Singletracks #91 May 2007
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Ride it like you mean it! SSingleingleTTrackrackSS MayMay 2007,2007, NumberNumber 9191 www.nemba.orgwww.nemba.org SSingleingleTTrackS NEMBA, the New England Mountain Bike May 2007, Number 91 Association, 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 these trails sensitively and responsibly. 29ers SingleTracks is published six times a year by the Fad or fantastic? What’s behind the new craze to ride New England Mountain Bike Association for bigger wheels? Maybe one should be in your quiver of the trail community. bikes! By Brendan Dee 12 ©SingleTracks Editor & Publisher: Philip Keyes 17 Contributing Writer: Jeff Cutler Copy Editor: Nanyee Keyes Executive Director: Philip Keyes Riding Gooseberry [email protected] NEMBA Mesa PO Box 2221 Acton MA 01720 A stone’s throw from Zion National Park, Gooseberry offers Moab-like slickroad with to-die-for vistas. By John Isch Voice 800.57.NEMBA Fax: 717-326-8243 [email protected] Board of Directors 22 Bear Brook and Case Tom Grimble, President Harold Green, Vice-President Anne Shepard, Treasurer Mountain Tina Williams, Secretary Looking for a couple of great places to explore? New Hampshires’ Bear Brook State Park and Connecticut’s Case Rob Adair, White Mountains NEMBA Norman Blanchette, MV NEMBA Mountain should be high on your list. Todd Bumen, Mt. Agamenticus NEMBA Bob Caporaso, CT NEMBA Jon Conti, White Mountains NEMBA Peter DeSantis, Seacoast NEMBA SingleTracks Hey, get creative! We wel- John Dudek, PV NEMBA come submissions, photos and artwork. This is Bob Giunta, Merrimack Valley NEMBA your forum and your magazine. Be nice, and Rich Higgins, SE MA NEMBA Paper Trail share! John Kibler, Maine NEMBA Rich Kordell, Blackstone Valley NEMBA Treadlines — 4 On the Cover: Sunset at Lynn Woods, pho- Steve LaFlame, Central NH NEMBA tographed by Kevin Kline, winner of this year’s Frank Lane, NS NEMBA Places to Ride — 22 Heather Linscott, Berkshire NEMBA NEMBA’s Annual Photo Contest. Check out the Tom McCrumm, Berkshire NEMBA SideTracks —25 gorgeous full color image at www.nemba.org. Scott Nixon, SC NH NEMBA Have a pic that would make a good cover shot? Chris Patrick, SE MA NEMBA Basic Biking —26 Joseph Re, Greater Boston NEMBA Email it to [email protected] Art Roti, CT NEMBA Fitness —27 Want to Advertise? Harry Rubin, SC NH NEMBA Chapter News —28 Matt Schulde, RI NEMBA SingleTracks offers inexpensive and targeted Dan Streeter, North Shore NEMBA NEMBA Rides —33 advertising which helps us defray the cost of Mike Tabaczynski, Greater Boston NEMBA producing this cool ‘zine. Call 800-57-NEMBA John Vosburg, Blackstone Valley NEMBA Events Calendar — 37 Calvin Weeks, Maine NEMBA or email [email protected] for our media kit. Support our Sponsors—38 Moving? Don’t miss an issue! Change your address online WWW.NEMBA.ORG at nemba.org or mail it into SingleTracks, PO Box 2221, Acton MA 01720 SingleTrackS No. 91 | 3 TREADLINES NEMBA Attends DC National Bike Summit Leo Corrigan, president of Rhode Island NEMBA, and Philip Keyes joined more than 430 cyclists from around the country for the League of American Bicyclists' National Bike Summit in Washington, DC. The National Bike Summit brings together stakeholders from user groups, industry, government, and elected officials from around the country to share their ideas, best practices and lobby Congress for more funding for all aspects of cycling. This year the League partnered with the International Mountain Bicycling Association to make the event more inclusive of mountain bike issues, and more than 50 mountain bike advocates took part in the event. It was a good first step to bring road and offroad cycling issues together in a unified voice to Congress, and the National Bike Summit is the most important opportunity we have to inform our sen- ators and representatives about the importance of bicycling as part of the solution to our nation's problems. As Ben Franklin quipped, if we don't hang together, we'll sure hang separately. With gas prices rising, the threat of global warming, the obesity epidemic, out-of- control urban sprawl and dwindling open space, bicycling in all its forms can be made a more integral part of the solution for short money. More than ever, Capitol Hill seems more receptive to the need to promote programs that support cycling in the areas of transportation, health, recreation, tourism, energy and the environment. While most Congressional meetings included both road and offroad advocates, Leo Corrigan had his work cut out for him - he was the only representative from Rhode Island and had to meet with his representatives and senators' staffers on his own. This is the fourth time NEMBA has walked the hallowed Despite being his first time on the Hill, Leo took it in stride and did a great job lob- halls of power in DC to represent the interests of moun- bying, and Philip Keyes was able to join him for the meeting with Patrick Kennedy’s tain biking on Capitol Hill 4 | May 2007 TREADLINES staffer. to protect our landscapes while still allowing for mus- On the Federal level, there cle-based recreation. were two central issues important to mountain bikers: Alternatives to Wilderness increased budget support for exist that are just as robust in the National Park Service's their protections, and we Rivers, Trails and Conserv- urged Congress to move away ation Assistance Program, and from Wilderness and use des- the issue of Wilderness as a ignations such as National tool for protecting wild places. Conservation Areas, National Each year, the National Park Scenic Areas, and National Services RTCA program helps Recreation Areas to preserve local partners protect 700 our nation's natural heritage. miles of rivers, creates more NEMBA may be a regional than 1,300 miles of trails, and organization, focused on pro- serves more than 61,000 acres tecting and promoting moun- of open space. Our message tain biking in New England, to Congress was to ask for yet we also have a responsi- increased funding of this high- bility to spread our message ly leveraged program. nationally and support Wilderness is a serious issue IMBA's national initiatives. for mountain bikers. Though it L > R: Jack Johnson (Landrys), David Watson (MassBike), Pete Collins (MassBike), Indeed, some of the key deci- accomplishes the worthy goal Tom Henry (Landrys) and Philip Keyes (NEMBA). Together we represented both sions that affect the future of of protecting Federal land from road and mountain bike advocacy, as well as the cycling industry our sport are in the hands of development, it also prohibits those that represent us in mountain biking forever. IMBA, NEMBA and groups from across the Congress, and NEMBA —and all of us— have an important role to country have worked with Wilderness proponents to find other ways play. SingleTrackS No. 91 | 5 ANNUAL MEETING Annual Elections of NEMBA’s Board of Directors NEMBA members are cordially invited to NEMBA's Annual Meeting and Election of our Board of Directors on April 29th at Wompatuck State Forest in Hingham, MA. You may join us for a mountain bike ride at 9:30am or just come to participate in the annual election at 12:30pm at the Ranger Station. NEMBA's chapters have nominated who will represent the chapter on NEMBA's Board as a primary voting member and as an alternate, and the current board of directors has ratified their nominations. Now it's time for NEMBA membership to vote. President: Harold Green Greater Boston NEMBA VP: Rob Adair Tim Post PV NEMBA White Mountains NEMBA Secretary: Tom Grimble Mike Tabaczynski (alternate) Harold Green Rob Adair Treasurer: Anne Shepard Liam O’Brien (alternate) Jon Conti (alternate) Maine NEMBA Berkshire NEMBA Calvin Weeks RI NEMBA At Large Heather Linscott Matt Schulde Tom Grimble Merrimack Valley NEMBA Bart Angelo Anne Shepard Blackstone Valley NEMBA Norman Blanchette Rich Kordell Bob Giunta (alternate) SE MA NEMBA John Vosburg (alternate) Rich Higgins MTA NEMBA Chris Patrick (alternate) CT NEMBA Todd Bumen Art Roti Southern NH NEMBA North Shore NEMBA Peter DeSantis Central NH NEMBA Dan Streeter Steve LaFlame Frank Lane (alternate) Wachusett NEMBA Louis Frechette (alternate) Jim Wrightson 1 6 | May 2007 TREADLINES NEMBA Awards Spring Round of Trail Grants The New England Mountain Bike Association is proud to announce SE MA NEMBA the recipients of the spring round of NEMBA Trail Grants. A grant of $500 will be used by SE MASS NEMBA to purchase pick We’ve been awarding trail grants for over 10 years. They are designed mattocks, contractor shovels and McLeods to replace tools that have to fund, or partially fund small trail projects or initiatives that would disappeared from the SE Mass NEMBA Tool Trailer. The tools will be otherwise not happen. NEMBA's Annual Trail Grant Raffle funds the used at all of the region's trail care sessions. grants. Tickets for the next raffle will be on sale later this year. Bay State Trail Riders, Douglas MA Danville Town Forest, Danville NH Bay State Trail Riders, an equestrian group, has been awarded $500 to An award of $120 will be used to build a bridge to "The Island" in the partially cover the design costs for replacing an old railroad bridge on Great Meadow. This bridge will complete a trail loop and will utilize the Southern New England Trunkline Trail. The SNETT, runs from an oak tree that was felled by beavers. The grant will be used to pur- Connecticut through Rhode Island and into Massachusetts. It is part chase bridge tread materials. of a major greenway system that extends into New Hampshire and is Wompatuck State Park, Hingham MA open to all non-motorized users.