Trail flood damage

[smslavin]

Just a few photos I've seen of area trails that will be a long time in being rideable again. The first photo is the bridge on the 4 Mile Link trail up at Betasso. I wonder how far the old car in the trees got moved. The other photos are from Apex. Looks like it's going to be road rides for awhile but even that's a bit tricky. Went out yesterday and there's still a large number of road closures. I particularly enjoyed the woman in the mini van who almost took me out at 95th and Valmont because she didn't see the gigantic white and orange road closed sign...

[smmokan]

A smaller update- I live in Niwot, and parts of the Niwot Loop are destroyed as well. The trail on the steep hill below the high school is virtually gone, and a few other sections are probably gone too. I'm sure the trails that link from behind Gunbarrel and Teller Farms were devastated as well.

Sean, check out the new trails they're building in Erie... my buddy Adam is running the "movement", so far they have a couple miles of smooth, fast singletrack and there are plans for twice as much later this year. Look up "Erie Singletrack Advocates" on Facebook, the trails are less than 10 minutes from your place.

[smslavin]

when i road down valmont yesterday, i stopped at the east boulder trail. big chunks of it are missing where it heads north from valmont and the fence at the crosswalk is crushed. i'm sure the bridge over the creek is out.

i haven't taken a look at the erie trails yet. thanks for the reminder.

[Poop~Ghost]

The road to Heil Ranch... or the spot that the road used to be.

[XtrPickels]

^^^ impressive

[smslavin]

The road to Heil Ranch... or the spot that the road used to be.

holy crap. that's a bummer. one of my favorite spots.

[flatlander#2]

Rode the Cone Saturday and it was a little muddy in spots, totally deserted but also totally fine. Rode Sisters Sunday morning and it is good, some damage on the back side, but rideable. Dedisse is a shit show and was before this hit, the switchbacks need some work. I guess Lair is fully closed. Rode lower Elk loop Monday and the north side is muddy, otherwise fine. Up Bergen last night, parts that were shitty before are hike a bike now, north side has some troubles. Signed up with JeffCo to volunteer to do trail work.

[Poop~Ghost]

Rode the Cone Saturday and it was a little muddy in spots,

Did you come up mayhem? I would expect bad things on mayhem, but glad to hear cone is good.

[flatlander#2]

Mayhem is always bad things. Corners are a little cagey toward bottom, once up 1/2 or the intersection it is solid.

[wkd-rdr]

The other photos are from Apex.

Its a shame those yellow signs didnt get washed away...

[spicy cha cha]

anyone know how chimney is looking?

[stapes]

I know in the grand scheme of things, losing some trails is not that big of a deal compared to the lives and homes lost, but it really is a blow and setback to the overall trail system in the area. Including bike paths in town, etc. I used to be able to get practically anywhere on 75% bike paths with minimal road usage. No longer the case as many of these paths and in-town ghetto singletrack is washed away. And as was mentioned, even road routes are tough with so many closures and damaged areas. Planning on plenty of volunteer trail work in the coming years. Hopefully most of what got ruined is the overly sanitized trails ;-)

[Poop~Ghost]

I know in the grand scheme of things, losing some trails is not that big of a deal compared to the lives and homes lost...

I was just saying the same thing to a friend. It feels very petty to be sad that a trail is gone when folks have lost their lives, their homes and land.

But I am bummed.

[smmokan]

Stapes, did you see the place to sign up for notifications from BMA for volunteer trail building opportunities?

My wife said that when she was driving home last night, there was already a crew working to fix part of the Niwot Loop here in town. I can't imagine it's high on the priority list in terms of usage, so maybe they're prioritizing trail work based on how easy they will be to fix?

[flatlander#2]

It does feel more than a bit selfish to say hell yeah I'm a volunteering to help rebuild trails! Oh, you want me to come up to the poopy smelling water area and do things? Eh, let me see what my wife has going on for me...Pretty sure I can work that out internally though if I get trails shaped up. Maybe they'll take the opportunity to build out some more of Bergen Peak...a boy can dream.

[stapes]

smmokan - signed up. I too am wondering how they will prioritize and how soon work will be able to get started. Very interested to see how Hall made out as well. Sounds like Rabbit Mtn should be rideable fairly soon after they open it back up. Although it's just such a short loop. Usually ride that from home if I do ride it. Also sounds like Ft Collins area trails did not get hit as hard as Boulder County. Might be heading up to the old stomping grounds more often if that is the case.

A good friend of mine who lives in Erie and just started riding this year has been helping out with that new singletrack down there. He's stoked to have something right out the front door. I might be riding that more than I ever thought I would depending on how things play out with other trails.

Putting it all in perspective, this should be a minor obstacle for a year or so. I'm very thankful we made out with no damage to our house or any of our friends or family. We are about a quarter mile from the St Vrain but luckily up higher. They evacuated a block away from us. Looked like the Mississippi River where there is usually a tiny creek.

[smmokan]

A good friend of mine who lives in Erie and just started riding this year has been helping out with that new singletrack down there. He's stoked to have something right out the front door. I might be riding that more than I ever thought I would depending on how things play out with other trails.

I'm very familiar with the trails in Erie... I was out there on Monday afternoon helping build- three of us put in another 200 feet in a couple of hours. My good friend (Adam, used to be my neighbor in Erie before I moved) is the one leading the trail initiative and heading up ESA, which is kind of funny because I started discussions with the town about building trails a few years ago but never got anywhere. He's doing a great job getting everyone and anyone involved. It's a short loop now, but it has potential... very smooth, fast, and flowy singletrack as it is, but we're planning on adding some fun features as the trail gets built out.

[stapes]

I'm very familiar with the trails in Erie... I was out there on Monday afternoon helping build- three of us put in another 200 feet in a couple of hours. My good friend (Adam, used to be my neighbor in Erie before I moved) is the one leading the trail initiative and heading up ESA, which is kind of funny because I started discussions with the town about building trails a few years ago but never got anywhere. He's doing a great job getting everyone and anyone involved. It's a short loop now, but it has potential... very smooth, fast, and flowy singletrack as it is, but we're planning on adding some fun features as the trail gets built out.

Buddy's name is Jeff. I know he's been out there quite a lot too. I'll have to get down there at some point. Figure it should be a good winter option. Depending on what is in tact I can ride from home on LoBo trail (although I heard some of this is washed away), Teller Farms, etc with minimal road.

[smslavin]

It's a short loop now, but it has potential... very smooth, fast, and flowy singletrack as it is, but we're planning on adding some fun features as the trail gets built out.

Made about 8 laps on it yesterday afternoon. Kind of a weird spot. It's very fast but I will say, coming around the corner on the north end and seeing the range was a bit of surprise. Never knew it was there but I might have to go over there and play. There were some definite high powered rifles going off while I was riding.

There's a few hundred feet still on that end of the loop that needs cut. Dodging the cactus was fun. Looking forward to seeing what they have planned for up on the hill. I guess they'll have to route around the range boundary. If I wasn't shuttling the kids downtown tomorrow evening, I'd try to head out there to help build as it looks like they're having a get together.

[smmokan]

Yep, the north end was where we cut in the new trail... a couple hundred more feet and it'll be a complete loop. There's also going to be a smaller loop on the south side of the trail system as well. The plan is to have a trail parallel the dirt road to connect up to the top area, and then have 2-3 more trails up there too. Not sure of the total mileage.

[rideit]

Bone dry here in the Neptune/Southern Sun parking lot! What flood?

[stapes]

Checked out the Erie trails yesterday. Pretty fun.

Looks like either Ft Collins or dirt roads on the cross bike this weekend for me.

[smmokan]

Stapes- depending on how far you want to ride you could make a pretty decent loop with the LoBo trail, north Boulder dirt roads and the Niwot Loop. I rode it last night from my house over towards Teller Farms and back in a quasi-loop and it was 13 miles. If you add some of the dirt roads like Oxford and around Lagerman Res, you can easily do 20-30 miles.

[stapes]

Do you know what sections of the LoBo Trail are open? BCPOS website still saying it is closed?

My usual loop is out St Vrain-Crane Hollow-Hygiene-59th-St Vrain-49th-Nelson-39th-Oxford-then depending how I'm feeling there is a variety of ways to loop back. 55th/Ouray is nice or keep heading south and east back towards the reservoir.

[spicy cha cha]

Chimney is good other than the crowds