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NEW ENGLAND MOUNTAIN BIKE ASSOCIATION May 2018 #155 www.nemba.org SSingleingleTTrackS NEMBA, the New England Mountain Bike Spring 2018, Number 155 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 Trail Tools trails sensitively and responsibly. by Bill Boles ©SingleTracks What’s in your Hydration Pack? Editor & Publisher: Philip Keyes Contributing Writer: Bill Boles Copy Editor: Nanyee Keyes Executive Director: Philip Keyes [email protected] NEMBA 6 PO Box 2221 Acton MA 01720 Board of Directors Adam Glick, President Matt Schulde, Vice-President Anne Shepard, Treasurer Harold Green, Secretary Rob Adair, White Mountains NEMBA John Anders, Midcoast Maine NEMBA Aaron Brasslett, Penobscot Region NEMBA David Burnham, Wachusett NEMBA Paula Burton, FC NEMBA Matt Caron, Southern NH NEMBA Steve Cobble, SE MA NEMBA Grant Drew, Central NH NEMBA Perry Ermi, Cape Cod NEMBA Disa Fedorowicz, Central Maine NEMBA Brian Forestal, BV NEMBA Tim Friedman, SE MA NEMBA Chris Gaudet, Southern NH NEMBA Peter Gengler, RI NEMBA Jeremy Hillger, Pemi Valley NEMBA David Hughes, Carrabassett Region NEMBA Paper Trail SingleTracks Hey, get creative! We wel- Stacey Jimenez, Quiet Corner NEMBA come submissions, photos and artwork. This is John Joy, Central CT NEMBA Hank Kells, North Shore NEMBA Treadlines — 3 your forum and your magazine. Be nice, and Morgan Laidlaw, Midcoast Maine NEMBA share! Frank Lane, North Shore NEMBA Basic Biking — 8 Rob Lavoie, Greater Portland NEMBA On the Cover: Corey French’s son, Ayrton, Alex Leich, White Mountains NEMBA Chapter News cleaning the rocks at the Fells at a GB NEMBA Bob Lesmerise, Franconia Area NEMBA kids ride. Photo by Andrea Jones. Craig MacDonald, Penobscot Region NEMBA • Connecticut — 8 Fred Meyers, Wachusett NEMBA • Maine — 13 Do you have a photo that would make a good Barry Moore, Merrimack Valley NEMBA cover shot? Email it to [email protected] Chris Nicodemus, Franconia Area NEMBA • Massachusetts — 18 Peter Poanessa, BK NEMBA • New Hampshire — 25 Want to Underwrite in ST? Tim Post, Pioneer Valley NEMBA • Rhode Island — 31 Jon Regan, Northwest CT NEMBA SingleTracks offers inexpensive and targeted Steve Richardson, Merrimack Valley NEMBA Chris Riley, Central Maine NEMBA NEMBA Rides — 32 underwriting which helps us defray the cost of producing this cool ‘zine. Call 800-57-NEMBA Brett Russ, Wachusett NEMBA Support our Sponsors — 34 Pete Schrader, BK NEMBA or email [email protected] for our media kit. Maciej Sobieszek, Greater Boston NEMBA Cory Stiff, SE CT NEMBA Moving? Joshua Tauses, Carrabassett Valley NEMBA Shelly Temple, Central NH NEMBA Don’t miss an issue! Change your address online Glenn Tourtellot, Quiet Corner NEMBA at nemba.org or mail it into SingleTracks, PO Box Ryan Tucker, Fairfield County NEMBA 2221, Acton MA 01720 Glenn Vernes, Central CT NEMBA Brian Vibert, Northwest CT NEMBA 2 |May 2018 Ride the Trails Save the Trails SingleTrackS No. 155| 3 ANNOUNCEMENT Annual Meeting Election of NEMBA’s Board of Directors NEMBA members are cordially invited to NEMBA's Annual Meeting and Election of our Board of Directors on May 6, 2018 at Kona Bicycles MTB Adventure event at 12pm at the Middlesex Fells Reservation at 300 Elm St., Medford MA. NEMBA's chapters have nominated who will represent their chapter on NEMBA's Board as a primary voting member and alternate. Now it's time for NEMBA membership to vote. Berkshire NEMBA Alison McGee Central NH NEMBA Pemi Valley NEMBA Six Rivers NEMBA Kevin Delaney Shelly Temple Jeremy Hillger Lawrence Kovacs Grant Drew (Alternate) Blackstone Valley NEMBA Penobscot Region NEMBA Southeast MA NEMBA Brian Forestal Fairfield County NEMBA Aaron Brasslett Steve Cobble Anne Shepard (Alternate) Paula Burton Craig MacDonald (Alternate) Tim Friedmann (Alternate) Mike Malwitz (Alternate) Brattleboro-Keene NEMBA Pioneer Valley NEMBA Southern NH NEMBA Peter Poanessa Franconia Area NEMBA Harold Green Matt Caron Pete Schrader (Alternate) Christopher Nicodemus Jonathan Mauterer (Alternate) Chris Gaudet (Alternate) Bob Lesmerise (Alternate) Cape Cod NEMBA North Shore NEMBA Southeastern CT NEMBA Michael Dube Greater Boston NEMBA Frank Lane Kimberly Bradley Perry Irmi (Alternate) Maciej Sobieszek Hank Kells (Alternate) Adam Glick (Alternate) Wachusett NEMBA Carrabassett Valley NEMBA Northwest CT NEMBA David Burnham David Hughes Greater Portland NEMBA Jonathan Regan Brett Russ (Alternate) Julie Coleman (Alternate) Rob Lavoie Brian Vibert (Alternate) White Mountains NEMBA Central CT NEMBA Merrimack Valley NEMBA Quiet Corner NEMBA Amanda Tulip John Joy Barry Moore Stacey Jimenez Glenn Vernes (Alternate) Steve Richardson (Alternate) Kris Schreiner (Alternate) Central Maine NEMBA Midcoast Maine NEMBA Rhode Island NEMBA Chris Riley John Anders Matt Schulde Disa Fedorowicz (Alternate) Morgan Laidlaw (Alternate) Peter Gengler (Alternate) 4 |May 2018 Ride the Trails BASIC BIKING Trail Tools By Bill Boles Imagine you're out on your bike. Spring has sprung, the trails are dry and hard. The leaves are just starting to show. Your bike feels alive under you as fly through your favorite trails. As you get farther and farther from your car your grin gets bigger and bigger. You're planning an epic ride. Maybe, finally, you can explore that distant singletrack that you never seem to have enough time to get to. This is a great ride and as you and your friends get more and more into it - dis- aster strikes. Well, maybe not exactly disaster, but the ride comes to a sudden halt as one of the bikes has a mechani- cal. It could be a flat tire, a broken chain, a bent derailleur, a loose seatpost or han- dlebar or a broken saddle. (All of which this author experienced last year.) Or it could be something else, like broken spokes, a rip in a tire's sidewall or what- ever. The point is, that unless you and your 6 |May 2018 Ride the Trails BASIC BIKING friends can fix it, that excellent ride will be over. And, worse case sce- In this case, a pump, tire irons, and inner tube, or patch kit, a small nario, one of you will have to do 'the walk of shame' back to their bottle of sealant, a tubeless tire plug kit, a dollar bill. Oh! And a smile. vehicle. Because if you've got what you need you're back on the trail. Most mechanical problems can be repaired out on the trail. But, only But there's lots of things that can go wrong with your bike: What else if you have the requisite tools on hand. should you consider bringing with you? Here's a partial list: A multi- tool with Allen wrenches and a chain tool. Spare master links, a few This article is intended to suggest what a well-prepared rider should electrical ties or pipe cleaners to affix loose items and a pliers or small have with them to fix most trailside mechanicals. vice grip. Some people bring derailleur hangers, shifting cables, and a The most common problem, by far, is a flat tire. If you're running inner short section of chain. A CO2 cartridge kit and spare cartridges, for tubes, the solution is to remove your wheel, remove half the tire and those of you who don't like to pump. (But you should still have a pull out the punctured tube. Run your hand around the inner surface pump with you.) Tweezers to pull thorns from your tire's carcass. Two of the tire looking for thorns or nails and then either replace the tube feet of duct tape rolled around a white pencil. (The pencil is for mark- with a new one or patch the old one. Then pump your tire up and ride ing holes in your tube or tire.) Extra food and drink, in case you're out on. for an unexpectedly long time. At least $20 in cash for emergencies For tubeless tires, see if you can find the leak, and position it to the and finally, a fully charged cell phone. bottom in the hopes of having your sealant plug it. If it doesn't, add You don't have to carry everything though. If this gear is distributed more sealant, by pulling part of the tire off the rim and pouring it in. among your riding partners, you'll probably be oaky. During a race, Or adding a tire plug to the hole. In a worst-case scenario, check the minimize this. You don't want to overburden yourself when so many inner surface of the tire for thorns and then run an inner tube as of your fellow competitors don't bring anything. noted about. Now that you're back on the trail, hopefully after just a short pause, For a sidewall tear, try putting a folded dollar bill between the inner you can get back to your ride. That distant singletrack is still calling surface of the tire and the tube. Pump it up and you should be able to you. As are the much more familiar trails that precede it. Ride on! to ride it back to your start. Having the tools that you need to get you out of the woods leads to Okay! That's a long description of what to do with a flat. I'm using it Happy Trails. illustrate just what tools and gear you'd need to get yourself out of the woods. Save the Trails SingleTrackS No. 155| 7 CONNECTICUT Central CT President: Glenn Vernes, [email protected] VP: Open Treasurer: John Joy Secretary: Peter Finch At Large: Jason Engelhardt, Lisa Maloney, Jon Petersen, Marc Otfinoski BOD Reps: John Joy, Glenn Vernes CT Web: www.ctnemba.com Facebook: “Central CT NEMBA” When you crack open this issue, hopefully spring has sprung and you are out on the trails-clearing and then riding them! After a record 4 Nor'easter's, there are tons Connecticut NEMBA representatives, Paula Burton (Fairfield County), Spencer Meyer and Jason of blowdowns on many Engelhardt (Central CT), Kim Bradley and Dennis Main (SECT) at the annual Connecticut Land trails.