white clay

Here is the scene from White Clay today, Jan 29th. A dusting of snow and mostly frozen ground. Some areas in the fields are soft but you can easily just ride off to the side in grass to avoid the slop.

Some south facing trails were snow free while north facing had about 1/2". Bike and foot tracks are everywhere. Some mild ice but only rarely did I have to made adjustments for it. Less snow and a few degrees warmer! Go for it this weekend. Don't wait too late on Sunday as it may thaw. Area high is going to be 36F. I may go back.





 
Mildly Wild said:
Anyone know present conditions?
Click to expand...

Trails are in pretty good shape for the most part. However, there are quite a few sections with ice patches, some of which need to be walked. (The 2 pics below were taken from the same spot, i.e. one looking uptrail, one downtrail).

The bigger issue over the weekend will be mud. The fields are already muddy but with temps expected to be above freezing the ground will thaw and the trails will be a mess.
 

Attachments

  • WC1.JPG
    WC1.JPG
    210.5 KB · Views: 385
  • WC2.JPG
    WC2.JPG
    152.5 KB · Views: 405
rmap01 said:
The bigger issue over the weekend will be mud. The fields are already muddy but with temps expected to be above freezing the ground will thaw and the trails will be a mess.
Click to expand...


good call, i posted up on the trailspinner fbook page about fair hill conditions and that's the response i got. it's supposed to climb into the mid to upper 40's this weekend. a ride down there would bring nothin but bad karma.
 
Schilling said:
good call, i posted up on the trailspinner fbook page about fair hill conditions and that's the response i got. it's supposed to climb into the mid to upper 40's this weekend. a ride down there would bring nothin but bad karma.
Click to expand...

How is Fair Hill? Went there once but found myself in a parking lot with wide open fields under huge electrical lines 😕 so I decided to hit up White Clay instead. Curious how it compares to White Clay or even Brandywine (which I heard is also pretty good).
 
rmap01 said:
How is Fair Hill? Went there once but found myself in a parking lot with wide open fields under huge electrical lines 😕 so I decided to hit up White Clay instead. Curious how it compares to White Clay or even Brandywine (which I heard is also pretty good).
Click to expand...

My local Fair Hill contact said it was an icy mess as of Thursday. With the rising temps, it will turn slushy and muddy as well. No bueno
 
rmap01 said:
How is Fair Hill? Went there once but found myself in a parking lot with wide open fields under huge electrical lines 😕 so I decided to hit up White Clay instead. Curious how it compares to White Clay or even Brandywine (which I heard is also pretty good).
Click to expand...

I have ridden both several times. Fair Hill is a very fun park, lots of trail mileage available. I like both WC and Fair Hill, but find them very different in character. WC trails are clearly (to me) engineered for MTB riding, FH more natural. They are less than 20 minutes drive time apart so definitely worth giving it a go. I read somewhere there are 88 miles of trail in Fair Hil, but I'm sure that includes all the dirt roards throughout. Trail Map a must if you are going there. I think they are available on line free.
 
Mildly Wild said:
I have ridden both several times. Fair Hill is a very fun park, lots of trail mileage available. I like both WC and Fair Hill, but find them very different in character. WC trails are clearly (to me) engineered for MTB riding, FH more natural. They are less than 20 minutes drive time apart so definitely worth giving it a go. I read somewhere there are 88 miles of trail in Fair Hil, but I'm sure that includes all the dirt roards throughout. Trail Map a must if you are going there. I think they are available on line free.
Click to expand...

Thx. I definitely need to hit that up. Any particular section you'd recommend?
 
Its been a couple of yrs since I was last there, so memory is a little foggy.

If I find my trail map, it will come back to me and I will get back to you.
 
Kirt said:
Thanks. I think I'll head down. Anyone else planning to ride this Saturday?
Click to expand...

GF and I are thinking of going down tomorrow. Not sure what time we will ride but likely in the afternoon. I am riding Blue/Wht Trek 9.7, she a Fisher HiFi just in case we cross paths.

I am a little nervous about conditions as I see it's going to go into the hi 30's (although likely overcast with a chance of light snow). This is clay like 6 Mi. Will trails turn to grease?
 
pearl said:
go early and be done before it gets near 30.
Click to expand...

+1 Based on the current forecast I would get there no later than 9 AM. There's plenty of moisture in the ground so if it starts to thaw it'll be a muddy mess and very damaging to these well kept trails.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom