mudhoney profile

Nice pic…got to get down there to ride in the summer!
Penny

Went out for a short lap today… it's warmed up a lot and with the rain it's slushy and slippery. Bridle / Cardiac Bypass / Academy were mostly rideable. Pussyfoot / Penny Lane / GSM were mostly a push. Only went up as far as John Deer. Slip and slide the whole way down.

Most recent reports on Trailforks here: http://www.trailforks.com/region/mount-seymour/reports/

New entrance?

Well, it's not exactly "new" anymore, but that's the name that stuck…we'd planned to call it Dicky

http://www.trailforks.com/trails/new-severed-entrance/

The climb up Academy/RTC/Pussyfoot/PennyLane/GSM is all good, traction is sometimes hard to maintain on the steeper bits, but was actually the best its been for me on any of the snow rides I've been on.

So much fun on Severed (including the new entrance) - I'm loving the unpredictability :) Cut out the tree that was blocking the trail just past the junction with JD.

Wind is picking up, so I expect to see more downed trees/branches, and the snow has turned to rain at Hyannis, so tomorrow will be a whole different adventure I'm sure.

Rode Seymour this afternoon, I rode up Old buck, it's possible, just a bit of a grind to maintain your line on the skinny footpath and there's lots of trees down so had to do a bit of bushwacking.. but other than that not too bad. Rode down severed, it was amazing actually! surprisingly grippy, I was drifting through corners but was easy to keep control. I was really discouraged by the climb, but the decent is worth it!

Interesting, I figured that Old Buck would have been a smarter choice over GSM (though I didn't go all the way up, not quite enough time on lunch break). The unicorn slayer looked after the downed trees on GSM on Sunday. Good to know!

How many trees? Chainsaw required?

Colder temps mean the trails are rideable again after the messy slush from the weekend.

Crunchy and slippery, not as good as Friday in the fluffy stuff. Tricky maintaining traction on the steeper ups. Descent was great.

Rode Cardiac / Academy / RT / RTC / Pussyfoot / Penny Lane / GSM to JD - very rideable, I lost traction on a couple steeper bits so had to push (i.e. Christmas Corners)

Watch out for falling things. Heavy snow / ice and changing temps -[HTML_REMOVED] some trees have uprooted, branches and ice falling

what's lower Seymour like, sticks and stones, etc?

I'm thinking it might be crusted today. Any info?

Sorry can't speak to Fromme, but Seymour is crunchy and ok to ride, not as good as Friday though. Harder to maintain traction on the steeper ups. Descent was great.

Rode up Penny Lane / GSM to JD - mostly rideable, I lost traction on a couple steeper bits so had to push (i.e. Christmas Corners)

I preferred option of going up then down as I figured this would be more consistent than Sticks [HTML_REMOVED] Stones. There's a few places on S[HTML_REMOVED]S where trees are bent over the trail from the heavy snow/ice.

There were some downed trees on GSM but those have been cleared.

Watch out for falling things. Heavy snow / ice and changing temps and some trees have uprooted.

the cbc piece seems to be the best of the three.

Except that they completely fail to mention the new signs close the trails to ALL users - hikers, runners, dog walkers, etc. The article is misleading as it suggests that only mountain bikers are affected.

Where are the signs? Having just ridden (today) on Bridal, HS, Penny Lane, GSM, SD, SS, etc today other than yellow tape in various locations (and a bit of red tape) which I think marks boundaries there are no "No Trespassing" signs anywhere that I saw.

I've heard there are about 20-25; not at trail heads but at the boundaries. I've seen two - one at the trail entrance at Hill drive, and another at the end of Tomkins going into the range area.

CBC article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/grouse-mountain-sale-1.3769661

This may sound naive, but why build a trail in a rain forest climate that can only be ridden in dry conditions?
Really….I am not trying to troll, but it seems that a dry-condition-only is the least sustainable approach to trail building in this climate. It's not like the volume of riders should be a surprise, nor should the weather.

"If you build it they will come…but only sometimes"?

JD was originally a loamer, and reasonably well off the radar. With the climb, it became much more accessible, and attempts to close it down were unsuccessful.

We've been working on it to make it sustainable for wet weather and to handle the increased traffic. This takes time, and the past couple months of dry weather aren't that great for trail work. With the return of the rain, we'll be continuing our work. Eventually it should be fine in the wet :)