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Post by beckyl on Jul 18, 2013 8:51:15 GMT -5
Thanks Stan. I think the rain and seeing our beautiful trails in such a mess has everyone out of sorts. The only turd I see here is that person who left the tracks that Angela photographed. On a positive note, thanks Angela and Daniel for all the time you have taken to keep us informed on the state of FATS and other trails.
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Post by OopsFellDown on Jul 18, 2013 17:57:59 GMT -5
Thursday 7/18: Driving home from work on Hwy 28 from Ga into SC. Following a white Prius (i think) with 2 MTBs on the back. It turned right on Hopewell Church Rd. Could be going anywhere, I guess. Thought about it and turned right on Woodlawn to check the FATS main parking lot. As I got within 1/2 mile of the lot, a black chevy pickup with a muddy MTB in the back passed going the other way. Arrived at FATS, found the tape broken and another truck in the parking lot. Could all be coincidences, or maybe people are riding the gravel FS roads. Whattayathink?
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Post by dgaddis1 on Jul 18, 2013 19:31:55 GMT -5
Thursday 7/18: Driving home from work on Hwy 28 from Ga into SC. Following a white Prius (i think) with 2 MTBs on the back. It turned right on Hopewell Church Rd. Could be going anywhere, I guess. Thought about it and turned right on Woodlawn to check the FATS main parking lot. As I got within 1/2 mile of the lot, a black chevy pickup with a muddy MTB in the back passed going the other way. Arrived at FATS, found the tape broken and another truck in the parking lot. Could all be coincidences, or maybe people are riding the gravel FS roads. Whattayathink? What kind of MTBs on the Prius? Beckyl and her husband drive a white Prius (I think??) and I know they occasionally go out and ride gravel, but wouldn't ride FATS when too wet. Mhanna also has a white Prius and rides gravel, and is wise enough to stay off fats. And tzeaser drives a black pickup and did 23 miles of gravel out in the FATS area today (Strava told me so) but he didn't park in the fats lot, and would have been headed into North Augusta afterwards in all likelihood. Man I feel like a stalker right now!!
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Post by mhanna on Jul 18, 2013 21:02:46 GMT -5
Never thought a white Prius would get me accused of any evil other than being a liberal. Not me, Not me. My mtb tires are flat it's been so long since they've seen dirt or gravel. I don't remember how to mountain bike. BTW, just kidding my liberal friends.
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Post by Ross D on Jul 18, 2013 22:37:52 GMT -5
I bet the prius was the Lamberts and can guarantee you they would be hitting the gravel, not the trails..
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Post by beckyl on Jul 19, 2013 5:10:09 GMT -5
I bet the prius was the Lamberts and can guarantee you they would be hitting the gravel, not the trails.. Yep, it was us! We had a nice ride with Tom, totally unplanned. Thanks for having faith in us guys....even though we're liberals. (that's for you, Mark) ;o)
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Post by beckyl on Jul 19, 2013 5:11:37 GMT -5
Oh, by the way, Mark, Nevin bets you didn't get the liberal discount on that Prius. LOL
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Post by mhanna on Jul 19, 2013 7:00:01 GMT -5
No, but I couldn't qualify for the conservative discount on the F350 diesel at the Ford place either. No discounts for misfits.
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Post by OopsFellDown on Jul 19, 2013 9:34:58 GMT -5
Awesome, my faith in the MTB community is restored (Actually it wasn't really lost). The issue remains, however, that the tape was down and there were at least 4 deep tire tracks in a low spot on the trail about 10 yards beyond the tape. Bummer.
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Post by dsquaredmsquared on Jul 19, 2013 10:45:40 GMT -5
Awesome, my faith in the MTB community is restored (Actually it wasn't really lost). The issue remains, however, that the tape was down and there were at least 4 deep tire tracks in a low spot on the trail about 10 yards beyond the tape. Bummer. We have started a new (and hopefully productive) dialogue with the USFS about the current state and future health of FATS. The unusually wet weather this year, popularity of FATS, other trail damage in the southeast, and the awkward strategy used to protect FATS have provided an opportune time to force this discussion. Don't know how it will turn out, but we will be fighting for more robust and enforceable policies to protect FATS. Stay tuned.
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Post by Angela on Jul 19, 2013 12:10:36 GMT -5
Great that yesterday was dry and it looks like we have a chance of another dry day today....could we be so lucky as to have two dry days in a row! A team will be going out to scout the Brown Wave this evening and another scout will be on Great Wall. Report in from the Skinny is that it is still too wet to ride and there are a lot of trees down in the last mile or two of trail going CCW. The local riding community knows that Great Wall and Skinny stay wet the longest due to the seeps so we just need a few dry days for the water table to drop.
Please do not ride the trails until things have a chance to dry out- we will keep you posted!
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Post by Mark Y. on Jul 19, 2013 14:12:24 GMT -5
Thanks Stan. I think the rain and seeing our beautiful trails in such a mess has everyone out of sorts. The only turd I see here is that person who left the tracks that Angela photographed. On a positive note, thanks Angela and Daniel for all the time you have taken to keep us informed on the state of FATS and other trails. +1 Everybody is grumpy with the pretty much lost summer for riding; and it makes people even grumpier that it seems there is no way to deal with the jerks who selfishly only think of themselves, and go ride and damage the trails anyway. Angela, I'm almost always available to go scout if needed.
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Post by dsquaredmsquared on Jul 19, 2013 16:33:26 GMT -5
Thanks Stan. I think the rain and seeing our beautiful trails in such a mess has everyone out of sorts. The only turd I see here is that person who left the tracks that Angela photographed. On a positive note, thanks Angela and Daniel for all the time you have taken to keep us informed on the state of FATS and other trails. +1 Everybody is grumpy with the pretty much lost summer for riding; and it makes people even grumpier that it seems there is no way to deal with the jerks who selfishly only think of themselves, and go ride and damage the trails anyway. Angela, I'm almost always available to go scout if needed. Thanks for the benefit of the doubt, but I was just being me. Had a nice face to face with one and hoping to talk the another. It's all good.
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Post by Angela on Jul 19, 2013 20:42:02 GMT -5
Thanks Stan. I think the rain and seeing our beautiful trails in such a mess has everyone out of sorts. The only turd I see here is that person who left the tracks that Angela photographed. On a positive note, thanks Angela and Daniel for all the time you have taken to keep us informed on the state of FATS and other trails. +1 Everybody is grumpy with the pretty much lost summer for riding; and it makes people even grumpier that it seems there is no way to deal with the jerks who selfishly only think of themselves, and go ride and damage the trails anyway. Angela, I'm almost always available to go scout if needed. Thank you Mark we will take you up on that offer - there is a lot of trail to scout!
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Post by Angela on Jul 19, 2013 23:52:18 GMT -5
With two days of dry weather under our belts a group of us went out to hike all of Brown Wave and assess the trail conditions. It had to be a quick trip to make it off 5 miles of trail by dark since we started at 6:30pm. After a really thorough look, this trail is still too wet to ride and it will probably be Monday before the tires are ready to roll on this trail again. On the good side the foliage overgrowth was not nearly as expected. Considering the rain we have had in June and July it is rather amazing that it is not a dense jungle out there/ Maybe all the rain coupled with little sun simply did not render the out-of-control growth. In addition, although there is some erosion due to the rain, particularly in downhill areas - it is not as bad as expected either (concentrated around the Brown Wave itself). There are a few areas that will need some repair. Thanks to everyone who stayed off these trails, the ruts you see in the photos below were from a minimal number of bikes. Please help us keep this damage to a minimum, ride some of the other outlying trails over the weekend (please report if you find conditions worse than expected - the rainfall is certainly not consistent - sorba.csra@gmail.com). Here is a link to pics from this evening: Brown Wave 07.19.13
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Post by dsquaredmsquared on Jul 20, 2013 8:06:11 GMT -5
Two cars in FATS south parking lot last night ~6:15PM. One black sedan with Florida plates and a silver/light grey 4Runner with orange SC tree and moon front license plate. The 4Runner was backed in to the parking spot (not very often have I seen cars backed in). Both vehicles had bike racks, but we didn't see anyone when we walked Brown Wave and both cars were gone when we drove by again after 8:30PM.
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troy
Gear Masher
Posts: 29
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Post by troy on Jul 20, 2013 11:57:09 GMT -5
Ugh, cars everywhere at fats today. I was out for a motorcycle ride and swung by and reconnected the tape and asked a few folks to please stay off the trail but I doubt they listened.
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Post by Angela on Jul 20, 2013 12:19:53 GMT -5
Expected to face that as soon as the weather improved. Some people simply don't care about whether the resource is viable for years to come or not they are going to do what they want. Over time this will be somewhat self correcting. If they continue to ride the trails when they are too wet they will become more and more eroded and the volunteers will slowly back off. Most of our volunteers ride at intermediate level or higher and they know when to stay off the trails. Once it gets all rooty and eroded with lots of trees left down on the trails the masses will evaporate and with less wheels the trail will settle in at a higher level but less frequently used trail. Problem solved!
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Post by Angela on Jul 20, 2013 12:59:38 GMT -5
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Post by dsquaredmsquared on Jul 20, 2013 13:34:38 GMT -5
Ugh, cars everywhere at fats today. I was out for a motorcycle ride and swung by and reconnected the tape and asked a few folks to please stay off the trail but I doubt they listened. If any of our good citizens are driving by FATS today or tomorrow and could take a picture or two of the (full) parking lot, that might be useful for our current discussions with the USFS. Please PM me or send pics to dave.SORBAcsra@gmail.com. Thanks.
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