You are hereCascades update for 07 Apr
Cascades update for 07 Apr
Rode yesterday. Track is now very dry except a couple of bog holes. Heath track (off Ryland/Wyatt end) to Bare Creek has been totally wiped clean and is smooth, except water bars have been introduced between the current water bars and existing water bars have increased in size. The water bars force you to slow down now. Not sure how good it is yet, its more like 4x track. Lower Cambourne has also been redone from end to end with new water bars and grading. Cascades track from Acron is no different and in good condition as is Cascades to Davidson. There is no machinery around so maybe they have finished. Quarry track is same with baby head rocks and some erosion.
It is a new riding experience so take care. Some water bars are so steep you could OTB into them. Looking forward to another ride to find some lines and air.
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Rode again today. There is still machinery up near Wyatt entrance. Still couldnt get much speed or air going down from Ryland side. Some of the water bars have large exposed rock on the landing side. You dont see it till its too late and you land on it. Whilst a lot of the trail is now smooth, a lot is still very rocky and eroded. It is hard to pick where is smooth and where is not. Will be interesting to see how it copes with large downpour.
I think it would now be a very hard ride up from Bare Creek to Ryland/Wyatt up Heath.
jaco and I rode again today after last night's flash downpour. Lots of puddles, especially on the upslope side of the waterbars.
The challenge with the waterbars is they haven't yet settled and are still very soft. This means you are either faced with rocks sticking up out of them, often in the landing zone, or soft soil that may do any one of provide traction, catch your wheel and send you OTB, or wash out underneath you. Pick a card, any card. :|
It's all negotiable with appropriate caution, but the entering from the Belrose side is not the fast predictable fun launching off the waterbars that it once was before the massive rains this year.
It will settle down into hardpack with time, but that will take ... time. In the meantime ride conservatively and keep your eyes open.
Down at the creek crossing at the bottom of Lower Cranbourne - I was on the silver Trance X2.
Ended up doing a 1:15 for 4 Gates although did stop the clock while chatting with you and also took a 5 minute break at the top of Davidson.
I won't add a new status update as this one covers it. I tend to think that once the trail has packed hard with some of the big rocks moved out of the landing zones that the run from Ralston to the valley will be just as quick and, if you have the balls to hit the water bars hard, even more fun than it has been in the past. For me I was about 40 seconds slower from the Ralston Ave gate to the Quarry Climb creek crossing. 6:44 today vs. 6:02 as my PB. The climb back out was a fair bit harder.... those water bars are very tall and add another 1 - 2 meters of pinch to the top of what were already killers on the final climb to Ralston. But hey, this is all part of it!
Hope you had fun out there!