By Jessica Miller
Members of the WNY Mountain Bicycling Association don’t let a minor factor like winter keep them off the trails. In fact, they lean into the season and keep pedaling.
Dee Dippel, Vice President of WNY Mountain Bicycling Association and proprietor of Bemus Point’s Loud Performance, said that winter is in fact an excellent season for mountain biking. “There are six or seven trails in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties that are open year-round. Our members put on their fat tires and enjoy riding throughout the winter,” said Dippel. “(Western New York) has some of the best winter rides in the country.”
He and his fellow club members also do their part to maintain the trails that are used in all four seasons. They are in regular communication with New York State Parks, the Erie County Parks Department, and the state forests’ Department of Environmental Conservation to meet and maintain the reported needs of trail sustainability. Stewardship efforts are focused upon based on ranger feedback and riders’ earned experience. Winter has obvious environmental concerns for riders and inhabitants of forests that the club works to meet.
Ice and snow are conditions that require trails to be groomed to a consistent surface for all trail users. Snowfall of at least three to four inches requires the use of a machine called a snowdog. A snowdog is similar in appearance to a small Zamboni that was combined with a lawn mower. This was originally used for ice fishing access, but mountain biking enthusiasts readily saw how much this would do for winter trails. Thom Wright first used his first snowdog to groom Harris Hill Extension in December 2017. Current club president Joe Crumlish successfully raised funds via GoFundMe in October 2021 to add a new snowdog to the roster for Harris Hill Extension use. The older model was put to work at Whalen Memorial Forest in Sherman.
While a trusty snowdog is usually enough to prepare a trail, sometimes western New York weather issues an additional challenge requiring further human intervention. “If it’s icy, sometimes we send our members out on snowshoes to groom trails,” said Dippel. Luckily, club members are ready and willing to do the work that keeps trails usable all year long.
Once the trails have been groomed by some means, the next step to a good winter trail ride is to ensure that the right tires are attached. Fat tires provide traction that is especially important when moving over snowy surfaces. Wider tires also have the advantages of absorption of shock, stability, and relative ease of maintenance.
Good trails and good bikes are important to an enjoyable ride, and a good community is what keeps club members coming back to enjoy more. WNY Mountain Bicycling Association members are from all age groups and have all levels of trail experience. “Lots of families are members,” said Dippel. “There are kids that are four or five years old. We have a couple members in their eighties too.” Readers who would like to be part of the year-round community can visit www.wnymba.org for information.