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November 2016 #148 www.nemba.org S ingle T rack S S ingle T rack S NEW ENGLAND MOUNTAIN BIKE ASSOCIATION

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November 2016 #148www.nemba.org

SingleTrackSSingleTrackSNEW ENGLAND MOUNTAIN BIKE ASSOCIATION

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2 |November 2016 Ride the Trails

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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 Editor & Publisher: Philip Keyes

Contributing Writer: Bill BolesCopy Editor: Nanyee Keyes

Executive Director: Philip [email protected]

NEMBAPO Box 2221

Acton MA 01720

Board of DirectorsAdam Glick, President

Matt Schulde, Vice-PresidentAnne Shepard, TreasurerHarold Green, Secretary

Rob Adair, White Mountains NEMBAJohn Anders, Midcoast Maine NEMBAMike Avery, Pemi Valley NEMBAMatt Bowser, Central NH NEMBAAaron Brasslett, Penobscot Region NEMBADavid Burnham, Wachusett NEMBAPaula Burton, FC NEMBAEammon Carleton, BV NEMBAMatt Caron, Southern NH NEMBASteve Cobble, SE MA NEMBABrian Danz, Greater Portland NEMBAPerry Ermi, Cape Cod NEMBAChris Gaudet, Southern NH NEMBAPeter Gengler, RI NEMBADavid Hughes, Carrabassett Region NEMBAStacey Jimenez, Quiet Corner NEMBAJohn Joy, Central Central CT NEMBAHank Kells, North Shore NEMBAMorgan Laidlaw, Midcoast Maine NEMBAThom Lamourine, SE CT NEMBAFrank Lane, North Shore NEMBARob Lavoie, Greater Portland NEMBABill Markham, Berkshire NEMBAJesse McGowan, Central NH NEMBAFred Meyers, Wachusett NEMBABarry Moore, Merrimack Valley NEMBAChris Nicodemus, Franconia Area NEMBAKevin Orlowski, Central NH NEMBAPeter Poanessa, BK NEMBAEric Pospesil, Franconia Area NEMBATim Post, Pioneer Valley NEMBAJon Regan, Northwest CT NEMBASteve Richardson, Merrimack Valley NEMBADavid Riding, SE MA NEMBAChris Riley, Central Maine NEMBAPete Schrader, BK NEMBAMaciej Sobieszek, Greater Boston NEMBACory Stiff, SE CT NEMBAJoshua Tauses, Carrabassett Valley NEMBAGlenn Tourtellot, Quiet Corner NEMBARyan Tucker, Fairfield County NEMBAGlenn Vernes, Central CT NEMBABrian Vibert, Northwest CT NEMBA

SingleTrackSNovember 2016, Number 148

Paper TrailPlaces to Ride — 11Basic Biking — 12Chapter News

• Connecticut — 16• Maine — 20• Massachusetts — 25• New Hampshire — 30• Rhode Island — 35

NEMBA 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: Lisa Cheney riding the rockchute at Great Brook Farm State Park duringMerrimack Valley NEMBA’s MTB Adventure Ride.Photo by Steve Richardson.

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

NEMBA TrailHeroes

We take a moment to honor those thatmake a big difffernce to our sport, the trails

and NEMBA.

Come RidePlymouth, NH

You may drive right by on the way to skicountry or to KT, but stop in and be pre-

pared for some great riding.

By Jeremy Hillger

8

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Blackstone Valley NEMBAAlan Cormier Bill Dakai Jess Bly Michael Cove Patrick Royer Russ StearnsMike Tonry Anne Shepard Brenda Smith Brian Forestall Eammon Carleton Jack MaxwellJohn GoellerJonathan NiroKara Gilman Laura Zimmer Rich Kordell

Brattleboro-KeeneNEMBADave LevasseurJonathan MontgomeryLoren Launen Mike DavernMike HoeferPeter PoanessaTiffanie Hills Todd Amato

Cape Cod NEMBABill BolesBill CataniaFrank MerolaJason CataniaMichael Dube

Carrabassett RegionNEMBAAlison ThayerBob AshCathy Morton Dana Friend Dave Hughes Dawn Smith Deb Bowker Ed Gervais Joe Hines John FreemanJonathan BoehmerJosh Tauses Julie Coleman Kimberly Truskowski Lori GerencerMark Swartz Peter SmithWarren Gerow

Central CT NEMBAAl TintiGlenn VernesJohn JoyJon PetersenLisa MaloneyMatt FuggiTom Ebersold

Central Maine NEMBABrian AlexanderChris RileyMatt ReynoldsMatt Swan Sarah CrossTed Scharf

Fairfield County NEMBABill CurranDavid Francefort Gunnar Waldman John Sweeney Kyaiera Tucker Monika Stokes Paula Burton Rich Coffey Robert Forster Ryan TuckerScott Randall

Franconia Area NEMBAChris NicodemusEric PospesilJanel LawtonSuzanne Beauchesne

Greater Boston NEMBAAdam GlickAndrea Jones Bill Cohn Brandon Morphew Chris Andrews Corey French Dan McCormack Jon Kranes Junko Kato Karen Eagan Maciej SobieszekRick Forzeze Rob Auffrey

Greater Portland NEMBAAmanda Lehman-GarveyBrian Danz

NEMBA Trail HeroesNEMBA is a very grassroots, volunteer-focused organization, and we are fortunate to have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers that comeout to our events and give back to the trails and to the sport of mountain biking. Many of these go well above-and-beyond in their serviceand they truly are our trail heroes. Here is a short list of the best-of-the-best of our volunteers. We honor them for all that they do to makethe trails and our sport something to be proud of. Next time you see them on the trail, give them a pat and the back and say ‘thanks’!

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Corey TheriaultEmily Helliesen-DayMike Sandora

Merrimack Valley NEMBABarry MooreEric JohnsonKirk GoldsworthyLionel ChapmanMarty EngelsKaren KorzaSteve Richardson

Midcoast Maine NEMBAGreg DolbecJohn AndersMorgan LaidlawScott Carson

North Shore NEMBABob Ganley Dan StreeterFrank LaneFred WhiteHank Kells `Jeff WardleJoe DiZazzoLee HollenbeckLisa CheneyRay Meyers

Northwest CT NEMBABrian Vibert Cara ReganDennis TyburskiFrank Morton John Luisi Jon ReganMargie BowenScott Ruel Tim Bowman Tod Kenney

Pemi Valley NEMBADoug Poole Eric Costa Greg Disanto James PattersonJay Harrington Jeremy HillgerKevin LuceMatt Smith Sean O'Leary Slade Warner

Penobscot Region NEMBAAl ShultzGail CarterJared MilliganKeith BlanchardKris Sornberger Michele Benoit

Quiet Corner NEMBABob CaporasoGlen NewcombeGlenn TourtellotJeff DoyleRob LussierStacey Jimenez

Rhode Island NEMBAAlan WinsorChris HughesJohn SumnerLaurent FroissardWayne Asselin

Southeast MA NEMBAChris PatrickDave FarrellRichard BanksSteve CobbleTim FriedmannWayne Strohm

Southeastern CT NEMBACory Stiff

Southern NH NEMBAAlanna CarlsonChris GaudetDan DwyerKathy EvansMatt CaronPeter DeSantisSeth HickeyWes Robertson

Wachusett NEMBABrett Russ Dave BurnhamFred Meyer Jim Wrightson Rich Bonetti

White Mountains NEMBAButch SimonesChris KrugJeff LathropJohn BarleyMichael HartrichMike Steward Muriel MitchellPaula ChurchillRob ZimmermanTony TulipJean LeeLloyd BlizzardRob Adair

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My Bike Ride with CleveBy Jean Lee

Epic Rides on

Epic Trailswww.mtbadventureseries.org

Come ride the Kona Bicycle Mountain Bike Adventure Series andhave fun while raising money for local parks.

May 7 Middlesex Fells, MAJune 11 Marsh Island, MEAugust 14 Bluff Point, CTSept 11 Great Brook Farm, MA

Sept 18 Leominster State Forest,MAOct 9 Bear Brook State Park, NHOct 30 Wicked Ride, Harold ParkerNov 6 Cape Cod Trail of Tears, MA

Cleve knew that I rented a Popular MTB bikefrom Dan for five dollars for ten days, and heknew that I was out riding it, and he knewthat I would go on an adventure, so the ques-tion came one day after the 10:30am scubadive. "Hey Jean let's ride our bikes toCoxenhole sometime." "I'd love to", Ireplied… tomorrow? the next day? "Howabout right now?" I said. My seat was toohigh and too far back, so I needed to find twodifferent size wrenches to fix it. I foundSharkie, the West End 'mechanic' in the backally who had a #13 to lower the seat and a#14 to bring it forward. Task accomplishedand I was ready to go.

Cleve and I started up the Flowers Bay roadwith temperatures in the high 80's. He wason a pink girl's ten-speed with a kickstand anda cable lock wrapped around the handlebars.His seat was too low so I showed him how touse the quick release and we raised it. I wason my rented black Popular that was too big,though the seat was at the right height. The seat screw hit my legevery pedal stroke and I wished then that I had worn my longershorts. My arms would go numb because they were stretched outtoo far and wide, but I knew I could manage with a few shakes hereand there.

Cleve was a cute islander, fun, and always ready for a thrill. His fam-ily owned Seagrape Plantation Resort, on the island of Roatan,Honduras, a place that I returned to often. When Cleve (fluent in

English), found out I was practicing my Spanish,said to me… "Then no more English on this ride",I happily agreed. We came to Flowers Bay androde along the flat, windy road next to the ocean.School kids were swimming with their cloths onand the street was alive with taxis, walkers, dogs,bikes, and men selling items that covered theirentire body. There were potholes; one that wouldhave swallowed me without a scratch. The windwas blowing off the ocean, white caps were form-ing but still we talked; we talked about fish, food,adventures, and music. When I didn't understanda question or had a hard time explaining, insteadof switching to English, we hashed it out inSpanish. We then turned the corner and cameupon the Norwegian Cruise Ship leaving the dockin its enormity. I couldn't wrap my brain aroundhow such an enormous thing was built. Cleveasked if I had ever been on a cruise ship, but I did-n't understand the word Crucero. Once I figured itout, I said that when I was learning Spanish, cruiseships had yet to arrive to this once quiet place.

My senses were stimulated; my brain conjugating verbs and diggingin the archives for Spanish words, my eyes were scanning and calcu-lating dogs, kids, and watching for earthquake sized potholes, thesore on my leg starting to bleed, and my hands tingled with numb-ness. The wind was howling forcing me to stay focused and balanced.The whole time thinking that this was the best bike ride I'd been onin a long time. "Thanks Cleve, where are we going tomorrow?"

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Perhaps you are traveling north onInterstate 93, headed to theNortheast Kingdom, or maybe you

are driving south to Highland MountainBike Park. In either case, you will driveright past Exit 25, Plymouth, NH.Plymouth is the home of Plymouth StateUniversity, 7000 year around residentsand some of the best recreation opportu-nities in the state.

With world class rock climbing down theroad in Rumney, three major ski areaswithin thirty minutes, a plethora of hik-ing trails in all directions, and Squam Lakea stone's throw away, Plymouth is a greatplace to visit.

Over the past three riding seasons, Pemi-Valley NEMBA has focused most of theirtrail building efforts in and around down-town Plymouth. Located on Prince HavenRoad, Fox Park has long been home totechnical singletrack with plenty of upand down riding. Much of the networkhas grown organically over time, but more

Come Ride Plymouth, New HampshireBy Jeremy Hillger

P L A C E S T O R I D E

Fox Park is getting better and better thanks to the efforts of volunteers like Greg DiSanto and Doug PoolePhoto by Jeremy Hillger

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12 |November 2016 Ride the Trails

P L A C E S T O R I D E

recently it has benefitted from formaltrail building efforts.

Working alongside Plymouth Parksand Recreation, Pemi Valley hasreworked a section of woods thatabuts the parking lot and the chil-dren's playground. The riding is pri-marily intermediate to advanced withclimbing right from the parking lot.Riders can expect bridges, bermedturns, technical descents and plentyof winding Singletrack.

Local trail builders Greg Disanto andDoug Poole have put considerabletime into Stairway, Cellar Hole andUpper Butch. Some trails climb betterthan others, but all are multi-direc-tional.

The latest trail map is posted on thekiosk in the parking lot, and all of thelegitimate trails are marked withsigns. If you go over the stone wall(on the map) you are no longer in FoxPark proper and on your own. Nomap, no trail markers. Locals have enjoyed Fox Park for decades andit is a great place to spend an hour or two.

In the event that you're looking for a little more flow and rhythm,Pemi-Valley's Pump Track is located at the end of South Main St. nextto the Plymouth Skate Park. If you know the way, you can ride yourbike from Fox Park to the Pump Tack in less than five minutes. This

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track was designed by master trail builder James "Slim" Patterson.

It has been a two year, machine built, project that keeps getting bet-ter with time. By climbing to the top of the run in, kids and adults canpump their way around the course and switch directions by using the

middle bypass. In between runsyou can admire the artwork of thelocal artists, as the track runs inand around the Common ManGraffiti park. This creative additionto the local riding scene is a collab-orative effort between Pemi-ValleyNEMBA, Plymouth Parks andRecreation, Rhino Bike Works andAlex Ray, the owner of theCommon Man restaurants.

After trail riding, or in betweenpump track sessions, you might belooking for a bite to eat. WithPlymouth being a college town,there is no shortage of pizza andsandwiches. Locals preferBiederman's Deli on Main St. for acold pint and Cafe Monte Alto for agreat cup of coffee or espresso.

If you need Shot Blocks, clothing,repairs, parts or just some localknowledge, the crew at Rhino Bike

Works on North Main St. is the place to go. Let them know you are aNEMBA member, and they will point you in the right direction and getyou what you need to have fun.

P L A C E S T O R I D E

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B A S I C B I K I N G

As much as we enjoy riding our local trails over and over atsome point almost everyone wants to try something differ-ent. I've been fortunate enough to ride all over New Englandand I'm constantly surprised by how different the trail ridingexperience can be.

It's more than just the differences between mountainous ter-rain and flatlands or of sandy soil and rocky terrain. It's a lotmore than just the differences between smooth buffed trailsand rocky technical trails.

After a while you realize that it's the design philosophy of thetrails that makes the difference. Some of the trails that wecommonly ride are old hiking trails, or logging paths, ormotorcycle trails. Sure they may have been modified over thedecades. But their original design philosophy still affectsthem.

For example: A hiking trail is generally designed to go some-place, like a scenic overlook, a lake or pond, or to be theshortest possible route between two points. Contrastingthat a well-designed mountain bike trail Is meant to beenjoyed for the experience itself and not necessarily for itsdestination or landmarks.

Some trail "destinations" are trying to attract visitors withprofessionally built trails, and some of these are even

Exploring New EnglandBy Bill Boles

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machine made. These vary greatly in flow and design from the unim-proved trails that most of us have in our back yards.

Getting out there and experiencing this for yourself can very wellbecome the most enjoyable part of your overall riding experience.

But what's the best way to do that?

Well, one resource is word of mouth. Ask your riding buddies wherethey most like to ride. And, if possible enlist them in a road trip.Unknown trails even just a few miles from your home base willalmost always kindle a desire for more of the same thing.

Go to an organized ride someplace that you've never been. NEMBA'sKona Mountain Bike Adventure Series can take you all around NewEngland. If you do I guarantee you that each MBAS ride will exposeyou to the best riding that that particular area has to offer.

For riding suggestions close to home, check out your state's trail pageon the NEMBA site.

Destination riding areas like Kingdom Trails and Millstone Trails inVermont, or the trail networks in Carrabassett Valley and Camden,Maine, or the Charlemont Trails in Massachusetts as well as otherareas are actively trying to get visitors and are providing them withextensive well managed trail systems.

Got more than one day to explore? Well, a mountain bike vacationwill certainly fill the bill. I'd suggest spending at least one day at a"destination" riding area. But I'd supplement that by riding many ofthe local trails that NEMBA chapters maintain. These can be found on

the NEMBA Trails page, or on each chapter's NEMBA page. There arecurrently 228 places to ride described on the NEMBA site, and thatnumber is growing.

I make a multi-day pilgrimage to at least one far distant riding desti-nation every year. But, to break up my drive I'll always stop along theway and do some riding on at least one of the trail systems that areprofiled on the NEMBA site.

Lastly, if you're on a trip, even a business trip, try making a NEMBAchapter's scheduled ride.

There's a big world out there. Ride it!

B A S I C B I K I N G

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Rides and Trail WorkThe chapter's fall ride andtrail work schedules will beup on nemba.org and ctnem-ba.com by the time thisissue is released. TheSaturday morning rides willcontinue in the 2nd and 4thSaturdays of each month,and every Saturday atBranford Supply Ponds, andwe'll have trail work days at Mooween and RiverHighlands State Parks. We'll be building new sin-gletrack at Mooween and features like berms andskinnies at River Highlands.

In late August we lengthened and improved theskinny on the Brown Sugar trail at River Highlands.The skinny is now about 55 feet long from end to

end with higher and lower sections and a shortsteep transition between them. It's an advancedlevel feature when ridden from low to high, inter-mediate when ridden high to low.

Fall FiestaOur annual Fall Fiesta held on September 25thwas a huge success. About 50 chapter membersenjoyed perfect weather and the group rides wereawesome, the pizza was hot, the beer was cold,

and the swag raffle prizes were cool. Thanks to AlTinti for helping to set up the event and to MikeHallarin, Dave Doyle, and Santana Rygelis for lead-ing fantastic group rides, and to Pedal Power forproviding the swag.

Halloween Ride at RocklandThe 3rd annual Halloween Ride and costume con-test hosted by Lisa Maloney will take placeSaturday October 29th at the Rockland Preserve.There will be an intermediate no-drop ride, prizesfor the three best costumes, and cookies and ciderafter the ride. See nemba.org for specifics.

Turkey BurnerDon't forget our annual Turkey Burner ride the dayafter Thanksgiving. See the chapter website andnemba.org for specifics.

Ride on!

—Glenn Vernes

C O N N E C T I C U T

Pre-board meeting ride at Rockland: Philip Keyes, Peter Finch, John Joy, Glenn Vernes and trail guru, Jon Petersen. Photo by PK

Another Successful Fall Fiesta. Photo by John Joy

Getting skinny at River Highlands. Photo by Glenn Vernes

Central CTPresident: Glenn Vernes,

[email protected]: OpenTreasurer: John JoySecretary: Peter FinchAt Large: Jason Engelhardt, John Biehn

IV, Mark Lurie, Marc OtfinoskiBOD Reps: John Joy, Glenn VernesCT Web: www.ctnemba.comFacebook: “CT NEMBA”

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C O N N E C T I C U T

Mianus UpdateThis September, as the FCbuild crew worked along-side some members of TheFriends of Mianus RiverPark, I had a realization. Thereroute that we were creat-ing linked up to two othermajor reroutes we did inprior years, and those linkedto other past projects. In trail school we teach thattrails are systems and this build season has exem-plified this core tenant of sustainable trail design.

The Mianus project was third phase of a multi-yearplan to take a legacy trail with a beloved lookout

and make it sustainable. The end result is beauti-ful. The challenge of the climb is still there as is thejoy of the descent.

Trail School at TroutbrookLast week the concept of systems again was at theforefront as we planned for an upcoming trailschool and work day at The Aspetuck Land Trust'sTrout Brook Valley. As we discussed and flaggedthe project I again realized that this work tiesdirectly into work we've done in the past. Moreimportantly, at TBV this idea of systems not onlyshowcases good trail science, but also the powerof working with land managers.

The ALT sees their land as part of a bigger systemand after many years of working together they seeus as a key, positive element in this system.

If you would like to see this concept in action, joinus for trail school and building on October 15. The

day begins with a classroom session at 8:45 at theWeston Public Library and then moves outdoors toTrout Brook Valley. Registration information isonline at fcnemba.org.

Soltice RideOf course the end goal for so many of us is toenjoy these beautiful trail systems on our bikesand what better way to do that than riding withfriends. We are looking forward to our annualWinter Solstice Ride so keep your eye on ourFacebook page and website for details.

—Kyaiera Tucker

Trail work at Mianus River Park. Photo by Dave Francefort

Ryan Tucker and Dave Francefort creating a fresh singletrack re-route at Mianus.

Photo by Kyaeira Tucker

FC NEMBA’s kids at the Hop Brook in Middlebury, CT. Photo by Monika Stokes

FairfieldCounty

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

VP: Gunnar WaldmanSecretary: Monika StokesTreasurer: David Francefort

At Large: Rich Coffey, Kyaeira Tucker

BOD Reps: Ryan Tucker, Paula Burton

Website: www.fcnemba.org

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The fall riding season isquickly coming to an endand the short days and coldnights of winter are fastapproaching. Last chance toget in those epic rides beforethe leaves camouflage thetrails and the first snowfallblankets everything inwhite. The seasons arechanging, so shift gears, getthe lights charged, the fatbike tuned and the snowshoes at the ready.

After a much needed hiatus over the summer toenjoy the great riding, our trail crews have beenback out in the forest in force completing the longlist of projects planned for 2016. One major trailday remains on November 19th so be sure to checkour website and/or Facebook page for details.Come out and join us and give a little back to thetrails.

During the course of this year, hundreds of manhours have been volunteered and the trails reallyshow all the hard work. Many thanks to all the trailgnomes who have contributed their precious timeand materials to help make the mountain biketrails in Northwest Connecticut as great as theyare. Thank you!

Our weekly RAW (ride after work) ride series hascome to a conclusion for the 2016 riding season.Kudos to all our ride leaders for their dedicationand leadership of both the Mondaybeginner/novice ride and the Thursday night inter-mediate ride. With the great weather this summerboth weekly rides saw large numbers of revolvingparticipants riding spirited loops through thewoods of Burlington, Harwinton, Torrington, NewHartford and beyond. As always we welcome yourcomments and suggestions as we begin to preparefor next year's group rides. No major events/ridesare currently scheduled for the remainder of 2016however stay tuned to our website and/orFacebook page for pick up rides and informal trailwork days that might pop up.

The winter season is fast upon us and the flakeswill begin to fly soon so keep your eyes peeled toour website and Facebook page. Unlike last year,the weather prognosticators are suggesting it'sgoing to be a snowy winter. Our fingers are crossedand plans are being made for fat bike rides andsnow shoe adventures. Come out and join us thiswinter, you won't be disappointed!

As we pedal into the late fall a reminder that weare also entering into the heart of hunting season.Please take a few moments to review some basichunting safety and the Connecticut rules and reg-

ulations. A little knowledge on this front can helpkeep you safe while you're out enjoying the woods.Know the different hunting seasons and wherehunting is allowed in relation to bike/hiking trailsand try to cater your ride plans to reduce conflictwith the hunters. Here's a couple tips that willhelp:

• Avoid riding during peak hunting times, earlymorning/evening hours.

• Ride in areas where hunting is not allowed

• Wear an article of bright orange clothing

• Avoid wearing items that are white, brown orred.

• Plan your epic rides for Sunday when hunting isnot allowed in Connecticut.

The hunting season is short and enjoyed by manyso please show this group respect . Let's try to givethem the ability to enjoy the forest during thisshort window of time as much as we do the rest ofthe year. By being informed and respectful, we asmountain bikers can generate much good willbetween the user groups. As always respect getsrespect. —Jon Regan

C O N N E C T I C U T

Thursday Group Ride. Photo by Mike Cal

Randall and John getting it done. Photo by Jon Regan

Log Ride. Photo by Michael Gluz

Rock work at Burlington. Photo by Jon Regan

Northwest CTPresident: Jon Regan,

[email protected]

Vice-President: Scott Ruel

Treasurer: Cara Regan

Secretary: Brian Vibert

Event/Ride Coordinator: Margie BowenWebsite: www.nwctnemba.orgFacebook: “NW CT NEMBA”

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C O N N E C T I C U T

All the hard work bush-whacking, cutting backbriars and sweating in90+ degree weather paidoff. The 5th installment ofthe Bluff Point MBAS wasa huge success. Thanks tothe >70 riders whobraved the hot tempera-tures and high humidityand came out in supportof Bluff Point and the

trails in SE CT. Everyone was treated to 15 miles offun in the woods of Bluff Point and neighboringHaley Farm. Huge thanks to Rose City Cycle fororganizing the stable of demo bikes once again.

Summer is coming to an end and the days are get-ting shorter. Those mid-week after work ridesmight end with lights but that shouldn't put adamper on the riding in SE CT. Fall has started outa little wet, our first couple Mooween work dayswere rained out so progress has been slow. Westill have plenty to do so be on the lookout for trail

day announcements.

As always if you have an idea for a trail project,want to lead a ride or just get a little more involvedin the chapter…drop me a line.

—Cory Stiff

SECT NEMBAPresident: Cory Stiff, president@sect-

nemba.org

Vice-President: Mickey Gilland

Treasurer: Andy Bennett

Secretary: Thom LamourineFacebook: “Southeastern CT NEMBA”Webpage: www.nemba.org/sectnemba

A few brave souls signing in at the Bluff Point MTB Adventure Ride. Photo by John Joy

The main crop at Bluff Point is puckerbrush, and itgrows thick and deep. Huge thanks to Rob Evans,Greg Heuschele and others for helping to beat it

back into submission so that riders could enjoy theMTB Adventure ride without getting shredded!

Photo by Cory Stiff

Dave Gudbrandsen, Glenn Vernes and others ready to roll out @ Bluff Point.Photo by John Joy

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NEMBA TrailFest: August 19-21The fourth annual NEMBATrailFest was another hugesuccess with 45 partici-pants, most of these trailworkers were from outsideCarrabassett Valley, includ-ing someone fromPennsylvania!

Musical entertainment wasprovided by Matt Shipmanand Erica Brown playing gui-tar and violin.

Weather was awesome. The town crew did an out-standing job preparing the work site. Maine Huts &Trails and their crew did an outstanding job ofshowing backcountry hospitality participants willnot soon forget.

Sugarloaf MTB Festival: September23-25The inaugural event is now in the books, and whatan event it was. Over 300 participants, includingmany CRNEMBA members and a large number ofriders 'from away' as well as many less than hardcore level riders.

The event success was a result of the efforts ofmany. The partnership of Sugarloaf, Maine Huts &Trails, and CRNEMBA provided the organizationalinfrastructure. The vendors provided entertain-ment, bike demos, food and information about ourregions. The many volunteers provided the workforce that made this event happen and the successit was. Together, we projected a really down-to-earth, talented, professional, friendly vibe

On behalf of the organizing committee represent-ing CRNEMBA (Warren Gerow, Dave Hughes, andEd Gervais) and myself, we offer our thanks to allwho volunteered in any capacity for this event.

Trail Network Development Update2016 Trail Construction

Most of the single track re-routes for Newton'sRevenge were completed by September 1. The riderreviews of this new trail are evident from the smil-ing faces from those who have experienced thisnew trail.

In the Grassy Loop area we added a new trail sec-tion that provides some fun and plenty of turns tothe trail network in this area. In addition, improvedtrail access to the Grassy Loops area is now avail-able off the Narrow Gauge Pathway at the easternend of the Grassy Loops trail network.

Work began on the Hurricane Knoll trail onSeptember 1st and is slated for completion thisfall.

New Board Members

Please welcome Warren Gerow and Cathy Mortonto the CRNEMBA Board. Warren has been activelyinvolved with the organizing committee for theCarrabassett Backcountry Cycle Challenge andCathy has led regular women's rides this season.We look forward to their continued energy andperspective as we continue to build our MTB com-munity.

Please be in touch with any comments or ques-tions; and be sure to visit our website and FB pagefor the latest news and information. Enjoy thetrails!

—Peter Smith

Sugarloaf MTB Festival riders get set to hit the slopes,er, we mean trails! Photo by Lori Gerencer

Bunch of smiling faces at the 2016 Trailfest work day! Photo by Lori Gerencer

Newtons Reroute: Some sweet new Single Tracknear Stratton Brook Hut.

Photo by Spencer Le

M A I N E

CarrabassettRegion Maine

President: Peter Smith,[email protected]

VP: Ed GervaisSecretary: Lori GerencerTreasurer: Dana FriendFacebook: Carrabassett Region NEMBAWebsite: www.carrabassett.nemba.org

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M A I N E

Rules or reason? Trail build-ing has come a long way.Today's trails featureberms, grade reversals,bench cuts and flow. Nolonger do we round thecorner to be faced with ado or die wall to climb.Therein lies the rub. Uphilltraffic has the right of way.It made sense when stop-ping meant no chance of

starting again till slogging up that hill, however,often now you can hear downhill riders approach-ing hundreds of trail yards away. Stop and wishthem a happy ride or claim right of ascent? Irecently saw a trail sign, "Downhill is the preferreddirection", which seems pretty reasonable. We arefortunate enough to be living in the Renaissance ofmountain biking. More trails, more riders and morefun. Let's keep it that way!

August saw two great events at Titcomb Mountainin Farmington. It began with The Farmington

Area Trails Women's Clinic and was once again ahuge hit. This year 40+ women spent the day hon-ing new riding skills, making new friends and hav-ing a lot of fun. We are fortunate to have a pool ofgreat and talented instructors who donate theirtime and expertise to teaching.

The second was the return of the TitcombMountain Challenge. 111 entrants raced 1 to 3laps, climbing Titcomb twice on each lap. Titcombhas some of the best designed and executed trailsaround. Where the technical features might be toochallenging at any given time there are optional "B"lines clearly marked. What's most surprising isafter rolling around berms, drops and pump tracklike sections you suddenly find yourself at the top.How does that happen?

Our trail network is expanding again. Work on sin-gletrack in the Allen-Whitney Memorial Forest,Manchester, ME, has begun. Maranacook HighSchool students devoted a "day of giving back" tothe project cleaning up after a logging operation

and even building a new berm.

The Quarry Road Recreation Area's singletrackcontinues to expand also. We have over a mile ofnew trail complete with bridges constructed. Manymore miles are flagged and waiting for helpinghands. We are excited to have just completed ourfirst ever RTP grant application for a significant trailexpansion at Quarry Road. Our fingers are crossedthat our grant will be viewed favorably and we willbuild even more trail next summer.

And now we transition into fall riding. It's both abeautiful time of year to be out riding and time tobe mindful about riding the trails. Hoar frost easilycompromises their integrity. It's a short window ofinconvenience, go easy on them. Ironically withthe foliage and bug free weather more people beginto take advantage of the woods. Be respectful ofhunters and hikers. We all want the experienceyou can only get in the woods.

—Ian Ogilvie

Maranacook High School Day of Giving Back. Photo Chris Riley

CeMe Prez, Chris Riley, at the Titcomb MountainChallenge. Photo by Ian Ogilvie

Farmington Area Trails Women's Clinic. Photo Ian Ogilvie

Central MEPresident: Chris RileyVP: Sarah Aviano CrossSecretary: Garry HinkleyTreasurer: Brett Van-Cott

Membership: Ellen WellsTrails: Brian AlexanderPR: Pete PhairFacebook: CeMeNEMBAWebsite: www.cemenemba.org

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M A I N E

Fall is a favorite seasonhere in the GreaterPortland area, and chaptermembers are borrowingleaf-blowers and rakesfrom the tool trailer andclearing the local trail sys-tems. We've finished upanother successful Bikes &Brews event series withour 3rd ride, held onOctober 29th at ElsmereBBQ in South Portland and featuring rides on thetrails of Cape Elizabeth. The series of fundraisingrides, put on for the benefit of GP-NEMBA by GearWorks Productions, features led rides for all abili-ties on trails near a partnering brewery or restau-rant, with everyone coming back together after-wards to enjoy beer, food, and camaraderie.

With a nod to the coming winter, the Chapter hasjoined local Snowmobile clubs at the corporatelevel in an effort to grow a positive relationshipwith them. As fat-tire ridership increases and thevast network of snowmobile trails in the area areideal for riding, it is our hope to have an open andpositive relationship with the clubs that maintainthe trails. We will also be sharing their trail workday opportunities so that we can help them pre-pare their trails for the season. Additionally, wehope to work with these clubs to develop somebest-practices documents that we can share withriders to help educate them on appropriate trail-sharing etiquette.

As we begin looking toward the spring of 2017,our focus is on growing and maintaining the trailsystems in Gorham, Falmouth, Yarmouth, andWestbrook, as well as working with towns andorganizations like the Cape ElizabethConservation Commission and Portland Trails toidentify future opportunities to improve theirexisting systems.

As always, be sure to follow our chapter onFacebook (/gpnemba) and Instagram (@gpnemba)to hear the latest info about trail days and otherevents, and come visit Portland and ride our trails!

—Brian Danz

Board Member Pat Hackleman riding to the Summit of Whitehorse Ledge in NHPhotos by Brian Danz

GP-NEMBA's official Trail Dog, Arrow, doing his part on a trail day this summer!

A crew of volunteers from Pierce-Atwood helping to cut a new trail in Westbrook.

GreaterPortlandPresident: Brian Danz,

[email protected]: Emily HelliesenBoard: Brian Danz, Jim Tasse, Robert

Lavoie, Caleb Hemphill, ChrisCarleton, Pat Hackleman, and BrianStearns

W: www.greaterportlandnemba.comFacebook: “Greater Portland NEMBA”

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M A I N E

The leaves are beginning to turn, night riding hascommenced, and we'relooking forward to somegreat Fall riding in theMidcoast Maine region.The Summer riding seasonhas been fantastic andwe're seeing a lot of newfaces on the trail, especiallylocal youth. Between 30-50 kids participated onMonday evenings during

our 9 week NEMBA Explorers series. Our expan-sion of trail offerings over the years has appealedto riders of varying levels of ability and has result-ed in increased ridership. These efforts have cer-tainly helped grow the sport and has increasedsupport for mountain biking in our local communi-ty.

Fall EventMcNEMBA will be partnering with BaxterOutdoors, Camden Snow Bowl, Coastal MountainsLand Trust, and the Trail Runners of Midcoast

Maine for the soon to be epic Camden Snow BowlTrailFest on October 1st. The event will include abike/run duathlon, group rides, music, scenicchairlift rides, and demo's from Side Countrysports. The Ragged Mountain Ski & SnowboardClub will also be on hand serving up pre-race pan-cakes as a fundraiser for their youth ski program.

Trails• We're working with the Coastal Mountains Land

Trust on rerouting a segment of trail between theSnow Bowl and the 5 brooks trail.

• Continued trail maintenance on the Dreadnaughtgravity trail at the Snow Bowl.

• A new climbing trail segment has been com-pleted from the base of the Snow Bowl that con-nects to Keel Haul.

• We've touched up sections of the G5 trail in the

Ragged Mountain Preserve.

• McNEMBA leadership continues to partner withthe Coastal Mountains Land Trust to support the"Round the Mountain" trail, which will open allof Ragged Mountain for mountain bike access.

• Volunteers are engaged in identifying opportuni-ties for winter fat bike grooming.

Down the trailWe're working to develop a comprehensive planwith the Camden Snow Bowl that will outline thefuture trail infrastructure, including potential forlift accessed riding (and potentially including fatBiking!). Stay tuned for more details through theWinter. Be sure to visit McNEMBA on Facebookand at www.mcnemba.com. Happy Trails!!

—John Anders

2016 Most Epic Baxter Outdoors Duathlon at the Camden Snow Bowl. Courtesy of Baxter Outdoors

MidcoastMainePresident: John Anders, 207-542-0080,

[email protected] Committee:

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

Treasurer/Secretary: Stephanie SzarkaFacebook: “Midcoast Maine NEMBA”

Will Laidlaw - NEMBA Youth Explorers ProgramPhoto by John Anders

Having a Hoot!! Brian Leonard riding Goose RiverArea Trails. Photo by John Anders

Ragged Mountains Social NetworkPhoto by John Anders

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24 |November 2016 Ride the Trails

HappeningsRick's Ride Dedicationof trail system

In late August, more than40 riders gathered tohonor the vision of mastertrail builder, Rick Swan,whose dedication createdmany of the trails in theUniversity of Maine forest,and especially the trails atPerch Pond. That trail system has been officiallynamed The Rick Swan Trail System, and his memo-ry kept recent by a memorial stone, generouslydonated by Qualey Granite and Quartz. After theride, cyclists gathered for a barbecue to share goodfood and memories. Ride well and honor the trailbuilders.

Tour de Dedham

In early September, a small intrepid group met toride the upgraded and renovated trails in Dedham.The uphill doesn't let you off easy, but the view isworth the effort. Even more improvements tocome! Thanks to Keith Blanchard, steward of thesetrails, for leading the ride and creating a place forall riders to explore.

Women's Rides

In addition to the regular Rose Bike/PR NEMBArides which were steady all summer—with newriders joining throughout—the women of PRNEMBA created rides on all days and terrain, tokeep each other inspired and riding. The latestWomen's Ride Impromptu landed in the BangorCity Forest, with Deb Merrill leading a group alongthe old East-West trail. Riders took turns showingeach other the finer points of rolling rocks anddrops. A great way to celebrate fall!

Katahdin Woods & Water National Monument

PR NEMBA is lucky to be a stone's throw from thenewly minted Katahdin Woods and WatersNational Monument. The lands contain 87,563acres of mountains and wilderness in the NorthMaine Woods. Several PR members spent time thissummer exploring the lands and scouting outroutes and trails. In mid-September, Harland Haseyled a group of 8 on a 24-mile jaunt along packedgravel roads, doubletrack, and some sweet singletrack. Turns revealed stunning views of Katahdinacross hills and still ponds.

Community ConnectionsWorking With Trusts: In mid-September, PRNEMBA members Aaron Brasslett, EmmyMonahan, Abe Furth and Jim Wilson presented tothe full board of the Bangor Land Trust. After

offering some background on PR NEMBA, thegroup offered ways the two organizations can col-laborate to maintain and preserve access to trailsthat both recognize as valuable resources for theregion.

UM Speaking to the Future

On October 3, Deb Merrill met with Keith Kanoti,University of Maine forest manager, instructor KrisHoffman and UMO students from a land use/issuesclass at Rick's Trails. The group discussed howlandowners, users and regulators can work togeth-er to manage for multiple uses and needs.

UpcomingsThe 6th Annual Rudnicki Ride takes place onSunday, October 30 at the Farm. Be ready to roll at10 a.m. Barbecue and other fun to follow.

Wrap up: Race Clinic Series by Brian Morra

Several strangers on mountain bikes sheepishly eyeone another as I roll up to the starting line. Asusual I'm running about 10 minutes late but Iwon't be the last there by a long shot.

One by one, familiar faces trickle out of the forest.A few tired looking graduate students, whom I'vebullied into coming to race, introduce themselves.Our timing team, Sarah and Craig, stroll out intothe clearing and start distributing numbered paperplates with sparkly pipe cleaners to keep track ofthe laps each racer has done. We are about 30minutes behind schedule by the time everyone hastheir number plate attached and begins to sauntertowards a starting line drawn out in flour.

As we are getting ready to start I hear the recog-nizable cacophony of Erik and a bike trailer full ofchildren. Still short of breath, he detaches the pre-cious cargo from his carbon fiber race bike, unpacksa dinner for his kids and takes a spot at the back ofthe group. With that, the Race Clinic exploded offthe line for one hour of punishing laps.

This was the chaotic start to most Thursday nightraces. After nine weeks of gathering to beat up oneach other, it began to feel a little like GroundhogDay. In total, around 50 people came out for atleast one race. Little things changed like Craig'sexcuses to not race or what part of Erik's bikewould break, but the core ingredients rarelychanged. The recipe for such a successful summerrace series consisted of good friends, smiles,mountain bikes and just a dash of pain.

Thanks everyone who came out to race, spectate,help time and let me win each week. Stay tunednext year for another installment of the Race ClinicSeries.

—Michele Yade Benoit

America’s newest National Monument is in ourbackyard! PR NEMBA, along with our other chap-ters in Maine, has submitted a letter urging thatmountain bike trails be developed at the Katahdin

Woods & Water Natonal Monumment.Photo by Harland Hasey

M A I N E

PenobscotRegionPresident: Aaron Brasslett,

[email protected]: Debra MerrillSecretary: Michele BenoitFacebook: PRNEMBAWebsite: pr.nemba.org

Ride to honor the memory of Rick Swan, the trailbuilder and visionary at Perch Pond.Photo by Deb Merrill

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Things are percolatingdown on Old Cape Codbefore the winter's freezesets in.

Our First KonaBicycles MTBAdventure Ride atCamp LyndonYMCA, November 6We're hoping for a bigturnout on our first everMBAS ride so please cometo the event and bring your friends!

To get the trails ready we've been engaged in a lotof trail work at the Trail of Tears. As part of that wewere assisted by Xtopher Whyte and 17 Tabor

Academy teens on a community service project.Splitting into three groups we did a lot of trailtrimming. Thanks Tabor! You're the best!!!

Jason Catania and Perry Ermi worked hard to layout the best routes possible for all levels of theride. A number of CC NEMBA members areinvolved in marking the trails, front running thearrows and then, after the event, removing them.

We wish to thank out hosts at the YMCA's CampLyndon. And we're looking forward to an even big-ger event next year.

The Last Gasp: Cape Cod CharitableFundraiser, though not a mountain bike ride, had 8CC NEMBA members raising well over $7000 forthe Hope Hospice.

This winter we plan to take advantage of the Cape's

usually snow and ice free conditions to do a hostof trail care projects. Not only at the Trail of Tearsbut all around Cape Cod.

2016 was a big year on the CapeIn the spring we hosted the Northeast MountainBike Ride & Advocacy Summit, and we finishedwith the MBAS ride. But, that only scratched thesurface of what went on. Our weekly ride series,(still ongoing), saw over 400 rides. These rideswhich were all mentioned on our Facebook andweb pages, normally have 5 to 50 participants.They happen all over the Cape and best of all, areled by the local resident trail gurus. Most weeksthere are 6-7 rides to choose from. Frequently join-ing CC NEMBA on these rides are off Cape vaca-

tioners. We really enjoy showing off what we con-sider to be some of the best trails in New England.

We're all looking forward to fat biking in the snowthis winter. Assuming we get any. But even if wedon't, we'll be making use of advantageous tides toget in a lot of beach riding. There's somethingabout an abandoned beach in the winter. Maybeit's the solitude, or maybe it's the cold. But, it's alot different from riding the same beach in thesummer. Especially when it's snowing.

In our next SingleTracks article we will focus onCape Cod NEMBA's bicycle dealers and what theyare doing for mountain biking on Cape Cod.

—Mike Dube

Tabor Academy community service day at TOT

The last gasp Team Hospice

Perry Irmi and Jason Catania planning out routesfor the MBAS ride

M A S S A C H U S E T T S

Cape CodPresident: Michael Dube, dubati@com-

cast.netVice President: Perry ErmiTreasurer: Paul RichardsSecretary: Kris ErmiFacebook Group: “Cape Cod NEMBA

Group”Yahoogroup:

[email protected]

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26 |November 2016 Ride the Trails

HO….HO….HO!!!OK, it’s no where nearXmas, but my head isalready spinning at themere thought of the holidayseason, but it IS knocking atour door (And I'm suresome are even done withtheir shopping)! While theinternet has made shoppingsimplistic for men (I mean,we can accomplish one of our hardest tasks in ourunderwear, while in bed, and we don't even needto leave the house. Is it possible to get any easi-er?!?!?), I want to give a healthy reminder to every-one this year to support their local shops. Yes, youmight be able to save a few bucks by shopping

online, but will Amazon be there for you when youhave a flat? Need a quick adjustment? Need soundexpert advice? NOOOOOO! Our local shops havebeen there all year supporting our weekly guidedrides, feeding us after grueling group rides and set-ting up demos with some of the top manufacturersso that we can decide how to wisely spend ournext spare $2,000! Our riding experience justwould not be the same without them. Join me thisyear in supporting those who support us. And,

remember, these guys have just as much passionabout riding as we do (and they're usually ridingright alongside us as well)!

Toys for Tots RideFor the second year in a row, we will be combining

our Toys for Tots Ride with the Kids Ride finale atThe Middlesex Fells for a fun ride on the weekendfollowing Thanksgiving. Last year we had dozensof riders of all ages join together to work off someof those holiday pounds all while helping someless-fortunate children experience the joys of theholiday season. This year, we're hoping to have aneven larger crowd of riders hell-bent on holdingonto the riding season followed by playful remi-niscing of the season around a fire outback of theBotume House. Stay tuned for final details for thisyear's event!

Weekend Group RidesEven though our weeknight PYT, Beginner andSocial Ride season is over, we all still enjoy eachother's company and most (if not all) plan to ridethroughout the fall (and winter if you have a fat-tie). If you have strong interest in "getting theband back together" and want to LEAD a ride in atrail system near you, let us know! Just provide usthe specific date, time and location, and we'll sendit out to the greater masses through our usualchannels.

Upcoming EventsHere are a few events you'll want to mark on yourcalendar in the coming weeks:

Wicked Ride of the East - 10/30, Harold ParkerState Forest

Toys for Tots Ride - Thanksgiving Weekend(details coming), Middlesex Fells (Botume House)

—Gregory Jones

Trail Rehab at the Burlington Landlocked Forest. Photo by Adam Glick

Rob Auffrey and Jonathan Kranes on the GBNEMBA Thursday ride. Photo by PK

M A S S A C H U S E T T S

Greater BostonPresident: Adam Glick,

[email protected] , 781-354-7845

VPs: Maciej Sobieszek and Rick Forzese

Secretary: Greg JonesTreasurer: Bill Cohn

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

KeepSingletrack

Single!The number of stravalines and blown out

trails at the LandlockedForest is getting out of

hand.Ride the line, don’t

blowout the trails, anddon’t cut corners.

A Trail is a Terriblething to Waste!

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The transition from summerto fall is welcomed by manyon Boston's north shorebecause it means that theWicked Ride of the East isright around the corner! TheWRE has been NSNEMBA'ssignature event for the past15 years and this year's edi-tion promises to be the bestyet. Highlights of this year'sevent include: led rides forall ability levels, new WRE Merchandise includingsocks and T-Shirts and plenty of food, especiallyLee's famous chili. If you’re a woman rider lookingto improve your skills, don’t forget to pre-registerwith Karen Eagan for the Ride Like a Girl Clinic.Also, area bike shops will also be on hand offeringdemo bikes, on the spot service and sage advice onyour next bike purchase. This year's event will takeplace at the campground in Harold Parker SF inAndover, MA from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM on Oct 30.Come to ride some of the best singletrack in NewEngland and hang out and enjoy the vibe at theevent venue in the campground. This year marksthe 100th anniversary of HPSF so come celebrateat the WRE!

NSNEMBA's summer chapter meeting took place atAndy Sherman's house in Andover, MA on Aug 18.The chapter is grateful to Andy for hosting theevent which was very well attended. Before themeeting a mtb ride at Harold Parker SF took place,led by Frank Lane (see photo). On Sep 17, NSNEM-BA built a new bridge in Georgetown-Rowley SF(see photo) on the Bay Circuit Trail near the MillRiver Bridge that went in last fall. A trail projectalso took place at Ward Reservation in NorthAndover on Oct 1 focusing on the Sanborn Trail.

Frank Lane and Hank Kells attended the NEMBABoard of Directors Meeting at Carrabassett Valley,ME the first weekend in October. It was a very pro-ductive weekend in terms of planning NEMBA'sfuture growth and provided an opportunity toexplore the trail network at Maine Huts and Trailsand the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center.

The WRE dominates NSNEMBA members'thoughts and plans for the month of October butwe also have Frank Lane's Big Ride to look forwardto in November and the final chapter meeting ofthe year in early December. Many folks agree thatthe fall is the best time of year for mountain bikingso get out and enjoy the local trails.

—Hank Kells

NSNEMBA Bridge Project at Ward Reservation, Andover, MA. Photo by Karen Whittier.

Chapter Ride at Harold Parker State Forest. Photo by Hank Kells

North ShorePresident: Frank Lane

president@ns nemba.org,857-265-4756 Vice-President: Tom GreeneTreasurer: Debi Merloni Secretary: Hank KellsBOD Reps: Frank Lane & Hank KellsWicked Ride Chair: Frank Ming & Steve

CharretteEmail List: mtb-

[email protected]: Scott Merloni

www.ns nemba.org

Be Afraid.Be very afraid!

October 30th

M A S S A C H U S E T T S

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28 |November 2016 Ride the Trails

Now that the hot weatherpresumably has gone by,the big races are done, thefall fun season is upon usand we have a full scheduleof events coming up.

Blue Hills Trail BuildReal soon is the Buck HillReroute, on November 6th.This will provide us a differ-ent way down (or up) ,instead of up and down thesame trail. As much fun as it is, the Buck HillSummit trail has seen plenty of use, and a new trailwill help alleviate some of the wear and tear on theold one. The reroute will mimic the Summit trail inall of its snaky goodness, and add fun mileage toyour ride.

THE BEST PART is that the reroute is using part ofa 'no-bike' descent that more than few bikers havebeen known to use, and now it will be officiallyopen for use by everyone !! So yes, we are actuallyGAINING a TRAIL! Designed and built by US !!We will need ALL HANDS ON DECK on November6th, in order to get it done that day. Some prelimwork has already been done, but there will beALOT still to do, brushing, duffing, sculpting,tamping, and fine-tuning your lines, so come helpbuild YOUR trail ! This is an historical opportunity!With enough help, we will complete and RIDE itthat day!

You will be fed lunch, up on the very scenic gran-ite cap of Buck Hill. Save the date: Sunday,November 6th, 9am until ?

Foxboro Turkey Burner RideNext event after that will be the Foxboro TurkeyAfterBurner Ride and Brunch, scheduled forSunday November 27th. This event came aboutwith the untimely death of Dan Ibbitson ofSheldonville, who was a key NEMBA player inmaintaining trails in Foxboro and Wrentham( andbuilding and maintaining local's bikes at his ownSheldonville Bicycle...), so it's only fitting to ride inhis honor that day. And you will be fed a free

amazing brunch! ( we WILLbe looking for riders whoknow the park enough tolead small groups, as well askitchen/service help!, socontact myself or DaveFarrell to sign up. )

Wompatuck Toy RideTo kickoff off the holidayseason, the following week,SEMass NEMBA , with thehelp of Friends ofWompatuck, will host theAnnual Holiday Toys Ride onDecember 11th. Bring a toyfor a child in need (especial-ly 11-16 year olds), we willcollect and deliver toInterfaith Social Services inQuincy, for distribution allover the South Shore. Wewill have led rides starting at8 am, from the WompyVisitor Center .

We will again need ride lead-ers—if you know the parkand want to show off yourfavorite loops, please lookme or Dave Farrell up so wecan have a good variedschedule of rides and levels.

The Thursday Morning BlueHills ( Retiree in training,Slacker, Alternative WorkSchedule, Hell, Hooky,insert whatever type of ride you would like it tobe...) Ride will continue as a ride through winter aslong as we have a rideable surface. With lots ofsnow, it will be a snowshoe hike.

In recent news, Friends of Wompatuck has a per-mit in with DCR to build a pumptrack, and a play-ground, right next to the Visitor Center parking lot!The initial phase included the hiring of a herd ofgoats (4) to chomp down the vegetation in orderfor the planners to be able to see the layoutenough to produce a CAD design. Dirt will betrucked in and sculpted into an awesome, sustain-able track, accessible to riders of all ages! This is allbeing professionally done, designed and overseen

by FOW's own Mark and Vicki Schow. You've seenthem before-Bike Barn kits, racing a tandem moun-tain bike, with two up-and-coming racers rightbehind them….

The playground will be less of the typical swingsetsin favor of an obstacle-type fun area.

If you ride Wompy, consider supporting FOW atfriendsofwompatuck.org

That's all the news, that fits!

—Steve Cobble

M A S S A C H U S E T T S

SE MassPresident: Steve Cobble,

[email protected], 781-254-8796Treasurer: Rich Higgins VPs:Ames Nowell: Malcolm NeilsonBlue Hills: Steve Cobble (open position)Borderland: Rich HigginsBraintree Town: John DohertyCutler Park: Chip Baker Foxboro/Wrentham: Brad ChildsMassasoit: John BaileySE MA Bioreserve: Jason BerubeWompatuck: Dave FarrellSecretary: Dave RidingFacebook: “SE MA NEMBA”

Thursday Blue Hills Riders. Photo by Steve Cobble

New Trail Crew at Wompatuck. They love to eat invasives!Photo by Steve Cobble

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Leominster SF Kona MBAS Ride andBeyondWe had 75 brave soulsshow up for the MBASride. Belmont Wheelworkswas on hand with a fleet ofdemo bikes and TomtenBiketown was present withwrenches in hand for thoselast minute repairs.

We had beginner, interme-diate and advanced levelrides as well as a kids ride.

For a gray and dreary day the conditions were sur-prisingly good. Not too much "green ice" to con-tend with.

One of the riders in the advanced group comment-ed that compared to some of the other MBASadvanced led rides ours was the most "advanced"both in pace and terrain that he's done. That mademy day.

Looking forward to fall and early winter we'll havea Turkey Burner ride and a Toy ride, both to be heldin Groton. The toy ride in particular has turnedinto a pretty fun techy ride with some beers andlaughs afterwards.

—Dave Burnham

Welp, another fantastic Kona Mountain BikeAdventure Ride in the history books here atLeominster State Forest. As usual, Mother Natureprovided plenty of grease for the vast amount ofrocks and roots at LSF in the form of a morningrainstorm. We had about 75 brave souls come outand navigate either the core 12 mile loop or theover 20 mile "Hero" loop. A huge thanks to thegroup ride leaders, including Mike Nogueira andScott Moroney for the intermediate ride, andCaptain Dave Burnham for the advanced group.We also had the pleasure of having a group-led ridefor the kids, courtesy of Erin VanTuyl, and MikeSpanner. It's always fun to show new riders thebest routes and stop on occasion for a quick skillschallenge as well.

We likewise had the pleasure of having a fleet ofDemo bikes at our disposal courtesy of BelmontWheelworks with Len Meserve at the helm. Whata selection he had for us, including many plussized Specialized and Santa Cruz models.

A final thanks to the many NEMBA crew, includingMaureen Bonetti for volunteering her time at the

registration table, and last but not least all the rid-ers who came out to enjoy and endure the finestLSF has to offer. Let's hope for some sun next timearound!

—Jeff Ardinger & Scott Moroney

Rutland Town TrailsLocal Wachusett NEMBA member, science teacher,and head coach of the Central Tree (Middle School)Mountain Biking team Chris Stark has led the wayfrom proposal to approval to initial construction ofa small singletrack trail network on land owned bythe Town of Rutland abutting his school. The goalis to create a 5 mile cross country trail runningloop and sufficient singletrack trails to help con-tinue to develop trail work and trail riding experi-ence among the many students, over 400 so far,who have gone through Chris' team program. Thisis in direct response to the massive trail closuresexperienced in the nearby Ware River Watershed,trails that the students rode to and from school foryears, that are now unavailable.

Ware River Watershed (WRW)NEMBA continues to apply pressure to state DCRand EEA staff to reverse the senseless closure ofnow nearly all trails in the WRW and alsoWachusett Reservoir Watersheds. Most trail clo-sures now target all trail users, no longer just bicy-cles. Long standing trails authorized to hikers andhorses are suddenly unauthorized to everyone,with no public process at all reviewing the change.The public is being told by DCR-DWSP staff toblame the mountain bikers for this outcome.Finally, a number of local riders have received tick-ets for being spotted by hidden trail cameras onWRW trails.

Worse, the DCR and EEA offices are currently fac-ing a number of scandals that are destracting fromtheir ability to make progress on issues includingours. First, the DCR Commissioner and DeputyCommissioner were found using state money, staff,

and resources to plan and host a private party atthe Charles River Esplanade. Next, the EEA wasaccused of threatening and mistreating a staffmember when her fiancé ran for office against aRepublican incumbent. And finally, the DCRDeputy Commissioner recently resigned after usinghis state vehicle's emergency lights and siren toquickly navigate rush hour traffic jams.

In summary, the unfortunate vendetta against allcentral Massachusetts trail recreationists, espe-cially mountain bikers, continues unabated. Thereis no rational explanation for any of this and in factthere is much evidence that the DCR-DWSP hasgrossly exaggerated the scope of the issue, includ-ing propagating outright lies, yet no one in powerhas taken visible steps to reverse it.

We ask that if sustainable recreation on trails closeto home is important to you, you please write yourstate senator and representative(s) with your feel-ings about this issue. If we only shrug our shoul-ders in sad acceptance of this outcome, then noth-ing will change.

Treasure Valley Rally (TVR)The ninth annual TVR went off splendidly on abeautiful August 28th. We changed up the coursedirection this year and got only positive feedbackabout it. There were a few bee stings but otherwiseeveryone fared well. Some of the Elite level racersconsider this event the mountain bike provinggrounds in New England. We are happy to obligeriders' thirst for technical trails, climbs, and stillplenty of fun and flow. Judging by the crowd in thelake afterwards, people love the beach for post-race refreshment too. Thanks to all our sponsors:UniBank, Bikeman.com/Carver Bikes, Shimano,Cove Insurance Agency, Losapio Law Office, ScottNelson cartoon and illustration service, Milford495 Rental, Fritz's Bicycle Shop, FloodsAutomotive, and Landry's Bicycles.

—Brett Russ

M A S S A C H U S E T T S

The Singlespeed Podium of the Treasuer Valley Race with NEMBA racer, Joseph Re, coming in third, andmember, Jake Berry, coming in 1st.

WachusettPresident: Dave Burnham, tattoodav-

[email protected], 978-852-4962Secretary: Brett RussTreasurer: Fred MeyerColdbrook Springs: Brett RussMidstate Trail: Don SeifertNashoba Trails: Dave BurnhamPetersham Trails: Alf BerryFacebook: “Wachusett NEMBA”Webpage: www.nemba.org/wachnemba

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Summer riding conditionsare slowly transitioning intofall. As I write this theleaves have yet to drop, butby the time you read this thetrails will be covered.

The Tuesday night chapterrides have ended, as well asboth the Wednesday andThursday night AdvancedCyclist rides. Advanced Cyclist will be doing aSunday afternoon ride at 4:30 until there is plentyof snow. Then they will switch to a 9AM Sundaymorning ride. Watch their website and Facebookpage for details, or stop in the shop.

The chapter will likely start a Sunday morning ridevery soon (9:30?), and then likely integrate withthe Advanced ride when they switch to mornings.Watch for announcements in all the usual spots.

This year's TNR was pretty consistently attended.Thanks to all that came out. We rotated throughthe usual Keene ride locations, and mixed it upevery few weeks with a couple trips to STAB,Brattleboro, and a few other locations. These ridesare a great opportunity to see some new trails youmay not know about (or are brand new even), meetsome great riding partners, and show your supportfor the chapter. If you are interested in gettinginvolved with leading a ride next year see MikeD.We'd love to have a Ladies ride or a family/begin-ner ride on the calendar.

If you have time you should try to get out and sup-port the Monadnock Cycling Club at their annualKeene Pumpkin CX race (the club's main fundrais-er). This year's date is Sunday Oct 23rd. Get outand volunteer, race, or just spectate. I've heard ofthese beer "hand-ups"…

We will do some of the typical fall work days thisyear, mostly just tuning the trails up so they areready to roll when the snow melts in the spring.

The main fall event will be our annual Take a KidMTBing Day at Stonewall Farm in Keene onOctober 15th. After that the next big deal will beour 3rd annual Winter Social event, in lieu of theDecember chapter meeting. Stay tuned for detailson this great opportunity to socialize, talk bikes,and see what everyone looks like without a helmeton.

We are also in the planning stages for anothermovie night for 2017. The showing of UnReal atThe Colonial Theater back in March was a tremen-dous success. We are currently looking at film

options - drop MikeD a line if you have any ideasor suggestions. We are targeting the same latewinter/early spring timeframe again.

And lastly, I'll leave you with a poem by one of ouryounger members.

Mountain Biking, by Rowan Holmes, age 12

“I roll down the mountain. My heart poundingwith excitement. I swerve past roots. Glide over

rocks. I see dirt spitting behind me. My bike rollsover small drops. My shocks absorbing the contactlike a sponge. I hit jumps, it feels like I am flying.My wheels carving into berm turns. My smile fromear to ear. I couldn't be happier.”

—Mike Davern

Tuesday Nght Rides, Brattleboro TNR - Brattleboro VTPhotos by Mike Davern

Mike Hoefer applies his new skillsat Drummer Hill.

Gerard Kiernan checks out his fresh trail work in West Keene

N E W H A M P S H I R E / V T

Brattleboro-KeenePresident: Peter Poanessa,

[email protected] President: Josh ReynoldsSecretary: Mike DavernTreasurer: Peter SchraderEmail List:

[email protected] Email: [email protected]

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Elm BrookThe Chapter held a trail dayat Elm Brook Park on Augustto work on preparing thetrails for the 2017 Pedalingfor Payson event. The crewrerouted several stretches ofTufkat that were becomingeroded, rebuilt three bridges,and provided a lot of theother MTB trails in the park.

The trails in Elm Brook are in great shape. From thepleasantly technical Tufkat to the fast and flowyGateway trail, Elm Brook offers a variety of excel-lent riding.

P4PFor the third year, the Central N.H. chapter ofNEMBA helped include a mountain bike event inthe Concord Hospital Trust's annual "Pedaling forPayson" fundraising event. 2016 was the 11thyear for P4P, which helps patients undergoingtreatment at Concord Hospital with out of pocketexpenses. This year's event brought in more than$191,000 in donations, bringing the total raised toover $1,000,000.

The mountain bike course features three loopstotaling 25 miles, offering riders of all skill levels avariety of options including lots of the great singletrack at Elm Brook Park. As always, the eventincluded a "rest stop" at the Henniker BrewingCompany and a post-ride party featuring lots ofgreat food, good music and more beer.

Please consider joining us for the 2017 P4P event.

—Nick Holmes

Ahern State ParkThe Chapter had a trail work day at Ahern StatePark in Laconia on Sunday September 25 to re-route two existing trails and add a bridge oversome soggy ground.

The new routes for the Sunset and Connector Trailsadded approximately 3/4 of a mile of additionaltwisted and rolling singletrack trail available atAhern. The new routes are now being ridden butwill still be soft until enough wheels have been runto pack them in. At this location there is eitherledge or soft loam, not much of "mineral" soils towork with. There were approximately 80 labor

hours in this re-route just to establish the track.There are likely dozens more before it will be"tweaked" to perfection. In addition to opening upthe new trail mileage, a bridge was completed onthe Psycho trail, which had been half built in 2015.

A map of Ahern State Park is available on ourChapter web site, or at the NH State Parks site.

—Grant Drew

Team Bradstreet at the Pedaling for Payson Fundraiser. Photo by Jim Kalinski

The Lumberjack Crew: Chris Schroeder, Grant Drew, Barry Greenhalgh.Photo by Nick Holmes

N E W H A M P S H I R E

Central NHPresident: Grant Drew,

[email protected]: Matt BowserVP Franklin Falls: Mike GeldermannVP Hop-Ev: Nicholas HolmesVP Page Hill: Glenn CilleyVP Ahern: Grant DrewTreasurer: Barry GreenhalghPR Manager: Kevin OrlowskiBOD Reps: Kevin Orlowski, Jesse

McGowan

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N E W H A M P S H I R E

Northwest of the Notches,we too are enjoying the fineautumn weather while remi-niscing on what was a veryfine summer indeed forenjoying our beautiful terrainand spectacular vistas. Trailswere dry and firm all summerand our efforts to betterestablish our extensive net-work of trails throughFranconia-Easton-Sugar Hillcontinued at a steady pace.

Highlights of the summer included a fine LandOwners appreciation barbecue on the Dow stripand the 24th running of the Top Notch Triathlonthe first Saturday in August. That Race includes a6-mile on and offroad bike segment cycling fromthe Village of Franconia up to Franconia NotchState Park via the Lafayette trail network in theNational Forest, followed by a refreshing swim anda brisk amble to the summit of Cannon Mountain.

It's a family event and includes Iron man and teamcategories. Plans are already in the works for thebig 25th anniversary race in 2017. We would liketo see more young people competing, and being atriathlete is not necessary if one forms a team.

The Tuesday evening ride series originating mostoften out of the White Mountain Cycle shop iscontinuing though the fall. We look forward towelcoming Tom Giles of the White MountainNational Forest to our annual meeting in Octoberto hear his update on our ongoing collaborationwith NFS to better establish our NFS trails for thefuture. The trail bridging Cooley JerichoCommunity Forest to the 2,500 foot Cooley sum-mit and down the Jericho Trail (which is an old fireroad trail through the national forest) has been

linked and adventurous riders have been complet-ing the 6.5-mile transit in both north bound andsouth bound directions. It is a fabulous foliagetrail with outstanding views of the adjacent highpeaks to the east along the way.

A focus for the coming year will be to improve thebeginner-intermediate terrain both in theFranconia Village emanating from Fox Hill Park areaas well as the trails near the glider Port andFranconia Inn. We are also working on new sig-nage which will be also be a welcome addition tomany directionally challenged riders!

Happy Trails,

—Chris Nicodemus and Janel Lawton

FranconiaAreaPresident: Chris Nicodemus,

[email protected]

Vice President: Gardner Kellogg

Treasurer: Sandy Olney

Secretary: Eric Pospesil

Trails Chair: Gabe Boisseau

PR: Janel Lawton

At Large: Bob Lesmerises

Facebook: “Franconia Area NEMBA”

Some great photos from the Top Nothch Triathlon by Kim Cowles.

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Fall in New Hampshiremeans some of the best rid-ing of the year is upon us.We have enjoyed theunusually dry riding condi-tions that were a themehere in New England,remember the dust atKingdom Trails duringNEMBAFest?

For Pemi Valley NEMBA the coming of the coolertemperatures means we will be busy working onthe trails at Fox Park in comfortable bug free fall.We have been making great progress smoothingand refining this increasingly popular trail systemin the town of Plymouth. More bermed and cor-rectly radiused turns are appearing as we continueto create more flowing riding terrain in some beau-tiful forest within our town limits. We are seeingmore use than ever and it is always rewarding tosee families and novice riders enjoying these trailswe have put so much time into.

We are continuing to further develop our relation-ship with the Forest Service and things are movingforward in our effort to develop trails within theforest here in our region.

Many thanks to those in the USFS who are helpingus to refine proposals and meet their requirementsso hopefully in the near future we can get to workdeveloping trails to be enjoyed by locals and visi-tors to the White Mountains alike.

Pemi Valley NEMBA is also still putting a great dealof effort to work with the land managers responsi-ble for a great tract of conservation easementcalled Whitten Woods. This property is currentlya 500 acre parcel which will likely increase to atleast 700 acres. We were asked to attend planningmeetings for the future use of this property asmountain biking has been identified as one of theactivities that is underserved in this area.

This property will tie the towns of Ashland,Holderness and Plymouth together and includesstunning views of the Squam lakes area. We areoptimistic that we can move plans forward to cre-ate an amazing riding location in the scenic LakesRegion.

After a final work day was spent refining thePlymouth Pump Track we can now be proud tohave a fully functioning figure 8 pump track righthere in our town. It shares the same property asPlymouth Skate Park so next time you are inPlymouth bring the family by for some skating andcycling.

I was there last evening and there were a large

group of teens ripping it up on the Track as well assome very young future bikers playing with theirparents.

Keep your tires pumped up and get out and enjoythe fine fall riding! Make sure to set aside the datesfor 2017 NEMBAfest as that was one of the most

fun mountain bike events I have ever had thepleasure of attending.

—Slade Warner

N E W H A M P S H I R E

Pemi ValleyPresident: Slade Warner

Vice-President: Jay HarringtonTreasurer: Sean O’LearyBOD Rep: Jeremy HillgerFacebook: Pemi Valley NEMBA

Jay, Nate, Sean and Tom building a bridge at one of the first Fox Park trail days. Photo by Jeremy Hillger

Greg DiSanto has also created a new Trail Map for Fox Park. Check out the feature on Fox Park andPlymouth on page 11 of this SingleTracks!

Download the color version from nemba.org/trails

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34 |November 2016 Ride the Trails

The White MountainsChapter wrapped up abusy summer in the Mt.Washington Valley. Wehave some exciting proj-ects in the planning fornext year.

Flatbread Fundraiser -Another successful fund-raiser was done at theFlatbread Company's

North Conway location. We are grateful for all thedonations to the silent auction and to those whocame to buy pizza. This is our biggest incomeevent and helps us buy much-needed tools andmaterials. Thanks to Jean Lee for coordinating andeveryone who helped out!

North Conway Library Bike for Books Ride - Thisyear's B4B ride stayed entirely on the east side ofNorth Conway and encompassed the entire east-ern network - from Red Tail Trail to Twilight Zone,a huge ride for those who did the full pull. Kudosto Eastside Bike Guides Chris Krug and MollySavard who single-handedly mapped out andsigned the entire route - great job!! Proceeds fromthe event went to the North Conway PublicLibrary.

We celebrated our 16th annual Trail BuildingWeekend at the end of July, with close to 40 peo-ple building berms and creating new trail in theMarshall Conservation Area, then riding andsocializing the rest of the weekend. Sally Brassill,Amber Katzoff McGowan & their helpers puttogether an excellent barbecue, Sea Dog Brewing

and J-Town Deli provided yummy food at cost, andMoat Mountain Smoke House and BrewingCompany donated a couple kegs of delicious bev-erages. We really appreciate their support. Andthanks to ALL the volunteers who showed up tohelp!

At our first trail building weekend 15 years ago,the White Mountains Chapter kicked off construc-tion of the classic Red Tail Trail in Conway's"Common Lands" off Hurricane Mountain Road.The Trail roughly parallels Hurricane MountainRoad and joins the popular Cranmore Connectortrail just below its intersection with the Black CapTrail. Now, a few local riders, who were 10-15years old when the trail was created, offered to dosome remodeling and the first phase was just com-pleted. What used to be a flat rut through the oldlog landing is now an impressive series of bermsand tabletops. Huge thanks go out to LucyHardware & Rental, who provided an excavator atno cost, Chris Lewando for his layout and incredi-ble expertise with the machine, and to Alex Leich,Amanda Tulip, Josh Laskin and Tom Chingas (&anyone I've missed) for the fine finish work. Fearnot, the old school charm of the Red Tail is not

diminished in any way with this new school inser-tion. It is an amazing piece of work.

Also in the Hurricane Mountain Road CommonLands, the Conway Conservation Commission hasapproved the concept of a new expert-level techni-cal trail. Layout of this line is underway. WhiteMountains NEMBA also has proposed a machine-built flow trail in this area, which the commissionwill be considering at future meetings.

In the Marshall Conservation Area, the oldBoilermaker trail, which was mostly wiped out bylogging, has been resurrected and improved. Thetrail will be named in memory of Greg Muzerall, along time bike and ski mechanic who passed awaylast year. An extension to the Muzzy trail is slatedfor construction in 2017 and incorporates a coupleof granite quarries and a ridge with some huge old-growth trees.

Enjoy the fall, for fat biking in the snow will beupon us soon!

—Rob Adair

N E W H A M P S H I R E

The start of the new section of Red Tail Trail. More good stuff to come! Photo by Rob AdairEric Siefer easily clears the middle tabletop

WhiteMountainsPresident: Rob Adair,

[email protected], 603-496-5853

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

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Where did the month ofSeptember go? I hope every-one managed to get in abunch of great rides! By thetime this edition ofSingleTracks hits members’doorsteps, we should be atpeak foliage season here inlittle Rhody. I don't knowabout you, but this time ofyear is my personal favorite.The crispness in the air, thecolorful landscape, the added challenge of wetleaves and of course the famous Wicked Ride ofthe East! A bunch of us from Rhode Island head upto North Andover every year and it's always ablast.

It's very important to note that it's currently hunt-ing season at many of our popular local ridingareas. This includes Big River, Arcadia, the northside of Burlingame, and any other StateManagement Area. Hunting season runs from thesecond Saturday in September to the last day ofFebruary, and the third Saturday in April to the lastday in May. During this time at least 200 squareinches of solid, daylight fluorescent orange mustbe worn by everyone. A helmet cover or a vestmeets this requirement. During Shotgun season(December 5th to December 20th and December26th to January 3rd) 500 square inches of orangemust be worn. A helmet cover AND a vest meetsthis requirement. Helmet covers can be purchasedat your favorite local bike shop and vests can befound anywhere that sells hunting equipment.We get a lot of questions regarding hunting seasonso hopefully this helped answer some of thosequestions.

Earlier this month on September 10th, we held ourannual RI NEMBA Arcadia Fun Ride. We hadanother great turnout this year and everyone had agreat time! Thank you to all the volunteers who

helped out that weekend to make this another suc-cessful event. It truly wouldn't be able to happenwithout you so thank you on behalf of everyonewho attended! Speaking of Fun Rides, our annualLincoln Woods Fun Ride/Food Drive will be takingplace this year on Sunday, November 20th! Fordetails, check out the NEMBA events page atwww.NEMBA.org/events.

Have you attended a RI NEMBA chapter meetingyet? If the answer is no, we encourage you to joinus! Our meetings are open to everyone and wewant you to get involved! We meet the firstTuesday of every month at 7:00pm at Doherty'sAle House in Warwick in the Gansett Room. Seeyou there!

Pretty soon the snow will be flying and we'll bebreaking out the winter riding gear. In the mean-time, enjoy the mild weather and beautiful scenery,and ALWAYS find an excuse to ride!

See you out on the trails,

—John Sumner

R H O D E I S L A N D

Rhode IslandPresident: John Sumner,

[email protected]

VP Arcadia: Bart Angelo

VP Big River: Alan Winsor

VP Burlingame: Lennon Schroeder

VP Diamond Hill: Michael LeBlanc

VP Lincoln Woods: Brendan Dee

VP Prudence Island: Peter Gengler

VP Washington SF: Adam Brule

Treasurer: Kerry Angelo

Secretary: Lauren Hoard

NEMBA BOD Rep: Matt Schulde

NEMBA BOD Rep: Peter Gengler

Email List: [email protected]

Websie: RINEMBA.org

Facebook: RI NEMBA

Webpage: www.nemba.org/rinemba

Luke Mello showing us how it's done! Photos by John Sumner

Arcadia Fun Ride volunteers. Thank you all!

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36 |November 2016 Ride the Trails

Special Events

10/30 Kona Mountain Bike Adventure Series Ride @ Harold Parker SF All Andover, MA

11/6 Kona Mountain Bike Adventure Series Ride @ The Trail of Tears All Barnstable, Ma

Central, Wachusett & Western Mass

Sundays Wachusett NEMBA Leominster SF Ride Intermediate Jim Wrightson [email protected] 978-852-4800

10/22 Charlemont Trails / Thunder Mountain Boo Fest All Charlemont Harold Green [email protected]

Connecticut

Sundays Quiet Corner Weekend Warrior Ride Inter-Adv Stacey [email protected] 860-230-1237

Alt Sat Central CT NEMBA Faturday Ride Intermediate-Advanced Glenn Vernes [email protected] (TBD)

Saturdays Central CT NEMBA Branford Supply Ponds Ride Beginner-Inter Marc Otfinoski [email protected]

10/29 Central CT NEMBA Halloween Ride All Lisa Maloney [email protected] Durham

Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont

Sundays PR NEMBA Ride All Emmy Monahan [email protected]

Sundays BK NEMBA Sunday Evening, Keene Inter-Adv. Matteo Ciccone [email protected] 603-354-3038

Tuesdays SNH NEMBA Novice Ride Chris Gaudet [email protected] Nashua, NH

Wed CeMeNEMBA Ride Intermediate Brian Alexander [email protected] 207-441-8227 (TBD)

Metro Boston, Merrimack & North Shore

Tuesdays MV NEMBA Ride at Russell Mill All David Zizza [email protected] 617-543-3971 Chelmsford

Tuesdays MV NEMBA Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro SF Ride Advanced Intermediate Barry Moore [email protected]

Thursday MV NEMBA Thursday Ride All David Zizza [email protected] 617-543-3971 Carlisle

Fridays MV NEMBA Friday Ride Advanced Intermediate Marty Engel [email protected] Chelmsford

Saturdays MV NEMBA Northeast MA Ride All David Zizza [email protected] 617-543-3971 (TBD)

NEMBA rides are led by individual NEMBA members for other members and prospective members. So if you haven't yet joined NEMBA, pleasedo. Rides are usually for small numbers of people and vary with the location and the personal style of the host. Rides have been known tochange location or time at the last moment. So be sure to contact the ride's leader, 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 takes place. 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 rides will stay manageable and will be enjoyable for everyone. Helmets arerequired on all NEMBA rides. Contact your ride's leader if the weather looks questionable.

HEY! - Why not lead a NEMBA ride yourself? Contact Bill Boles at 508-583-0067 or [email protected] for more information.

NEMBA Rides

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Sat & Sun GB NEMBA Weekend Rides All (Locations Varies)

1st Monday Greater Boston NEMBA Chapter Meeting All Adam Glick [email protected]

10/30 Kona Mountain Bike Adventure Series Ride @ Harold Parker SF All Andover, MA

Southeastern Mass. Blackstone Valley & Rhode Island

Sundays SE MASS NEMBA Intermediate Level Ride Intermediate Corey French [email protected] (TBD)

Sundays RI NEMBA Arcadia Ride Intermediate John Sumner [email protected]

Mondays Blackstone Valley NEMBA Monday Ride Series All Eammon Carleton [email protected] (TBD)

Tuesdays SE MASS NEMBA Foxboro Mellow Ride All Iain Crerar [email protected]

Weds Cape Cod NEMBA ToT Wednesday Ride All Mike Dube [email protected] MarstonsMills

Weds RI NEMBA Lincoln Woods Ride

Thursdays SE MASS NEMBA Thursday Foxboro Ride Intermediate Iain Crerar [email protected]

Thursdays SE MA NEMBA Blue Hills Morning RideAll Steve Cobble [email protected] Milton, MA

Thursday's Brian & Kara's Thursday BV NEMBA Hopkinton Ride Adv-Novice-Inter. Brian Forestal

[email protected] Hopkinton

Fridays Cape Cod NEMBA Friday ToT Ride All Mike Dube [email protected] MarstonsMills

Saturdays SE MASS NEMBA Wompatuck Ride Novice-Advanced Richard Banks [email protected]

Saturdays Cape Cod NEMBA Saturday Mellow RideAll Bill Boles [email protected] (TBD)

11/6 Kona Mountain Bike Adventure Series Ride @ The Trail of Tears All Michael Dube [email protected]

NEMBA Wool SocksThese are top of the line custom wool socks from Sock Guy They feature a padded terry cloth footbed, 6-inch high cuff and Sock Guy’s Wooliganbuild made with 75% TURBOwool, a superior blend of 50% polypropylene and 50%Merino wool, which provides five times the strength and durability of Merino woolalone. Shrink-resistant and itch-free.

Choose between Small/Medium (Sized 5-9) and Large/X-Large (9-13)

$14

Available Online— www.nemba.org/shopzone

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38 |November 2016 Ride the Trails

S.O.S.: Support Our Sponsors!$1000+Ace Wheelworks, Somerville MABelmont Wheelworks, Belmont MABikebarn, Whitman MALandry’s Bicycles, Natick MAKona Bicycles, Fernsdale WARedbones BBQ, Somerville MAThe Bikeway Source, Bedford MA

$500Blackstone Bicycles, Cumberland RICannondale Sports Unlimited, Cambridge MACannondale Sports Unlimited, Natick MACorner Cycle, Falmouth MAHub Bicycle Company, Cambridge MAJRA Cycles, Medford MA

$200+Bikes & Life, Worcester MABuchika’s Ski & Bike, Salem NHColonial Bicycle Portsmouth, Portsmouth NHColonial Bicycle Salem, Salem NHGamache & Lessard Co., Auburn MEGorham Bike & Ski, Portland MELikin Bikin Bicycle Shop, Amhert NHMavic USA, Haverill MAQuad Cycles, Arlington MARidgefield Bicycle Company, Ridgefield CTThe Bicycle Shop of Topsfield, Topsfield MAWashington Square Tavern, Brookline MA

$100Acadian Shop, Lenox MAAdvanced Cyclist, Keene NHAll Tuned Up, Ashburnham MAAmity Bicycle, Woodbridge CTBarker Mountain Bikes, Bethel MEBicycle Link, S. Weymouth MABicycles Unlimited, Greenfield MABikezone Hyannis, Hyannis MABikezone Yarmouth, Yarmouth MABusytown Bikes, Lewiston MEC2 by Janeware, Somerville MACape Cod Cycling Club, Hyannis MACarrabassett Valley Bikes, Carrabassett ValleyCentral Maine Cycling Club, Vassalboro MEClif Bar, Emeryville CACycle Lodge, Pembroke MACycle Loft, Burlington MADowntown Putnam Cyclery, Putnam CTExeter Cycles, Exeter NHF.I.S Sports, Kingfield MEFales & Fales, PA, Lewiston MEFirefly Bicycles, Boston MAFriends of Wompatuck SP, Hingham MAGoodale’s Bike Shop, Concord NHGoodale’s Bike Shop, Hooksett NHGoodale’s Bike Shop, Nashual NHLittleton Bike, Littleton NHLOCO Cycling, Newmarket NHMaul's Bike Shop, Halifax MAMiso Partners, Waltham MAMt. Washington Resort, Bretton Woods NH

NBX Bikes, East Providence RINBX Bikes, Narragansett RINBX Bikes, Providence RINBX Bikes, Warwick RINew Canaan Bicycles, New Canaan CTNorm’s Bike & Ski Shop, Keene NHNortheast Race Management, Raynham MANorthern Lights, Farmington MEOnion River Sports, Montpelier VTOrleans Cycle, Orleans MA\Pedal Power, Middleton CTPedal Power Cycle, Portsmouth NHPedro’s, Chestnut Hill MAPlaine’s Bike Ski Snowboard, Pittsfield MARainbow Bicycle, Lewiston MERide Studio Cafe, Lexington MARose Bicycle, Orono MESancoucy Stone, Worcester MASeaside Cycles, Manchester MASki Rack Sports, Bangor MESlipping Gears Cycling, Bangor METop Notch Inn, Gorham NHUnion Cycle, Attleboro MAVelofix Boston, Boston MAWinterwoman Designs LLC, Nashua NH

$75D Acres of New Hampshire, Dorchester NHHighland Mountain Bike Park, Northfield NHSpeed & Sprocket Cycle Works, Holyoke MAStratham Parks & Recreation, Stratham NH

R i d e t h e T r a i l s ~ S a v e t h e T r a i l sSupport NEMBA to improve Your Ride!

Please support us with your Membershipwww.nemba.org

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Non-Profit OrganizationU.S. Postage

PaidPermit #148

Plattsburgh, NY

New England Mountain Bike AssociationPO Box 2221Acton MA 01720

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Kona Bicycles MTB Adventure Rides

10/30 Wicked Ride of the East, MA | 11/6 Trail of Tears, Cape Cod

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