Singlespeed!Singlespeed! Mojavemojave 250250 Milemile Deathdeath Racerace 25Th25th USUS Infantryinfantry Bicyclebicycle Corpscorps
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Magazine of the New England Mountain Bike Association Singleingle rackrackWWW.NEMBA.ORG S S October/NovemberTT 2000, NumberS 52 Singlespeed!Singlespeed! MojaveMojave 250250 milemile DeathDeath RaceRace 25th25th USUS InfantryInfantry BicycleBicycle CorpsCorps Place: Meshomasic State Forest, CT Body: NEMBA Shorts/Jersey ready to wear Candy: Surly 1x1 Voice: Pat Irwin: One Speed Demon Last Chance to buy Raffle Tickets! Call Now! Support NEMBA’s Trail Grant Program Win Amazing Prizes! Grand Prize: Ted Wojcik Custom Bicycles Hardtail Mountain Bike with Sram 9.0 drivetrain and brakes, RockShox SID SL fork, Mavic 517 ceramic rims and Nukeproof hubs OR a Ted Wojcik Road Bike decked out with Shimano Ultegra components! 2nd Prize: RockShox SID XC Suspension Fork 3rd Prize: Mavic Crossmax Wheelset (tubeless, disc-compatible or regular) 4th Prize: RockShox Judy Race Suspension Fork 5th Prizes: USE Shokpost SX Suspension Seatposts —Five Winners! Call 800-57-NEMBA to Order! $10 or Six/$50 Drawing to be held at Veloswap, Oct. 21st Don’t Ride Nekkid GET DRESSED! Beautiful sapphire-blue to green fade with a black forest print graphic back- ground and the NEMBA logos. They have an extra long zip- per and are made In New England by VOMax. $55 Shorts $45 $90 for both! A great gift idea! Phone Orders Only, All Sizes! 800-57-NEMBA Order Early for Xmas! 2 SSingleingleTTrackS October/November 2000, Number 52 NEMBA, the New England Mountain Bike Association, is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization dedicated to promoting trail access, maintaining trails open for mountain Singlespeeeed! bicyclists, and educating mountain bicyclists 10 to use these trails sensitively and responsibly. Radical, retro or ridiculous, one-speed bikes are all SingleTracks is published six times a year by about fun! 32:16s can energize your riding experi- the New England Mountain Bike Association ence, simplify your life, and make you feel like a kid for the trail community, and is made possible again. By Philip Keyes by riders like you. ©SingleTracks The 2000 Single-Speed World Editor & Publisher: Philip Keyes 12 Singletracks Committee: Bill Boles, Krisztina Championships Holly, Nanyee Keyes, Mary Tunnicliffe, Brian They came from around the country and from Smith across the pond to create singlespeed mayhem. Executive Director: Philip Keyes There was also a bit of racing! By Tom Everstone Letters/Submissions: SingleTracks PO Box 2221 14 Black Singlespeeders of the 25th Acton MA 01720 US Infantry’s Bicycle Corps Voice 800.57.NEMBA 1897 bore witness to the nation’s largest military Fax: 520-395-7759 Email: [email protected] bicycle operation. Follow their epic journey of twenty African-American soldiers as they ride 1900 Board of Directors miles from Missoula to St. Louis. By Philip Keyes Krisztina Holly, President 16 Mary Tunnicliffe, Vice-President Mojave 250 Mile Death Race Dan Murphy, Treasurer John Dudek, Secretary Blistering days, frozen nights and parched desert Mark Bialas, Merrimack NEMBA provide an evil backdrop to the Death Race. Follow a Norman Blanchette, Merrimack NEMBA NEMBA member in the race of his life. By Bruce Bill Boles, SE MA NEMBA Jones Jack Chapman, EFTA Liason Bob Croston, Public Relations Brian Croteau, At Large SingleTracks welcomes submissions Hunt Durey, North Shore NEMBA and artwork from our literate or cre- Len Earnshaw, Seacoast NEMBA Gray Harrison, Wachusett NEMBA ative membership. This is your forum Tina Hopkins, Rhode Island NEMBA and your magazine, so please send us Mark Jenks, White Mountains NEMBA stuff! Rich LaBombard, Pioneer Valley NEMBA Paper Trail Christie Lawyer, SE MA NEMBA Contribute! Got a cool story idea? Rob Roy Macgregor, VT NEMBA Chain Letters - 4 Want to build your publishing resume, Deb McCulloch, Cape Cod & Islands NEMBA Treadlines - 5 give us a call. You can reach us at Becky McEnroe, Wachusett NEMBA [email protected] or call 800- TJ Mora, VT NEMBA Happenings - 6 Jason Record, Seacoast NEMBA On Patrol - 9 57-NEMBA. Anne Shepard, Blackstone Valley NEMBA SideTracks - 18 On the Cover: Cathy Rowell takes a Brian Smith, CT NEMBA Dan Streeter, North Shore NEMBA Pat Irwin Interview -20 shot of Mike Rowell riding his single- Mitch Steinberg, Blackstone Valley NEMBA Surly Bike Candy - 21 speed on their backyard trials play- Adam Thomas, Cape Cod & Islands NEMBA ground. John Turchi, CT NEMBA Viva Las Vegas - 22 Ruth Wheeler, Berkshire NEMBA More Places to Ride - 24 Know Someone who wants to We are also dedicated to having fun! Trailside - 27 Advertise? NEMBA, P.O. Box 2221, Chapter News -28 SingleTracks offers inexpensive and tar- Acton MA 01720 NEMBA Rides -33 geted advertising which helps us 800 -57-NEMBA NEMBA Heroes -37 defray the cost of producing this cool WWW.NEMBA.ORG ‘zine. Call 800-57-NEMBA or email NEMBA Calender - 39 [email protected] for our media kit. 3 Chain Letters What Rednecks? I read John Shaheen's [sic] article, Rednecks, Razorbacks and Ridges, with amazement - not amazement that people think like him, but amazement that his article got printed. SingleTracks should be ashamed of itself. Freedom of the press does not mean you have to print it just because he wrote it. Shaheen [sic]talks about people who live in the Ozarks as if they were characters from Deliverance. Deliverance was a movie - not real life. My guess is that Shaheen Mountain Bikers need to be heard in The [sic]met a couple of locals and they figured him for an arrogant snot Fells and put him on. By the way, I wonder if John Shaheen [sic] knows I am surprised to find very few objections at NEMBA to the where our president comes from? recent changes in access to the Middlesex Fells. Reading the Frank Cummings info on your (our) website, I find only that the MDC will begin Franklin MA enforcing their rules, which on the face of it may not be such a bad idea. Not mentioned is the fact that the town of The author responds: Winchester has posted, and is enforcing, new signs cutting off I read with amazement the letter of Frank Cummings, who takes access by anyone, cyclist or pedestrian, to a huge area in the offense at what is obviously a (partially)tongue-in-cheek article on center of the Fells. The impact on bikers is that all the fire roads mountain biking in the Ozarks. A few points: 1. 'Shaheen' is the that cross the area are closed, forcing us to make the full circle. Governor of New Hampshire. 'Sheehan' is an Ozarks mountain biker As a Winchester resident who once regularly walked and rode and writer. 2. I have lived here in the Ozarks since 1997, at which in the Fells, these regulations have ruined my usual riding loop, time I joined the Ozark Off-Road Cyclists, an organization that rivals with no substitute at the same level of difficulty or beauty. NEMBA for enthusiasm and advocacy programs, if not size. No finer Walking is confined to woods, with the sweeping views of group of riders can be found anywhere—and they all have a sense of ponds off limits. I will especially miss watching and identifying humor. 3. You bet I know where our president is from: Ashley the wide variety of waterfowl that migrate through these Korenblat, IMBA president, is a proud native of Little Rock, ponds in the fall. Is NEMBA concerned about the removal of Arkansas, and hence is a city-slicker. If you mean the guy in this large area from public use? Do you know of any efforts in Washington, he's from Hope and Hot Springs, and is just plain slick. Winchester, to which I could perhaps lend my voice? (By the way, none of these places is in the Ozarks.) 4. There is not a sane person south of the Mason-Dixon line, without regard to the Gerry Sollner shade of their neck, who would not back up my advice about riding Winchester MA during hunting season or using great caution in the woods in gener- al. To any NEMBA membas who might find themselves heading Greater Boston’s response: towards the Ozarks: Give me a shout and let's do some riding, y'all! Hi Gerry, I'm also a Winchester resident. There continues to be a lot of confusion about the policies in the Fells, stemming John Sheehan from the fact that two completely separate government agen- Bentonville AR cies (the MDC and the Town of Winchester) each set their Editor's reponse: own policies for the areas of the Fells which they manage. This Have you watched the news lately? Arkansas' govenor and first lady is complicated by the additional wrinkle that the Winchester live in a trailer home next to govenor's mansion! The govenor even reservoir area is completely surrounded by the MDC-managed pokes fun at himself on national TV, saying that in Arkansas "opos- area, so a trail might be open for riding when you enter the sum is the other white meat" and that "armadillo is considered opos- Fells only to become closed when you near a reservoir. sum on the half shell!" You might want to write him a letter too. Actually, the Winchester reservoir area (at the center of the west side of the Fells) has been officially off-limits (and post- ed) to all users for many years. Occasionally, Winchester www.nemba.org Police and/or Water & Sewer personnel have enforced this pol- icy over the years, with tickets or bike confiscations. The only Hey recent development (within the past few months) for the you in back! reservoir area is the addition of new fluorescent signage. Renew your I'm not sure what loop you've been riding, but the portion that crossed the reservoir area has, unfortunately, probably been membership officially closed for years.