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Post by Angela on Jan 3, 2015 8:28:23 GMT -5
More rain came through the area yesterday, scout report is that FATS still has standing water in the dips and mud - please do not ride the trails at FATS!
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Post by Angela on Jan 9, 2015 12:43:58 GMT -5
Trails should be in decent condition now and through the weekend. It will be chilly but get your ride on, more rain predicted for early next week!
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Post by Angela on Jan 13, 2015 12:47:29 GMT -5
FATS had more rain starting on Sunday, through Monday off and on and into today (Tuesday). Looks like we have warmer temps and predictions of sunny skies later in the week and the trails should be good to go after a couple of days of sunny, dry weather (hopefully the predictions holds true). Please do not ride FATS when the trails are wet. Even if they dry out for a few days you can expect to see seepage in some areas until the water table drops. That is to be expected just stay in the middle of the trail to avoid widening it. Thank you!
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Post by dsquaredmsquared on Jan 13, 2015 18:43:23 GMT -5
FATS trail conditions 2015
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Post by Angela on Jan 14, 2015 12:52:28 GMT -5
More light rain came through the area early morning and continued to drizzle. Skies overcast which will delay the trails from drying out. They are going to need a couple of days at least to dry out if the rain will stop. Looks like higher temps and some sun are predicted for late this week and the weekend. Please do not ride the trails when they are wet. Thanks.
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Post by Angela on Jan 15, 2015 21:06:27 GMT -5
Another 4 hours of rain late afternoon into early evening. Trails will be wet, please do not ride the trails. We have sun and warmer temps ahead but the trails will need at least 2 or 3 days to dry out.
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Post by Angela on Jan 23, 2015 21:59:17 GMT -5
It has been raining since early morning becoming more intermittent this evening. The trails will need at least 48 hours to dry out this time of year. The trails were still wet in spots coming into this front moving through. Please do not ride wet trails! Thank you.
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Post by Angela on Feb 9, 2015 23:57:43 GMT -5
Rained for 4 hours between 1 and 4pm - intermittent rain continues as the front is swirling back through the area. Please do not ride wet trails. It will take at least 2 or 3 days for the trails to dry out.
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Post by bobsimmons on Feb 11, 2015 21:26:30 GMT -5
Any Ideas on FATS condition call before you haul has not been updated since Feb 3rd says its open. I know we have had some rain since then so trying to see if anybody has been there and condition. Thanks
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Post by kconner on Feb 12, 2015 7:24:13 GMT -5
My understanding is that it's still pretty sloppy. I'd ride gravel roads or outlying trails.
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Post by Catalyst on Feb 12, 2015 8:11:46 GMT -5
I saw someone post on FB that Big Rock and Tower are in good shape.
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Post by Angela on Feb 13, 2015 22:26:34 GMT -5
Big Rock, Tower and Brown Wave should all be in pretty good shape (still will likely have a few seepy spots but if you avoid widening the trail by riding around the spots should be good). I was out there before I went to work this morning and rode lower Skinny clockwise a ways in to get a sense of trail conditions. The trail tread in general was in decent condition in the areas I checked -there were still seeps and in some cases rutted muddy areas but I suspect most of the trail is going to be like the area I checked. This trail and Great Wall tends to stay wetter longer than the 3 mentioned above. Have heard that Deep Step was muckier than usual over this past weekend. I walked into the trail a way on both sides of the road and the tread there looked in pretty good shape. Will try to get a more thorough assessment of Skinny, Great Wall and Deep Step tomorrow. The fewer wheels on those three over the next couple of days the better but all 6 loops are currently open. I'll post a few pictures in a while. Avoid riding around wet, seepy areas to keep the singletrack single. The pics below are from lower Skinny this morning:
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Post by Angela on Feb 15, 2015 14:00:17 GMT -5
Rode all of Skinny and Great Wall yesterday to assess the trails. Both are open to ride and if riders will stay in the middle of the trail when they reach the mucky areas in the dips everything will be good.
Skinny is the wetter of the two trails. There are about 3 dozen seeps along this trail otherwise the trail tread is in good condition and it looks like riders have been being responsible (as a whole). These seeps will continue until the aquifer underlying FATS drops to a lower level. It is very helpful when we have a work party early in the year to clean out the buildup in the dips. The water will still flow but will shed off the trail quicker and you don't have the thick mud that riders rut. Once the ruts develop the dip will hold water. If riders stay in the middle of the trail, once the trail totally dries out and other riders ride those dips the high points are typically knocked off and smooth out so there can be a self-healing of the trail.
Great Wall has about 2 dozen seeps along the trail. Not all of them are in dips, there are 3 or 4 that run the length of the trail for 15 feet or so and some of them have developed ruts. The trail is still okay to ride right now. Some dedicated trail volunteers (David, Paul and Matthew) were out there fairly recently and you could definitely see the difference in the work they did on the trail. Cleared many of the dips and it looked like they re-armored or newly armored several spots.
We did not have time to ride Deep Step but we talked to someone who had just ridden there and they said Deep Step was wet about like Skinny. It isn't just the trail conditions to consider (although that is the one we are most concerned about) there is also your bicycle. Grinding through mud/wet is not the best thing for your drivetrain or other parts of your bike so for us we opt for the drier trails when conditions are like they are on the wetter of the three.
The 3 trails that are the driest right now (and normally dry out first) are the northern trails - Big Rock and Tower and then on the southern loops - Brown Wave. Brown Wave has had all or almost all of the dips cleared by Steve and his team and that helps tremendously.
Again, this time of the year - please give the trails at least 48 hours to dry, sometimes longer if the rain is heavy or we have had rain fairly close together. We are expecting rain this Monday and then so very cold temps. The cold temps also affect how quickly the trails dry out.
Check the forum, SORBA-CSRA on Facebook, Twitter or our sorbacsra.org homepage to check on trail conditions.
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Post by Angela on Feb 17, 2015 6:53:53 GMT -5
A system rolled through the area with rain beginning approximately 6pm last night and did not move out until about 5am this morning. Was not a torrential downpour but steady rain over 12 hours definitely soaks the trails and refills the aquifer feeding seeps on all the trails.
We will be having freezing temperatures over the next couple of days as well and that freeze thaw cycle will not help.
Please do not ride the trails for the next few days. Stay tuned!
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Post by python on Feb 19, 2015 12:17:27 GMT -5
Any updates for this weekend?
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Post by dsquaredmsquared on Feb 19, 2015 12:30:58 GMT -5
Any updates for this weekend? Haven't been out there, but I wouldn't be optimistic.
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Post by Angela on Feb 22, 2015 8:27:35 GMT -5
Rain moved into the area about two hours ago, looks like it will continue for a while. Trails will be too wet to ride over the next few days.
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Post by Angela on Feb 23, 2015 6:56:24 GMT -5
It has been raining pretty steadily for the past 24 hours with heavier rain beginning around midnight. This system expecting to continue dropping rain over the area until around noon. More rain predicted for later this week.
Do not ride the trails at FATS - the trails are saturated.
Stay turned for updates! Thank you.
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Post by Angela on Feb 24, 2015 6:46:56 GMT -5
More rain moving into the area (and more predicted tomorrow), trails will need longer to dry out with extended periods of rain back to back.
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Post by Angela on Feb 27, 2015 12:30:56 GMT -5
Had heavy rain from mid afternoon on Wednesday through early morning on Thursday. Coupled with extended rain earlier in the week the trails out at FATS are too wet to ride. We will do a trail check some time on Saturday please do not ride the trails at FATS in the meantime. Some of our outlying trails should be okay by Saturday.
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