Woods Conditions?

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

Anyone Go woods riding this weekend and want to give a report on Conditions?

[Awesome]

[mycirus]

Im ready....I bet there is still some mud out there though. There was a lot of snow.

[Sheppo]

Northern Mass, near Lowell. Muddy with patches of ice and snow. If you were careful it wasn't a bad ride.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Anyone Go woods riding this weekend and want to give a report on Conditions?

I rode in the woods at my parents house to break in the new top end. Ground was solid. No mud. Lots of blow down, including most of a tree a neighbor cut down right after the jump (I suppose it's not really blow down if a chain saw took it down, huh?). Made the jump interesting. About 30% snow cover left, most of which was in the straight leading up to the jump. Jump face was snow free, which allowed enough traction to clear it anyway. If this were a dirt bike jump and not a BMX jump that I was riding my KX over the snow on the approach would have been an issue, as landing in all the fallen trees would have been. Back yard for turning around was extremely soft, requiring a very delicate touch on the throttle and plenty of clutch. Snowbank before driveway turnaround was noteworthy, but frozen enough that I didn't go all the way into it, probably only 6" into a 3' snowbank. Lots of neighbors out, most walking dogs or small children. None seemed bothered by the dirt bike. I figure the new silencer is partially responsible, and the fact that I was doing break-in riding and staying out of powerband helped as well. Trail could use to be trimmed, some branches have sprouted across it in the past year or two since I rode there.

I’m guessing this isn’t quite what you were hoping for?

[TheIglu]

Lots of snow still in the woods up here in the location you were thinking of.

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

Lots of snow still in the woods up here in the location you were thinking of.

You my friend are a Mind reader

Thank you

[TheIglu]

You my friend are a Mind reader

Thank you

I can give you updates twice a day, I drive by it to and from work.

[gregp]

Anyone Go woods riding this weekend and want to give a report on Conditions?

Sure. I did a bit of dirt riding this weekend in central Mass. I started out on the south facing side of a small mountain. It went like this: Mud. Deep Mud. Top of the mountain. Ice. More ice. Lots of ice. Then mud...and...back to pavement.

Big fun!

[6 Fingered Man]

Has any one been to bear brook? Is there still snow there?

[Pittenger5]

Theres no snow in the park by my house.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Martin Burns Wildlife Management Area in Byfield/Newbury MA:

Mud. more mud. snow. mud. snow. mud. mud. mud. deep mud. sort mud. snow. more mud.

These observations were made from a mountain bike, not anything motorized. Makes the mud a lot less fun.

[Paul_E_D]

Mud season is not a good time to be riding. Tisk, tisk.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Mud season is not a good time to be riding. Tisk, tisk.

Assuming that was aimed at me, I was on a MTB in a hunting conservation area that's got trucks and quads going through all day. You can't even tell a bike went through there, and it's not a sanctioned riding area with decent trails and whatnot. It's my alternate commute, and even in the absolute best of conditions it's not anywhere near decent trails to the point you'd worry about messing them up riding them in the mud.

[Paul_E_D]

No, not you in particular. Just a reminder that impact is much higher this time of year.

[Sheppo]

I was in my back yard...

["Dangerous" Dan K]

No, not you in particular. Just a reminder that impact is much higher this time of year.

Cool. I agree with you, it's just where I was riding it really doesn't matter. The mud-bogging trucks and hunters ATVs run these parts, there are no good trails out there.

[theothersean]

Well if the "unmaintained roads" are any indication of what the trails are going to be like, we are in trouble not just the fact that the snow still hasn't melted and we have at least a couple months to let the mud dry up assuming we don;t get a ton of rain this spring, But all of the damage left behind from the ice storm has left a lot of debris across the roads , I am sure the trails will be just as covered in limbs and downed trees.
Pack a saw with you the first few times you go out.

We went for a "dirt road " ride sunday


I started moving limbs out of the way until I realized that there were more about every 20 feet or so . we turned around .

I had a small pack saw in my tail bag so I could cut the downward facing branches and drag the bikes under


there was still a lot of snow in the wooded areas, but we managed to get through it



we had to ride on packed ice for a bit over a mile before coming to a wash out , I got stuck , but wifey made it right through



we had to stay all the way to the side of this down hill to avoid sliding all the way to the bottom on the ICE.


good thing for footpegs and handlebars to keep the bike from sliding down the hill

we ended up at the bottom of the hill to discover a bridge that was barely passable on 2wheels, but we knew we weren't making it back up the hill







when we finally got accross the bridge and started up the next hill we had about 1/2 mile of foot deep snow to get through . My odometer reads off the front sprocket so that 1/2 mile was more like 5 miles.





at the end was a hill to go up that was snow covered at the bottom but finally cleared 1/2 way up fo some reason I just couldn;t get traction , wifey and Bob flew right up it and I struggled , ass end kicking out to the side, spinning it on the ice , I suppose if I took the delicate approach instead of a fist full of throttle I would have had an easier time of it.


On the way back to the house, we went down the hill at the farm that is in direct sunlite all day and the mud was dep and slippery.


So to answer the original question if you are in central mass or north, I would stay off the trails for a while to let them dry out so we don;t cause any damage. Stick to the dirt roads fo now.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

^^ Where is that? OHV registation ok, or plates required? Looks like fun once it dries out.

[theothersean]

^^ Where is that? OHV registation ok, or plates required? Looks like fun once it dries out.

central mass
full street reg required , these are roads on a map , although I wouldn;t bring a truck down them with out big tires and a lift kit.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Damn. Oh well. Looks like fun for the truck, but I don't see taking my truck to central MA to go wheeling. I don't have a plated dirt bike.

[jtaylor719]

Has any one been to bear brook? Is there still snow there?

Bear Brook in NH? I didn't think you could ride there. I bet there's still a lot of snow in the woods. I'm about 30min west of there and it's still up to my knees in some spots.

Clough won't be open until the mud / water goes away, usually mid to late May.

[6 Fingered Man]

Bear Brook in NH? I didn't think you could ride there. I bet there's still a lot of snow in the woods. I'm about 30min west of there and it's still up to my knees in some spots.

Clough won't be open until the mud / water goes away, usually mid to late May.

You can ride there in the winter, I don't think you can in the summer. But if your up to your knees it will probably be good. Thanks.

[KB]

I have a secret spot in weare nh. If you're street legal I can keep us out all day on class 5 roads. A good mix of dirt and pavement!!

KB

[jtaylor719]

The local stuff here rocks, there's tons of it. I grew up riding class 5 & 6 roads with all my buddies around Henniker, Weare, Hopkinton, Hillsborough....
I just need to spoon some knobs onto the Hypermotard and I'll be back out roosting!

Or, win the lottery so I can get another dirt bike.