It feels like the shoulder season has begun...it has warmed up but the trails are a mixture of wet snow and deep snow in the higher country. The snow is too wet/soft to ride the snow bikes in and there is still enough of it that you can't ride a regular mountain bike yet.
The area of choice at the moment is Pipestone. Conditions at Pipestone vary a fair amount based on where you are riding. The combo elevation and which way the slope is facing determine conditions of the trail.
I was surprised to see so many moto's out in the Pipestone area on Saturday. Unfortunately they are starting to loosen the trails up a lot for us non-motorized users. The sad part is that they don't have much regard for non-moto trails (which are only a handful). So the handful of nice singletrack trails are being torn up, widened, loosened, etc. Most of the guys out there are great and respectful of users on the trail, although I almost got ridden off the trail (a non moto trail at that) by a crew of three guys heading in the opposite direction. Trail ethics are that moto's should yield to bicycles but these guys were having none of it and were happy to play a game of chicken to see who would yield first. Considering I was bound to suffer a worse fate then them, I thought it prudent to pull over and let them by without incident.
It was a great day to be out - once you get away from the RR tracks, the herd thins out a bit and you can usually find some solitude in the maze of trails out there. The weather was nice, the riding was good, and the views were tremendous!
Ride Summary:
The area of choice at the moment is Pipestone. Conditions at Pipestone vary a fair amount based on where you are riding. The combo elevation and which way the slope is facing determine conditions of the trail.
I was surprised to see so many moto's out in the Pipestone area on Saturday. Unfortunately they are starting to loosen the trails up a lot for us non-motorized users. The sad part is that they don't have much regard for non-moto trails (which are only a handful). So the handful of nice singletrack trails are being torn up, widened, loosened, etc. Most of the guys out there are great and respectful of users on the trail, although I almost got ridden off the trail (a non moto trail at that) by a crew of three guys heading in the opposite direction. Trail ethics are that moto's should yield to bicycles but these guys were having none of it and were happy to play a game of chicken to see who would yield first. Considering I was bound to suffer a worse fate then them, I thought it prudent to pull over and let them by without incident.
It was a great day to be out - once you get away from the RR tracks, the herd thins out a bit and you can usually find some solitude in the maze of trails out there. The weather was nice, the riding was good, and the views were tremendous!
Ride Summary:
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