturday to check it's status. I rode what I think is the dryer side and it was soaked. Last thing it needed Saturday was 50+ wheels on it. I didn't ride the other side, or even go to Tower/Big Rock based on how wet Deep Step was.

I then rode Upper Skinny and Brown Wave. Upper Skinny was crazy crowded. I took the gravel rd back up from the Brown Wave.

I was amazed at the number of people willing to ride but unwilling to work at FATS. FATS needs work. Fairly simple work of pulling the berm down so the mud holes can drain. This is work about anyone with a brain and some "love" can do. Make the low side drain. Or we can all just keep riding in and around the mudholes and wait for "they" to do it.

That last rain was one hell of a rain. I'd say 5+ inches. The clay holds the water like a sponge and no amount of sunshine relieves that clay of this water at this time of year. Eventually the trees will pull this water out of the clay when they decide to start drinking again...which should be soon. It will be going full force once you see the pollen on your car.

[superdave]

Please ignor Nate. He can be a little impatient. Nate, dude, you have to give them more than 10 minutes to reply before you can start calling people out. Repeat after me, "This will be a fun trip even if it rains a little".

I know FATS is the best in the area (rode it last year), but assuming it isn't open on Wednesday (we'll keep our fingers crossed), can you guys give us any suggestion on other local trails that will be open? Also, we have the opportunity to ride Dauset and Arrowhead near Macon instead, so how would your trails compare with the Macon trails? Macon is about 2 hrs closer to P'cola than Augusta, so if they're comparable and most of FATS is closed, we'll probably just nix the Augusta leg of the trip.

[Virginia Bill (fka Jax Bill)]

Since I have ridden Dausett, Macon and FATS, I'll try to answer. I personally like FATS best because it is smooth and very fast with a lot of undulation, much like the last run on the Scream Machine at Six Flags.

I don't think you want to try Arrowhead right now - it was wiped out by a tornado last year and I ran into a guy from Macon at the IDIDARIDE in White Springs, FL at the end of January this year and he said they were still trying to dig out. Pig trail in Macon is good but not near as good as FATS.

Dausett is an excellent trail system but more technical than FATS in places and not as smooth. You can also ride the 1996 Olympic Trail in Conyers and Ft. Yargo in Winder see website yaba.homestead.com/ - both excellent.

I would not drive all the way to Augusta if FATS is not open, although they do have some excellent other trails - check out the list on this website. The best in my opinion are Long Cane and Hickory Knob but they are even farther away than FATS.

[dgaddis1]

I agree with Bill. If I was going to drive such a long ways to ride somewhere, I'd want to get in lots of miles to make it worthwhile. Other than FATS, the best way to do that in this area is link several trails together with pavel (pavement + gravel roads). I'd be more than happy to give you directions to do that, but, I personally would be kinda hesitant to do that on my own without knowing the area.

Of course, you can also just drive from one trail to another, and there's several trails that are fairly close together. Here's a map showing most of the local trails. Maps of each individual trail can be found from our main site (www.sorbacsra.org -> click on "TRAILS" on the left side)

maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=112493191138240861154.0004351308c52f1b7228a&ll=33.668354,-82.107697&spn=0.690331,1.039581&z=10

I've heard very good things about Dauset.

[superdave]

Thanks for the responses. The plan right now is FATS on Wed, Ft. Yargo on Thurs, Chiccopee and Blankets on Friday, and Raccoon Mtn in Chattanooga for the weekend. If FATS doesn't dry, then we'll just hit Dauset instead. Is the website updated daily or is there a number to call for the most up to date trail conditions?

[ted]

Bill,
Yes half a brain. Too bad I didn't use my half to bring a McCloud out to Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve trail. It could have used some drain cleaning.
It's the first time I've been out there since the reworking.
You should take the kids out there to find the Geocache. Fun stuff for little boys to find.

Superdave- you can rely on the site for accuracy as to FATS trail openings and closings for that day.

[wooglin]

You might try Rock Hawk as an alternative. Never been there myself, but its only about an hour from Macon as far as I can tell.

www.sorba.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14727

[imnav8r]

If you are going to Macon, check out the singletrack trail located behind the Thomson plant. This is the place where they make seatposts and stems among other things. They have about a 6 mile loop located behind their factory that they use to test their products.

Last time I rode it was during an open house to celebrate Ronnie Thomson's birthday a few years ago. I'm not 100% certain if it is open to the public but I suspect it is. You could google them and give them a call to make sure if you like.

The forecasts calls for sunshine and temps in the mid 80s for tomorrow and Wednesday, so FATS should be okay when you get here. Not sure how much of it will be open though. As suggested, just check the website. They are calling for rain starting Friday and lasting through the weekend.

[Sasquatch]

I've read about the Thomson plant before and my understanding is that they welcome riders on their trail, but they want you to swing in through the office first and sign a waiver.

[razorhoof]

from what i understand the thomson plant now also has some pretty nice dirt jumps and i believe a few TTF's