Chardog

I will be at WC early, then going to the public meeting for the next phase of the concrete trail through WC at 6pm     https://www.facebook.com/events/1284424381717160/    

       https://data.austintexas.gov/stories/s/Walnut-Creek-Trail-System/v3dz-djp9?fbclid=IwAR10o7KCwo7gGdZJ6uZdPXrwAOt8zNzyIP7-QQnOYLhu7EJp3wOy3vvKzGU

I was there late evening yesterday and it was definitely still too muddy, so I am skeptical of that report.  However, chances are good for trails being adequately dried out this afternoon given enough sunshine and wind.

More showers approaching.  Much bigger system.  Not looking so good...

9 minutes ago, Anita Handle said:

Walnut is both "Complete Hero Dirt LOL" and also "Sofa King Muddy and Unrideable". It should be renamed to Schrodinger's park

Rename Windy Loop "Verschränkung Way"???

Light rain passing through the area, but seems to be missing WC for the most part.  Any reports from WC area?

9 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

I’ll be there about 4 to do an early lap, if anyone wants a social lap ~5 chime in. 

Sounds great.  I think I'll do the same.  Carpool?

14 hours ago, AustinBike said:

According to Charlie the trail was way too muddy today. I am going to do something urban instead because there is no reason to mess with the trails. Show them some love and let them dry out for a few more days.

Saw reports that trails had dried a fair bit by RLAG ride time

3 minutes ago, Albert said:

On mile six of my first lap out here and it's perfect! 

Did you notice the improvements on BMX?

4:30 sounds good.  Looking forward to riding some of the stuff ARR Trail Crew recently built

On 3/8/2019 at 9:17 AM, csmceuen said:

I know of a few people who are interested in volunteering for trail work here seeing as they ride here alot. Is there a more regular trailwork day throughout the month or is it on these larger calls? If so who should I get in contact with? Thanks!

ARR Trail Crew has had scheduled workdays every Sunday since September.  We need everyone to come out and help:

There is a fair amount of rocks an cobble built up in the main channel just below the crossing causing the crossing to be deeper.  If anyone out there could move a few rocks to let the crossing drain, that would be a great help.

49 minutes ago, Teamsloan said:

Working on that. It's looking like we may have pre-approval from PARD for having workdays on Tuesdays as long as we give them notice first thing the day before. So if we have a rainy weekend, we'll be able to plan a S&I the day before and get it quickly organized in time to have a solid crew (hopefully) show up.

Thanks!  The process can be frustrating when you just want to "get things done", but building and maintaining cooperation/trust with land managers is worth it to keep a productive relationship going.

5 minutes ago, Teamsloan said:

Understood, I'll contact Cullen then.

Thanks

Please understand that in order to PRESERVE ACCESS, trail development, maintenance and use must be done in accordance with the processes laid out by the land manager.

1 hour ago, Teamsloan said:

No offense to Cullen, I don’t know his forum handle or have his contact info and Dewayne and I were already discussing it.


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All trail work needs to be done under the protocol established by land managers.  In the case of Walnut, the official ARR Trail Steward notifies PARD for maintenance activities.  Anything beyond the scope of maintenance requires a more involved approval process through higher PARD levels.  Cullen is the official ARR Trail Steward.  He can be contacted at walnut_creek@austinridgeriders.com

1 hour ago, Teamsloan said:

Chardog, tomorrow evening I will be available to substitute my weekly ride with digging. Would it be possible to do some work at WC? I have no idea who else would join me, but I wanted to let you know.

I'm out of town.  Please coordinate with Cullen

Thanks for staying off wet trails.  Riding/walking around wet or muddy spots widens the trail and destroys vegetation.  Riding through wet or muddy spots causes rutting, damages the trail and makes the trail hold water.  There is no good way to ride a trail in these conditions. 

On 1/23/2019 at 3:25 PM, Chongo Loco said:

 

It just the usual nastiness from Cedar Breaks to the first stone mile marker from hiker traffic? Usually gets narrower and less muddy after that point.


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The entire trail was damp and all the rocks were slick.

On 1/20/2019 at 9:37 AM, Shakey Start said:

Any word on Goodwater (Lake Georgetown) conditions?

I hiked it today between Cedar Breaks and Cedar Hollow.  There are some miserably muddy sections with standing water (flat areas of course)

10 minutes ago, Bamwa said:

Shovel and Imbibe is a good idea.

I'll bring lots of shovels.  🙂

2 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

How is Walnut Creek today?  Which trails are OK and which are to stay away from?

The winds yesterday helped.  Some areas still too soft/wet that should be avoided include Main Creek Crossing, Mark's Art, the big dip after Mark's Art, first part of Windy Loop, BMX loop.

On 1/15/2019 at 9:25 AM, Teamsloan said:

I know this is crazy sounding...but has anyone ever considered making an R&I a "TW&I". We have quite the crew that is regularly able to clear their Tuesday nights to be out at WC. If we have a crew that size, I bet a lot of work could be done to address all those poorly draining areas. On nights too damp to ride, why not still show up to throw a shovel around for a bit and then imbibe as usual?

 

 

*I am not suggesting tonight to do this as it is quasi-ridable for y'all and I've thrown my back out again 😞 But I have done this before and it worked well.

Excellent suggestion.  Just say the word and I will bring the tools.  

On 1/15/2019 at 8:43 AM, June Bug said:

Although I haven't done much trail work in the last few years, I have done a lot of solo and group trail work at WC over the years, including a very rainy winter quite a few years ago where there were some major mud holes that developed over time. 

Let me clarify the damage cycle. When you ride a damp trail, even when the knobs on your tire make an indentation of, say,  a sixteenth of an inch, that indentation holds water, because that's how it works.   Six more riders come by, and now there's a slight low spot that's kinda soft.  With the next rain, you've got a soft patch holding water that does not drain, people ride through, and now there's a major sloppy mess that can only get worse because it's a low spot that holds water.  

In the past, to fix that low spot, I'd  go out with a flat blade shovel and start shaving the tread down to drain the low spot to the downslope side of the trail.  If there is no down slope, then the side of the trail was downsloped to a drainage pit dug out to capture the water.  You'd be amazed at how many hours of manual labor it takes to do this simple repair over 6 or 8 feet of trail.  Some of these repairs are still holding up, some need to be redone or touched up.  

Chardog's brilliant berming solution for curves (capturing the water to the inside of the berm) has addressed a lot of the problem areas where there's a curve in the trail, but either way, it's still a LOT of hard work to create and maintain. 

1. If possible, don't ride, let things dry out
2. Do your damn trail work

 

 

Truth.  It may seem impossibly outside one's paradigm, but it IS possible to turn around and NOT ride a muddy section of trail.  It's also possible to help repair the trails once or twice in your life (or every week as many do).

On 1/15/2019 at 10:28 AM, Anita Handle said:

What will you do when you get to a non-rideable part? Levitate over it??? Walking around it or riding gingerly around it ain't much better than splashing right through.

Simply turn around.  If you ride through the mud you will cause damage by deepening the ruts, if you ride or walk around you will cause damage by widening the tread and compacting and killing vegetation.  Just stay off any section that is damp enough to stick to your tires or leave impressions.  

2 hours ago, Scorpionwoman said:

I ran and concur with that. But that's pretty much all that is ridable.

I went on .6, and it was not good. In addition to the spots that usually get muddy, there is a new low spot developing not far into the loop, before the first sweeping turn to the left. There was still standing water there today. (Pics below.)

I am confident Windy and BMX are not good, since they were muddy even before Friday night's rain. I also am confident that Mark's Art continues to be muddy in all the dips, meaning that the rock armoring that is left continues to get dislodged and the dips get deeper. I assume the dip below Mark's Art continues to get deeper (and can't drain). 

Hopefully anyone who rides out there for the next few days will do an abbreviated route.

I rode an abbreviated route last Thursday, and it was actually kind of fun to figure out how to connect the ridable parts. Then as I was loading my gear (on Lincolnshire), a very large group of riders went by. I hope that organized rides are privy to the information that Charlie and others share, and that they consider that info in leading the route.

 

 

Yes, the Log Loop / Ski hill Flow (Chardog Up) / Power line Flow loop is about the only thing without problematic areas that will only be damaged more by use.