Singletracks #123 September 2012
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ST201208 123.qxd 7/27/2012 1:02 PM Page 1 NEW ENGLAND MOUNTAIN BIKE ASSOCIATION Sept 2012 #123 www.nemba.org ST201208 123.qxd 7/27/2012 1:02 PM Page 2 ST201208 123.qxd 7/27/2012 1:02 PM Page 3 SSingleingleTTrackS NEMBA, the New England Mountain Bike September 2012, Number 123 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 NEMBAfest crowns 7 trails sensitively and responsibly. the Kingdom SingleTracks is published six times a year by the Hard to imagine a better weekend and a better event New England Mountain Bike Association for the trail community. - but we’re already looking to improve the NEMBAfest for 2013.wski ©SingleTracks Editor & Publisher: Philip Keyes Contributing Writers: Bill Boles, Jeff Cutler Cartoonist: Philippe Guillerm Copy Editor: Nanyee Keyes Executive Director: Philip Keyes [email protected] Pittsfield State NEMBA PO Box 2221 Forest Acton MA 01720 PSF is Western Massachusetts outdoor playground. Come ride some great singletracks and enjoy some 9 Board of Directors beautiful Berkshire scenery. By Brad Herder Harold Green, President Adam Glick, Vice-President Matt Schulde, Vice-President Anne Shepard, Treasurer 13 MTBing & Yoga Camp Harry Meyer, Secretary Riding your mountain bike and becoming one with the trail begins with waking your body. See how yoga and Rob Adair, White Mountains NEMBA Brian Alexander, CeMeNEMBA mountain biking come together in this weekend John Anders, Midcoast Maine NEMBA retreat. By Renee Gregoirewski John Barley, White Mountains NEMBA Matt Bowser, Central NH NEMBA Eammon Carleton, BV NEMBA Matt Caron, Southern NH NEMBA Steve Cobble, SE MA NEMBA Paper Trail Hey, get creative! We wel- Leo Corrigan, RI NEMBA SingleTracks Peter DeSantis, Southern NH NEMBA come submissions, photos and artwork. This is Adam Glick, Greater Boston NEMBA Treadlines — 4 your forum and your magazine. Be nice, and David Hughes, Carrabassett Region NEMBA share! Steve LaFlame, Central NH NEMBA Places to Ride — 9 On the Cover: Giant rider, Jeff Lenosky, per- Frank Lane, NS NEMBA Basic Biking — 16 Casey Leonard, Midcoast Maine NEMBA forming at NEMBAfest. Photo by PK. Bill Markham, Berkshire NEMBA Chapter News — 18 Stuart McDonald, MV NEMBA Do you have a photo that would make a good Harry Meyers, Berkshire NEMBA NEMBA Rides — 36 cover shot? Email it to [email protected] Barry Moore, Merrimack Valley NEMBA Chris O’Toole, CeMeNEMBA Support our Sponsors — 38 Want to Underwrite in ST? Peter Poanessa, BK NEMBA SingleTracks offers inexpensive and targeted David Riding, SE MA NEMBA underwriting which helps us defray the cost of Paul Rodrigue, BK NEMBA Steve Rossi, PV NEMBA producing this cool ‘zine. Call 800-57-NEMBA Dan Streeter, North Shore NEMBA or email [email protected] for our media kit. Chris Thurrott, Greater Boston NEMBA Al Tinti, CT NEMBA Moving? Mitch Wacksman, Greater Portland NEMBA Don’t miss an issue! Change your address online at nemba.org or mail it into SingleTracks, PO Box WWW.NEMBA.ORG 2221, Acton MA 01720 ST201208 123.qxd 7/27/2012 1:02 PM Page 4 TREADLINES Redbones Bike Block Party Jerry Remy’s and Highland MTB Kicking off summer wouldn’t be complete without the annual gath- Park Present Strength in Numbers ering of riders at Redbones’ Chester Street in Somerville, MA. It’s Over 400 people descended upon Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grille to the one time in the year that all of the area’s diverse cycling elements take part in the premier of the latest offering from Anthill Films, come together and hang out. Nothing seems to attract riders more Strength in Numbers. Jerry Remy’s has an inordinate number of TV’s than BBQ, beer, music .. and other riders. Over the years, Redbones adorning its walls and boasts two of the largest flatscreens n Boston, has donated upwards of $60,000 to NEMBA and MassBike, and this so it’s hard to imagine a better location for the showing. year brought in another $10K for the two organizations. Redbones’ Rob Gregory with Philip Keyes, Nicole Freedman and Austin Rand Highland’s Mark Hayes, Jerry Remy’s John Mascia, NEMBA’s Philip Keyes and Sinister Bikes’, Frank Diesel. This year honored Nicole Freedman for her work improving cycling in The premier was a benefit for the Kingdom Trails Association and Boston as she heads up to the Carrabassett Valley to work for Maine NEMBA, and we thank everyone who made the event a success. Huts & Trails. 4 | September 2012 Ride the Trails ST201208 123.qxd 7/27/2012 1:02 PM Page 5 TREADLINES Positive Trail Work Continues at the Fells On Saturday, June 30th, 2012, GBNEMBA worked with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) to fix another long-standing trail problem on the Orange Trail at the Fells. This was high on DCR's list of Priority Projects to address on the Orange Trail. There was also an opportunity for GBNEMBA to collaborate with the SCA Trail Crew to get this done which we were very happy to engage with and share our respective trail building skills. Located a short walk South of Sheepfold, there was a poorly designed and poorly constructed set of short boardwalks that attempted to prevent damage to a wetlands drainage that the Orange Trail went straight through. Because the boardwalks were built far too short, were not supported or connected properly, and had no entrance or exit ramps many trail users simply ignored them and bypassed them. The trail widened and it turned into an often- muddy mess. Working with DCR's Natural Resources Specialist, Alexandra Echandi, in the months prior to Saturday's work day, we identified an alternate, sustainable route for the Orange Trail that moves it up the hillside completely out of the wet area. Interestingly, our scout- Student Conservation Association crew spent a week working on the trails at the Fells. GB NEMBA helped them with a trail re-route on the Orange Trail. ing discovered an old stone bridge/dam likely a product of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) from the 1920's or 1930's. The location With about 18 volunteers (including the SCA crew and one MTB'r of the bridge suggests that the Orange Trail may actually have been who stopped to pitch in) we were able to make short work of the 600' located higher up than where it has been, and that it intersected with reroute. The terrain lent itself perfectly for the creation of a rolling the Gerry Hill Path rather than going straight through the wet area contour singletrack trail which takes advantage of sustainable trail down low. water management techniques that will help lower maintenance Continued on page 6 Save the Trails SingleTrackS No. 123 | 5 ST201208 123.qxd 7/27/2012 1:02 PM Page 6 TREADLINES requirements and keep the trail in good shape. As the old stone paths anyway) and bridge is within the buffer of the pond uphill from it (the pond was over time have become likely created by the stone bridge/dam) the Stoneham Conservation much wider and have Commission made some specific trail alignment requirements to DCR lost much of their orig- in their RDA that they issued for the project which helped guide inal character. where the trail could be safely located. DCR also will be performing Sustainable reroutes some additional armoring/hardening of the surface of the bridge to both increase the help protect it. health of the trail sys- tem, the health of the Thanks to DCR Ranger Mike Bruce, who sectioned up the old board- surrounding ecosys- walk with his chainsaw, we were able to haul out the old boardwalk tem by reducing the to Chandler Road for disposal by DCR. Many hands made light work size of the trails, and of the heavy sections of boardwalk! focus trail users' The SCA crew was able to close down and re-vegetate the southern impact in a smaller end of the reroute so that the old trail disappeared. The northern end space. Shared-use, sin- will require purchasing of native plantings consistent with the wet- gletrack trails provide a land location. The SCA crew temporarily closed the northern end with very positive experi- a dense brush pile. GBNEMBA is providing DCR with a $500 grant for ence for all trail users the purchase of these plantings. and whether you are One other important thing to note is that this reroute works to on bike or foot, you increase the net habitat and reduce the 'footprint' of the trail system feel more connected to at the Fells. The new trail is probably 2' wide on average and the old the land. New singletrack at the Fells trail bed, like most of the existing trails at the Fells, is often 8' or more We had a great time working with the SCA crew. They were enthusi- wide. If you do the math, it is likely that we achieved a minimum astic and did great work. We look forward to future opportunities to 400% reduction in net trail bed with this reroute. This is the same for collaborate with the SCA! Many thanks to all the volunteers, DCR and the reroute we did back in March on the side of Bear Hill. the Stoneham Conservation Commission for making this happen! The Fells trails started out as foot paths (those that weren't carriage --Adam Glick 6 | September 2012 Ride the Trails ST201208 123.qxd 7/27/2012 1:02 PM Page 7 TREADLINES NEMBAfest Crowns the Kingdom Mark your Calendar for next year: June 21-23, 2013! East Burke, VT: 1231 recreational mountain bikers gathered in the northeast kingdom of Vermont for NEMBAfest at Kingdom Trails.