Night Ride -- Sunderbruch Park -- Tuesday 12/3/13 5:30 PM

[Bexter]

Here yee, here yee, charge your lights and let's roll! Did anyone notice that it's going to be 57 tomorrow? Seems like a perfect time for a night ride, dontchyathink?! Let's do it! Sunderbruch Park on Tuesday night. Because some people can't get to the park until 6, we will do a warm-up lap on the green loop and then swing around to pick up stragglers. If you get there later than that, call and we can coordinate where to meet you. Three oh 9 seven 8 1 - two three five seven. No doubt there will be different riding speeds and the group will break up naturally based on riding ability, so everyone is welcome and you won't be stuck riding at a pace you'd prefer not to ride.

Bent River has cheap pints and burger baskets on Tuesday, so that's a post-ride option for those interested (I'm not even sure I'm doing that, but wanted to throw the option out there for those of you who didn't know).

Let's ride! (Don't forget to park outside the gate)

[jimithng23]

Trails have been frozen for the better part of a week.

Just wondering is they'll be too soft with the warm up? Hope not!

[Bexter]

My bad Mielk. What do you think? I rode there Saturday morning hoping to get in my ride before temps hit 32/33 and conditions got slimy/slick. I ended up riding more even thought temps were rising because the trails were great. It was 44 by the end of the ride. I was shocked that things weren't slimy. I rode everything but LT. Even Blue Mound was good. I wonder if because there hasn't been much moisture that the freeze/thaw cycle doesn't have much moisture in the ground to seep out yet. I never want to create a situation where we might cause trail damage. I was just going based on my experience on Saturday.

Did anyone ride Sunder yesterday afternoon? How were they?

[jimithng23]

Temps aren't gonna get below freezing between now and tomorrow night and with the precipitation expected today, trails could be really mushy.

*OR* they could be fantastic.

I was out there a week ago Sunday, from 2-3pm, temp was 29-30 degrees and they didn't feel soft at all.

If you decide to go, just use precaution as I trust you always do!

[Bexter]

I'm tied up tonight (no, not like that!), so won't make it to tonight's meeting nor get out to the trails tonight to check conditions. If someone happens to ride today, please report back on the trail condition. My thought is that we plan to ride Tuesday but if we find conditions aren't good, we will hang a right at the top of Kickapoo and ride down the asphalt to the parking lot and go drink beer at Bent and eat cheap burger baskets. I will post here tomorrow night once we are on the trails with a trail report.

If the rains does in fact hit us tonight, the ride will be cancelled.

[jimithng23]

Just got a ride report from an early afternoon ride yesterday--trails are greasy and slick. Probably should be closed until allowed to freeze again.

Gonna have to close 'em.

Bummer.

[Bexter]

OK. Drew is checking with the ranger for Illiniwek. Stay tuned...

[Michellefiveo]

Ditto on the bad trail conditions at Sunder. Was out there yesterday afternoon. Rode 3 miles and left. Too slimy, yucky.

[Bexter]

Thanks for the feedback. Drew checked with the ranger at Illinwek. There are a few greasy spots at Illiniwek according to the ranger, but ranger says if the rain misses us today, we can ride at Illiniwek tomorrow night. Check back tomorrow...

[Bexter]

Well crap, it just rained. Sigh.

[DH001]

We received .06" of rain at Illiniwek around 4pm today. Trails were a bit greasy on northern slopes when I checked before the rain. The forecast is also predicting foggy/misty conditions tonight which will condense on the the cold ground and add to the soil wetness. Trails are still officially OPEN but I would not recommend riding them given the thawed state and extra moisture. I will check them tomorrow late afternoon to see if conditions improve but at this point the ride is probably a no go. :(

[dgw2jr]

Could always reschedule for Thursday or Friday

[Bexter]

The rain yesterday was enough for me to say No. I'm going to ride the Rock Island hills tonight if anyone is interested. Leaving my house at 5:30.

Don, great suggestion for Thursday or Friday night although I'm out due to other plans both of those nights. If something falls through, I'll see if I can put something together.

[DH001]

Just checked the south loop and conditions are OK. The top layer of soil is still a bit tacky (not the greasy mud) but the trail surface is firm and not prone to rutting. I think the ground is completely thawed now and some drying is taking place. Lots of wet leaves out there but we should be good for tonight if you haven't already made other plans.

[Bexter]

NO WAY!!!!! I'm in! I can be there by 5:45/5:50. FAR better than road riding the hills of RI! Hell yea!!

[Bexter]

Wanna set it at 6 PM?

[DH001]

6 works for me.