Western: Ionia

[gtrowbridge]

Did two laps today.
Trail is as hard and fast as I have ever seen it.
Getting rid of the grass on the trail on the east loop, now that it is just dirt, sure makes it much more fast.

That being said there are sections where you will experience some face slappers.
Hidden ridge east of parking lot 12 is particularly bad for about 20 yards.
We've got some people heading out there today and tomorrow to get some of this cleaned up.

[gtrowbridge]

Did two laps today.
Trail is as hard and fast as I have ever seen it.
Getting rid of the grass on the trail on the east loop, now that it is just dirt, sure makes it much more fast.

That being said there are sections where you will experience some face slappers.
Hidden ridge east of parking lot 12 is particularly bad for about 20 yards.
We've got some people heading out there today and tomorrow to get some of this cleaned up.

Oh and just be aware a tree came down in the woods just after the ladder bridge hill. The jagged bottom of its trunk is pointing right toward you as you pass by. Plenty of room to clear it and if you are going fast enough you won't even see it...but something to be aware of.
We'll get that taken care of too.

[owosso bob]

Did two laps today.
Trail is as hard and fast as I have ever seen it.
Getting rid of the grass on the trail on the east loop, now that it is just dirt, sure makes it much more fast.

That being said there are sections where you will experience some face slappers.
Hidden ridge east of parking lot 12 is particularly bad for about 20 yards.
We've got some people heading out there today and tomorrow to get some of this cleaned up.

Did you do anything special to get rid of the grass on the trail ? We have the same problem on the Sleepy Hollow trail and am looking for some help or suggestions . Owosso Bob

[gtrowbridge]

Did two laps today.
Trail is as hard and fast as I have ever seen it.
Getting rid of the grass on the trail on the east loop, now that it is just dirt, sure makes it much more fast.

That being said there are sections where you will experience some face slappers.
Hidden ridge east of parking lot 12 is particularly bad for about 20 yards.
We've got some people heading out there today and tomorrow to get some of this cleaned up.

Did you do anything special to get rid of the grass on the trail ? We have the same problem on the Sleepy Hollow trail and am looking for some help or suggestions . Owosso Bob

Bob I PM'd you.

[SLOWWRYDE]

Rode the east loop yesterday and today, fun and fast. Trimmed the face slappers on the west loop. The last mile and a half should be slapper free. Ill do more when I can.Trails are awesome, but the horse flies are terrible, and be sure to check for ticks after your ride. I found two this week.

[gtrowbridge]

Rode the east loop yesterday and today, fun and fast. Trimmed the face slappers on the west loop. The last mile and a half should be slapper free. Ill do more when I can.Trails are awesome, but the horse flies are terrible, and be sure to check for ticks after your ride. I found two this week.

I'll be out there mowing saturday so that will help with the tick situation as you won't have any blades of grass tickling your legs.
I've found a good coating of Deep Woods on the legs makes a big difference.

At least the flys aren't as bad as they were last year.
I literally saw a cloud of them hovering in my buddies slipstream behind his head and shoulders when he was riding.
I just told him "whatever you do don't stop".
Buggers found places to land on his elbows slip stream and bite while he was riding though.
We cut the ride short and did a DEET application.
Good to go after that.

[gtrowbridge]

Jagged tree bottom has been taken care of on the west loop.
I got some trimming done by the DNR on the hill on the back side of the the pavilion.
Looks like either Slowwryde or the DNR got some face slappers trimmed up on the hidden ridge area which was becoming impassable.
Quite open now although the tall grass needs trimming in the same area.
I'm asking the DNR to take care of that with some string trimmers.

[gtrowbridge]

Got about half of the east loop mowed this weekend before being run off by deer fly's.
Seriously have never seen them that bad in my life.
I'm pretty tolerant of biting bugs as long as my deep woods deet holds out.
These guys were biting right through it.
I literally killed 4 of them with one slap.
It must have been just the right temp/time of day/moisture/star alignment (I was out there ear-ly about 630-7am).
They weren't bad when I started.

Anyway I was sitting duck on the tractor crawling a long early in the morning and couldn't take any more lest I drive the tractor into a tree or roll it over.

Riding shouldn't be a problem because you keep moving (or at least you should) and can either out run them or pass them by before they know you are there.
The grass isn't too bad. Kinda annoying on the ankles, but you can see the trail pretty good.
At least it isn't brushing your waist like it has been in past years.

I'll try to get out there soon but 90+ temps aren't motivating me.

[gtrowbridge]

This is a message to those that are doing trimming on the trails (I suspect there are more people than I have talked to).
Some of you I have talked to personally so ignore this as it is the same discussion.

*** Please when you trim take the trimmings off the trail and hide them behind a bush or something where they are not visible/not as visible. ***
We don't want the trail to end up looking like we are riding through a dead brush pile.
This also makes it easier on my mower blades when I don't have to chop through the trimmings.

Thanks for your help.
This will help us keep it looking nice as well as ride-able too.

Thanks again.

[TenSpeed]

Tree down about 3 miles in, and another one down about 6 miles in or so? Couldn't move either one. Did move some smaller stuff that was covering the trail along the ridge that you climb up. Trail is very dry. Finally able to ride the whole thing this time, as the first time last year it was under water. I really like it. Bugs are bad. Even with the spray, they swarm.

[gtrowbridge]

Tree down about 3 miles in, and another one down about 6 miles in or so? Couldn't move either one. Did move some smaller stuff that was covering the trail along the ridge that you climb up. Trail is very dry. Finally able to ride the whole thing this time, as the first time last year it was under water. I really like it. Bugs are bad. Even with the spray, they swarm.

Thanks good to know.
Yes I got out there saturday morning for a ride and didn't even get out of the truck as they were attacking the windows. Went to Edwards Creek in Greenville instead.
I don't know when the flys are going to let up. They have to have some sort of life span.

What time were you out there?

Just wondering if there is a time when they aren't biting before I "abandn awe ye hope all ye dat nter heaya".

[TenSpeed]

Tree down about 3 miles in, and another one down about 6 miles in or so? Couldn't move either one. Did move some smaller stuff that was covering the trail along the ridge that you climb up. Trail is very dry. Finally able to ride the whole thing this time, as the first time last year it was under water. I really like it. Bugs are bad. Even with the spray, they swarm.

Thanks good to know.
Yes I got out there saturday morning for a ride and didn't even get out of the truck as they were attacking the windows. Went to Edwards Creek in Greenville instead.
I don't know when the flys are going to let up. They have to have some sort of life span.

What time were you out there?

Just wondering if there is a time when they aren't biting before I "abandn awe ye hope all ye dat nter heaya".

We rode at about 10 am or so? They were on the car window for us as well. That wasn't enough to keep us off the trail though.

[SLOWWRYDE]

The second tree on the west loop is right around the 5 mile mark, and the flies were not as bad yeaterday.Seems like the hotter it is the worse the flies.

[gtrowbridge]

Time: 0715 hrs
Temp: 58 degrees F

Perfect trail conditions.
No deer flys at all.
Was out at the trails until 0930 and the temp got to 68 degrees.
Still no deer flys.

Downed trees are cut off the trail now.
The rain has helped tack'ify the trail quite a bit.

Just perfect conditions.

Even though the trail isn't mowed as well as I would like, the trail is clearly visible and very little grass taps your ankles as you fly by.

[SLOWWRYDE]

Rode the trail this morning, and had to remove some fallen limbs from the storm last night. There is one huge limb that will have to be cut out right around the 3.4 mile mark on the yellow loop. Other than that all is good. I did not ride the brown loop so I dont know what, if anything, is on the ground over there.