The Outer Loop was last groomed on Tuesday night. Groomers attempted to groom the Fire Tower Loop last night, but were unable to do so due to heavy/wet snow conditions.
Overall we anticipate the trails to be soft this weekend due to consistently warm temperatures. We hate saying this, but unless you run VERY low tire pressure and are not leaving ruts you should probably avoid riding this weekend. Let’s hope for some colder temps soon!
The track sled is back in action! Groomers are headed out tonight and will focus on getting the outer loop in excellent riding condition.
The Fire Tower Loop will not be groomed tonight. There are plans to groom it later this week with the goal being mint conditions by the weekend.
The beginner loop was groomed twice on Saturday during a big snowfall that dropped 6-8 inches. We haven’t received much additional snowfall since then and a solid base is well underway; however, this trail may be a little bumpy until we receive more snow.
Joe Sanders took his first laps on the tracksled today. Grooming the walking trails of the SFT south side. I took the Rokon and a tire and cleaned up the hiking tracks and posted some signs at lunch. It should set up fine by this evening. I ran about 2.5 pounds of air on Sunday. Someone in front of me was running about 8, near as I could tell. I’ll go in and clean up north side later tonight, after the beagle walker tracks it up.
I got all of the singletrack trail’s a path through the disc off and I did a bunch of the walking trails as well with the track sled. It’s currently blowing 3o knots outside so we’ll see what develops but there will probably be something rideable Sunday morning. Glad to have the first groom done it’s quite a challenge.
Big M received 6-8 inches of fresh fluffy snow and it is still coming down. The forecast says it will continue through tomorrow. The beginner loop was groomed this morning and will be again this afternoon.
The outer loop has not been groomed with the track sled out of commission, but we will continue to post updates on grooming efforts.
Trail conditions are good. We survived the meltdown, there is still snow, and the trails are pretty smooth overall. The forecast calls for cold temperatures and fresh snowfall over the next few days which should make for some good weekend winter riding!
The track sled is well on its way to making a full recovery; however, we do not anticipate being able to get out and groom anytime before Sunday.
Half of trail was groomed on Sunday before the track sled experienced unfortunate mechanical issues putting it out of commission. Groomed sections include Corkpine, Bullwhacker, and the Fire Tower loop down to Steinberg Rd. The remaining portion of the Northern section & the Little Loop are not groomed. The sections that are not groomed have been ridden in, so there should be tracks and good riding.
The forecast for the next couple of days looks great with mostly below freezing temps and not a lot of new snow, so things should firm up nicely!
Weekend plan with the track sled out of commission: If we do not receive too much snowfall this week we may groom the outer loop with the Rokon or borrower the Ludington School Forest track sled. If neither of those options work out, the goal will be to ride in the trail by Saturday morning. Check back Thursday or Friday for another update before the weekend.
We didn’t get quite enough snow to groom but we got the perfect amount to ride in again. There are at least three sets of tracks through the school forest trails and Memorial tree and at least two sets of tracks through the Dragon. So the Ludington urban single track trail system is pretty magnificent as of today. It looks like Tuesday might be a little sketchy but then the temps drop
and there is an inch or two of snow in the forecast every day. So potentially grooming operations could startNext weekend. In the meantime the trails are great come on out.
The trails are currently in decent shape with some patches of grey ice. There is supposed to be a big storm Saturday night and we are tentatively planning to groom on Sunday.
Light fresh snow over the groomed trail made any icy spots grippy and the trail rolled really well. There are warmer temps and a rain snow mix in the forecast for Thursday and Friday, so riding should be avoided. The weekend could set up nicely with colder temps forecast. Check back on Thursday or Friday for a better idea of what Mother Nature has in store for us.
Four riders laid down tracks in the Ludington SFT trail system today in prep for tomorrow’s Wednesday night ride. It is supposed to stay below freezing and there is a potential for some more snow so the Ludington school forest trails are open for business.
I’m sure we’ll get one or two more blasts of winter after spring break, so we might be able to groom something up for a short period. But for now, I think we’re done… And the beach isn’t all that great either.
DCIM101_VIRBVIRB0241.
SFT is amazing and should stay consistent until noon or so on Saturday. Literally the best trail since we’ve been grooming. Park downtown and enter trail at A on this map. Only the trails in the SFT are groomed, the stuff to the east. The Dragon might be rideable, but we’ve had about 5″ of snow since the last groom there.
DCIM101_VIRBVIRB0215.
Hopefully we don’t get a bunch of snow tonight. Got around most of trails with roller ’til I broke hitch on the ice fishing sled. Then I had to go get tires to finish. 
Waiting for the blizzard to die down to see what happened out in the woods during the latest Polar Vortex-like blast. We sure had a great weekend though. Hope everyone got a chance to get out while they were so amazing. Was fun to see the Manistee crew Sunday! At this point planning on trying to get out tonight while my daughter is at dance class. Will report after that, but should be back online for WNR. Probably not Dragon though. 
The outer loop and little loop were groomed late in the week only to get covered by 4-7 more inches Friday and Saturday night. The trail did get ridden in by those that worked hard to get around the Udell. Things aren’t firm but as long as your pressure is low (less than 4 psi) and have at least 4.5 in tires, you won’t need a box of tissues. Hoping to get things cleaned up during the week and ready for the second weekend in March.
All of the school forest trails at this point are dialed in, five stars, fantastic. We are however of course supposed to get 1 to 3 inches of snow tonight which should be fine to ride in Saturday morning.
$20 bucks at Briggs and the groomer was back in action. Did all the bike trails and most of the walking trails before I smiled clutch two.
Some poor soul rode the entire system on what appeared to be a regular mountain bike. Luckily no damage was done but if you know anyone that rode the trails today try and educate them about winter trail riding. It cannot have been a fun experience judging by their tracks. I see little in the way of temperatures that will dampen the awesome trails we have going. Get out there.
Happy trails.
Well my best efforts to groom 5.2 miles of trail for my brother’s 52 birthday ended when the bold holding the sled to the groomer snapped as I crossed Bryant Road this morning, .5 miles into my grooming run. So we’ll be skiing tonight. Then I’ll get out and groom after that. Should be back online Thursday after work.
So I was a bit optimistic with my last report. The warm day and rain never really materialized so trail conditions stayed at “mid-winter” and didn’t harden up into spring snow. The trail got pretty chewed up on Saturday from people riding with too skinny of tires and at too high of pressure so most everything was groomed again Saturday night.
I would recommend at least 4.5″ tires and lower pressures unless you are a light rider (under 150lbs). If you can’t stay on the trail, have to walk uphills… lower your tire pressure. Also if you have to walk, walk in the deep snow next to the trail not in the groomed portion. Everything was 100% rideable yesterday until people started walking in the trail. If you can’t make it up a hill, please don’t screw up the trail for people that can ride it.
Got out and groomed everything with the tracksled and two tires while it was warm. Should set up nicely for the weekend. 2-3 pounds of air and you should be good. Happy Valentine’s Day.
The little loop and outer loop were groomed on Wednesday. There was 4-6″ of more snow since the day before.
Thursday is supposed to be well above freezing with some drizzle but temps are supposed to drop down Friday so the trail should be hard and fast from Friday into the early part of next week.
4 inches of wonderful snow was groomed Tuesday afternoon just in time for a forecasted 4 more inches Tuesday night. Both the little and the outer loop got the treatment. Working hard to make the upcoming weekend just as good as last weekend.
Just laid down a set of tracks so that when the snow stops there is a recent track to go through.
The struggle is real but we’re thinking we’ve got this thing as good as it can get considering the situation we just got out of and are getting into. Little loop is good to go. Wide tires and low pressures.
With the help of the snowshoe crew, we were able to get around the outer loop with the track sled but we’re not sure how things are going to set up being that it’s above freezing for the next few days. No grooming will be happening till Tuesday at the earliest. Tread lightly and good luck. Wide and low is the tempo…
We’re chomping at the bit to go ride ourselves and enjoy the trails, here’s an update.
We are slowly opening up the Ludington School Forest trails, both hiking and biking trails. We might get them open before the rain comes, but then we’ll have to close them again. Nothing is rideable at this point. Might try to make a first pass through the SFT loops proper this afternoon. We skied them last night, all but orange loop, so broke trail a little. Lots of snow in the woods. If we got them open, it would probably only be for Friday a little while Saturday.
Here’s a little video of a first pass with the track sled.
No promises about this weekend. Think of it this way… from Thursday on we’ll be working as much as we can to get trails as rideable as possible. In other words, snow shoe or ski. Give er a shot but air down and get fat.
We’re doing our best to make things rideable but it may take the better part of the week. We’re doing multiple passes without weights and pans just so we can get the 12+inches of snow to cooperate. Maybe by the weekend things will be ready for riders but unless you’ve got 2XLs and a 26T front chainring, you might get out the snowshoes or XC skis.
Killer grooming session tonight. In a good way. Got 100% groomed. Rescued roller and smoothed out most of the walking trails with 50# of weight in the pan. Then Got around north side with the roller and 20# pounds so that should be widened out nicely. I know we’re supposed to get snow tonight but at least we’ll have a known base to deal with tomorrow. Need to hang signs tomorrow. Lots of walkers on south side of through trail.
How quickly a trail can turn to mash potatoes and how quickly there’s no evidence of a soul ever riding it let alone 50 racers. Between the end the race yesterday and today, Big M received another 2-3 inches of snow to cover everything up. For what’s its worth, the little loop was groomed today but we’re anticipating Snowmageddon tonight into Monday which will made riding anything during the week pretty challenging. We’ll do the best to groom it in before Ground Hogs day…..stayed tuned
Wow….finally a dump. The Udell Hills received nearly a foot of freshies this week. Even nearby Wellston didn’t get this much. Everything is groomed and seems to be setting up quite well. The roller stopped rolling because the snow was packing up so well which made for tough grooming. The tracksled is moving along pretty darn good though. Should be firm as long as people lower their pressures and ride wide tires (4in or wider)
Update – The groomer is back in action, and everything has been groomed with the exception of the northern section of the orange loop. Most everything the southern section of the north south through trail is also not been groomed, I may head out and groom that later tonight we will see.
LOW TIRE PRESSURE WILL BE CRITICAL.
The SFT grooming woes continue, between crappy snow and groomer break-downs here’s where we stand.
The north loop (red) has not been groomed since Wednesday morning, and the dog walker walked down the middle of that. The Blue loop has a couple of laps with the tracksled and the sled behind it and the southern half of the orange loop was done with tracksled and pan. Most of the walking trails around the blue and orange loop were hit last night before the clutch on the tracksled seized up and it became a really large paperweight.
Disc golf has not been groomed since Wednesday. See everyone at Big M Saturday morning for the Big M Firetower fat bike race.
Everything but the two southern loops, the loops south of Bryant, have been groomed. I’m not sure how it will set up, the snow was really weird of course, but it’s better than nothing. And we’re supposed to get a couple more inches of snow so at least we have a little base. I’m not sure how it will set up for tonight’s Wednesday night ride but it might be pretty good.
Perfect condish, tasty barrels all weekend. Augh….tasty barrels.
Trail is in pretty fair shape. There are some patches of ice, very limited, but they do catch you by surprise. The balance is thin snow or dirt. Very rideable, 3.75 out of five stars.
Just got back from the evening ride and the trail is in great shape. Just enough fluff on top to provide some grip but not enough to turn it into a slugfest. Forecast for the weekend has temps staying below freezing so it should be great riding out there.
To say it’s been a light year for the groomers would be an understatement. Big M has only needed to be groomed once (late last week) and so far this week, can be ridden in without grooming. Temps were high but plummeted below freezing so any trail that was soft and recommended as unridable is good to go as of this post through the projected forecast this weekend. There might 4 inches of mixed media this weekend. Or not. Updates Thursday night are expected
Ludington School Forest is amazing right now. Just enough snow to smooth it out. With temps rising to above freezing right now rides before noon are probably your way bet. That pic is from Tuesday, we rode in another 3” today.
I set tracks through the Ludington school forest and the disc golf this morning. The trails didn’t get as much snow as the roads, I think most of that stuck to the trees, but there is an inch to 2 inches of really nice snow with a couple sets of tracks on the phone now so that we have seven or 8 miles of pretty nice Thinly covered but pack down trails
Ludington received about 3 inches of snow Thursday night and a group of seven or eight of us road in the SFT
loops. The trail Saturday morning should be fantastic. Hopefully we continue to get couple inches of snow per day and winter fat biking season is here folks, come on up.
Looks like the groomer 2.0 for the Ludington School Forest is ready. Apparently it’s shorter and a little lighter. Excited.
Thanks to the efforts of many of the members of the Shoreline Cycling Club, our section of the NCT in Lake, Mason and Manistee Counties is open. A quick tally of man-hours driving home last night, purely a guess, but I’m guessing it’s taken 150 man-hours to get this trail, and the Ludington School Forest trails, open.
* The section between Free Soil Road and West 5 mile isn’t open yet, but the ride around is pretty easy.
I thought I was done grooming, guess not… The Ludington School Forest Trails, with the exception of the Orange Loop, and a TON of disc golf were groomed this morning. We’ll ride in the Orange Loop tonight and then if we get more snow Friday I’ll go in Friday night and spit shine the trails for Saturday morning. Get out there!
The outer loop and little loop each got a groom with the recent dump we received Monday night. The jury is still out on how it’s going to set up but we’re still hoping this weekend will rock with night time temps dipping way down. Plan accordingly. Get in one last hurrah
Should be free of ice pretty soon, then, a couple days to dry out and that’s it. Thanks everyone that used the trails this winter we only had one instance of riders riding when they shouldn’t, but I think those guys learned their lesson, we fixed the trail and had a great season overall. Look for more groomed trail, and maybe an improved parking lot for 2018-19 season.
Our snow took a big hit over the last few days. Lots of ice now so studs are mandatory.
Kudos to the folks in Ludington. Everyone knew well enough to stay off the trails Wednesday and Thursday. I put a fine tooth comb to the slush that was the Ludington School Forest trail system last night. It should set up for Friday night lights and be awesome on Saturday. Get out there and enjoy it, it just might be the last 48 hours of winter fat biking. Oh and bring your studded tires if you have them, gonna be icy in spots. I didn’t do the orange loop. Our trails were so good they didn’t even need grooming. I left the orange as sort of a test to see how that snow compacted on its own. I also added a mike or so in the disc golf area. Should be fun.
Right now we are shaping up to have great spring snow riding this weekend!
We groomed Tuesday evening and I hoping no one ruts it out between then and when temps are supposed to drop Thursday evening. We will regroom the trail Friday if need be.
Friday and Saturday look like the trail should be amazing. It is supposed to be below freezing both days so we should have amazing spring snow conditions to ride. The base is solid so there shouldn’t be any ice.
Saturday night there is a chance of snow. Hard to say how much there will be at this point. If there is a ton (more than 4″, which is doubtful) we will groom Sunday morning. Otherwise it should ride in nicely on Sunday.
Sunday is predicted to have a high of 38 so you want to ride in the morning and be off the trails before they soften up too much.
If you are lucky enough to have Presidents Day off on Monday it should be good riding in the morning. It is currently supposed to be below freezing Sunday night so things should firm up nicely for riding Monday morning.
The little loop and outer loop were groomed Tuesday evening.
Trails are awesome. I think we’ll be fine through this little thaw Wed and Thurs, just might not be able to ride in the late afternoons. Thursday afternoon might be sketchy, just go with 2-3 PSI to start and if you’re leaving a rut retreat. Weekend should be good until Sunday.
First full run with new track sled. Trails closed now. But should be good Monday after work.
At lunch yesterday I threw a frame around an ice fishing sled we had as a groomer a while back, it’s been in my garage as we’ve not had a winter like this since we started grooming operations. The idea was to haul a rider around behind our Rokon when we can’t pull our big roller groomer, but need something more than a truck tire can offer. They could then berm some corners and fix some off camber sections that are just a slippery slope at this point in the season. We got about 100 feet down the trail and realized a full grown human was too much drag. So we threw in a couple of bricks and then I threw in a tire that we used at one point, basically grabbing things to throw in the sled until I couldn’t pull it. It worked pretty well, the coolest part, see the video in the comments below, are the wings that are custom tensionable hinges. Those work great. And note to self, if you install a bottle opener on your groomer, thinking you’re cool, put it on the INSIDE of the handlebars…
In any case, the SFT and disc golf were groomed last night, we got an inch of that crappy loose granular snow last night which shouldn’t do much to that groom. Should be good this weekend.
The little loop is decent but the foot of snow we got last weekend does not pack very well and the outer loop is soft. Uphills are currently almost impossible unless you are only running 1-2 psi.
We are planning to groom again late Friday afternoon going into the evening. That should help but it likely will be soft still this weekend. 4.5″ or bigger and low pressures recommended.
The outer and little loops were both groomed last night. Seems like the trail is finally setting up really well. There was less than an inch of very light fluffy snow overnight but that should not degrade things much if at all. We are setting up for an amazing weekend of riding!
It is amazing what just pulling a truck tire around trails with a solid base can do. I was the first one around so, the first pass was soft but very rideable. When I went back over my tracks for the second time it was 100% better so the trails are great they just need some traffic. And I came up with a harebrained idea for a different type of groomer which Mike Reilly and I are going to build this week and we’re going to try it
Brutal grooming session tonight, all I could pull, after getting stuck twice with groomer in the first 100 yards, was the truck tire. So I got around the trails with that, moving the snow off. Hopefully that will set up and I can get around it with the drag tomorrow at lunch. Three seasons with Rokon and I’d never tipped it over. Twice tonight. Almost had to call for backup the second time but finally got it.
The outer loop and little loop are both groomed but there was 8+” overnight so things are soft. Going to try to groom tomorrow and get some better compaction.
It’s kind of killing me not to groom the Ludington School Forest this morning but the snow is really grainy and it would not set up by the time people would probably start riding it. So, dust off your XC skis for the day and I’ll groom tonight during Super Bowl. Then we should be good to go for the week.
The trail held up well through the different thaws over the last few weeks and as of last Sunday afternoon we still had about 99% snow coverage with a couple bare spots and some patches of grey ice. As of last night (Thursday), there was about 2″ of fresh snow on the trail. More snow is supposed to fall during the day Friday and we plan to groom the outer loop Friday evening. The little loop will likely be groomed Saturday morning.
It is supposed to snow 1-3″ during the day on Saturday. My guess is that the trail will stay ridden in and should be great riding. Depending on how much snow we get Saturday and how well it rides in we may groom Sunday morning. Either way, Sunday should be another day of great riding.
Expect trail conditions this weekend to be more towards the mid-winter end of the snow spectrum instead of the super fast and grippy spring snow we have had for the last few weeks.
Just a quick note: The crust riding has been superb. You basically can ride anywhere. Because of that you could ride other trails in addition to the groomed trails. There is a small window of opportunity to do this before we get so much new snow that it shuts down NCT and other trails.
I went over the Ludington school forest trails with a variety of grooming apparati. When it freezes tonight it should be pretty good there are several spots that are glare ice, so studded tires, if you have them, would be a really good idea but you can probably ride around and dirt most of the icy spots. The trails will probably be open with the exception of Wednesday afternoon it’s supposed to warm up but we’re also supposed to get some snow after that it looks really good as far as being cold with occasional bouts of snowfall.
Great primer on fat tire etiquette.
Starting mid day Friday through Saturday evening the forecast indicates the snow will be above freezing and very soft. Please do not ride during that window of time.
Sunday is looking like it should be superb with temperatures below freezing. As of last night (Wednesday night) the trails were 99.9% snow with some very small and very infrequent ice patches; studs are not needed. I anticipate that the trails will hold up very well over the next two days and should not change much between now and Sunday.
The trail is in great shape right now so I strongly encouraged people to get out and enjoy the great spring snow we have when the temps are below freezing!
The little loop and big loop were groomed. Firetower loop was not groomed. 100% snow coverage and no ice! Riding should be great tomorrow. Snow pack should easily make it through this next warm patch. Sunday morning is looking awesome right now based on forecast. Saturday is iffy at best right now.
Looking at the forecast I do not know that there will be any grooming done this week in the Ludington school forest. It looks like Riders have stayed off the trails during this thaw for the most part, the few sections I saw today, but with a half inch of rain tomorrow followed by a brief cool down and then warm temperatures for next weekend I think that mother nature is throwing us a curveball one more time. Stay tuned to this Facebook page and the shoreline cycling club grooming conditions posts for up to date information on the trails the shoreline cycling club maintains during the winter. As always use your best judgment when riding groomed trails, if you think that you are doing lasting damage then you should probably stop riding and head for the beach or the roads.
Right now it is looking like riding at the Big M is going to be amazing if you can catch it in the mornings Saturday and/or Sunday.
Friday night and Saturday night are both supposed to get below freezing so the trails will harden up nicely overnight. Based on the forecast you should have until around noon on Saturday to get your ride in with southern sunny spots going to mashed potatoes before the north side of the hill. Not sure yet how late in the morning it will be good on Sunday but you can for sure count on having until 10 or 11 am unless something weird happens.
This should be some amazing spring snow to enjoy!!
All of the fat bike trails were groomed yesterday and should be in great shape.
Just a quick reminder, when snow temperatures go above freezing please stay off the fat bike trails to avoid creating icy ruts.
All trails groomed last night, and I hit the walking trails as hard as I could, but they are still very rough from walking. It looks like there is a two day warm up in the future this weekend so Ludington trails will probably be closed Saturday afternoon Sunday and Monday.
I went out late last night and groomed the Ludington school forest walking trails with the drag to try and knock down some of the footprints, the biking trails were very good so I didn’t do much of them. I did clean up the Outerloop of the northside as someone had walked in that so that should be a little better. Good luck to all the Riders at the Winterrush at Big M.
The course for the race tomorrow is going to be wonderful! No studs necessary. A little bumpy due to snow falling from trees and deer walking on the trail but it is minor. This is going to be one of the best days to ride the outer loop this winter. If you don’t ride Saturday, should be good Sunday too.
Ludington trails are pretty good there may be a little icy in spots and there’s a dusting of snow or whatever’s belief that the crossed but they are totally rideable
We have dirty white cement! Snow is currently glazed but still grippy and very firm. Lots of branches and debris down currently.
The plan is to clean up the trail this morning trying to remove all the big sticks and logs that are down. The test grooming we did this morning indicates that if we go over it this afternoon we should then have hero snow. Only question now is how much snow will fall before the race. Flurries right now. A few miles towards the lake is supposed to get 1-6″ and a few miles inland is less than 1″.
UPDATE: from the trail, faster than summer conditions if the snow holds off? Sun wants to peak out so things look really, really good for “best of year” candidate conditions.
I’m going to head out at lunch and see what’s up. It looks like people stayed off them for the most part. We could use the higher end 3″ of the snow that’s in the forecast, so a little snow dance wouldn’t hurt. Here’s the FB post from yesterday.
It’s our groomers worst nightmare, a brief warm spell after weeks of below freezing temps. Read about warm weather riding tips from our friends at the NMMBA.
The best I can say about the Ludington school forest trails is that I hope the beach is rideable.
The Ludington school forest trails are closed. Probably until Friday, I was in there at lunch with the Rokon and couldn’t Pull either groomer so I resorted to a truck tire to at least widen it out for whatever tracked vehicle we take in there as soon as it cools down. I hung up trail closed signs, let’s hope people heed those messages. Some times the hardest thing to do as a groomer is not groom, I’m hoping that folks stay off the trails as we get this warm up, if that happens and the swath I cut through there with the tire settles and freezes, we’ll have a good base to work with on Friday night. In the meantime, here’s some drone footage for your viewing pleasure.
As the snow begins to fall from the trees, it will definitely add piles to the recent grooming. There’s a ton of snow stuck up in the branches. Snowmobiles have again poached a section of trail and were educated about the purpose of the trail when riders had an encounter. Also, snowshoers are welcome but please, if you see boot walkers, educate them on the purpose of the trail.
First off, sorry to anyone that traveled a ways and planned to ride an outer loop. I was absolutely blown away that anyone could possibly think they could ride 4″ tires around a 17 mike trail somewhere that has gotten 100″ of snow in 4-5 weeks. We are totally in the deepest heart of mid-winter conditions so how can anyone think a 4″ city boy setup is going to cut it? Fat bikers have a lot to learn from skiers. Do your weather (manistee road commission snow totals at bottom) and grooming research and choose your equipment wisely. A good rule to follow is don’t ride anything less than a 4.5″ tire on this trail system unless you know exactly what it is like based on “on the snow” intel or you weigh less than 140 lbs. Enough brow beating…
Sunday should be awesome. The plan is to get out early and snowshoe in the firetower loop so it will be passable with the groomer. We are then going to groom going clockwise from big m and including the firetower loop. This snow is incredible. It is super packing stuff once it sets up. Guessing I will start snowshoeing at 8, grooming at 9:30 and we will finish the outer loop by 1. I write that timetable from my heated home with a beer in my hand. Downed trees, wind, burying the grooming equipment multiple times, Mother Nature saying “F-you”… could completely change that time table. You want to give the trail a minimum of 2 hrs to setup after the groomer goes over it.
All I know for sure is that we will groom around the loop tomorrow and in the afternoon the vast, vast majority of the trail will absolutely kick ass if you are not stupid and think your 160lb body can ride 4” tires at 5or more psi.
Forecast says we are coming up on a warm period and then a cold spell for next weekend. This should make conditions awesome for the race. We have already taken Friday off of work and plan to groom Friday and super early Saturday morning if need be to get the race conditions to be awesome. I will try to provide good updates on what the warm weather does. It could make 1.5 hour laps possible for the fastest guys or barely dent our current mid-winter conditions.
Sorry the messy trail at the entrance of the little loop. Driver error. One lap without roller and one with. Should be fun for experts and beginners
Dang! Mother Nature is being much more generous than the forecast predicted and we got a bunch more snow yesterday and through the night. We will be grooming throughout the day but there is a lot of snow!
Three of us ride in my last trip around with tire and Rokon and the first lap was a little sketchy but the second laps were good. Dave is currently out there with snowmobile and the stag doing disc golf and waking trails. As long as we don’t get another foot of snow tomorrow we should be good. Was fun to ride vs. groom. Need more riders though. That’s what helps the most.
With a dilapidated hitch, we hobbled together a pass on the little loop. Won’t stop snowing.
Hit everything again with the Rokon and tires today at lunch. We’re going to try to ride tonight (meet at Bryant crossing at 6) Dave is currently dropping reinforcements (his snowmobile) at my house for the disc golf and sections we can do with that. Should have everything perfectly dialed in for the upcoming thaw…
The fat bike trail at the Manistee Trail Park was groomed Thursday 1/4 and should be in good shape.
On Wednesday 1/3 from the parking lot out clockwise on the outer loop and around the firetower loop was groomed and as of the evening 1/4 there was only a light dusting of snow on it. On Thursday 1/4 the little loop was kind of groomed (some just snowmobile, some with roller too) but should be okay riding. Thursday 1/4 a portion of the outer loop was groom going counter-clockwise from the little loop until just after the big climb on the north side of the Udell.
Here is a map with the groomed fat bike trails in red and the suggested linking section of groomed snowmobile trail in red dashes:
We will be grooming the remainder and cleaning up some sections Friday 1/5 starting in the morning. Things should be in great shape for the weekend!!!
Basically just trying to keep the trails open now using Rokon and the two van tires, I made another pass tonight and made it but I don’t think it’s rideable hopefully it stops snowing soon and we can get back out there with the groomer and probably a snowmobile
I made a pass with the Rokon and Two van tires, basically trying to scrape today’s snow fall down to yesterday‘s groom. If anybody rides today I’d be very curious to see how that rode. Should be pretty good as long as you run low tire pressure, so post in the comments if you ride the trails Wednesday night or Thursday morning
Hopefully this isn’t too confusing but the portion of the outer loop going clockwise from the parking lot out to and around nd the firetower loop was groomed. The chamber of the off camber sections was fixed and the firetower loop is in great shape.
We plan to groom the full outer loop on the 3rd in the evening because of 4+” of additional snow.
The Ludington school forest was just groomed, and should be ready to ride by 5 o’clock tonight. I noticed one set of tracks, someone with too much air, riding on freshly groomed trail. If you notice that a trail is still soft from grooming it is recommended that you do not ride it. Slight issue with kickstand and Rokon, so it is out of commission until we figure out how to put it back together.
Note – Rokon fixed, simple bolt fell out. Rode trails with the boys, first ride of the year. Was out of this world fantastic. Gonna get a foot of snow today, so will be starting from scratch… Such is the life of grooming.
The outer loop was groomed and should be in great shape for the first of the year. There were a few ruts late in the day but it was still 100% rideable with the right pressure. The little loop is in incredible shape. Happy new year !!
Had to make two laps to get the little loop groomed today. Layer down some nice concrete for your New Years Eve day ride. And Mother Nature, could you please give us at least a couple snow free days so the groomers can ride. Enjoy the trails folks!
The snow globe effect has been in full force for days now. Trails are in mint shape this evening. A few inches possible tonight but hopefully it will get ridden in earlier tomorrow morning.
Ludington is groomed and should be magical after about 3 PM today it’s going to need some time to set up everything has been gone over at least once and the northside the through trail and all of the walking trails have been hit a second time with the groomer. Only the red loop on the southside has only been gone through with the tires, but a, I wanted to see how that set up with just pulling the tires over the good base and b) I was running out of time and energy. Took four hours to make two passes through everything.
Video on FB page.
Little loop is rocking!!! Outer loop is too up until the groomer took a crap. Mike groomed from sign post 23 to 27. Ken got from 27 to almost 29. From 29 back to big m is not groomed. KBS will update with the status and what gets accomplished today.
Ludington is riding great this morning. Rode in two laps of everything but the orange loop on the south side, just one lap there. Ride the north side in the direction of the Singletrack Showdown arrows. The last half mile of that hasn’t been groomed as much as the rest due to the parking spot of the groomer and the traffic pattern from frequent riders. I’ll fix that next time out.
The Outerloop is mostly groomed. We ran into issues with the groomer at the southern intersection with North country Trail. Planning to ride in the remainder of the loop with the triple-B tonight.Condition should be great riding tomorrow.
Groomed this morning. Back side of orange loop is ugly. Too much snow to make the ridge climb, had to abort through the woods with pan up, then circled back and got as far as I could and did the middle section with just Rokon. I got through part of the walking trails and disc golf for walkers and skiers. Needs time to set up. Should be good for Wednesday night ride.
Juuuust a little bit more snow arrived over the long weekend. The little loop got two passes. One without the roller/pan and one with. Should be good till the next dump
With the bit of above freezing temperatures yesterday the snow bonded to the ice and now the trail is in amazing shape. Definitely some slick spots but studs are no longer mandatory. Get in a lap while these conditions are with us. It is close to being summer fast.
Six man hours later, the north-south through trail and the north section of singletrack are repaired from Tuesday’s ill advised cycling adventure by what I am sure are newcomers to the sport. I taped off the north section so that I could be certain that it would set up overnight but by Saturday morning Ludington should have spectacular groomed trails. Dave brought his drag in from Parkridge point and I was able to groom every fairway I could find in the disc golf so there should be at least a couple more miles of wondering winding groomed trail in the disc golf section of the Ludington school forest. It’s a good thing it’s going to be so coldOtherwise I’m certain will be sharing the space with disc golfers. Thanks to all those that came out and raked the rotted up sections of the section of trail north of Bryant and we will see you out on 
the trails Saturday morning.
Rode everything this afternoon and with studded Tires 90 percent of the Ludington trails are awesome. I’m not sure about non studded tires but the trail was very fast and smooth with the exception of a half a mile of the section north of Bryant.
We plan to have a work bee Friday afternoon to fill in the ruts and the bad section north of Bryant and then groom it and let it set up so all should be well by Saturday
The outer loop and firetower loop were groomed (actually being groomed at time of writing this). Conditions range from ice patches to a somewhat soft few inches of base. Studs are highly recommended.
