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I've been watching the permapuddles and bogs around Cardiff gradually dry out as the weeks roll on. A month or so back there were a fair few wet spots still there in the gloomy north facing woods, but now there is only one tiny puddle left. Streams are still flowing though with about 1/5 the water, the Taff is about a foot deep in town though. Some of our long term mud holes are now just dust, although about two inches down there's still damp earth.
Some plants are beginning to die off on the verges of fire-roads and paths though.
It's pissing down here.
Hope this helps.
Heavy rain due in Staffs this afternoon but probably not enough to make a difference, hopefully make things a bit more grippy.
There's been heavy showers heading up the country a few times but they've all missed this side of Cardiff sometimes by only a few miles.
Trails are now very sketchy in places.
Been in Aviemore all week and everything tinder dry. A lot of rain overnight and this morning so expecting some puddles when I venture out on the trails with the kids later.
Dont think any of the normal mud patches are left now. The only wet patches left are a couple of fords although even they are dropping to the level of being able to continue cycling and not get wet feet.
It's pissing down here as well PP
Hope that helps even more.
Thanks. That really helps. 😉
It's like riding on a beach at the moment.
I always get wet on a ride though. The lane near my house has a seep out of a field and that's still pouring out.
[s]Pissing down[/s] beyond the Thunderdome in Buttonoak Wyre Forest yester-eve. Got through my water in 5 mins.
#cowpatfrisbee
Good timing on this thread. Hills still yellow like I've never seen them before but that will probably change with the rain.
so so dry here, no rain what so ever in nearly 2 months, trails are baked solid, grass so dry it offers no resistance and the nettles are dying!
30% chance of a shower/storm tonight
There's been sod all moisture in the Dales for over a month now, almost closer to two come to think of it. The limestone areas dry out really quickly, a week at most from sodden to dry, Malham and Goredale are the colour of the grass in @malvern rider's second shot. The gritstone areas take a bit longer but even here most of the "traditional" black pools of doom are dust bowls. We did a ride last Sunday on a BW that's normally a bog and didn't leave a mark.
Can't remember when I last cleaned one of the bikes. An air hose would probably be more use!
All dry, even in a 1 mile strava segment through some twisty woods that are always muddy. Made the most of it and took 15 seconds out of my KOM. It needs to rain again before anything gets the same advantage....
Think we'll be loading up the car with everything we own and the whole family and driving to California for some of that orange picking if it doesn't rain soon.
Hasn't rained on me more than a few drops since the beginning of May. It peed down in Cardiff last week of May but we were in Scotland where it was dry.
The grass trail over Malvern Wells Common has pretty much gone as 40+ yrs of topsoil has simply vanished in the last few months
A few summers ago I snapped this typical scene (ok I don't see many cyclists with an umbrella):
Same place last week 😕:
Some heavy showers and storms supposedly coming across this afternoon but that won't help anything. The ground is so dry it will run off very quickly and end up in the rivers.
I've never known a period of no rain for so long, trails are very very dry and dusty at the moment.
Just got soaked running from a shop to my Jeep on my lunch break. Sick of this rain now!
Grass is already looking better outside the windows, a wee rain day has been really needed - in Scotland, who'd have thought that would ever happen!
Have been setting new PBs every week on the two mid-week trails I ride, doubt I'll get anywhere near the times on rooty sections for a while now, they were soooooo grippy last night. Dusty sections might improve though.
Dry as in the Peaks. In fact it's almost a bit too dusty, had the front end wash out on me a couple of times.
Nope, I've never known it drier, even in the last major heat wave in 2006 there were parts of the woods that got clay-like at best, they're dust now.
Frankly I'm amazed we're not talking about a hose pipe ban in Cardiff, we're not short of fresh water in South Wales usually, but a drive up the A470 a few days ago showed some very low lakes.
Won't last too much longer though, I start my hols in a few weeks, you can start panic buying wellies now.
Frankly I’m amazed we’re not talking about a hose pipe ban in Cardiff
Likewise, but there were heavy showers around a few days back that we missed - must've been topping up the reservoirs and rivers.
We're off to St Davids next week. Can we possibly get away with TWO dry caravan trips in the same summer, in the UK?
Other than 1 short shower it hasn't rained here (East Cambs) since mid May. After a very wet winter the clay ground now has some impressive cracks in it. All my rides for the past 2 months have been gravel / cx so MTB is gathering dust but others have said that Thetford is very slippy and loose with all the sand.
Ive put (winter) DHR back on the rear for some grip. Totally dry on Cannock Chase and plenty of trails are crumbling, fast, rootier and amazingly not too overgrown. Brilliant!
Even the sunken farm track that normally drys to only 6 inches of mud in summer is dry now. I don't expect a quick thunderstorm will make much difference after a day and the forecast in the Chilterns is hot, damned hot!
Cwm Carn is so dry an eBike appears to have set it on fire, twice!
drying out a lot. on the quantocks :
bincombe which is always boggy in the low trench has no soggy bits left..
stands to reason because
hodders combe at the very bottom of willoughby cleeve i had to wade knee deep across earlier in the year. now its flat, wide and barely an inch deep.
slaughterhouse.combe - stream barely there. can be so deep as to take your front wheel away if yiou;re not gripped tight.
all the trees and ferns etc are having a good ole drink right now
The first few lots of rain are just going to be soaked up by vegetation unless they are real downpours in which case they'll likely just run off as if the ground were concrete.
The Ridgeway is a dust bowl.
Bits are are up to 4 inches of chalk dust deep. It gets everywhere!
Just done a massive wee in Trent park. Apart from there it’s b’yan dry ,as my grandad would say.
Had a massive storm in Harrogate a few days ago but that only briefly brightened up the grass. I haven't had to get the lawnmower out for about 6 weeks now - the grass simply isn't growing. Getting a bit of light rain today but that is shortly going to give way to the sun again.
Certainly getting my money's worth out of the BBQ this year.
Cycled through Angmering Park Estate on the South Downs the other day. This area is normally called the Somme for obvious reasons.
It was completely bone dry, first time I have ever remember seeing it dry in the 15 - 20 years
absolutely chucking it down at the moment 🙂
Surrey is a sand pit. For all the predictions of rain and even my Rain Alarm app claiming it's about to chuck it down, it never does.
I've forgotten what rain is.
Barely been off road in weeks other than towpath commuting but they're bone dry, even the bits through tunnels that are normally always wet. CX is absolutely plastered in dust!
Last night's promised thunderstorm failed to materialise. Arse.
Aston Hill was a dustbowl and Swinley the same last week. Heading out on a local ride later (Penn Woods) and expecting the same.
It looked like it could rain with big black clouds last night, but nothing!
came home with mud on my tyres this morning there were a few puddles around as well but they'll be gone by now.
Ive just cleaned my mtb and gravel as i deemed them 'too dusty'. I think this is a new thing, never previously witnessed.
Couple of puddles on Longstone edge from last night's shower. But overall bone.
Very dusty (Peaks) - got lightly rained on the other night, which kept the dust down. Not seen it this dry for many years. Last summer I used Winter boots mostly as it was that muddy.
Just back from Afan, far, far from wet but there was actually some soil on the trail in the trees, but open sections were a total dust bowl, to the point where the trial isn’t blown out any more, it’s just deep dust. Final descent was frankly a bit hard to ride in parts at speed.