CRAMBA: Pontiac Lake

[MediumRB]

I visited the trailhead today (on road bike) and saw a couple fresh, deep cuts right at the parking lot. If the sandy soil looks like that, I can only imagine what a mess the trail could be.

[weimie]

Rode last night and the trail was frozen solid. Lots and lots of tracked up, deep deep tracks all over the place.

Wonder if the morons that ride trail when it's muddy and sloppy actually go back and see the damage they actually do? I'm guessing probably not....

Regardless, trail was in great condition last night if you ignore the carnage of careless riders.

[Paul Brown]

Rode last night and the trail was frozen solid. Lots and lots of tracked up, deep deep tracks all over the place.

Wonder if the morons that ride trail when it's muddy and sloppy actually go back and see the damage they actually do? I'm guessing probably not....

Regardless, trail was in great condition last night if you ignore the carnage of careless riders.

This post can be pasted into almost all SE MI trail condition threads at this point.

[r21954]

Rode last night and the trail was frozen solid. Lots and lots of tracked up, deep deep tracks all over the place.

Wonder if the morons that ride trail when it's muddy and sloppy actually go back and see the damage they actually do? I'm guessing probably not....

Regardless, trail was in great condition last night if you ignore the carnage of careless riders.

This post can be pasted into almost all SE MI trail condition threads at this point.

We need to restructure our system, those people don't work on the trails or pay dues, why would they care if they have nothing invested.
















Ron Arnott H./F.T.C.

[oldkhs]

Has anyone ever tried to work with the parks to see if a "trail open / trail closed" sign could be put up? I know a new trail in Ohio that does this, the park crew and local MTB assoc. make the calls...

If anyone rides today, please update on status after the snow. Curious about a few inches of snow on top of ruts. Does it still pack down level, or get really crazy? I'm debating a ride tomorrow am.

[Sortaslow]

Has anyone ever tried to work with the parks to see if a "trail open / trail closed" sign could be put up? I know a new trail in Ohio that does this, the park crew and local MTB assoc. make the calls...

If anyone rides today, please update on status after the snow. Curious about a few inches of snow on top of ruts. Does it still pack down level, or get really crazy? I'm debating a ride tomorrow am.

I went to hike a mt. bike trail in Minnesota once and they did this. Locked the whole parking lot in fact. Called the mdnr and they said it rained a few days ago so the trails are closed. Still saw a few bikers come out of the trail head. No mud on the bikes and they said trails were firm and fine.
So you risk overclosure and thus riders then realizing this and still skirting the rules.

We could sit in the parking lot and watch for violators and put big red "I wrecked my trails today by riding in mud" stickers on the thier side windows---like the cops do for abandoned cars.
But this is far from viable and could be seen as vandalism anyway.

No good answer. Education helps, but how do you educate those that don't care or that don't want to be educated?

Many trails have multiple entry points too. Some not really deemed an entry point. So where do you put the signs then?

[Mack]

No good answer. Education helps, but how do you educate those that don't care or that don't want to be educated?

This one sentence says it all.

[KLydesdale]

Has anyone ever tried to work with the parks to see if a "trail open / trail closed" sign could be put up? I know a new trail in Ohio that does this, the park crew and local MTB assoc. make the calls...

IIRC, that idea has been pursued in the past but the park management has been really reluctant to do it for manpower and other reasons. It's really their call and responsibility.

If anyone rides today, please update on status after the snow. Curious about a few inches of snow on top of ruts. Does it still pack down level, or get really crazy? I'm debating a ride tomorrow am.

I rode at PLRA late Friday afternoon and there was only about 1/2 to 1" of fresh snow. Frankly, the ruts didn't bother me that much mainly because I could still see them and plan for them. With the 4 inches or so that's on the ground right now, you probably won't even notice they are there. Keep in mind here that most of the trail is NOT rutted and very fun to ride. The ruts tend to be on flatter ground that's more out in the open and/or exposed to the sun, like the area right by the RC field and the long straight run through the open field that comes up after that. Parts of the trail that are more in the woods and especially where there's leaf cover, are in really good shape.

After a decade and a half of riding there, it still amazes me that someone would put up with riding in all the slop they apparently did. It can't be all that much fun slipping and sliding around and going sideways a lot like a lot of the ruts show happened. If they're only riding when the weather gets warm, they're really missing out on some really fun riding. My Friday afternoon ride was a flat-out blast.

[MediumRB]

I'm tempted to ride tomorrow. late morning. Any other takers?

[oldkhs]

I'm tempted to ride tomorrow. late morning. Any other takers?

Sorry, missed this or I would have tried to get in touch.


I rode the front 1/2 of the trail (cross rd trailhead to campground road) this morning due to time constraints. Good ride, but a lot slower than normal for me. There was really only 1 bike track for most of it, and some sled tracks for a little bit. A lot of foot traffic. Regardless, good ride in the snow. None of the ruts described above were an issue.

Need some more guys and gals to run the loop to get the path back in place, although it sure is a good workout being the 1st or 2nd bike thru the footprints... Enjoy.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

I rode from the trailhead to the 2 mile hill and back yesterday afternoon. Only 1 set of tire tracks ahead of me. Very tough riding due to the hikers footprints and 3+" of snow. In spots you could ride off to the side thru untracked snow and it wasn't too bad. Where are all the fat bikes that are supposed to pack the trail down for us skinny tired folks? Would have been perfect w/ a pugsley.

[MediumRB]

Today was tough - rode one lap in about 1.5x the normal (and did not get out there until almost 2pm). I definitely did not have enough rear tire (WTB Werewolfs) and hiked a bit. My tracks (of the 3 that seem to have gone all the way around) are the most eccentric, I'm sure. But it was fun, frozen, and safe.

[Steve_Balogh]

Where are all the fat bikes that are supposed to pack the trail down for us skinny tired folks? Would have been perfect w/ a pugsley.

I rode the Poto, packed down like a freeway in most parts. Lots of skinny bike tracks and hiker prints. I don't get it, so many others sold around here, and I'm lucky to even see another Fatbike let alone tracks. At the Poto I recognized Jason Jones' trademark Gazza/Endo combination, plus an Endo/Larry combo. Only three at the Poto today, two of us being guys who've had these for years What are people doing with these bikes? Glad I did the Farmers race.

[MediumRB]

I don't get it, so many others sold around here, and I'm lucky to even see another Fatbike let alone tracks. At the Poto I recognized Jason Jones' trademark Gazza/Endo combination, plus an Endo/Larry combo.

I wondered if there was somebody out there playing "scout" and examining tire tracks. Makes me want to go out there on Fatty Rumpkins just to mess with your mind.

[c0nsumer]

I don't get it, so many others sold around here, and I'm lucky to even see another Fatbike let alone tracks. At the Poto I recognized Jason Jones' trademark Gazza/Endo combination, plus an Endo/Larry combo.

I wondered if there was somebody out there playing "scout" and examining tire tracks. Makes me want to go out there on Fatty Rumpkins just to mess with your mind.

I get to recognize friends' unique tire combinations and can tell if they've been on lesser-used trails recently. After all, knowing most people who use a smaller trail like River Bends, coupled with fat bikes or odd combinations like Slant 6 / Small Block 8 it gets easy to tell who some folks are.