Don't Ride Muddy Singletrack

A reminder from the Earth Riders Mountain Bike Club:

Please be aware of ever constantly changing conditions of the trails during the winter months. Often times the trail surface will be frozen and Solid in the morning but thawed and wet during the afternoon.

Please note that if you are leaving tracks on the trails while hiking or riding or there is mud on your shoes or bike, then you are doing damage to the trail. Sometimes it’s best to just turn around and call it a day. Damage to the trail is very difficult to repair and can be considered Vandalism/Destruction of park property.

And from our friends at the Osage Region Trail Association in Jefferson City, Missouri, a real-world example:

I know that we are all very proud of the trail we have built at Binder Park. I also know that we are all very protective of that trail and would never intentionally damage what is probably the finest 13 miles of single track in Missouri.

Evidently someone new to mountain biking has ridden the Blue and Green loops when the trail was way too wet and done some severe damage.

We have enjoyed a long reprieve from doing any real trail maintenance at Binder but now its time to roll up our sleeves and get our baby back into the awesome condition we have all gotten used to.

So, this Sunday Feb 1st at 9:00 am we will meet at the bait shop parking lot. Bring a rake if you have one. We will bring mattocks and fire rakes. We will be working on the Green and Blue loops fixing badly damaged area, removing debris and deberming the lower edge of the tread. Our goal is to create better drainage so the trail drains faster, dries quicker and stays dry longer.

Please, I know it’s tempting to hit the singletrack at the first glimpse of warming weather, but a few minutes of fun in the mud can really cause a lot of destruction that will take many hours of labor to repair. Think before you ride.