NEW ENGLAND MOUNTAIN BIKE ASSOCIATION SingleTrackS Files/ST201301 125.pdfNEMBA, the New England...

SingleTrackSSingleTrackSNEW ENGLAND MOUNTAIN BIKE ASSOCIATION

January 2013 #125www.nemba.org

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SingleTrackSNEMBA, the New England Mountain BikeAssociation, is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organi-zation dedicated to promoting trail access,maintaining trails open for mountain bicyclists,and educating mountain bicyclists to use thesetrails sensitively and responsibly.

SingleTracks is published six times a year by theNew England Mountain Bike Association forthe trail community.

©SingleTracks Editor & Publisher: Philip Keyes

Contributing Writers: Bill Boles, Jeff Cutler

Cartoonist: Philippe GuillermCopy Editor: Nanyee Keyes

Executive Director: Philip [email protected]

NEMBAPO Box 2221

Acton MA 01720

Board of DirectorsHarold Green, President

Adam Glick, Vice-PresidentMatt Schulde, Vice-President

Anne Shepard, TreasurerHarry Meyer, Secretary

Rob Adair, White Mountains NEMBABrian Alexander, CeMeNEMBAJohn Anders, Midcoast Maine NEMBAJohn Barley, White Mountains NEMBAMatt Bowser, Central NH NEMBAEammon Carleton, BV NEMBAMatt Caron, Southern NH NEMBASteve Cobble, SE MA NEMBALeo Corrigan, RI NEMBAPeter DeSantis, Southern NH NEMBAAdam Glick, Greater Boston NEMBADavid Hughes, Carrabassett Region NEMBASteve LaFlame, Central NH NEMBAFrank Lane, NS NEMBACasey Leonard, Midcoast Maine NEMBABill Markham, Berkshire NEMBAStuart McDonald, MV NEMBAHarry Meyers, Berkshire NEMBABarry Moore, Merrimack Valley NEMBAChris O’Toole, CeMeNEMBAPeter Poanessa, BK NEMBADavid Riding, SE MA NEMBAPaul Rodrigue, BK NEMBASteve Rossi, PV NEMBADan Streeter, North Shore NEMBAChris Thurrott, Greater Boston NEMBAAl Tinti, CT NEMBAMitch Wacksman, Greater Portland NEMBA

W W W . N E M B A . O R G

SingleTrackSJanuary 2013, Number 125

Paper TrailTreadlines — 5Basic Biking — 14Chapter News — 18NEMBA Rides — 36Support our Sponsors — 38

SingleTracks Hey, get creative! We wel-come submissions, photos and artwork. This isyour forum and your magazine. Be nice, andshare!

On the Cover: Adam Glick and ClaytonAbrams hit some snowy trails at Great BrookFarm State Park.

Do you have a photo that would make a goodcover shot? Email it to [email protected]

Want to Underwrite in ST?SingleTracks offers inexpensive and targetedunderwriting which helps us defray the cost ofproducing this cool ‘zine. Call 800-57-NEMBAor email [email protected] for our media kit.

Moving?Don’t miss an issue! Change your address onlineat nemba.org or mail it into SingleTracks, PO Box2221, Acton MA 01720

Escape to Newark, DEThe Mid-Atlantic is a great late-winter, early spring destina-

tion to get your singletrack fix. By Glenn Verneswski

Winter RidesDon’t let the cold, the ice or the snow stop you fromgetting out there and enjoying winter. Here are somegreat tips for how to get the most out of winter rid-

ing. By Bill Bolesi

Bryce to ZionThe NEMBA raffle winner of the Western Spirit Trip

reports about his trip. By Alexis Arapoffwski

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Save the Trails SingleTrackS No. 125 | 5

If you get our e-blastof weekly events, youknow that we offer alot of organized ridesacross the region,upwards of a thou-sand of them eachyear. These are ridesfor our members byour members, andwe're grateful to allthe volunteers andride guides that makethis possible. That'swhy we're so pleasedto have a sponsor likeMoots Bicycles to reward the riders and the ride leaders for gettinginvolved. For each ride, both the ride leader and all of NEMBA mem-bers who take part are entered into a raffle to win an incredible MootsMoot X29er bike frame, a gorgeous piece of titanium art! In addition,the ride leaders are entered into a special raffle just for them for asuper cool Moots component package, including a Ti stem, handlebar

and seatpost.

We haven't yet donethe drawing for the '12season, but here are thelucky winners of the2011 season. Bill Egan,of Pembroke MA, justpicked up his Mootsfrom BelmontWheelworks, andEammon Carleton, thepresident of BlackstoneValley NEMBA receivedhis titanium compo-nent pack.

We thank Moots forthe support, as well asBelmont Wheelworks

(a Moots dealer) forhelping hook thewinners up in style!

Want to get in on next year’s raffle? It's easy - just go on a NEMBAride and enter your name on our waiver. Every NEMBA member is eli-gible. And to get in on both raffles, offer to lead a NEMBA ride - it'swin - win - win!

T R E A D L I N E S

Hurricane Sandy hit Boston like theswipe of a Dragon's tail. Bostonmissed the devastating blow thatstruck NY and NJ but the highwinds and torrential rains ham-mered much of our woods. ManyNEMBA chapters went right towork, clearing downed trees anddebris from the many parks undertheir stewardship.

It also opened up the need to helpout in parks where NEMBA hasn'tbeen very involved. Once such openspace is Cutler Park, in NeedhamMA. It was hit pretty hard, andthere were lots of huge trees downacross much of the trail system.Cutler is a gem of a park with a verydiverse user group. Mountain bikersin the area have long benefited fromits flowy singletrack and nice board-walks. The park is set in betweenthe Charles River and a network ofmarshes and ponds.

On Saturday, November 3rd SE MANEMBA held a trail day to clean upCutler Park. We had a great turn out

of 15-20 people. International BicycleCenter of Newton has always had aclose relationship to Cutler andNEMBA and sent three workers tohelp clear the trail. One coming fromas far away as New Hampshire! Wealso had two kids along for the fun.

With Niko the dog leading point allday, we split into three groups. Mygroup headed out to Powell's Island toclear the nice loop out there. Theother two groups worked their waysouth along the western ridge. After 5hours of moving trees, raking trailsand generally having a great time inthe woods Cutler and its swoopytrails were ready to ride. We had anice loop back in action. The riderswho came back from the "test ride"said it had never been in such goodshape.

We all had a great time out there andtalked about other projects and eventsthat can be held at Cutler in thefuture.

—Chip Baker

Winners of NEMBA’s Moots Ride Series, Bill Egan and Eammon Carleton, picking up their prizes fromBelmont Wheelworks’ Michael Orff

Brian Philbrook, of International Bicycle Center, helpingclear the trails at Cutler Park

Winners of NEMBA’s Moots Ride Series

Hurricane Sandy Spurs Trail Clearing in New Areas

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6 |January 2013 Ride the Trails

T R A V E L

What's better than a guided mountain bike trip? Afree guided mountain bike trip! Thanks toNEMBA's land access raffle last year I was able totake a free trip with Western Spirit Adventures.

I will admit that when I entered the raffle it wasthe trip I coveted. Prior to winning my wife Susanand I had been on seven trips with Western Spirit.The prize was for a 4 day 3 night White Rim tourin Canyonlands National Park; seeing that we hadalready done that trip the good folks at WesternSpirit allowed us to apply the value of the triptoward another trip of our liking.

We decided on the Bryce to Zion. This is a 6 day5 night trip that starts near Bryce CanyonNational Park and makes its way south ending atZion National park. Four of the five nights arecamping with the last night spent at a hotel justoutside of the park. In the past we have chosentrips based mostly on the scenery and surround-ings versus trips which have the best singletrack.The Bryce to Zion trip fit the bill and does not dis-appoint at all in the scenery department.

This trip was slightly different than most of theother trips we have done. Typically we have cho-sen backcountry trips that are point to point where you are pickingup camp each day and riding closer to your destination. Bryce to Zion

is similar in the fact that you are getting closer to Zion as the tripgoes on. One major difference is that camping is done in established

Bryce to Zion with Western Spirit Cycling

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campgrounds (with flushing toilets!) and a hotel on the last night. It isdefinitely more civilized than a backcountry trip and may be a bit moreappealing to folks that are not accustomed to "roughing it".

Highlights of the trip were many but here are some of my favorites:

-Riding thunder mountain trail on day one. Switchbacks, ridges andlots of views.

-Hiking in Bryce Canyon NP. Pictures can't do it justice; you need to seeit for yourself.

-Riding a 20 mile doubletrack downhill (5000 feet of elevation loss)then seeing the smile on the face of the guy who just started mountainbiking this year. Priceless.

-Riding the pavement into Zion National Park. Yes the pavement, it isthat good.

- Hiking on the last day in the Zion narrows. After 4 trips to Zion I final-ly got to do this hike.

Many thanks to NEMBA for the trip; we will be buying raffle ticketsevery year.

—Alexis Arapoff

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Are you in the mood for a short vacation?Trails in New England too snowy or muddy toride? Are you looking for something different?Paula and I like to visit Newark, Delaware inthe spring. With great trails, a plethora of off-bike activities, and a healthy bike scene, thissmall city in Northern Delaware seems tohave all the ingredients of a mountain bikedestination, and it should get more press thanit does from the national magazines. Home tothe University of Delaware, Newark is a hipcollege town loaded with coffee shops, brewpubs, almost every kind of restaurant youcould imagine and even a hookah bar. Andjust outside of downtown is some of the bestflow trail you'll find anywhere.

THE RIDING: White Clay Creek State Park andMiddle Run Natural Area are located just afew miles outside of town. The two areas bor-der each other and the trails interconnect, andtogether they total about 35 miles of swoopyand undulating flow-trail. The trail surface issmooth and fast, with few roots and hardly any rocks. The bike ofchoice would be a hardtail 29er, gears and front suspension optional.The trail layout can be best described as "open flow", with long sight-lines for safety at speed and corners that don't require much braking.

There is no prolonged climbing but a lot of up-and-down. Thedescents are interspersed with humps that turn them into downhillpump tracks, and allow single speeders to accelerate by pumpingonce they max out their gear. The trails are not technically difficultfrom a rock and root perspective, the challenge comes from cornering

T R A V E L

Early Season Get-Away: Newark, Delaware

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smoothly, managing your speed,and maintaining momentum. Toride them fast and efficientlytakes skill and fitness. The hardclay soil manages to be bothsticky and fast-rolling. Takeadvantage of the traction andrail the corners. It's a skill thatevery mountain biker shouldhave. The trails are also inter-spersed with log skinnies. Mostof them are wide, low, and rela-tively benign but a few are of thehigh, narrow, gorge-spanningvariety with more dire conse-quences for failure. There's alsoa stunt trail at White Clay Creekwith progressively more difficultstunts such as plank skinnies, ateeter, rock garden, high plat-forms, and a wobbly cablebridge.

As trail builders ourselves, wecan't help but be impressed by what's been done here. It's the type ofplace that can only be created by a lot of work, a lot of money, a lotof cooperation from land managers, and a grand strategic vision. A lit-tle assistance from IMBA too, apparently, because the trails have that

organization's fingerprints allover them. They've beenextensively benched into therolling hills of the parks withdips, grade reversals, nicks,humps, good sightlines, andturns that have just the rightcurvature. It's an example offlow trail done right; safe andsustainable but by no meanssanitized. They're the type oftrails that anyone can ride, butanyone can have fun on. Thebetter riders just go faster.

If you get bored with the trailsin Newark (not likely) you canhead to Fair Hill just over theline in Maryland. It's a big placewith longer climbs and rockiersoil. There are a lot of trailshere, some old, some new,some good and some not-so-good (and most of the good

stuff is not on the map). You really need to ride with someone whoknows the trails or you'll waste a lot of time on the less satisfyingstuff. We hooked up with a Wednesday night group ride that tunedout to be a nineteen mile race pace suffer fest, but they showed us

Continued on page 10

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the good stuff. The good stuff is tighter,narrower, and more rider-built (asopposed to IMBA-built) than the trails inNewark, but still fun.

THE LOGISTICS: The best place to baseoneself is right in downtown Newark,since that's where the action is, and it'sonly a few miles from the trails. We stayat the Super 8 on Main Street. The placehas the typical Lysol ambience of a cheapmotel, but the rooms are clean and rea-sonably comfortable, and it's walking dis-tance to the eateries, drinkeries, and bikeshops of downtown (it's also near thefirehouse and train tracks, so bringearplugs). As an added bonus the roomsopen directly outside, so it's easy to sneakthe bikes in at night.

As to the business of feeding oneself,Paula and I prefer the Iron Hill Breweryand Restaurant on Main Street; with ameat-and-potatoes menu and a vast arrayof beers on tap including their own housebrews (try the bourbon porter). IHOP(also on Main Street) serves a plentifuland tasty breakfast. Get a trail map atBike Line (Main Street again).

The best way to access the trails is fromone of the pay lots at White Clay Creek(David English or Judge Morris). The lot atMiddle Run off of Possum Hollow Road isfree, but the local miscreants case it outlooking for cars to break into, racks to steal,etc., so we don't recommend parking there.

Just off I-95 in Northern Delaware andabout a five hour drive from Southern NewEngland, Newark is close enough to be eas-ily accessible but far enough away to beculturally and geographically different. Thevibe is distinctly Mid-Atlantic, not Yankee,not Southern, but something in between.You really feel like you're away from home.Early-to-mid April is a great time to visitbecause spring arrives early. The air will bewarm but not hot, the trees leafy, and bugsnot yet a problem. The only caveat is rain.Due to the clay soil these trails are not suit-able for riding after heavy rain (in factthey're closed), so make sure it's not in theforecast for your trip.

If you haven't ridden this type of smooth,fast, flow trail you should try it. It's a lot offun.

—Glenn Vernes

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M E M B E R P R O F I L E

The Passionate President, Brad HerderWe are writing to express our unwavering grati-tude to our Berkshire Chapter NEMBA President,Brad Herder. He has held this position for thelast six years and has finally decided to relin-quish the helm. The Berkshire County mountainbike community is very fortunate to have hadsuch a versatile leader and the "debt runs deep"to what he has accomplished during his tenure.Brad had a vision to make Pittsfield State Foresta mountain bike destination and followedthrough with this dream with direction anddrive. He wore many hats during these last sixyears as President and has used every single oneof them…

The following, in no particular order, is a list thatcondenses the last six years of what Brad hasbeen involved in from Organizing, to Directing,to Accomplishing!

• Organizing the NEMBA adventure weekend atthe P.S.F.• Organizing /Directing Monday night rides• Directing/Leading beginner mountain bike les-sons• Relentless hours of weed whacking, rock armoring, bench cutting,chain sawing, lopping, flagging new trails etc.

• Working intimately with the DCR and theTaconic Crest Hiking Club to maintain a bindingcommitment for multi-use trail programs• Reestablishing and making sustainable trailsout of old, unusable trails of years gone by• GPS, GPS, and more GPSing….not to mentiongetting stung by many yellow jackets this sum-mer• Influencing others to join NEMBA and volun-teer their time on extensive projects, eg., theTaconic Crest Trail• Making/Editing videos and maps to make theP.S.F. more user friendly by any level of mountainbike abilities eg., The Family Trails• Countless computer hours….not to mentionthe work that was collaborated with his wife,Beth and dog, Aspen

With the Winter fast approaching it is the end ofanother riding season and a beginning for newideas, and a refreshing outlook for the 2013 sea-son. Thank you, Brad Herder, for leading BerkshireNEMBA into the future….and on behalf of all

chapter presidents keep dreaming big and your contributions haveinfluenced many riders and non-riders alike!

—Sweep Voll & Bob Birkby

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S U P P O R T

Dear Friend and Supporter,

NEMBA relies on your end-of-season donation to ourAnnual Fund to keep our doors open. Your financial sup-port will create great places to ride and promotes mountainbiking throughout New England.

Please make a generous donation to NEMBA's AnnualFund.

Mountain biking gives us so much: the feeling of freedomas we weave our bikes through the trees on a downhill traildeep in the forest, the sense of accomplishment when weclean a difficult climb and are rewarded by a spectacularmountain top view, and the post-ride bliss we experienceafter a great ride.

Please reflect your passion for our sport with a generous donation.

NEMBA's goal is to have great mountain bike trails in all ofour communities. Great trails build great communities, andgreat communities build great trails. Help us do all we canto make New England a better place for mountain biking.Support NEMBA's Annual Fund.

Your donation will help shape the future of our sport.

We have 22 active chapters, with new chapters comingonline soon. We're growing every day, and we're increas-ing our capacity to give back to the trails. No matter whereyou are, you'll be able to find some great people with whomto ride. There are dozens and dozens of events takingplace each week, and lots of ways for you to get involved.

Build. Ride. Repeat! This year we put on over 140 traildays and held over 1000 mountain bike rides. For the firsttime ever, our regional trail building school at HighlandMountain Bike Park included mechanized trail building,something we'll be seeing a lot more of in the years tocome. We also debuted NEMBA TrailFests this year, andwe believe that these 'work hard/play harder' weekends oftrail building, camping and riding will become even morepopular next season.

There are now so many communities that want NEMBA tocome build trails that we are looking for ways to maximizeour trail building capacity, and we hope to launch a profes-sional trail crew in 2013.

Help NEMBA Start Next Season in the Big Ring

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But, while NEMBA hasmade significant impactsin having mountain bikingrespected and included inrecreational mix on publiclands, there are still anti-mountain bike extremistswho wish us banned fromthe trails. We need you tohelp us stay strong andkeep vigilant so that wecan protect your right toride.

Please donate online atwww.nemba.org or call us at 800-576-3622. Your annu-al donation will insure that your next season of riding iseven better!

Sincerely,

PS. Donate $100 and you'll become part of NEMBA'sHeadcap Leadership Society and you'll also receive a 4-issue subscription to Dirt Rag. Donate $250 and we'llthrow in a set of Maxxis kevlar tires, or donate $500 andbecome one of the elite riders with a gold NEMBA head-cap! However, we need and appreciate any size donation.Please give what you can.

Also, check to see if your company matches your donation- this is a great way to double your donation.

Just a few of NEMBA’s many leaders and board members

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Winter is that season where rid-ing a couch in front of a TV setseems to most people to be moreattractive than braving chillywoodlands on a bike.

If you prefer to exercise indoors incold weather, more power to you,the trails will be there waiting foryou when the buds start pushingtheir way out of branches nextspring

But for the some of us three sea-sons of riding isn't enough. So,like generations of people beforeus, people with cross countryskies, snowshoes and skates, weavoid chill winter breezes withlayers of clothing and warm our-selves with the organic fires ofexercise.

Riding in the winter is not toodissimilar to riding in the warmerseasons except for two things:The need to stay warm and dryand the need to stay out of deepsnow.

Most bike shops can provide you with appropriate winter apparel.Above all you need to keep your feet, hands and ears warm. Butbeyond that you just need to keep the cold away from your trunk.

You'll find it’s surprisingly easy to overdress, even on the coldest days.But you're better off starting off too warm and taking something offthan getting cold and not having enough layers with you. Warmclothes don't grow on trees. So bring an extra layer, and for emergen-cies, a "space blanket".

You'll find that many snowmobile trails will be packed hard enough foryou to ride on. While frozen streams, ponds and lakes will allow youto explore places that you've never been before.

Studded tires will prevent falls on ice and there's a whole crop of newfat tired bikes that will give you more floatation in snow.

In my opinion the best conditions to ride in are when the snow hasfrozen to a crust that you can walk around on. When that happensyou can ride almost effortlessly as all or most of a trail's obstacles areburied. Coming in second is frozen bare ground with the occasionalicy puddle. Riding your favorite trails when they've become as hard aspavement is very enjoyable. Surprisingly just a couple of inches ofsnow will make familiar trails seem easier, as many of the smallerroots and rocks disappear beneath a layer of snow, while a few moreinches make them totally unrideable.

Why not give winter riding a try? Keep your first few rides short anddon't stray too far from your car. If you find that you enjoy it, you'lllook forward to winter rides as much as you do summer rides.

There's a beauty to be found in the cold, stark, white, grey and blackwinter woods that's oddly appealing. But only for as long as you staywarm and dry.

Many riders eschew clip in pedals in the winter for warm waterproofshoes or boots and flat pedals. Clip in pedals can get clogged with

snow and ice making them impossible to use.Then too, it's always amusing when someonecomes to a stop and then falls over becausetheir shoes have frozen to their pedals and theycan't un-clip.

Even though it's cold, you'll still need to drinkas much water as you'd normally do. Problemsarise when water bottles and hydration packtubes freeze solid. You can prevent a drinkingtube from freezing by blowing back through itevery time you take a drink and by wearingyour water pack under a layer of clothes.Insulated water bottles are also available.

Bring food or snacks with you. Your body willbe burning food for energy as well as to gener-ate heat. The rule of thumb is to always eatbefore you're hungry and drink before you'rethirsty.

Never ride alone in the winter. If you suffer a

breakdown or aninjury you'll want tohave someone therewith you to makesure that you get outof the woods OK. Itgets cold out therefast when you stopmoving.

Always bring a cellphone, and be surethat you're ridingwhere you havereception.

On a similar note,don't ride so far fromyour vehicle that youcouldn't, if needed,walk back to it.

Late afternoon ridescan easily turn intonight rides if you'redelayed in the woods. So plan accordingly.

Fat tire bikes make riding easier, not only for their riders but also forpeople on standard mountain bikes who can benefit from the widetrack that they've laid down.

Studded tires while heavy can prevent falls on ice, but if there's no ice,use the widest tires that you can fit on your bike. If you do run stud-ded tires, when you take them off in the spring, you'll feel likeSuperman.

Winter Ridesby Bill Boles

B A S I C B I K I N G

Hot Tips for Cold Rides:• Wear your hydration pack under your

jacket so it doesn’t freeze. Keep thedrinking tube full of air by blowing backafter you’ve sipped.

• If you’re standing around the trailheadnice and toasty before your ride, you’rewearing too much and will overheat.

• If your toes go numb, get off and run fora while to get the circulation back.

• Always ride with a friend for safety’ssake

• Carry all supplies needed for quickrepairs and emergencies: CO2, , extratubes, tools, chemical handwarmer, cellphone, etc. Remember, you don’t wantto be patching tubes at 10 below—theglue doesn’t work!

• Get some studded tires. The best aremade by Nokia.

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With the right gear you can ride allwinter long, even if it’s 10 below zero!Think layers. You want quick wickingmaterials next to your skin, some goodinsulating layers in the middle and somewind and water protection on the out-side. Layering will provide enough flexi-bility so you can also shed layers toadjust for heat.

Head GearBalaclava. If it’s really cold combine with an extrafleece ear band and neck gator.

TorsoInner layer: lightweight lycra ridingjersey next to the skin with a insulat-ing fleece layer to trap in the warmthbut still be breatheable.

Extra Mid Layer for deep coldWindstopper fleece vest, sometimes combinedwith a second wind vest

Outer LayerFleece-lined riding Jacket with windstopperfront panels. Keep the warmth in and themoisture out.

HandsNorth Face Gore-Tex gloves with optional polyproglove linersFeet

Winter cycling boots with polypro sock liners andsome cozy wool socks. If it’s wet, consider someGore-Tex outer socks. Buy your shoes with plenty ofspare room for warm socks. Tight shoes are coldshoes!

LegsWindproof, thermal lined winter tights. Some offerwaterproof front panels for extra protection from theelements. Optional: extra layer of summer weighttights.

B A S I C B I K I N G

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A Year in ReviewBerkshire NEMBA had an active and successfulyear in all departments. The Monday Night Rideand Pittsfield State Forest (PSF) MBAS had recordattendances. Trail maintenance activities resultedin significant improvements to the trail networksat PSF and Beartown. Things look great for nextyear on all fronts.

Monday Night RidesThe Monday Night Beginner's Ride has been a longtradition at PSF. Large groups routinely turned outfor this ride. One Monday a night, the ride endedwith a pot luck dinner and everyone had a goodtime even when it rained. PSF let us use the SkiLodge to stay as dry as possible. This year therewere a lot of intermediate and advanced riders ateach event. They had ride leaders and generally dida route that involved a mountain climb. The begin-ner's group had a ride leader and rode the familytrails at the bottom of the mountain. Next year weintend to focus more on the beginner's group withskills clinics and more ride leaders so we can bet-ter help them to improve their strength and skills.The best way to have a great ride!

Kona Bicycles Mountain BikeAdventure SeriesThis year's MBAS was a great success. We had 44riders with many new members. Riders came fromthe Pioneer Valley (We're not having fun untilyou're not having fun) and Connecticut. Theexperts rode over 20 miles and 2800 feet of eleva-tion! Next year's event is the weekend of August3rd and 4th. We hope to have bike shop mechan-ics on hand as well as a couple of demo fleets. TheBerkshires offer riding for all abilities, but particu-larly for climbers. If you love to climb you have to

come to this event. We expect to have a newroute to the top in place with amazing panoramic

lake views. The trail willapproach 3 miles in length.

Trail WorkWe had a trail day the firstday of every month thisyear as well as some ad hoctrail days. One of ourbiggest accomplishmentswas a re-route of twonasty sections of theTaconic Crest Trail at TowerMountain. Volunteers toonumerous to name workedmany hours to make for-mer fall line trails beautifulride-able switchbacks. Weworked in conjunction withDCR, the Taconic Crest

Hiking Club (TCHC), and the AppalachianMountain Club on this project. We have formedan informal partnership with the TCHC to maintainthe section of this trail that resides in PSF. Thereare three to four more sections to work on that willmake this an epic trail for intermediate andadvanced riders. For next year, we hope to enterinto a stewardship arrangement with the PSF so wecan fix a large number of trails that simply don'twork. We hope to replace two trails next year, onethat will provide a way up the mountain from thenorth end and another from the south end. TheTurner Trail provides a route to the top in the mid-dle of the park. Once in place, the loop possibili-ties at the park will be amazing that, along withcamping and the new shower facilities, will be sureto make PSF a must ride destination.

—Matt Smith

C H A P T E R N E W S

Amazing views from the top during a Monday Night Ride!

Gary making a hernia appointment on Bear ClawA rock sidewalk on the south side of TowerMountain

Pot luck dinner after the ride

BerkshireNEMBAPresident: Matt Smith,

[email protected] North: Josh ChittendenVP Central: Ruth WheelerVP South: Harry MeyerTreasurer: Chris CalvertWebsite: www.berkshirenemba.org

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BrattleboroOn the west side of the Connecticut River, chaptermembers have all been busy with end of the sea-son trail maintenance. All the trails above theMemorial Park and up to Pete's trails are leafblown. The trails above the ski jump, and all thetrails behind Hillwinds, and Pleasant Valley are leafblown as well. Additionally, all trees down fromrecent storms have been removed.

KeeneMaintenance has been the focus over in Keene aswell. The Lewis Pond Bridge in the Drummer Hillarea has been replaced [before/after pictures byPete from Facebook]. There has been trail clearing,both leaf blowing and chainsaw work, in DrummerHill, Stonewall Farms, and the trails off of HylandHill. In other Hyland Hill news, the trail signs arenow up [Mike has pictures], and the map is mov-ing along. Keep your eyes open for some newtrails up there this spring. Also, the bridge at thebottom of the Hyland Hill trails that got washedout in the flash floods has been replaced [Mike haspictures].

The North Bridge over NH-12 is now open, makingfor an easy ride over to the West Side.

On the West Side, there are some new trails goingin at Stonewall Farms. The new trails will add moresingle track, eliminating some farm roads that arecurrently being used. The new trails will also allowriders to put together shortened loops, making itmore appealing to younger or new riders, or thosenot looking for as much of a challenge or timecommitment. The Farm is really embracing themountain bikers. They are looking to bring in morevisitors, and the trails that the mountain bikershave built (and are maintaining) are helping withthat goal. The Chapter will also be assisting withthe mapping of the trails at the Farm.

—Mike Davern

New trail signs on Hyland Hill. Photo by Mike Davern

Lewis Pond bridge repair at Drummer Hill. Photo by Pete Schader

Dennis Marcam helping to repair a bridge off Hyland Hill, Keene. Photo by Mike Davern


Brattleboro-KeenePresident: Peter Poanessa,

[email protected] President: Bob ShalitSecretary: Mike DavernTreasurer: Peter SchraderEmail List:

[email protected] Email: [email protected]

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The snow is falling here in the mountains and weare all now enjoying the fun that it brings. It lookslike it is going to be a busy winter for the CRNEMBA's executive board. There is a tremendousamount of momentum and support for the devel-opment of a destination mountain bike trail net-work in Carrabassett Valley. Coordinating all of themoving pieces to maximize the opportunities isgoing to take a great deal of organization.

I have highlighted below a hand full of the projectsthe board will be working on over the wintermonths:

• Development of a calendar of events that will

include the Carrabassett Backcountry CycleChallenge, group rides, trail work days and work-shops. We are also looking at new types of eventsso you'll have to stay tuned… like us on Facebookto keep up on news and events.

• Hardy Avery, our trail design consultant, is back

in the valley this week (November 19) flagging newtrail routes for next year's construction. These aremostly at the Outdoor Center but there may besome on the opposite side of Route 27 too.

• We are revamping the mountain bike trail mapand taking another look at our signage system.

The Town of Carrabassett, adventure camp's "Rough Riders" at Stratton Brook Pond. Photo David Hughes

Dylan Cobb on the pump track at the OutdoorsCenter. Photo Dave Hughes

Trail signs of fall, Photo by Joe Hines

CarrabassettRegion Maine

President: David Hughes, [email protected]

VP: Alison ThayerSecretary/Events: Kimberly TruskowskiTreasurer: Glenn MorrellFacebook: Carrabassett Region NEMBA


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Version 1.0 of the map was good but left room forimprovement, so we are hoping that version 2.0 ismuch better.

• There are high level meetings planned with ourpartners (The Town of Carrabassett, Maine Huts &Trails, Sugarloaf and the Maine Department ofConservation). The goal is to come up with a uni-fied vision for mountain biking and set one, threeand five year goals. This will help us coordinate andprioritize our efforts.

• Funding sources continue to be a priority for theclub. In 2012, we received grants from L.L. Bean,from the state's Recreational Trail Program (RTP)and we spent the money from a grant we receivedin 2011 from Bikes Belong to build the Moose BogLoop at the Outdoor Center. We have grant appli-cations currently in the works and some corporatesponsorships coming together. With that said, weare always accepting donations for trail construc-tion on our web site www.carrabassett.nemba.org.100% of your donation is tax deductible and goesdirectly to mountain bike trail construction in theCarrabassett Region.

• Maine Huts and Trails www.mainehuts.org willsoon be completing their new Stratton Brook Hut.This is located at the top of a hill across Route 27from the Sugarloaf access road. They will be build-ing new trails to connect the Stratton Brook hut tothe Narrow Gauge rail trail. CR NEMBA looks for-ward to working closely with MH&T to make thesenew trails fun and exciting for mountain bicyclists.

The board is working on many other and relatedprojects, some too fluid to get in to right now butall are very exciting.

The past two and a half years have been incrediblysuccessful for the CR NEMBA. Our success is dueto the partnerships we have been able to develop

and the hard work of our executive board, mem-bers and volunteers. The way things are shapingup; next year we will see the mountain bike trailnetwork grow significantly, an increase in thenumber of visitors riding bikes in "The Valley", animproved over all riding experience and new typesof mountain bike events.

For those who came to visit this past season, thank

you. For those who have yet to visit, we look for-ward to seeing you!

—Dave Hughes


End of season group ride "ready to go". Photo by David Hughes

CR NBEMBA end of season group ride, with little Bigelow in the back ground. Photo by Ian Ogilvie

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At CeMeNEMBA we are looking back at not onlythe last month, but also the season feeling proudof the energy our chapter has created around theriding in our area. By the time this goes to press wewill be fully ensconced in the winter season; thedark hours will far outnumber the light, the mudfrom the fall rains will be frozen into semi-perma-nent tire imprints that remind us of warmer days,and the leaves of the Beech trees will be the onlyones clinging to the trees in wait for a strong win-ter storm. While many in the riding communityare beginning their winter hibernation, we are stillriding hard and excited for the snow to grace ourwinter riding grounds.

The last month has been full of group rides, bothlarge and small events and a continued efforttoward trail building and maintenance.

Our "WNR" rides still see an average of a dozeneven now that we start in the darkness and thetemps require at the least tights and a long sleeve

Jeff Lord @ Quarry Road festival.Photo by Brian Alexander

Tristan at Quarry Road. Photo by Brian Alexander

Treadfest 2012. Photo by Brian Alexander

Singletrack Sisters at Treadfest. Photos by Brian Alexander


Central MEPresident: Brian Alexander,

[email protected], 207-441-6227

VP: Chris O’TooleSecretary: Garry HinkleyTreasurer: Sarah HartMembership: Ellen WellsPR: Pete PhairFacebook: CeMeNEMBAWebsite: www.cemenemba.org

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jersey. An impromptu Sunday ridehas grown organically out of thin air,and in the last two weeks we've seengroups of almost 20 for

3-5 hour adventures. These Sundayrides are a great excuse for us to ven-ture further afield and sample thedelights of other regions. Our grouprides are always mixed skill level andare as much a social event as they arefocused on the riding. There havebeen smaller groups that get togeth-er regularly who make an effort tokeep skills as sharp as possible and"put the hammer down".

CeMeNEMBA was a partner sponsorwith Augusta Trails in the first annu-al Bond Brook Tread Fest on October21. The event was a race that offeredboth running and riding events forathletes. We were asked to helpcoordinate and orchestrate theevent. At first we hoped to merelyattract 50 riders for this inauguraleffort. A dedicated crew from bothorganizations worked hard on thetrails, the course, promotion, and allthe myriad details of putting on suchan event. Although we were dealtthe blow of a heavy rain the daybefore the race we awoke to blueskies, a breeze to help dry thingsout, and 115 riders!! The event wasa fantastic success and the feedback was over-whelmingly positive. Remarkably, riders came fromas far away as Connecticut and Presque Isle.

The Presque Isle riders had almost as long a driveto get here as the Connecticut riders. Plans for the2013 Tread Fest are already in the works and it willmost definitely be even better. Make sure you put

the 3rd weekend of October on your calendar fornext year and come ride a great trail system.

For the immediate future we are excited about theplans for our winter ride series. With winter ridinggrowing in popularity, more and more people mak-ing the investment into fat bikes, and studded tiresbecoming a normal part of many peoples’ arsenal,

the crew of winter riders is gaining ground. Ourwinter ride series will be a 7 part series that startsin December. We'll host 3 mid-week evening ridesand 3 longer Sunday rides. The final ride will alarger event and will include both a citizens funrace, and a longer competitive race. For moreinformation see our website and Facebook page forupdates. —Chris Riley

Building bridges at Colby. Photo by Ian Ogilvie

John Poirier @ Treadfest. Photo by Brian Alexander


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If one thing can be said about this fall,the weatherhas been most uncooperative. Hurricane Sandy hashad quite an impact on trails throughout the stateand our Trail Ambassadors have been busily work-ing on cleaning up the mess. Hardest hit were rid-ing areas west of the Connecticut River but justabout every locale in the state got a taste of Sandy.

Regardless of the weather implications our projectsthroughout the state are proceeding unabated andmore single track is being created. Phase I of thenew trail at Collis P Huntington State Park is basi-cally completed and has gotten rave reviews by thelocal riding community.

This new section of trail connects to both ends of

the single track south of the South Pond CarriageRoad and while only 1/2 mile long gives ridersmany different challenges along the way. There arerollers, drops, rock gardens, and rock spines to testones's abilities. While not much work was doneover the summer, Paula Burton and I finished upthe last bit of benching and made the final con-nection to the other trail.

The next phase of the project will be to make a 2mile trail connection to the existing NEMBA builtRock & Roll Trail and when it's all done it will cre-ate a 14 mile round trip single track ride.

Our efforts up in the Northwest part of the State,led by Mark Leggitt, are going really strong, espe-


Sandy took down lots of trees all around Connecitut, and there’s still plenty of blawdowns to remove.Photos by Mark Lurie

Paula Burton trail building at Huntington.Photo by Mark Lurie

New trail at Rockland PreservePhoto by Mark Lurie

Jason Engelhardt has spearheaded lots of trail work at Rockland PreservePhoto by Mark Lurie

CT NEMBAPresident: Mark Lurie,


VP: Art RotiSecretary: Al TintiTreasurer: Glenn VernesTrails Advocacy: Paula BurtonBOD Reps: Mark LurieEmail List: [email protected] Web: www.ctnemba.net

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cially with the recent approval by the State ofConnecticut of a new 2 mile trail at SessionWoods. This is just the first phase in creating alegal trail system that will span Session Woods andthe neighboring Nassahegon State Forest and otherproperties.

Hurricane Sandy also forced us to cancel our trailboss and trail ambassador training school inMadison, CT. While it was a let down that wecouldn't have the training, Jason Engelhardt hasbeen undeterred in his efforts of making theRockland Preserve a must ride location.

Hopefully, by now, you have heard about PowderRidge and the new owners, Brownstone Park inPortland, CT and their plans to create a lift servedmountain bike park in Central Connecticut. Theowners of Brownstone have even joined NEMBA.Sean Hayes, the owner, has been to few of ourmeetings already to keep us in the loop of hisplans. Sean's initial goal is to open a downhillmountain bike for 2013!

Lastly, we chose our slate of officers at ourNovember chapter meeting and here they are:

President: Mark LurieVice President: Art RotiSecretary: Al TintiTreasurer: Glenn VernesTrails Advocacy: Paula Burton

—Mark Lurie


The Turkey Burner Ride at Case Mountain. Photo by Mark Lurie

Riding new trail at HuntingtonPhoto by Mark Lurie

Mark Leggitt is working to get new trail at Session Woods.Photo by Mark Lurie

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This October brought the Fourth Annual WorstStorm Ever to hit Fairfield County, Ever. Sandyarrived with a windy vengeance leveling trees andutility poles while flooding those on the coast.With many of us still in the dark and our parks stillclosed, Winter Storm Athena arrived, she must nothave known that it isn't exactly winter yet. Sheknocked over more trees and wracked even morehavoc. In all honesty, these storms were bad.Really bad. Many of our neighbors will be recover-

ing from this storm for a long, long time. Ourthoughts go out to those whose homes were lostor damaged.

To look on the bright side, it only took two daysafter Athena for the region to go from winterymess to nearly spring-like allowing us to rally thetroops and clear the trails.

Dave Francefort led the charge at Wilton Woodsclearing numerous large trees from the trails.Knowing Dave, the trees have been transformedfrom pesky obstacles into super-fun TTFs. Sawswere also buzzing at Bennet's thanks to MikeAhearn and the guys from Ridgefield Bicycle

Company, while the Free Riders worked atTrumbull and unknown gnomes were busy atHuntington getting loops clear there as well.Mianus River Park was the last to be declared openby the town so we are hard at work there.

A huge effort across the county and a big thanks toeveryone that came out and pitched in!

In summary: If Bigfoot lives in Fairfield County, hedoesn't have many trees to hide amongst but thereare a lot of log rides for him to play on so he shouldget a mountain bike.

Writing about cleaning up storm damage is start-ing to feel like Groundhog Day. Fortunately it isn't

all that we have in the works. We are in theprocess of putting together an awesome wintersocial for Mid-Feb. If all goes according to planthere will be movie, a ride and brews. Keep an eyeon the website, Facebook, your email, passengerpigeon, The Bat Signal, and/or message in a bottlefor more info.

Mother Nature and Global Climate Change maynot have dealt us the best hand this month but ourhearty New England mindset mixed with a dash ofNew York fortitude keep us positive and ready torally.

Happy Holidays! — Kyaiera Tucker


Before and After shots of a heinous mud pit that is now solid rock at Trout Brook. Photos by Dave Francefort

Wilton Woods was hit hard by Sandy. Photos by Jeremiah Squilla

FairfieldCounty (CT)

President: Ryan Tucker,[email protected], 203-919-9439

VP: Chris KeczkemethySecretary: Mike BurkeTreasurer: David Francefort

Website: www.fcnemba.org

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Every year I wait anxiously for the fall foliage, hop-ing to experience that exquisite joy from the colorbursts and swaths that simply blow your mind. Inmany years excessive rain and/or heat waves mutethe colors and the pleasure that come with them.

But not this year. Somehow the Fall 2012 colorshave lasted more than two months, changing tonewith the weeks, but continuously surprising withyet another, and another burst. Even after Super-storm Sandy, which stripped what were spectacu-lar combinations of yellow, tan, orange, red andgreen from the majority of trees, there are still late"bloomers" flashing reds here in the Boston areathe week of Thanksgiving. I remember some sea-sons with patches of brilliance, but none as con-tinuously pleasing as this autumn.

But of course, this column is about riding, whichdue to generally mild weather and accentuated bythe aforementioned foliage has been quite excel-lent the past two months. A perennial highlight isand was the Wicked Ride of the East, held atHarold Parker State Forest in North Andover. WithSandy poised to smash into New England withinhours, the North Shore NEMBA gang pulled offanother fantastic Wicked Ride. Attended by >400mountain bikers, the riding, socializing, chili eating

and raffling was a true Halloween treat as always.

Speaking of Sandy, let's extend props to those inour community who got out on the trails ASAPafter the storm to clear dead-fall and make thetrails rideable again. Major trees and branchescame down in our favorite riding spots and eagervolunteers spent many hours with chain saws,handsaws and loppers cleaning up the mess. Onbehalf of all GBNEMBA members, THANK YOU!

Autumn is also the time to squeeze in some trailwork before the ground freezes. With coolertemps the hard work of trail building and mainte-nance is less exhausting and major progress can bemade. In late September a handful of GBNEMBAenthusiasts joined up with NEMBA members fromfar flung chapters at Highland Mountain Bike Parkfor "TrailFest", a weekend spent building "Hey Joe",a great new cross country trail ... plus ridingHighland's awesome downhill trails, eating BBQand enjoying local brews. Two weeks later localcollegiate mountain biking teams raced on the trail

and "absolutely loved it".

Closer to home, in mid-November a small, butintrepid crew built a 16' rock bridge at theMiddlesex Fells, armoring the surface of an old dikeon the Orange Trail re-route south of Sheepfold.This work — accomplished at the request of theConservation Commission — further demonstrat-ed to the Fells user community NEMBA's commit-ment to backing up our words with our skills, timeand sweat.

While winter might interrupt (or at least reduce)our riding opportunities, our chapter will be activeas ever. We're planning a winter ride/snowshoe/skiseries — stay tuned to our Facebook page fordetails. Also keep an eye out for the dates of a vol-unteer appreciation event, to be held at a localwatering hole near you.

Stay warm and well oiled!

—Bill Cohn

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day at the Fells. Photo by Adam Glick

Rock Armoring in the Fells. Photo by Adam GlickTest riding. Photo by Adam Glick


Greater BostonPresident: Adam Glick,

[email protected] , 781-354-7845

VP: Chris Thurrott

Secretary: Bill CohnTreasurer: Claire Grimble

Website: www.gbnemba.orgfacebook: “GB NEMBA”

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The Greater Portland chapter has had a busy fallwhile patiently awaiting snow to start falling!

In the recent past chapter members have beeninvolved in general maintenance with our "back-pack mounted hurricane units (leaf-blowers)" inthe towns for Falmouth, Portland, and CapeElizabeth. For each of these tasks chapter membershave connected with land management groups toensure the work we're doing is in line with theirbigger goals and is acceptable. Land managementgroups we've connected with include the Town of

Falmouth, Portland Trails, the City of Portland, andthe Cape Elizabeth Conservation Commission.Communication has been a goal of our chapterleadership to ensure mountain bikers in our areaare seen as a responsible partner and user group.We're especially encouraged at the number ofchapter members getting involved to care for theirfavorite riding spots! Any chapter member in goodstanding is more than welcome to borrow tools atany time as long as we can document permissionto do trail maintenance work on a given parcel.Members are encouraged to reach out any time tohelp identify projects that need attention or to getinvolved with current activities.

Work continues on the Yarmouth West Side Trailnetwork. This has been a huge project led by GPNEMBA board member Andrew Favreau with lotsof support from GP NEMBA members and theBicycle Coalition of Maine. Hats off to Andrew forhis continued enthusiasm about the project—thetrail is coming together beautifully! Led by GPNEMBA board member Scott Townsend, chaptermembers partnered with volunteers from Camp

Ketcha in Scarborough, Maine to purchase materi-als and install over 200 feet of bog bridging in awet area of the camp’s property. Camp Ketcha is alocal non-profit camp that allows public access totheir awesome 107 acre property. The portion ofthe Camp Ketcha property served by the newbridging is beautiful and the bridge will open up alot of potential for trail users connecting otherwisedisjointed areas of the property. GP NEMBA hasrecently joined the Cape Elizabeth ConservationCommission and the Boy Scout's of America tosupport an Eagle Scout project in town. The proj-ect encompasses building new board walks on theTwo Lights trail that is a part of the Cape ElizabethGreen Belt multi use trail system. GP NEMBA isproviding monetary support and volunteerlabor/oversight to the project. A special thanks

goes to the Healthy Rivers Healthy MainePartnership for supplying funding via a grant, andto the Bicycle Coalition of Maine for in-kind sup-port for the Camp Ketcha and Cape Elizabeth proj-ects.

While the riding season here in Portland is windingdown for most people that doesn't mean our chap-ter is taking the winter off! We've got a number ofgreat projects up our sleeve for the spring andencourage anyone who is interested in gettingmore involved in our chapter's leadership to reachout to us at [email protected].

—Mitch Wacksman

GP NEMBA joined forces with volunteers from Camp Ketcha to install 200’ of boardwalk.Photos by Jen Thibideau

200’ of boardwalk needs a lot of wood! Photo by

GreaterPortlandPresident: Mitch Wacksman, portland-

[email protected], 616-405-1448Treasurer: Emily HelliesenBoard: Brian Danz, Scott Townsend,

Kevin Browne, Pat Hackleman,Andrew Favreau, Brian Stearns, KentSimmons, and Jim Tasse

W: www.greaterportlandnemba.com

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:21 AM


November has brought a painfully bitter end towhat was our sweetest season yet. Highlights ofthe year included:

• substantial volunteer turnout for several trailsessions resulting in new or repaired sections ofsingle track;

• signage on all trails including almost every inter-section and an accurate trail map;

• lift-served mountain biking saw the best ticketsales yet, which we're hoping to build on next yearby having the lift opened even more;

• the Ragged Mountain Fat Tire Festival was asmashing success with activities for all skill levelsand ages;

• late summer found us up on the mountain withan excavator defying the tightly spaced trees,roots, and rocks typical of riding in New England aswe carved a downhill flow trail; the first of its kindin our region.

And then, as we were starting to make plans tobuild on all of these successes for next year,tragedy struck. On November 4th, the Midcoastregion of Maine lost director of Camden'sDepartment of Parks and Recreation Jeff Kuller in atree felling accident at his home. While such a sud-

den loss is devastating to any family and its clos-est friends, in this case that circle of friends includ-ed hundreds, if not thousands of people touchedby Jeff and his work over the last eight years at the

helm of the Parks department, which includesoversight of the Camden Snow Bowl and RaggedMountain Recreation Area.

Under Jeff's steady leadership we saw the SnowBowl transform in many ways both in winter andsummer operations; for riders most notably thechange from a couple unsigned rake-and-ride biketrails to a well-established, marked, and mappedtrail network that is steadily growing in volume,difficulty range, and quality. Jeff deserves the cred-it for finding and allocating the majority of fundsneeded to make Dreadnaught, our first flow trail, areality this summer. Not only did he find themoney, he worked as an intermediary between thetown and trail builders to share information, offerguidance, and any political cover we needed tomake that dream come true during planning andbuilding.

I could go on and on about his accomplishments,though what Jeff did isn't why we are heartbroken;it's how he did it and who he was. I worked withJeff as a volunteer during winter operations for fiveseasons, and for the last two years as a mountain

bike advocate. In all of that time, in all the meet-ings and interactions, I never saw him lose his coolor waver; he brought an uncanny mix of gentlefirmness to every conversation. And no matterwhat might have been going on in his world, whenhe was talking to you, he gave his full attention asif there was nothing more important than whatyou had to say.

In short, Jeff cared. A lot. He cared for the moun-tain, for those that went there through the sea-sons for enjoyment and rejuvenation, and perhapsmost for the folks that hadn't yet discovered thisamazing jewel that is Ragged Mountain and themagic to be found there on skis, snowboard, bike,or good old two feet. For those of us that knew andloved Jeff, it will be many, many rides and turningof seasons before we no longer feel pangs of loss athis passing. And as when any great leader falls, itis the responsibility of those left to pick up andcarry on. Jeff had big dreams and a strong vision formountain biking here; it is with pride, honor, andhope that we continue to work making them real.

—Kevin Callahan

The planet —and mountain biking— lost a wonderful person with greatvision. Jeff Kuller, Camden's Park & Recreation director, tragically died

while cutting down a tree on his property. As the manager of the CamdenSnow Bowl, Jeff played a huge role in bringing mountain biking to the

entire community of Camden, young and old —and this is the least of hisaccomplishments. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and

friends. We are sure that his vision will live on.

Camden High School racers. Photo by John Anders

High School MTB Racing @ Gould Academy. Photo by John Anders


Mid CoastMainePresident: John Anders, 207-542-0080,

[email protected] Committee:

Jason Buck, Mike Hartley, Trevor Mills,Kevin Callahan, Jason Derrig, StephenWagner

Treasurer/Secretary: Casey LeonardFacebook: “Midcoast Maine NEMBA”

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:21 AM



With cooler weather and shorter days upon us inNew England, it's time to look back and reflect.We've truly had one of the all-time longest andbest mtb riding seasons I can remember. Our sea-son this year really got started sometime aroundMarch…of 2011! A mild and relatively snow-freewinter gave us the opportunity to ride non-stopsince then. Riding opportunities like that comeonly along once in about every 10-12 years. I hopeyou caught this wave.

One of my favorite recollections is of a Tuesdaynight ride in early March 2012, with temps in thelow 70's. The ride was surreal; like a dream of theperfect ride in perfect conditions. April followedwith fabulous weather and of course, the Big RingSummit on Cape Cod. Good friends, good riding,great times! On the heels of spring, we launchedsummer with an absolutely kick ass weekend atNEMBAfest. I refer to that event as "Woodstockfor Mountain Bikers" and it truly was. Our hosts inand around East Burke were most gracious and Ilook forward to returning next year.

The relatively dry winter-spring meant not a lot ofextensive trail maintenance; which in turn meantmore time to ride. And ride we did. Our Tuesdayand Friday rides were almost uninterruptedthrough the summer. Lots of friends, new and oldcame to ride and a good time was had by all. Latesummer, we put on our MBAS ride at Great BrookFarm to absolutely perfect weather. My thanks toall who helped make our event a smashing success;and our thanks to all who came to ride - especial-ly the kids. Look for another fun ride at the farmnext year!

Now for the present; fall in New England…nightrides…need I say more? Get your DPU's on andcatch us for a tour of the dark. Don't forget the toewarmers in December. Join us for a Tuesday/Fridayriding till the snow flies! And remember, as theMayor says: "We've got champagne problems", solet's all be thankful and give back even more nextyear.

See you on the trail,

—Stuart McDonald

One of many great MV road trips. Where did the summer go? Photo by Stuart McDonald

MV NEMBA throws a mean meeting! Photo by PK Marty Engels @ Highland MTB Park.

MV does KT. Photo by Stuart McDonald

MerrimackValleyPresident: Stuart McDonald,

[email protected]

Vice-President: Barry MooreTreasurer: Steve RichardsonEmail List: mtb-

[email protected]: MVNEMBA

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:21 AM


You can tell the fall riding has been good when youare still sporting the shorts in mid November.Don't mind an occasional hurricane, or a littlesnow, the mountain biking has been great! Alongwith lots of riding the chapter has been prettybusy getting the job done!

Chapter Rides:We are still meeting on Mondays till the snowflies, contact the ride leader [email protected] for time and location.

Trail Work:The final trail project of the season took place onOctober 14th. Even with heavy rains and parkinglot deep with mud eighteen hardy souls showed upand completed almost a mile of new single track.The loop is on the site of the old Boston Hills skiarea. The base area is being developed into elderlyhousing, and the land above is being designatedNorth Andover open space. This chunk of landabuts Ward Reservation property, and will extend

the trail network in the area. Thanks to all thatknow when it is too wet to ride, you build trail!

Wicked Ride:Last year the freak snow storm delayed the ride fora week. This year Hurricane Sandy threatened, butwas a day late, and the WRE went off without ahitch. When will Mother Nature learn that nothingwill stop the Wicked Ride of the East! 529 regis-tered riders showed their support for Harold ParkerState Forest. The day of mountain bike fun includ-ed marked loops of single tracks, many venders,great food, what a time. I would especially like tothank Steve Charrette the event chairman, and the

many folks that helped out, it was great to have allthe new faces giving a hand this year! Good jobnorth shore.

Chapter Meeting:The final chapter meeting was held in earlyDecember, a nice ride through Willowdale, fol-lowed by a cookout, along with end of year wrapup, and elections of officers. Hopefully you cameout to support your chapter this year.

—Frank Lane


Karen Eagan’s Ride like a Girl hits Harold Parker for the Wicked Ride. Photo by Mark Thayer

Leslie Jonas riding Cape Ann. Photo by Tom Greene

Reenie Greene, Michelle Henderson, Sally McGinnis and Andrea Jones riding SS in the LandlockedForest. Photo by Tom Greene

North ShorePresident: Frank Lane

president@ns nemba.org,978-465-2295 Vice-President: Tom GreeneTreasurer: Kirk GoldsworthySecretary: Hank KellsBOD Reps: Dan Streeter & Frank LaneWicked Ride Chair: Steve CharretteEmail List: mtb-

[email protected]: Scott Merloni

www.ns nemba.org

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:21 AM


The Pioneer Valley Triple CrownThe Whole Enchilada Endurance Ride,Blue Groove Fun Ride and Chili RideWhat an exciting, busy and fun-filled month it hasbeen here in Western Massachusetts! We finishedour fall riding season with three weekends of greatfood, hundreds of dollars worth of giveawaysdonated by local businesses, awesome people, per-fect weather and three rides that could not havebeen more different from each other.

The fun started with the Whole EnchiladaEndurance Ride on the brand-new CharlemontTrails System (CTS) on Sunday, October 21st. Therewere three options for this ride: the Habanero Hellride, a 6-7 hour option of killer climbs and exhila-rating downhills on mostly singletrack covering all(35 miles) of the CTS trails and about an hourdetour into nearby Dubuque State Forest. Thenthere was the 4-5 hour long Burrito ride, coveringonly 25 miles of trails, not quite as many climbsand missing one of the longer downhills enjoyedby the Hell Riders. Finally, for us mortals there wasthe 1.5-3 hour-long Guacamole ride, coveringabout 10 miles of trails including one of CTS's sig-nature downhills. Due to heavy downpourstowards the end of the week, the ride was at thelast minute moved from Saturday to Sunday.Despite, or maybe because of, this last-minutedate change over 70 riders came from as far asChicago Illinois to enjoy a perfect sunny yet coolNew England fall day. The trails had dried up fairlywell, and everyone had a great ride (except forMark N. who unfortunately banged up his ribsearly in the Hell ride but hung in there for another3 hours). Nobody could get enough of this ride,and by group consensus each ride lasted about anhour longer than advertised. Back at the WarfieldHouse, the chefs had put together a deliciousenchilada-themed menu to feed the smiling, hun-gry and dirty mouths. Over food and beverages,the raffle winners were picked and prizes gener-ously donated by Zoar Outdoor (www.zoarout-door.com), Berkshire East (www. berkshireeast.com) and NEMBA were handed out. Prizes includ-ed Thunder Mountain sweatshirts, canopy ziptours, whitewater rafting tours, ski passes, andNEMBA swag. Over $2,000 were raised to supportthe efforts of the CTS trail and mapping crew. All inall, a fabulous day of riding on a new and rapidlymaturing trail system that is worth the trip fromanywhere. For more information on theCharlemont Trails System go toh t t p : / / w w w . n e m b a . o r g / r i d i n g z o n e

/Charlemont.html or check out theCTS Facebook page (www.face-book.com/ CharlemontTrails).

The following weekend, we wentfrom the Hilltowns to the other endof the Pioneer Valley for the BlueGroove Fun Ride at Robinson StatePark in Agawam, at theConnecticut border. While the CTStrails are moderately technical andcharacterized by challengingclimbs, Robinson is mostly flat,smooth, twisty and fast. Trails areperfectly arranged to maximize thespace available, and this park is yetanother gem that the Pioneer Valleyhas to offer its mountain bikingfanatics. Skies were overcast but westayed dry only one day away fromSandy touching ground in NewJersey, and more than 60 peoplecame out to enjoy another greatday of fall riding. About 25 peoplewent out for 2.5 hours in theadvanced group, another 25 for 2hours in the intermediate group,and about 10 beginners and chil-dren went out in separate groupsfor 1-2 hours. After the ride, PVNEMBA provided hot dogs, chips,cookies and candy for all the hun-gry riders. Mike A. made a video col-lage for the Blue Groove, check itout on PV NEMBA's YouTube channel (go towww.youtube.com and type "PV NEMBA" into thesearch bar)!

The following weekend we travelled back North forthe Chili Ride. Some will say that PV NEMBA savedthe best for last. Another wonderful day of ridingfollowed by camaraderie and great food as ridersfrom throughout the valley gathered for the 4thannual Wendell Chili Ride and Cook-off. Nearly 30riders gathered at Wendell State ForestHeadquarters on a brisk but sunny early Novemberday. We split into two groups intent on samplinga goodly portion of the uniquely Wendell singletrack in this eastern-most park in our region. Liamled about half the riders on a classic loop throughthe upper section of the park while Stef and Haroldtook the intrepid rest on a path through some ofthe seldom ridden areas. Liam's loop started fromthe parking area and headed up the Cross Countrytrail to the Carlton Dirth Trail then looped aroundWickett Pond before descending the Nipmuck andreturning to the start. Stef and Harold opted tohead out the Lookout Trail, down to Hidden Valleywhere we rode the $13/Gravity Trail down toSophie's Run before climbing Davis Road to thelower end of the Mormon Hollow Trail which wefollowed for about a mile or so. Using a shortburst of BikeBob's patented teleportation system,we transferred to the Hannah Swarton Trail justbefore crossing the brook and finished the climb upto Whale's Head on Hannah. From Whale's Headwe headed along Damon Camp Road before rejoin-ing single track at Bob-Is-Fat for the run down tothe Maple Leaf trail. From there, it was around theswamp and onto the Nipmuck.

At the bottom of the Nipmuck trail, the pulse ofthe group was taken and we decided to forego rid-ing the rougher Nipmuck Extension and climbingthe last segment of the Mormon Hollow back tothe top of Baker Road, so we instead headed rightand climbed up Saxon Bridge Road before loopingaround Wickett Pond and completing the ride on

the trails Liam's group rode, but in reverse.

After a perfect but challenging day of riding classicrocky, rooty New England single track, most of thebunch headed across the road to Bill Gabriel'shouse for the most anticipated part of the ride: theChili-themed Cook-Off and potluck! There wereonly winners in this friendly competition (even theones who didn't enter a dish won...), but here aresome of the dishes that deserved special recogni-tion: In the Chili category, my Southwest ChickenChili barely beat out Betsy B.'s Beef Chili whichcame in just before Harold's Beef Chili. In first placefor the sides were Bill's famous jalapeno poppers.Tied for first in the dessert category were CathyN.'s Blonde Brownies and Harold's Apple Pie. Bestoverall was another tie between my SouthwestChicken Chili and Mitch's Green Salad with GarlicHerb Dressing. Y U M M Y!! Now don't you wishyou'd been there? No worries, just save the dateand come next year (shooting for 2nd Sunday inNovember)!

The giveaways for the cook-off included: threepairs of Giant MTB gloves from Bicycles Unlimited(http://www.bikes-unlimited.com/), a pair ofcanopy zipline tours from Zoar Outdoor(www.zoaroutdoor.com), two ski tickets fromBerkshire East (www.berkshireeast.com), 2 skitickets from Northfield Mountain(http://www.firstlightpower.com/northfield/), deli-cious Maple Syrup from the South Face Farm inAshfield (www.southfacefarm.com/), a sweatshirtand lots of candy. Thank you to all our great spon-sors and to everyone who made these events pos-sible by their hard work in building trails, clearingtrails just before the event, leading rides, cooking,organizing, or simply showing up and riding withus! Video for the Chili ride is in the works and willbe on the PV NEMBA Youtube channel soon - sub-scribe and check back often!

—Steffi Krug


PioneerValleyPresident: Steffi Krug,

[email protected]

VP - Chris KohTreasurer/Secretary: Harold GreenBoard Members: Jack Rice, Mike Akrep,

Gary Fentin, John KeilerBOD Reps: Harold Green & Steffi KrugEmail List: mtb-

[email protected]: PV NEMBA

Habanero Riders atop the Beast. Photo by Harold Green

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The Blue Groove Ride, Agawam

The Whole Enchilada Ride, Charlemont

The PV NEMBA Chili Ride, Wendell

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September and October have seen a flurry of activ-ity as the events calendar exploded. There wereplenty of opportunities to work, play or mix thetwo. RI NEMBA joined AMC for another work daydown in Burlingame, putting together another fourbridges. Thanks to Lennon Schroeder for gettingthat together. Collaboration between user groupsgoes a long way.

The fun ride in Big River was a resounding successunder Alan Winsor's steady guidance. Many oth-

ers contributed a lot of time and effort includingLeo, Bart, Nancy, Rick, Katelyn, Adam, Jason, Dan,Don, Peter, Wayne, Andrew, Fred, Steve O, Lennon,Steve B, Phil, Mike and James. Talk about bringingout the A Squad… Word of this ride is gettingaround as the attendance has increased over thepast few years that we have been able to hold thisevent here.

Chris Nichols held a Take a Kid Mountain Bikingevent up in Diamond Hill, once again taking thaton. We also had an opportunity to check out theNew England Bike Builders Ball since that tookplace right here in Providence. If you have not yet

but have always wanted totry night riding, W. E.Stedman organized a nightride in Burlingame- providinglights for the uninitiated.

Like last year after Irene, it isheartening to see bikers tak-ing to the trails after Sandycame through to help clearthe trails and open them upand make them usable. Someareas were hit harder thanothers, but news came inthat every area sustainedsome level of wooden shrap-nel. Thanks go out to all ofyou who have gone out toremove everything fromderailleur snappers to full onBabe the Blue Ox worthytrees. I also heard that NBXorganized a crew to head outto do some clean up as well.All efforts are certainly appre-ciated!

Speaking of- very soon afterSandy came through, theannual Lincoln Woods FunRide was set to commence.That meant a lot more workto get the trails in shape andgroomed for the event. Thiswould not have happenedwithout Brendan, Mike I,Paul, Mike L, Dan, Bill, Nancy,Emily and of course Stacyputting in so much time andeffort. Blackstone Bicyclesdeserves thanks for organiz-ing the event that helped to raise almost $300 andwell over 500lbs of food for the RI Food Bank. Over110 people came together to make that happen.

So- from RI NEMBA, we hope that you and yours

have a wonderful and safe holiday season, and thatthe trails remain ride-able for a good section of thewinter!

—Matt Schulde

Rhode IslandPresident: Leo Corrigan,

[email protected]

VP Arcadia: Bart Angelo

VP Big River: Alan Winsor

VP Burlingame: Lennon Schroeder

VP Lincoln Woods: Brendan Dee

VP Prudence Island: Peter Gengler

VP Washington SF: Adam Brule

Treasurer: Kerry Angelo

Secretary: Mike Saunders

NEMBA BOD Rep: Matt Schulde

NEMBA BOD Rep: Leo Corrigan

Email List: [email protected]

Web: RINEMBA.org

Facebook: RI NEMBA


Burlingame Trail Work- one of four new structures added. Photo by Lennon Schroeder

Big River Fun Ride 2012- getting the grill ready for the riders return. Photo by Peter Hanney

Ready to rumble. Photo by Peter Genger

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What a great fall we had here in Southeast Mass!We had clear, dry-enough trails at least up untilSandy stormed through at end of October, afterwhich riders were out there in full force assessingand gps'ing the damage, and cleaning up the dead-fall as they rode along. The outpouring of help hasbeen HUGE.

We had a chapter meeting in October, where wevoted in TWO MORE park/area VP's!

Jason Berube, a Westport rider who came to themeeting, had been voicing some concern about thestate of trails in the Freetown area. More specifi-cally, in the area now known as the 'SoutheasternMassachusetts Bioreserve', which encompassesFreetown and the Fall River Watershed land.13,000, yes Thirteen Thousand protected acresALL of which are OPEN to BIKES! It is jointly man-aged by DCR, Fish and game, Fall River Water Dept.and the Trustees of Reservations as well as somemunicipal conservation land. Jason has been work-ing closely with officials who secured a grant tomap and sign the entire bioreserve. They have 250signs to tack up on trees, so he's going to needsome help! He does have a core group of riders whohave been clearing and maintaining some nice sin-gletrack loops near the center of the park,

but look for postings of his upcoming work days onthe email lists, forums, and Facebook. EventuallyJason will have a more specific online map of thesecentral loops and access points.

He has been very enthusiastic and full of energyand ideas for the park, so, for these reasons, weunanimously voted Jason to be our 'SoutheastMass NEMBA Southeastern MassachusettsBioreserve VP'! Welcome, Jason!

John Doherty, a Braintree rider who has beeninstrumental in the opening up and clearing oftrails at Eaton's Pond, is an active communitymember concerned about the state of all the openspaces in town. There are many small spaces withtrails that could be linked up for a full day of rid-ing, as well as provide valuable open space for

neighborhood residents to ride, walk, hike, snow-shoe, birdwatch, etc. The problem is, like Eaton'swas and continues to be, the parks are challengedby less-than-favorable visitors who move in tocamp there for awhile, party, and leave a messbehind. There are also hunters, who are regularlychased out by the town ranger and EPO's. John hasalso done tons of work at Ames Nowell, with long-time riding bud Malcolm Neilson, the park VP .

So, John has a big job ahead, but with his town-wide connections, including Sustainable Braintree,he's making big steps towards reclaiming trails andmaking Braintree a fun place to ride for neighbor-hood residents and visitors. Keep an eye out forwork day postings and come lend a hand!Welcome, John!

Chip Baker of Cutler Park had a big turnout tocleanup after Sandy, and has plans in the new yearfor hosting organized events such as Ride Like aGirl and Kids Rides.

November dried up nicely enough to make leaf-drifting great fun, at least as of this writing.

We are in the planning stages of hosting an MBASsomewhere in the SEMass area in 2013, so staytuned....

Soon enough will be Winter. ...which reminds meto remind all of you, the 'winter closure' in BlueHills and Cutler IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT !! Fromnow on, it's a MARCH ONLY ban. YIPPEE!

I'm sure we'll all enjoy winter in some form oranother—as much as we live/love to ride, some-times it's nice to slow down and snowshoe, hike,or maybe even stay inside by the fire and clean ourbikes.

—Steve Cobble


SE MA NEMBA Group Ride at Willowdale. Photo by Juliana Mendivelso.

Steve Cobble and Jay Tarantino at Ponkapoag Photo by Steve Cobble

SE MassPresident: Steve Cobble,

[email protected], 781-254-8796Treasurer: Bill Boles VPs:Ames Nowell: Malcolm NeilsonBlue Hills: Joe SloaneBorderland: Rich HigginsBraintree Town: John DohertyCarolina Hills: Jack StorerCutler Park: Chip Baker Duxbury: Dave WaleckaFoxboro/Wrentham: Brad ChildsFranklin: Jan Hubbell

Massasoit: John BaileyMyles Standish: Tim ScholzSE MA Bioreserve: Jason BerubeWompatuck: Tyler EusdenSecretary: Rich HigginsEmail List: [email protected]

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Bear BrookAt our November meeting we covered our 2012Bear Brook accomplishments. First was developinga plan and agreeing upon it with the State. Wehave a very solid team and the hard work paid offbecause the State liked the plan. Then we built!This is when the true muscle of NEMBA turned outin the form of volunteers. The results: two newbears and a reroute on the cascade trail. Before thesnow flies we will have kiosks ready for maps,communication, and park information.Additionally a few members of the SNH boardwrote a Moose Plate grant for funding of a 2013project. We do not yet know if our grant was cho-sen for funding. NEMBA and the State have somegreat ideas for 2013 and together we will makeBear Brook an even better riding destination.

MembershipThis year was awesome for building our chapterlarger and stronger. We added miles of new trailsand with that we added new members and friend-ships. For 2013 we will need existing members torenew and I would also love to see some old mem-bers return. Please reach out to your riding bud-dies who have let their memberships lapse andremind them of the importance of our organizationand the great things that we do to keep riding areasopen for us to pedal on.

Trail StewardsAs I have said before, this is the heart and soul ofour organization. As we saw with the storm theycalled Sandy, our stewards and other volunteershad the trails ready for riding in no time. We arelooking for help in a few parks without stewards inMont Vernon, Milford, and Durham to name a few.Please let me know if you would like to help out.If you are looking to assist in other ways such asbeing a conservation commissioner or sub-com-mittee member I can also help you with that.

NEMBA member shopsFor some riding season is coming to an end. If youare looking to keep that fitness up many of ourmember shops offer spin class. Go check it out, itis much more fun riding alone in your basement.

Thank you all for an awesome 2012.

-Matt Caron

Working on the new Horse Hill Connector Trail, Merrimack

Bear Brook State Park TrailFest Volunteers. Photo by Grant Klene, NH State Parks

Birth of a new trail at Bear Brook SP, Photo by Grant Klene, NH State Parks


SouthernNew HampshirePresident: Matt Caron,

[email protected], 603-321-8736VP: Dan SloanSecretary: Laurie HarriganTreasurer: Norrie KnottTrail Advisor: Peter DeSantisWebsite: www.snemba.orgEmail list: [email protected]: Southern NH NEMBA

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:21 AM


The White Mountain Chapter had another produc-tive year improving trails in the eastern WhiteMountains.

We successfully completed a range of projects thisyear, such as:

• Installation of trail signs throughout the WhiteMountain National Forest's Moat Mountain trailsystem

• Construction of a short but interesting rerouteon the upper Stony Ridge

• Layout and construction of a significant trailrelocation of the Stony Ridge Link.

• Removal of at least 4 layers of pallets and con-struction of a new bridge on the High School Loop,as well as a couple of key reroutes to put the trailon dry ground.

• We reopened the Boundary Line trail in EchoLake/Cathedral Ledge State Park, including the cre-ation of a new log ride.

• The Red Tail Trail also received its annual tweaks,with a few reroutes, some tread definition, newberms and more drainage work.

2013 already has a number of exciting projects inthe works:

• In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, we

are laying out the first of a series of significantreroutes on the Black Cap Connector trail. This willbe a multi-year project that should result in asuperb 5 to 6 mile all-mountain trail.

• We are working with Cranmore Mountain Resortto become stewards of a couple of popular existingtrails on their property.

• We are partnering with a local conservationorganization to possibly become stewards of a net-work of trails on nearly 1300 acres of land that iscurrently privately owned.

Perhaps more important than some of the "tool tothe ground" accomplishments is we have a diversenew group of people injecting ideas and energyinto the chapter. All of your contributions are mostwelcome - please let us know if you have sugges-tions!

Check for project updates, events and activities atwww.wmnemba.org and please come join us.

—Rob Adair

WhiteMountainsPresident: Rob Adair,


VPs: Chris JoosenTreasurer: Phil Ostroski Secretary: Paula ChurchillWebsite: www.wmnemba.org


Maryanne Dunfey, Rob Adair, Michael Hartrich, Muriel Mitchell and John BarleyPhoto by Leo Rossignol

Michael Hartrich riding the edge. Photo by Rob Adair

Betsy Brisbois. Photo by Rob Adair

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We're pleased to announce that MootsCycles (famous for their handcrafted tita-nium bicycle frames) will be sponsoringNEMBA rides! Every member who comesto a ride and signs in will be entered towin a Moots Moto X 29er frame!Additionally ride leaders will be enteredinto a special raffle for a Moots componentpackage, including a Ti stem, handlebarand seatpost!

NEMBA rides are led by individual NEMBAmembers for other members and prospec-tive members. So if you haven't yet joined NEMBA, please do. Ridesare usually for small numbers of people and vary with the locationand the personal style of the host. Rides have been known to changelocation or time at the last moment. So be sure to contact the ride'sleader, both to sign up, and to find out more about the ride. **Besure to contact the ride leader a couple of days before the ride takesplace. That way you will be sure that the ride is on.

If you commit to a ride, go, since space is limited. That way the rideswill stay manageable and will be enjoyable for everyone. Helmets arerequired on all NEMBA rides. Contact your ride's leader if the weath-er looks questionable.

HEY! - Why not lead a NEMBA ride yourself? Contact Bill Boles at508-583-0067 or [email protected] for more information.

(T/FR) Indicates a technical or freeride(MBA) Indicates a NEMBA Mountain Bike Adventure Series Ride(EN) Indicates an EFTA/NEMBA Fun Ride.(AM) Indicates a weekday daytime morning ride.(DB) Indicates a daybreak or early morning ride.(BHTW) Indicates a Blue Hills Trail Watch ride.(Dog) Indicates you can bring your dog.(W) Indicates a Women's ride.(CALL) Indicates contact the leader to see if the ride is on.(TBA) Indicates location to be determined.(U) Indicates an urban ride.(GAR) Gravity Assisted Ride(SS) Indicates Single Speed bicycles are OK.(SKI) Indicates a 'ride' that may change to skis(SShoe) Indicates Snowshoeing(SKILLS) Indicates a skills training session(KIDS) A ride for Kids, parents are often welcome too.(SS) Indicates a Singlespeed Bike ride

The following ride categories are only generalguidelines. You should ask the ride's leaderexactly what type of ride he or she is planningin terms of distance, pace and technicality.Also, be realistic about your level of ridingskills and don't join a ride that is beyond yourpresent ability or fitness level.

MBA Kona Bicycles-Fox Shox MTB AdventureSeries ride. 10-20 miles. A ride on a markedcourse for all ability levels. Normally includesshort and long loops. Call for more informa-

tion.

EFTA/NEMBA 10-25 miles. Marked loops for all ability levels.Normally includes multiple loops. Call for moreinformation.

Kids/Family 2-10 miles, usually easy pace & terrain. Theserides are aimed at parents with young children.

Beginner 2-7 miles, easy terrain, easy pace. These rides areaimed at riders with little or no riding experience.

Novice 4-9 miles, mellow pace, easy terrain, frequentstops.

Advanced Novice6-10 miles, mellow pace, either mostly easy ter-rain, or could be technical terrain done slowly, fre-quent stops.

Intermediate 10-20 miles, moderately technical, somewhatfaster pace, occasional stops and bail out points.Intermediate rides are designed for people whoride frequently, and have some skills, but whoprobably don't enter races.

Advanced Intermediate The same as intermediate, except fasterand harder terrain.

Advanced 20-30 miles, high technical difficulty, fast pace,few stops or chances to bail out. These rides areintended for advanced riders or, racers who wouldlike to go for a challenging ride at less than all outrace pace.

Women's Ride Can be any level of difficulty. Call for more infor-mation.

Central, Wachusett & Western Mass Wednesdays Robinson SP, Agawam All Trevor Emond 413-789-0123

2nd Thursdays Charlmont, MA All Harold Green [email protected] (Ski/Shoe)

Sundays Rutland State Park All Renee Gregoire [email protected] 774-200-0177

Sundays Leominster SF All Jim Wrightson [email protected] 978-852-4800

NEMBA RidesSponsored by Moots Cycles

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:22 AM


ConnecticutSundays W. Hartford Res. Inter.-Adv. Charlie Beristain [email protected] 860-521-7188 (8:00 AM)

Wednesdays Wilton Woods Technical/FR Dave Francefort [email protected]

Alternate Saturdays & Sundays Women Nina Palm [email protected] (Women)

Maine, New Hampshire & VermontMondays Brattleboro, VT Intermediate Paul Rodrigue [email protected]

Tuesdays Nashua area Inter.-Advanced Bob Hall [email protected] 603-673-1817

2nd & 4th Tues. Page Hill, NH Jesse McGowan [email protected] www.cnhnemba.org Ride & Trail Work

Wednesdays TBD Southern NH Intermediate Bryan Blackmon [email protected] 603-533-8278

Wednesdays TBD, Central ME Intermediate Brian Alexander [email protected] 207-441-8227

Thursdays TBD, Central NH Intermediate Matt Bowser [email protected] www.cnhnem-

ba.org

Saturdays TBD Advanced Novice Christina Callahan [email protected] 603-937-1284

Sundays TBD, Southern NH All (SS) Jason Gagnon [email protected] 603-781-2640 (SS)

Sundays TBD Southern NH Advanced Intermediate Bryan Blackmon [email protected] 603-533-8278

Metro Boston, Merrimack & North ShoreMondays Willowdale SF Intermediate Frank Lane [email protected]

Tuesdays Lynn Woods Women Tina Dwan [email protected] 781-258-8254

Tuesdays Landlocked Forest, Burlington All David Zizza [email protected]

Tuesdays Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro SF Intermediate Lionel Chapman [email protected] (Ski/Shoe)

Thursdays Russell Mill, Chelmsford Adv. Beginner David Zizza [email protected]

Fridays Russell Mill, Chelmsford Intermediate Stuart Mcdonald [email protected] (Ski/Shoe)

Saturdays TBD Adv. Beginner David Zizza [email protected]

Alternating Saturdays TBA All GB NEMBA http://www.gbnemba.org/

Southeastern Mass. Blackstone Valley & Rhode IslandMondays Lincoln Woods, RI Intermediate Brendan Dee [email protected]

Tuesdays TBD - RI Advanced Jim Grimley [email protected] 401-732-6390

Tuesdays Foxboro SF Mellow-Recovery Iain Crerar [email protected]

Tuesdays Burlingame RI Adv. Beginner - Inter. Lennon Schroeder [email protected] 401-212-6694

Wednesdays Duxbury Town Forest Women Beth Mills [email protected] (WOMEN) (AM)

Wednesdays TBD, SE Mass or Cape Cod. Intermediate Bill Boles [email protected] 508-583-0067(AM) (Ski/Shoe)

First Thursdays Foxboro SF Intermediate Iain Crerar [email protected]

Thursdays Foxboro SF Intermediate Iain Crerar [email protected]

First Thursdays Vietnam, Milford MA Eammon Carleton [email protected] http://www.bvnemba.org/rides.php (T/FR) (SKILLS)

Thursdays Big River, RI Relaxed-Advanced Alan Winsor [email protected] (Ski/Shoe/Hike)

Fridays Blue Hills Intermediate Steve Cobble [email protected] (Ski/Shoe)

Saturdays Wompatuck SP Novice - Adv. Beg. Richard Banks [email protected]

Saturdays Big River, RI Beginner Alan Winsor [email protected]

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:22 AM


S.O.S.: Support Our Sponsors!

$1000+Ace Wheelworks, Somerville MABelmont Wheel Works, Belmont MABikebarn, Whitman MAInternational Bicycle Center, NewtonLandry’s Bicycles, Natick MAKona Bicycles, Fernsdale WARedbones BBQ, Somerville MASeven Cycles, Watertown MATed Wojcik Bicycles, Hampstead NHThe Bikeway Source, Bedford MA

$500+Back Bay Bicycles, Boston MAJRA Cycles, Medford MAPappa Wheelies, Portsmouth NH

$200+All Tuned Up, Westminster MAAllspeed Cyclery, Portland MEHub Bicycle Co., Somerville MAMaine Sport Outfitters, Rockport MEMilford Bicycles, Milford MANortheast Bicycle Club, Billerica MASeaside Cycle, Manchester MAWoody’s Cyclery, Middleton MA

$100Arcadian Shop, Lenox MABenidorm Bikes & Snowboard, Canon CTBerger’s Bike Shop, York MEBerkshire Bike & Board, Gt. Barrington MABethel Bicycle, Bethel MEBlue Steel Cyclery, Manchester NHCycle Lodge, Pembroke MACycle Loft, Burlington MADG Cycles, Epping NHExeter Cycles, Exeter NHExposure Lights, Portsmouth NHGoodale’s Bike Shop, Concord NH

Goodale’s Bike Shop, Hooksett NHCoodale’s Bike Shop, Nashua , NHGorham Bike & Ski, Portland MEHighland Hardware & Bike, Holyoke MAHighland Mountain Bike Park, Northfield NHJoe’s Garage, Haydenville MAKaishingo Apparel, Somerville MANew Canaan Ski & Sport, Ridgefield CTNew England Bicycle, Southwick MANorthern Lights, Farmington MEO'LYN Contractors, Norwood MAPedal Power, Middleton CTPlaine’s Bike Ski Snowboard, Pittsfield MAPowder Ridge Mountain Park, Middlefield CTSea Sports Cape Cod, Hyannis MASheldonville Bicycle Repair, Wrentham MAStorrs Center Cycle, Storrs CTStratham Parks & Recreation, Stratham NHThe Bike Shop, Manchester CTTrek Bicycles Portsmouth, Portsmouth NHValley Bike and Ski Works, Hadley MAUnion Cycle, Attleboro MA

Ride the Trails ~ Save the TrailsJoin NEMBA to Support Mountain Biking inNew England !

Pick a Chapter!At Large

Berkshire NEMBABethel Area NEMBA

Blackstone Valley NEMBABrattleboro-Keene NEMBA

Cape Cod NEMBACarrabassett Region NEMBA

Central Maine NEMBACentral NH NEMBA

CT NEMBAFairfield County NEMBAGreater Boston NEMBA

Greater Portland NEMBAMerrimack MA NEMBAMidcoast Maine NEMBANorth Shore MA NEMBA

Pioneer Valley MA NEMBASoutheast MA NEMBASouthern NH NEMBARhode Island NEMBA

Wachusett MA NEMBAWhite Mtns NH NEMBA

Name ________________________________________________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________________________________________

City ____________________________________________ State _______ Zip ______________________

Home phone _____________________________ Chapter ______________________________________

Email Address: _________________________________________________________________________

New:____ Renewal: ____ Visa/MC# _________________________________________ exp___________

Individual $35 ______ Family (2 Cards) $45 ______ Supporting $60 _____ Sponsoring $100_____

NEMBA, PO Box 2221, Acton MA 01720 Join online at WWW.NEMBA.ORG

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:22 AM

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:22 AM

Non-Profit OrganizationU.S. Postage

PaidPermit #148

Plattsburgh, NY

New England Mountain Bike AssociationPO Box 2221Acton MA 01720

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Check yourmembershipstatus and

renew promptly

Please Make Your End-of-Season Donation to NEMBAwww.nemba.org

ST201212 125.qxd 11/29/2012 8:22 AM

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