[Borregokid]

I went up to Taneum Ridge yesterday. After pedaling about 45 minutes I hit the ridge. The upper part of the ride was one big puddle after another, plus lots of mud. After what seemed like forever working through the mud, I hit the lower section where the road intersects. After debating whether to call it a day and just go down the road I hit the trail again. The lower section was relatively dry and very fast. After getting down I checked and saw my overall time wasnt much slower. Shoes and feet were wet and cold, so I decided to call it a day. It looks like a bit more rain over the next five days.

Anyone else have any fall-mud ride reports?

 

[Fredzilla]

Was up on Tiger Sunday afternoon with Oxygen77... to say it was a little wet is an understatement. I remember standing up on one uphill only to hear the water squishing out of my shoes every time I pedaled!

Said shoes are still out on the deck with their equally offensive counterparts, the socks, pending further review.

 

[Snacks]

Was up on Tiger Sunday afternoon with Oxygen77... to say it was a little wet is an understatement. I remember standing up on one uphill only to hear the water squishing out of my shoes every time I pedaled!

Said shoes are still out on the deck with their equally offensive counterparts, the socks, pending further review.

Did you ride up the trail or fire road?

 

[Fredzilla]

Did you ride up the trail or fire road?

We just did the fireroad....

 

[Borregokid]

Went out again today and rode Cle Elum Ridge to Rat Pac and points east. It was the first time all week the road wasnt muddy. The rains and vehicle traffic have packed the dirt down pretty nice. Hard to believe the difference between this year and last year. We have now had about 10 days of below average temperatures, sometimes as much as 20 degrees below normal. The rain has been way above normal. Last year at the same time we had a great fall and the evenings were fairly warm-perfect for hooking up a light and finishing after dark.

How are things on the west side? Are the trails finally drying out?

 

[DBR X6 RIDER]

I wish I knew (no bike, still).

Actually, I put in a makeshift waterbar down at seatac just before the main kicker (the one that's been there for centuries) to alleviate the standing water about 3 ft. before it.
Tiger is [sarcasm]FUN[/sarcasm] when it's really wet. Especially in the spring. Nothing like that steady stream of cold water being driven up your arse-crack to keep you alert.

I have a buddy up at the pass and he's been dreading the non-stop rain around there, so I'd imagine the I-90 action is a little more techy than it tends to be already.

 

[Borregokid]

I have been thinking of doing some trail-bridge repair on Rat Pac. I have a bunch of outdoor wood and some 2 foot cedar boards that were sawn off a deck. I just need to go survey it. Hauling the stuff in might take a while. In a week or two the usage of the trail will be zero. Anyway its great to have people out fixing the trails. A lot of times the people who build and fix the trails seldom ride them. Thats the case of Rat Pac, the locals mostly just maintain it but do their riding other places.

 

[DBR X6 RIDER]

I have been thinking of doing some trail-bridge repair on Rat Pac. I have a bunch of outdoor wood and some 2 foot cedar boards that were sawn off a deck. I just need to go survey it. Hauling the stuff in might take a while. In a week or two the usage of the trail will be zero. Anyway its great to have people out fixing the trails. A lot of times the people who build and fix the trails seldom ride them. Thats the case of Rat Pac, the locals mostly just maintain it but do their riding other places.

I noticed when we were out there on Labor Day weekend that the A-Frame seemed to be in MUCH better shape...I recall earlier in the year that it was missing alot of rung and wasn't solid. I also like the sharp-left-berm that was put in right after you split the trees after the very top section.
The rolldown bridge beyond that and the bridge after the gravity cavity were the only things that were in a real bad way.
I guess there are only a couple/few builders over there from what I've been told. If that's the case, then they are doing a hell of a good job keeping things ridable considering the traffic the trail gets.
If I wasn't some 80 miles away, I'd be out there helping out every chance I could.
Hope it goes well for you over there!

p.s. - Look around out along the trails for deadfall trees. As long as you have a saw handy, there's likely an abundance of wood to work with from that alone.

 

[Borregokid]

Went back over to Taneum Ridge. The trail has dried out very nice. Ran the trail twice-10 minutes faster than last week on each lap. It was pretty nice, definitely the best ride I had since Freund Canyon.

As I was leaving I saw three other bikers heading up the road, one guy was riding a Giant Warp. The other two guys had Enduros. One of the guys on the Enduro told the guy on the Warp to put the chain in the middle ring for the climb. I heard the guy on the Warp say as they were climbing "whats the middle chain ring." I almost I wished I could have followed them.