Lewis and Clark 02/23

Went and did a night ride at Lewis and Clark caverns last night and rode again today. Last night we rode up the road till we hit the small bridge and then dropped off onto to the Eastside trail. The climb up the trail was icy and snow packed all the way to the top. We mostly hiked and rode some wet muddy spots but it was pretty much a waste of time. The downhill was a mix of snow/ice and mud until you finally hit the open area towards the bottom of the trail. That part of the trail seemed pretty dry last night but I went back today to do an out and back on the Eastside trail and it is pretty muddy. Nothing to bad but enough that it does cause a little trail damage. Bikers and hikers have been on the trail in the mud and it shows. I would suggest waiting another week or two of good weather before riding out there. Go and ride Pipestone instead of Lewis and Clark right now. (better soils for mud/snow riding)

Pipestone pics

Pics from today's Pipestone ride can be found here.

The conditions were, as Dallas put it, marginal today. It was pretty sloppy out there. But, the general consensus, regardless of the extremely variable conditions, and me still being sick enough that I left my breakfast out on the trail, we had a gooooooood ride.
-SM



At Pipestone, the trails that had more tree coverage tended to have about 3-4 inches of wet, heavy snow on them. With the ATV and Motorcycle tracks in them, they were interestingly ridable on the downhills and flats but tough to ride on the climb. Open sections of trail were fairly clear of snow but sloppy. There were few dry sections of trail.
Overall, northish-facing trails were snowy, southish-facing trails wet and muddy (in their own particularly gritty Pipestone way). You can ride there, but you will get sloppy and wear your drivetrain and brakes quickly. Singlespeeds are probably best.
-DNA

Sunday Sunday Sunday

The weather in Whitehall is going to be as high as 40 degrees by this weekend. I'd say that means we're all up ons for Sunday 2/10.

So far I've got two confirmed yeses and a maybe, so (counting me) there are at least three people going. Let me know if anyone else is in. I'm thinking meet at 9:30am, leave by 10.

Speaking of Pipestone

The weather in Whitehall for the week of February 3rd through the 9th is up in the 30s. Anybody (other than Dallas who already says he's in) want to go for a ride?