Local Mountain Bike Enthusiasts Please Stay Off Wet Trails

For many mountain bike riders, Duluth is a haven of beautiful and challenging trails to test your skills and concentration. But one local resident hopes to get the word out to stay off the trails when they are wet. While some may consider this wan extra challenge it can become very problematic in a lot of aspects.

Mike Dodd from the Ski Hut spke with WDIO about the hazards to not only your bike but to the trails as well. He sadi " Mud is simple made of tiny tiny rocks. Rocks will destroy your drivetrain. Now if you still decide to risk damaging your bike to ride on wet trails, be prepared to pay for it later. We will charge you to clean your bike, If you bring your bike in and it's muddy, we will charge you to clean it, because we can't fix it if it's filthy."

Dodd also brought up the point about the actual trail itself and how riding on a wet trail will cause ruts. Water flows down the ruts causing even more damage and then volunteers have to go to the trails and try to patch them up it is a constant battle.

Dodd explained to WDIO what it it like to volunteer to maintain the trails, he said " I used to be one of the guys out at Lester that took care of the trails and we would always take note of where the wet spots were. Even on the drier days we would flag them, and then we would go back and bit by bit we would make them so that they wouldn't be wet spots anymore."

So where can you ride if trails are wet? Dodd suggests riding around town into neighborhoods you have never been to and maybe go down an alley or two to change things up. So how do you know if trails are wet or in poor condition? You can check the latest conditions at https://www.coggs.com/trail-feed-twitter.