Southwest: Fort Custer

[Roy]

Maybe some Guber's Grinder style log piles (3 to 4 foot high) at pinch points might deter Mr. Ed.

[SteveF]

Did two fast laps (and a slow one) at custer yesterday. Pretty wet. They must've had quite a bit of rain recently. Aside from some puddles and a couple of slick, muddy corners, though, it was good. The rain made the sand more passable which was nice. Some erosion and washout here and there, nothing too terrible. Pretty typical mid-late summer conditions I'd say. Not much horse sign which was nice. (I love riding this trail on week days!) Lotsa skeeters, tho. Bring spray!

[Static_Crash]

A little messy out there this morning with some mud and downed trees from the storms. We did our best to clear what we could without a saw, but we had to leave one across the freeway that just wouldn't budge (it's easy to get over). For the most part the Red Loop is all clear now, but man we had to work quickly because the skeeters were feasting. At least the cooler temperature made for a good day!

[AJG]

Rode the red loop this afternoon and it's in good shape. Some washouts here and there (No Fear Chute is especially bad) and a huge tree downed and split into pieces in the back side of the Amusement Park. Other than that, it was great. Sandy here and there but nothing out of the norm for this time of year. Rode the small log pile that just appeared in the first part of the trenches, that's gonna be fun when it gets wet or muddy ...

I wish the mosquitos would hurry up and die.

[Static_Crash]

I'm still amazed at just how much of a mess just two horses can make. We got out this afternoon right as the horses were loading up at the trail head and we were foolishly optimistic things wouldn't be too bad. We were wrong There was horse dung all over the place and hoof damage throughout every bit of red, blue and green. Trail separation can't come soon enough!


Still some trees down on all the trails and of course a lot of sand, but still a great ride. The new log pile on green is interesting because it's more of a log jump with the lack of of logs on the backside. And I concur, the skeeters can't die off soon enough.

[Static_Crash]

I just wanted to commend the trail day crew for the nice work at the Fort, especially the work on the Chute. The trails are in good shape and the new work helps make those areas a blast again. I'm bummed I couldn't make it out Saturday to lend a hand, but I'll plan on making the next one to help on the trail separation. The horses were out in full force again.. so when is Green officially off limits to them?

I hope the guy with the (broken?) collarbone is OK, I sure felt his pain.

[brokenbones]

Thanks Static_Crash, that was me. Yep, it's broken, but I've lived thru it before (hence my User name). Thanks for loading my bike up. Other than my last-lap misfortune, the trail WAS awesome yesterday. Custer is just down-right fun when it's in good shape. Is the Chute the section on Red just before the road crossing where you can catch air going in to the Amusement Park? It looked like someone had put a lot of work into rebuilding that segment with new armoring and some compacted gravel fill. With a little wearing in it will be wicked fast and fun again. It must have been really washed out.
Getting the horses off Green can't happen soon enough. They seem to do the most damage there, where the sandy subsoil can't take much abuse.

[Static_Crash]

Bummer, must have been a long and painful ride home. Hopefully you're a fast healer and you can get back out before too long.

Yes, you are correct on the Chute. It's typically a fun and fast section and it was in pretty poor shape prior to the recent work. Hopefully when you get back out here the new sections will be open and horse free!

[risnewski]

Large tree down in the Trenches. Red is otherwise clear.

[kms662]

Tree still blocking trail at start of red loop, no way to route around it, gotta hike a bike over it. Trees down on green and yellow too but don't know trail well enough to say where. Plenty o' horsey pooh on the green.

[IFrider1]

Any local reports? Did you guys get alot of rain yesterday / last night? Trying to decide if we are going to trip out there today from the east side.........

Thanks!

[Static_Crash]

Haven't been out today yet, but I plan on it later this afternoon. I can tell you we didn't see much rain at all and the 24-hour precipitation map basically shows the majority of the rain fell to the South. I'm sure there will be a couple of muddy spots and a few trees down, but I wouldn't let it deter you from coming out. The trails usually hold up pretty good and the little rain we did get will certainly help with the sand.

http://www.accuweather.com/us/radar/24hr/mi_/radar.asp

[IFrider1]

Haven't been out today yet, but I plan on it later this afternoon. I can tell you we didn't see much rain at all and the 24-hour precipitation map basically shows the majority of the rain fell to the South. I'm sure there will be a couple of muddy spots and a few trees down, but I wouldn't let it deter you from coming out. The trails usually hold up pretty good and the little rain we did get will certainly help with the sand.

http://www.accuweather.com/us/radar/24hr/mi_/radar.asp

Thanks! Much appreciated. See ya there.

[Static_Crash]

The Fort is in great shape, and that combined with the cool weather makes for a great ride. A couple of pesky trees have been taken care of on Red. The one in the Trenches has been removed and the one towards the end of the Amusement Park has been made into a really nice log pile. Thanks to whoever did the work.

[bh357]

Rode there today for the first time since 2008. I had almost forgot how much of a hoot this trail is to ride. Trail was in excellent condition.