Mid-State: Anderson Park

[Felt6]

We had a great ride this afternoon. Thanks to you all.

[bikejoe]

It was a good work session today. Its gratifying to see so many people turn out on a such a chilly day.

When I got up this morning I realized that it wasn’t wise for me to leave my old saw in our unheated garage overnight. It is never easy to start and I have never even tried to use it in cold weather. I was due at the Park in about an hour so I brought the saw up to room temp by warming it in front of our stove. I turned it every few minutes while I dressed, then continued warming it with the heater in my truck. At around fifty years old, it is music to my ears to hear this old relic fire up.



This was one of the many trees that fell across the trail in last Tuesday’s snow storm:

[F7Cannon]

Its gratifying to see so many people turn out on a such a chilly day.

Have to agree. Thanks again to everybody who came out after the snow storm to help clear the trails, wheather it was throughout the week or on Saturday. I am sure Brad will be very happy to see this.

Joe I noticed that a tree limb punched through and broke one of the boards on the smaller bridge just after that wooden berm. Do you know if any body else noticed it and fixed it or not? I can check to see if I have some scrap wood and replace it if not sometime this week.

[bikejoe]

Joe I noticed that a tree limb punched through and broke one of the boards on the smaller bridge just after that wooden berm. Do you know if any body else noticed it and fixed it or not? I can check to see if I have some scrap wood and replace it if not sometime this week.

I was out there this evening Shaun. That board is still broken on the bridge next to the tall bridge, in the play ground. Last weekend I moved the limb that did the damage. It was the top of a tree that broke-off very high up, so it fell far enough to build some crushing momentum. We were fortunate that it didn’t strike the other bridge.

You might not have to bring any wood with you. There is some out there, not sure if there are any deck boards to match.

There is another small repair to make in that same area, a loose board on the wooden berm. I’m pretty sure it is near this end. Two or three screws should fix it.

[F7Cannon]

Thanks Joe, I will take care of that tomorrow. Planned on taking the dog to Woldumar but I can just as easily kill two birds with one stone and just walk him at Anderson instead.

[centralRH]

THANK YOU! You all are amazing. I was out of town and returned to find the work complete. I can not THANK YOU all enough.

Shaun - there is a big pile of wood out there but none of it is cut to length. I should have time to fix the bridges tonight if you don't get to it before I do.

[F7Cannon]

THANK YOU! You all are amazing. I was out of town and returned to find the work complete. I can not THANK YOU all enough.

Shaun - there is a big pile of wood out there but none of it is cut to length. I should have time to fix the bridges tonight if you don't get to it before I do.

Already got to it Brad. Both the bridge and wooden berm are good to go now. I also did a quick inspection of everything and tightened down a few boards here and there. Trail looks good right now, nice and firm!


Went back out later this evening for a ride. Red and Green look great, wide open and running fast. I would suggest riding in the morning or late evening due to the higher temps we are having. It was getting a little sloppy in spots but was firming up pretty quickly.

Blue is still going to need some chainsaw work. There is a large tree down right at the beginning of the painted stepped bridge. I got to that point turned around and headed back to the red. I am sure there is probably still some other stuff blocking the trails further into blue as well.

[bikejoe]

Blue is still going to need some chainsaw work. There is a large tree down right at the beginning of the painted stepped bridge. I got to that point turned around and headed back to the red. I am sure there is probably still some other stuff blocking the trails further into blue as well.

Blue is actually quite good other than the tree across the bridge at the beginning. I cleared debris as I rode last Sunday. It was wide open yesterday, Sunday. It is strange that Blue had the least tree damage even though it is narrower and more recently cut-in.

[Felt6]

Riding here today at around 10 -10:30 to about 1.

[bikejoe]

I cleared the fallen tree from the entry of the bridge at the start of the Blue loop yesterday. I made sure not to obstruct the alternate entry that has evolved, joins the bridge from the side. I wanted another chance to ride onto the bridge from the side without putting a foot down, failed twice already.

I only trimmed the face-slappers from the road up to the area of the bridge. There is a log on the way to the bridge that someone else cut through very recently. Not My Work.

As I walked out there I noticed the shallow tire-tracks of a fat-tire (Pusgley?) in the soft mud. Those bikes must really float on top of the goo!

[richcon40]

Great ride yesterday afternoon. Finished red and green just as the sun was setting. The ride was made interesting from the snow ruts made by the riders from Tuesday. The trail was in great shape. We avoided the wooden bank and bridge same as the two riders on the snow day. Better to by-pass and ride another day.

[F7Cannon]

Trail is in great shape for riding right now, nice and frozen. Get out there while it lasts, going to get warm again later in the week.

[F7Cannon]

Kind of on the fence about this one. Before people start slamming me about being a trail Nazi that is not the case, I am just commenting on what I saw while out there for a walk today.

Only walked the Green loop today so that is all I can really comment on. Noticed quite a few fresh tracks/ruts in the soft spots, not really deep, but not really shallow either. A good portion of the trail is solid but quite a few spots are quite soft. A group of riders came up from behind me while walking and we chatted for a few minutes. They said that the blue was a soupy mess which I could tell from all the fresh mud all over their super nice new expensive bikes and red was soft in quite a few spots. After talking to one of them for a while I came to the conclusion that they really didn't care about the trail conditions. They informed me that they were just out at Island Lake the other day and there was a ton of people there tearing it up but they rode anyway. From what I could gather from some of what they were saying and their local college racing attire they were trying to stay ahead of the game for some upcomming races in March and April and muddy trails were not going to stop them from riding.

Any way. With that said I wouldn't say Anderson isn't rideable by any means I would just strongly suggest not riding there during the day. I think it would be fine early in the morning though. Won't really matter soon any way looks like the temps are going to get bellow freezing and stay there for a while finally.

[mwnovak]

F7C, I don't think you're being unreasonable: I walked green and red last weekend, and it was a slick gooey mess all over. Couple of riders were headed out as I was pulling in, and their tracks were cut in pretty good. As I've said before, I'm kinda new around here and won't pretend to know much about Michigan dirt, but I wouldn't have felt good about riding out there.

BUT

Now that the temps are down and we've got some snow, what's the story on winter riding at Anderson? If I can find some studded tires and swap my clips for flats, is that a recipe for good times . . . or disaster?

Thanks for any tips,

--Matt

[SteveF]

Now that the temps are down and we've got some snow, what's the story on winter riding at Anderson? If I can find some studded tires and swap my clips for flats, is that a recipe for good times . . . or disaster?

Thanks for any tips,

--Matt

For snow riding, a set of aggressive knobbies will do--studs are mainly for riding on icy surfaces. I run clipless year 'round but I'm used to them--ride what you're comfortable with. There's pics a few pages back in this thread of some Anderson snow riding last year...