[brianW offline]

Leaves are natural, leave them be!

I led a group ride a few years back of 8-10 riders and the leaves were about 4"-6" deep. When we turned around I was in the back. What a difference a bunch of wheels do to the leaves. All for a ride-party as dgaddis mentioned.

As far as the trail that he referred to, this trail saw very little traffic 5 years ago. I saw very few signs of wheels on the trail, now I do. Maybe a few years ago it was needed but in my opinion this isn't needed anymore.

[mtbgreg1 offline]

We have one local trail that gets blown off and it drives me crazy. It has to take all day to walk the 9 mile loop to get the job done, there's no way it's worth the effort. The trail doesn't get a ton of use anyways.

IMO, this is the one time where it kind of makes sense. If the trail doesn't get much traffic, it may take forever for the leaves to get ridden in so the trail is easy to follow again, OR IT MAY NEVER HAPPEN, and the trail might just disappear. It happens. If you're one of the only people that ride the trail, it might be worth your time to blow the leaves off so the trail is easy to follow and doesn't get buried over the years of leaf litter building up.

It doesn't get that little use.

A ride party after all the leaves are down would be a better way to do it IMO. You'd be amazed at the difference 10-15 pairs of wheels will make as far as riding in the leaves. In October we had a big group that did a big out and back ride on some lesser traveled trails. On the way out the leaves were thick and sketchy, on the way back they were really well ridden in and you could rail nearly everything.

Ah gotcha!

I agree, riding is always better! Although there are trails out there that don't get enough traffic to make this happen...

[GALAXY offline]

"Leave them be" hahahaha

I went for a ride yesterday and saw where someone else had raked and trimmed a section on another loop.They cleared a vine that had fallen into the trail and it flowed rather nicely once again.

There is a good amount of root and rock out there and most of the trail doesn't need raked but in some sections it just makes it flow better.

[CFM offline]

I have a few opinions about what works best in our area (Mid-Missouri). Our trailbuilding group has come to the conclusion that blowing off the leaves is best for our trails. There is a popular opinion out there that leaving leaves on the trail protects the tread. Our experience is that this is simply not true. Your trail will still be wet under the leaves if it is not draining properly, and if it can drain properly (good outslope) I would maintain that crushed leaf litter on the tread will actually hold water that would otherwise drain off. And riding on leaf litter gives the false sense that you are doing no harm to a wet trail. Take the leaf layer off of the wet trail next time you ride one and you will find ruts in the tread same as if there were no leaves. Leaf litter just lets someone not see the damage they are really doing.

And I don't understand the thought that riding a trail where all obstacles are hidden with leaves somehow improves your riding skills. It may let you know if your front suspension is good enough when you hit something you can't see but other than that its just a good way to get hurt.

[Bonsai-CP offline]

I have a few opinions about what works best in our area (Mid-Missouri). Our trailbuilding group has come to the conclusion that blowing off the leaves is best for our trails. There is a popular opinion out there that leaving leaves on the trail protects the tread. Our experience is that this is simply not true. Your trail will still be wet under the leaves if it is not draining properly, and if it can drain properly (good outslope) I would maintain that crushed leaf litter on the tread will actually hold water that would otherwise drain off. And riding on leaf litter gives the false sense that you are doing no harm to a wet trail. Take the leaf layer off of the wet trail next time you ride one and you will find ruts in the tread same as if there were no leaves. Leaf litter just lets someone not see the damage they are really doing.

And I don't understand the thought that riding a trail where all obstacles are hidden with leaves somehow improves your riding skills. It may let you know if your front suspension is good enough when you hit something you can't see but other than that its just a good way to get hurt.

^^^^^ ++++1

[Bonsai-CP offline]

There is a similar post on a local forum right now. Consensus seems to be that a nice worked in layer of leaves helps protect the trail, especially in the winter months. Besides, the "hidden treasures" just help promote skill building.

Not sure as to how this improves skills, especially when ya can't see these hidden treasures until you are neck deep in them....