Western: Luton Park

[G.R.XC-MTNBKR]

Anyway, for those that wanted an "advanced level trail", well, we've got one now (at least when it is frozen). Keep up the good work pizza cutters! This trail is much more fun to ride than a smooth hardpack trail.....

Even I know that luton is not rideable now and we must stick to sandy trails like yankee for a while still.
I dont believe a few ruts or sloppy sections qualifies this trail for "advanced difficulty" status. Good thing to or everybody would be an expert. As for the ruts, with the amount of traffic luton gets they will quickly be taken care of. What we need to do is better educate the majority of riders that dont know anything(or care)about trail sustainability. They need to stick to the trail and not widen it to avoid a little twig or mud.

[StillBill]

To...mntn-biker:

Have you noticed yet that you are the ONLY one on this forum advocating turning the Luton trails into an eroded mess?

Get a clue, and just go away please. If you like rough/eroded trails go and find one that's already trashed. We "beginners" like Luton the way it is.

Bill

[yamaha13]

Well said Still Bill, That's exactly what Luton was intended for, a nice family friendly trail system for Bikers, hikers, runners, bird watchers etc... Not to go out and simulate race conditions for The Lumberjack 100. Luton is what it is and we should keep it unique and different from the SGA's, Yankee's and Custer's.

[Mike_D]

Bill and Yamaha13,

I can assure you that I am NOT advocating eroding and destroying trails. I am completely the opposite in the fact that I LOVE a smooth hardpacked trail, just the way Luton USED to be prior to the shred fest that took place this winter (see pics on the previous page). I think you missed my notes of sarcasm and I apologize if you missed that but I was extremely *beep* off when I added to the thread since I took an hour out of my work day early in the morning to go ride Luton while the trail was frozen when there is no damage to the trail and see the crap that was shown in my pictures a few posts above on the previous page. I was appalled when I saw this hence the pictures I had to share of what happens to a great trail if common sense is not used. I could see MAYBE along the road if someone tried to ride the trail but common sense should have kicked in to turn around or jump out on the road at this point, not continue to shred the trails. If you re-read my post with the pics, perhaps you may catch some of the sarcasm but at least note that I bailed after the orange loop due to the continued carnage which meant it was not very pleasant to ride at all. I cannot commit to trail days due to my odd work schedule but I at least do my part by abiding by the written and unwritten rules and do not ride the trails when wet or when I know they have been a mess due to heavy rains or the freeze/thaw cycles we have been having this year. I will ride when the trails have dried out enough or are frozen. My biking friends can vouch for that when we are deciding where we should ride.

Mike

[ignition16]

I think their messages were meant for GR XC MTNBKR, not you. He has said many ridiculous things in this thread and others about how he thinks that wrecked trails (as we see them) are good trails, and if you like smooth singletrack you're not a real mountain biker.

In his defense, though, it does seem like he understands that he shouldn't go out and wreck the trails, based on his last post.

[cramer]

I think their messages were meant for GR XC MTNBKR, not you.

No doubt about it.

[StillBill]

Alright...looks like I both misinterpreted mntn-biker and got him confused with GR XC MTNBKR???

Anyway, hope the whole trail dispute works out.

Bill

[StillBill]

I was out Sunday AM for the first time in a couple of months. The trail was nice and frozen after a cold night.
Lots of tire marks on the approach trail and the orange loop. I did all but the yellow, at which point my left pedal crank got loose and feel off...only to find that my allen wrenches weren't in my seat pouch. " Murphy was an optimist."

The frozen trail was fun, even if it was a little bumpy. Can't wait for drier conditions!

Any G.R. city folks who want a short loop, but nice ride, try out the new Ken o sha trail. The upper loop dries up fast, the bottom one not so much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FN7hxC0eL8

Bill

[lancefro]

Looks like some warmer temps are coming this week. Any guesses if Luton will be rideable by Wednesday afternoon? I don't want to make the drive out there if I'm just going to turn around (or cause more damage).

[RickPlite]

Looks like some warmer temps are coming this week. Any guesses if Luton will be rideable by Wednesday afternoon? I don't want to make the drive out there if I'm just going to turn around (or cause more damage).

no way. We have 3" on the ground in Rockford and the ground has not thawed yet

[hondaph00l]

Rick, you mentioned a lot of the NEW trail building at the meeting the other day but how about maintenance work particularly at Luton? Anything planned-ish?

[RickPlite]

Rick, you mentioned a lot of the NEW trail building at the meeting the other day but how about maintenance work particularly at Luton? Anything planned-ish?

We will being doing some general maintenance in April or May, no firm date yet.

[Slimm]

did some recon today and found 80% of the trail to be in pretty good shape . it looks like recent traffic is starting to flatten out a lot of the pizza cutter damage. There were only two spots on yellow, near the old dump site, that were soft and muddy. i'm not sure about the parking lot connector.

unfortunately, there are some areas on orange, red and green that are still really rutted. In the flatter areas this is going to cause the tread to hold water and be soft every time it rains. These areas will potentially become mud bogs. On inclines/declines it is going to cause water to channel down the tread instead of running over and off the tread. The result we be increased errosion in those areas. There will be plenty of maintenance work to do later in the spring. Hopefully all the morons that rode and caused the damage will come out and help fix what they broke.

if it stays warmish and doesn't rain, it's good to ride/hike/run. (just be mindfull of the spots on yellow) if we get rain it will prolly take two or three days of dry before it's good to go. if we get back into freeze thaw cycles that's a whole different thing.

-s

[Purple is a Fruit]

Thanks for the update Slimm. Was thinking about head out there today to check it out, but decided to play it safe and just head down to Yankee for the time being.

[sjd38]

Is the trail rideable for today? Any more updates?