Western New York Mountain Bicycling Association

[Jon Sundquist]

Post Letchworth Trail Conditions here.

[Chris Beyer]

Yessir, comin' right up!

I was over there on Tuesday, doing some work. It's pretty good on 90% of the trail, but the other 10% is awful. It's going to need some sun and wind, and some carefully placed armoring. June 1st opening is doubtful. On a lighter note, there were only 1 or 2 riders there last Sunday, judging from the tracks. Please stay off the trail, especially the sections from the Hogsback Overlook to the Grassy Field, untill further notice. Spencer Park would be the place to ride in these here parts.

Chris B.

[Bill R]

Can anybody give us an update on the conditions at Letchworth?

[Chris Beyer]

Hi All,

I haven't been there myself in almost a month, but the word from John Underhill from the National MTB Patrol is that it is still officially closed. It's about 80% rideable at this point. The wet spots are unrideable. Hopefully a July 1st. opening will be possible. If you can't resist the jones, ride the Southern end of the park. A nice loop can be done using park roads, the Greenway, and Dishmill Creek trail #9. Whatever you do, DON'T ride from Hogsback Overlook to the Grassy Field trailhead untill the trail opens officially.

Chris B.

[fast1]

Rode Letchworth yesterday. Was great!!!!!! & dry!!!!

What are you talking about? One or two areas you simply get off & walk around dah!

John Underhill - National Bike Patrol my ASS!!!!!!

[Jon Sundquist]

Um... it is not us, it is the park. The park determines when it opens. The default is June 1, but in wet years they delay it. Late May/Early June this year was very wet, so they delayed it this year. John Underhill was the one that relayed the info to Chris.

Regarding the bike patrol - establishing the bike patrol was a condition of the park opening the trail to bikes in 1998. Without a functioning bike patrol, the trail can not be open to bikes. So if you like to ride Letchworth, I would stop dissing the folks who are signed up for the patrol. The patrol doesn't decide when the trail is opened to bikes - the park determines that. Now whether the park is being too conservative this year, I don't know. Based on your review it sounds like it should be open. Of course after today's weather, things could change dramatically

The Finger Lakes Trail Conference, who built this trail, has their headquarters at the Mt. Morris Dam building. At the risk of over-generalizing, I would submit that they (or at least many of their members)would just as soon not like us to have access to this trail. If you think people who don't want us on that trail aren't watching whether bikers are respecting the park's open and closing declaration, then you are dead wrong.

I thought all this stuff was common knowledge, but perhaps I was mistaken.

Continued access to this trail is in no way guaranteed.

[fast1]

The Park is following the "advise" of the guys who are "patrolling" the trail.

If you call over & speak with the Super. he will tell you that.

I understand the concerns, but hey public land is public land.

I realize some areas go through private land too, so I'll just stay away.

I'm sure if the park was making the call, they could afford better signs than the hand made ones Underdog puts up

See ya

[Jon Sundquist]

If this is true, I would recommend for you to get more involved with the situation. If you like to ride there, you might as well log some patroller hours while you are at it. You have to have the training first, but after that, I believe it is just the more you ride it, the better. Then you could be more involved with the decisions about when the trail is open.

I know everybody's busy these days, but the only way we are going to get trails open, get better trails or get better trails, is to get involved. Complaining about situations never gets anywhere.

The trail is actually on public land all the way from the hogsback to the bridge down by Porterville. There's some private land along the southern end, but I believe the trail itself is fully on park land the whole way. The public land (= no bike access) starts south of the road down near the Portageville bridge.

Also, just because land is public doesn't mean automatically that you can ride on it and more than it means that you can automatically do anything else on it. I believe all public land trails should be open to bikes so long as there is a commitment by the cyclists for no degradation of the trail surface. But unfortunately, it seems that we have to fight hard for just about every trail we want to get opened to bikes.

BTW, Chris is out of town for the rest of the summer. Does anyone know the current status of the trail opening?

[epurd]

I ride there about twice a week....how does one sign-up to be on the patrol??? If the training isnt a huge commitment I might consider doing it.

[fast1]

Letchworth is OPEN!

Ride on & be COOL!

See ya

[muddog]

Just a quick intro...mud here from east of Rochester...been lurking on the site lately and impressed with what I see...

Rode the gorge today and it was awesome...dry as a bone!

~mud

[Bill R]

Is the FLT still dry? I'm hoping to lead a group ride at letchworth this Saturday.

[lindal]

Nice web site

I'm visiting your area on october 22 and 23, and was excited to see your club's web links. ITS GREAT
I only have Friday to ride and want to do the most visually spectacular ride.
Looks like Letchworth (WEST) is the place to go.

Whats your thoughts on this
Are the trail markings good enough that I won't get lost
Advise is needed by any and all

Coming from San Antonio Texas. Starting the trip in West Virginia, then to Pa - jim Thorpe, on to Long Island, and finally Niagra

Thank You very much

Lindal Hardwick
STORM (south Texas Off Road Mountainbikers)
lindaljr@sbcglobal.net

[LukeandJess]

We were thinking about making a trip down to Letchworth this weekend and riding the FLT, and maybe some of the trails on the other side too.
It looks like it's open after June 1st, but nobody has been talking about it on here so I was wondering what the status on these trails is.

[Chris Beyer]

The FLT on the East side of the gorge is open. The dry Spring has allowed the trail to harden early this year. It may be a bit difficult to follow in some spots due to leaf cover, but it is well blazed. Have fun!