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Post by Angela on Feb 18, 2013 18:55:52 GMT -5
We spent a long weekend riding down at Santos in Ocala and had some riders yell out hey FATS turns out they are from Savannah and we'd met them up at FATS before. They had wanted to ride back at FATS this weekend but read what wed posted about trail conditions and headed south to Santos instead.
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Post by Angela on Feb 20, 2013 7:42:07 GMT -5
Had just under 1/2 inch of rain yesterday morning, normally that would not be an issue but with the trails still wet from the 4 inches we received between the 7th and 12th combined with overcast skies and low temps have kept the trails wet. There is a 80% chance of rain on Friday and 70% on Saturday. Please make other plans and stay off the wet trails. A seriously good and very safe option is Range Road out on Fort Gordon not sure of the total miles (I know at least 15) because a section was added but trust me when I tell you this training road will give you a lot of bang for your buck - do a couple of laps and you will keep your fitness level intact! The traffic is very minimal. Just email sorba.csra@gmail.com or post here for more information.
Of course there is all of the usual gym, gravel, road, paved bike paths and over 100 miles of outlying trail that should be okay after 48 hours without rain (older trails and less traffic).
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Post by Angela on Feb 22, 2013 13:11:57 GMT -5
Can't seem to get a break with this weather, since February 7th it just keeps coming down. Hard rain this morning before daybreak and then showers off and on through mid morning. More rain predicated tomorrow and again on Monday before it looks like we might have a dry spell. FATS is too wet to ride. The trails will be damaged if we don't keep wheels off the trail. It's possible that by that next weekend conditions may improve enough for riding on some of the trails, we will definitely do some scouting and report immediately. Please pass this information on to other riders. We don't want to trash this trail system with irresponsible riding damage often takes months to repair and a lot of volunteer hours. If you have any questions you can certainly post here or email us at sorba.csra@gmail.com. Thank you!
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Post by Angela on Feb 23, 2013 21:58:07 GMT -5
Just received an update from our rain man (has a scientific gauge located pretty close to the FATS trails), we've picked up almost 2 more inches between Feb 22 & 23 which brings our total since February 7th (just a little over 2 weeks) to 6 inches of rain. Everything is saturated. Things will dry out and if riders will pay heed and not trash the trails they will dry out and they will be great. Please pass the word, please sign up for our twitter feed FATSUpdate and we will keep you posted on trail conditions and the weather affecting trail conditions.
Thank you!
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Post by Angela on Feb 24, 2013 10:06:17 GMT -5
It's great to finally have some sunshine again but please stay off the wet trails (and all 6 loops are saturated) - more rain headed our way (Mon/Tues) and then a dry spell so next weekend the trails (or at least part of them) might be ready to ride again.
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Post by Angela on Feb 24, 2013 10:09:31 GMT -5
It's great to finally have some sunshine again but please stay off the wet trails (and all 6 loops are saturated) - more rain headed our way (Mon/Tues) and then a dry spell so next weekend the trails (or at least part of them) might be ready to ride again.
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Post by Angela on Feb 26, 2013 22:22:18 GMT -5
Okay the bad news we've picked up another inch of rain since yesterday and that brings the total rain to over 7 inches in the roughly 3 weeks since February 7th. Pass the word and please stay off the FATS loops! Don't trash the trails just because you don't want to wait for them to dry out enough to ride. What can you do? If you are a responsible rider give one of our outlying trails a try this coming weekend (there is nearly 100 miles of outlying trails excluding FATS and Long Cane Horse Trail which is also sensitive after rain mostly due to the horse traffic). A responsible rider is one that if they find that the outlying trail they set out to ride is totally soft/muddy/wet and they will damage the trail tread if they ride at all, they will pack up their bike and go to Plan B. If you don't have that kind of discipline, just stick to the gym or the road until the trails dry out! The outlying trails do not get the traffic FATS does and are long established trails that drain well in most sections. As a matter of fact since FATS was built, some of these trails get so little traffic that there is actually grass growing in the trail.....they can truly use the wheels and I can almost guarantee that even with all the rain over the past three weeks there have been minimal wheels on these trails. Same rules apply if you ride there, if there are wet, juicy, muddy parts (and there will be some) stick to the middle of the trail, ride straight through to reduce the damage to those sections. Questions?? sorba.csra@gmail.com
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Post by Angela on Feb 27, 2013 21:55:18 GMT -5
Went out to take the pulse..........came upon Lake FATS as we came in the parking lot, a dead giveaway as to what was ahead... This unfortunately is a shot taken within the first 30 feet of trail out of the southern trailhead - as you can see there have been plenty of wheels........unfortunately it was dark and this is the best I could do... Heading to the northern trailhead this is the first downhill on Big Rock going CCW - Okay so we have had 7 inches of rain in 20 days - the trails are too wet to ride right now. The trails have been taped at the entrances, please do not ride any of the FATS loops. I'm not naive nor am I being overly optimistic, I honestly believe that the majority of the riders who ride when the trails are wet are just clueless (often new to mountain biking) and we can work with them with some education about the damage to the trails and the amount of volunteer hours that it takes to attempt to get the trail back into good condition again. Are there jerks out there, absolutely but in my experiences over life the jerks normally amount to 5% to 10% at most. Please do your part, help educate those clueless or new riders who once they know will respect the trails and ride responsibly. Thank you!
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Post by Angela on Mar 3, 2013 16:15:27 GMT -5
We hiked in and did an accessment of lower Skinny today going clockwise from the intersection of upper Skinny, lower Skinny and the trail down to Brown Wave. The majority of these pics came from the first section of trail that crosses the first power line crossing. Unfortunately pics flatten things out so don't look quite as bad as they did in real time but in that first mile plus of trail....the footage from one area of wet, mud, muck, etc to the next was only 10 to 20 feet. Once past all the mucky wet parts, things began to smooth out. Once I hit the ridge, the trail still contained some wet areas but they would have been okay to ride if riders had used caution and rode the middle of the trail. Skinny and Great Wall tend to be our two wettest trails so after the assessment we will leave those two trails taped for another few days. This doesn't show damage from riders on the trail, this is showing the forces of nature in erosion from the amount of rain we had! This area was armored since it always has problems and it is doing its job, clear water is running over the armoring material. This isn't actually a negative, just speaks to the large amount of water in the ground. Going clockwise you go up Insulator or 13 Hump Hill and just past that in one of the dips is usually a dry area, today we had a waterfall! Forgot to post the video>>> A lot of people stayed off the trails once the heavy rain started back on Feb 7th. Can you even imagine the damage if all the regular and visiting FATS riders had just ridden anyway over the past 3 weeks. Thanks to everyone who practiced self-restraint and found another place to ride! Angela
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Post by Angela on Mar 3, 2013 16:51:17 GMT -5
Update of trail conditions at FATS (03.03.13)
SORBAcsra had three riders and two hikers out assessing the trail conditions at FATS today. Although plenty of wet and/or muddy sections remain, we believe that any water that can drain, has drained, so we have removed the tape on most of FATS. Trails that can be ridden are: upper Skinny, Brown Wave, Deep Step, Big Rock and Tower. Be aware that, while most of trail tread is dry on these trails, wet and muddy sections (which might represent <5% of trail miles) will persist for several days, if not several more weeks.
Lower Skinny and Great Wall are still too wet to ride and will remain taped off. Please respect the trails and DO NOT RIDE lower Skinny and Great Wall.
If you have a choice, wait until next weekend to ride FATS. If you are on your dream vacation and drove XXX miles to ride FATS, please be careful and ride the middle of the trail - particularly through mud and standing water. Riding around wet and muddy spots only makes the trail wider, compromising the whole concept of singletrack and can lead to trail erosion and the need for additional trail maintenance.
Riding at FATS is limited/restricted only a few times a year, and this is typically at the beginning of hunting season or after significant amounts of rainfall. We received over 7" of rainfall in the last 3 weeks of February. We appreciate those folks who respect the trails, the dollars, and volunteer hours that went into building and maintaining FATS. Thank you. Collectively, the best thing that SORBAcsra and our members can do is to educate those few folks that don't care, don't respect, or feel entitled to ride the trails regardless of trail conditions. Coincidentally those who don't seem to care, respect, or feel entitled rarely, if ever, volunteer to help maintain the trails.
Be careful, be safe, and respect the trails that we all enjoy.
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Post by Angela on Mar 6, 2013 18:10:01 GMT -5
The area had additional rain yesterday evening, fortunately less than a quarter of an inch of intense rain in a short period of time. Today was very windy so should offset the effect of the rain on the trails. With the three days of good temps and sun the trails should continue to dry out through the end of the week.
The Skinny and Great Wall are still taped off (unless someone has removed the tape and if so please know they should still be taped off, do not ride those two trails at this time). We will try to take a look back at those trails prior to the weekend.
The rest of the loops are open but they will continue to have wet/muddy areas. Again, stay in the middle of the trail, this minimizes the impact of your tires on wet/muddy areas of the trail.
Thanks again to everyone who has refrained from riding the trails during the past nearly 4 weeks. The other trails have hopefully benefitted from the extra wheels.
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Post by Angela on Mar 8, 2013 17:46:10 GMT -5
Skinny and Great Wall were assessed earlier today and Skinny will remain closed for at least another day, Great Wall has been untaped.
All FATS loops are open for riding except Skinny. Please ride the middle of the trail particularly through wet/muddy/damp areas to reduce trail damage.
For more timely updates to trail conditions follow us on Twitter > FATSUpdate
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Post by Angela on Mar 10, 2013 19:04:21 GMT -5
Great to see everyone out enjoying the trails again today. The trails are in good condition with just a few sloppy spots left. Again many thanks to the riders who refrained from riding the trails when they were too wet, a lot of damage was avoided and a lot of areas will self-heal over the next few weeks. There are some areas that will need attention during a formal work party but many of them were already identified. Interestingly enough the little waterfall identified at the end of my March 3rd post is still there just after Insulator Hill on the lower Skinny if you are going CW. The volume of water has diminished but the little creek and waterfall are still there. Just to make a point and provide a little education in case some readers simply don't know........below is a before and an after picture. A small tree had fallen across the trail on the upper Skinny, no need to remove it, way too small to be called a rider, this was more of a simple speed bump. Been watching it for awhile since there was no need to remove it but unfortunately while out there today noticed the trail leading up to and just after the tree had widened to more than 5 feet. Nothing left to do since it had become a nuisance tree but remove it and then camouflage the widened part of the trail to direct riders back to the proper trail. Do not widen the trail by going around obstacles, in this case this tiny tree was only minimally tinier at the part people were riding off the trail. If you can't ride an obstacle, please dismount and walk over rather than widening the trail. Keep the singletrack single please! Thank you. Tiny tree across the trail..........note widened trail due to riders going around the "obstacle" Tiny tree removed and leaves scattered to move riders back to the natural trail.
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Post by dgaddis1 on Mar 11, 2013 7:32:41 GMT -5
Just to make a point and provide a little education in case some readers simply don't know........below is a before and an after picture. A small tree had fallen across the trail on the upper Skinny, no need to remove it, way too small to be called a rider, this was more of a simple speed bump. Been watching it for awhile since there was no need to remove it but unfortunately while out there today noticed the trail leading up to and just after the tree had widened to more than 5 feet. Nothing left to do since it had become a nuisance tree but remove it and then camouflage the widened part of the trail to direct riders back to the proper trail. Do not widen the trail by going around obstacles, in this case this tiny tree was only minimally tinier at the part people were riding off the trail. If you can't ride an obstacle, please dismount and walk over rather than widening the trail. Keep the singletrack single please! Thank you. This is crazy, that people can't ride a tree that small. All you do is run it over, there is zero skill required to do that. I wonder if removing that tree is really in the best interest of the trail? Catering to the lowest denominator as they say. Maybe next time there would be a way to choke the trail and force people into a narrower path to ride it? We can't expect people's skills/abilities to ever improve if everything is removed. This is the most basic of all mtn biking obstacles, it takes more skill to get TO that tree than it does to run it over. We shouldn't have to go all the way out to old school trails just to see a hint of technical riding, FATS is popular, which makes it a GREAT place to add some technical challenges so people can learn how to deal with them. FATSriders will never venture out to or enjoy other trails if FATS continues to be a buttery smooth autobahn and that is their definition of what MTBing is. I have no problem with sections of Bartram being kept totally clear of all trees and obstacles, it is our official beginner trail, but FATS could and should be more than that IMO. I know we want to keep the trail narrow, but as long as the widened part is still in the trail cooridor (where the machines cut through), is it really even a problem? Removing that tree (and others like it) just seems like a temporary solution to a permanent problem. I'll get off my soap box now And thanks for all work and scouting you guys (and all the others) do/have been doing lately it is appreciated!
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Post by brianW on Mar 11, 2013 15:26:34 GMT -5
I remember pulling that tree down since it was floating a few feet above the trail and leaving it thinking it was an easy ride. A few days later my 10 year old PK, and me pulling my 5 year oldZK, cleared it. Shoot PK gets upset when she doesn't clear the rock section on Skinny now and pulls a John and rides it again til she does clear it.
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Post by seenvic on Mar 11, 2013 16:11:19 GMT -5
I agree with Dustin. FATS is maintained for a rider with absolutely no ability to ride a trail that is not maintained to this level. Anything remotely challenging is ridden around by most riders and eventually moved so it doesn't have to be ridden around any more. Riders like this won't ride anywhere except FATS because they don't have the ability to and do not enjoy riding trails that aren't like FATS. I say this because I have been told this by several people when I asked if they ever ride any but FATS. It is my personal opinion that the folks doing the volunteering like it this way. Or they would't do it this way. Other areas of the country have trails as popular if not more poular than FATS. But the locals there take a different approach. I think this is an example of such efforts. sorbacsra.proboards.com/thread/3409/signsFATS is a product of the local riding community. And the local community is lead by those who show up. And the ones showing up have chain saws and the right to use them. Unless a different set of volunteers "show up" without chain saws and with educational signs, it won't change. And it shouldn't change. This is a lead, follow or get out of the way scenario.
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Post by Angela on Mar 11, 2013 17:38:36 GMT -5
Sorry guys we've done plenty of choking the trail on many places around FATS and other trails to keep people on the path - and sometimes it takes quite an effort to gather materials, etc to get the choke in place and I certainly don't mind doing that. This was not a trail "feature" this was a 2 inch tree down that was not worthy of us spending an inordinate amount of time gathering materials to "choke" it and force riders over it. I truly don't mind if anyone out there decides to take my place as a volunteer on the trails, as a matter of fact I would welcome it and I will spend my time riding my bike. I posted this knowing I would have to take some heat but felt like the lesson to people who don't understand what they are doing to the trail would be worth it. And even given the flack, I'd post it again, maybe someone learned something.
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Post by Angela on Mar 12, 2013 11:38:58 GMT -5
Looks like we picked up between .25 and .50 inches of rain from last night until this morning. Please wait the 24 hours for most of the trails, Skinny and GW please wait an additional day. If no more rain (and none showing on the weather forecast), should be another great weekend of riding ahead!
Update from our rain gauge reporter - actual rainfall near FATS was .3
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Post by Ted S. on Mar 12, 2013 18:59:50 GMT -5
Some one took it upon them selves to clean some drains on big rock. In a few places they dug a hard edged trench across the trail. This is on the very fun, very fast down hill going CCw. The rider infront of me hit it with enough force that it burped his tire off the rim. It scared the crap out of me and everyone in our group. We busted down the edges of the trench and smothed out the trail.
Just posting so everyone can be aware, this is a fast down hill and slamming through a ditch can send ya into a tree pretty quick.
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Post by ted on Mar 13, 2013 7:28:11 GMT -5
I'll apologize to you for that. I have been progressively cleaning drains on BR and Tower since December, but haven't made it to that section of trail yet as it wasn't as bad as the other sections. If I had, then this wouldn't be an issue. Someone (not me) has been doing work on that section, which is much appreciated, but it is both incomplete and improper. I'm going to head out there and re-do the section running from the parking lot to the bench. I'm not sure if the trenches can be repaired, so just treat it as a normal. It is interesting to see that some drains were skipped over that are in pretty bad condition, while others were cleared...improperly. I counted approx 13+/- untouched sections this past weekend on BR alone between parking lot and bench.
Maholo for the heads up Ted.
PS There are also trees on BR and Tower that could use removing. If there is a person available to remove trees that was deemed worthy enough to have received a chainsaw certification, then that would be greatly appreciated.
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