NEW ENGLAND MOUNTAIN BIKE ASSOCIATION WINTERWINTER 20192019 #158#158 www.nemba.orgwww.nemba.org ingleingle rack NEMBA, the New England Mountain Bike SS TT S Association, is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organi- zation dedicated to promoting trail access, Winter 2019, Number 158 maintaining trails open for mountain bicyclists, and educating mountain bicyclists to use these trails sensitively and responsibly. ©SingleTracks Executive Director: Philip Keyes Winter Grooming [email protected] Contributing Writer: Bill Boles Goes Big NEMBA by Bill Boles, Jonathan Mauterer, Brian Forestal, PO Box 2221 Frank Lane, Craig MacDonald, Peter Poanessa, Acton MA 01720 4 Stacey Jimenez, Rob Adar, Warren Gerow, John Board of Directors Anders, Chris Riley Adam Glick, President Matt Schulde, Vice-President Anne Shepard, Treasurer Harold Green, Secretary John Anders, Midcoast Maine NEMBA The 4-Letter Words Kim Bradley, SECT NEMBA Aaron Brasslett, Penobscot Region NEMBA David Burnham, Wachusett NEMBA of Mountain Biking Paula Burton, FC NEMBA Matt Caron, Southern NH NEMBA by Disa Fedorowicz Steve Cobble, SE MA NEMBA Julie Coleman, Carrabassett Region NEMBA 6 Kevin Delaney, Berkshire NEMBA Grant Drew, Central NH NEMBA Mike Dube, Cape Cod NEMBA Disa Fedorowicz, Central Maine NEMBA Brian Forestal, BV NEMBA Tim Friedmann, SE MA NEMBA Chris Gaudet, Southern NH NEMBA Peter Gengler, RI NEMBA Jeremy Hillger, Pemi Valley NEMBA David Hughes, Carrabassett Region NEMBA Stacey Jimenez, Quiet Corner NEMBA John Joy, Central CT NEMBA Hank Kells, North Shore NEMBA Paper Trail SingleTracks Hey, get creative! We wel- Lawrence Kovacs, Six Rivers NEMBA Morgan Laidlaw, Midcoast Maine NEMBA come submissions, photos and artwork. This is Frank Lane, North Shore NEMBA Features — 4 your forum and your magazine. Be nice, and Rob Lavoie, Greater Portland NEMBA share! Alex Leich, White Mountains NEMBA Basic Biking — 6 Bob Lesmerise, Franconia Area NEMBA On the Cover: Cental Maine NEMBA member, Craig MacDonald, Penobscot Region NEMBA Chapter News Lorie Parks, riding the ice on McGrath Pond, Mike Malwitz, Fairfield County NEMBA Jonathan Mauterer, Pioneer Valley NEMBA • Connecticut — 8 Belgrade ME. Photo Ian Ogilvie Alison McGee, Berkshire NEMBA Do you have a photo that would make a good Barry Moore, Merrimack Valley NEMBA • Maine — 14 Chris Nicodemus, Franconia Area NEMBA • Massachusetts — 21 cover shot? Email it to [email protected] Peter Poanessa, BK NEMBA • New Hampshire — 30 Jon Regan, Northwest CT NEMBA Want to Underwrite in ST? Steve Richardson, Merrimack Valley NEMBA • Rhode Island — 36 Chris Riley, Central Maine NEMBA SingleTracks offers inexpensive and targeted Brett Russ, Wachusett NEMBA NEMBA Rides — 37 underwriting which helps us defray the cost of Pete Schrader, BK NEMBA producing this cool ‘zine. Call 800-57-NEMBA Support our Sponsors — 38 Kris Schreiner, Quiet Corner NEMBA or email [email protected] for our media kit. Maciej Sobieszek, Greater Boston NEMBA Joshua Tauses, Carrabassett Valley NEMBA Moving? Ilse Teeters-Trumpy, Greater Portland Shelly Temple, Central NH NEMBA Don’t miss an issue! Change your address online Glenn Tourtellot, Quiet Corner NEMBA Ryan Tucker, Fairfield County NEMBA at nemba.org or mail it into SingleTracks, PO Box Glenn Vernes, Central CT NEMBA 2221, Acton MA 01720 Brian Vibert, Northwest CT NEMBA 2 |WINTER 2019 Get out and .... RIDE ! SingleTrackS No. 158| 3 FEATURE Winter Grooming Goes Big in New England By Bill Boles, Jonathan Mauterer, Brian Forestal, Frank Lane, Craig MacDonald, Peter Poanessa, Stacey Jimenez, Rob Adar, Warren Gerow, John Anders, Chris Riley inter has never been a popular season for mountain biking. Facebook Page to see what's going on. Sure, there have always been people out there struggling White Mountains NEMBA has been grooming the Marshall through the snow and then slipping and falling on the ice. W Conservation Area in Conway for three years. This year they have a Studded tires made things safer but weren't any help when the snow Snowdog which is a big improvement over a snowmobile and is also was deep. Many people focused on riding packed snowmobile trails, useful for dragging building materials to worksites. while others enjoyed frozen lakes and streams. Some people packed down the snow with snowshoe treks and those trails would last until Brattleboro-Keene NEMBA may have been the first NEMBA the next snowfall. Occasionally you'd get perfect conditions, frozen chapter to purchase a Snowdog. For the third year they will be run- crusty snow that you could walk on top of without sinking in. That ning it. Chapter members have made a couple of custom groomers for is still an almost magical experience because you can ride every- it and are working yet another new style groomer. BK NEMBA grooms where- Trails being optional. But, unfortunately, it's very rare. about 2/3's of the Food Network but since you really can't get a Fat Bikes have changed that. Every winter there are increasing num- Snowdog around tight off camber singletrack a lot of their trails need bers of riders out in the snow. And as their tires got wider so did their snowshoe grooming. Which they also do. BK NEMBA is looking at smiles. But there was still the problem of finding "packed" snow that the new Ruffian Snowbike built in Chester NH as something they could support the sport. might be able to use on the tighter single track. (Note: There are several commercial riding areas that groom. And Penobscot Region NEMBA just acquired a newer Ski-Doo Skandic many winter events. A list of which is found on the main NEMBA designed for dragging trails. The engineers from Old Town Canoe also page. Click on Winter Fat Tracks.) designed and built a roller/groomer for packing the race course at the Essex Woods for the Fat Bike Race. They set the course and groom Many NEMBA Chapters are rising to this challenge and early on, letting casual riders get out and enjoy some legit sweet win- have begun grooming some of their trails for winter Fat ter singletrack before and after the race. They feel the roller is the way Biking. What follows is a partial list of these. But, keep in mind, to go as it is heavy and applies a lot of pressure to a smaller point. PR winter Fat Biking is always condition dependent and can vary day to NEMBA will also be grooming the railbed from Essex Woods to the day. So, contact your chapter leadership or check your chapter's Bangor City Forest for a few more loops for riders to enjoy. They may continue on the rail bed over to Newman Hill where there will be some additional grooming going on. Carrabassett Region NEMBA has a healthy crew of volunteers and a Snowdog track sled. They will be grooming approximately 4 miles of trails when conditions allow. In addition to this is the groom- ing that Maine Huts and Trails does, they also groom the Narrow Gauge Trail off of which much of the singletrack CR NEMBA is groom- ing is located. Also the area PR Grooms connects to the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center, which has designated certain Nordic Skiing trails where bikes are permitted. Making use of all these options one can easily put together a 20 mile ride. If you are ambitious and don't mind an out and back, a 40+ mile ride can happen. That is a lot on a fat bike. Like most things in this neck of the woods grooming is a community effort with other entities. Midcoast Maine NEMBA in partnership with the Georges River Land Trust will be using a Snow Dog to groom new trails that they built together last season in the Thomaston Town Forest. Central Maine NEMBA is dipping its toes in the fat bike grooming world. The chapter does not own grooming equipment itself but is financially supporting the people that have taken on the cause of grooming on their own. At this time club members own snowmo- biles, and a Snow Dog and there are three separate efforts going on to keep trails groomed. Quiet Corner NEMBA rides until the snow gets too dep. Then they snowshoe and sometimes those tracks are fat bike friendly for a few days until the temps warm up and snow melts. Their area does not have consistent, sustained snow for them to groom. But there are several places fat bikes can find snowmobile tracks to ride. For the third year The Friends of Wompatuck State Park and SE MA NEMBA will be grooming trails in this south of Boston park when snow conditions allow. They've purchased and old-school, air 4 |WINTER 2019 Get out and .... FEATURE Pioneer Valley NEMBA has a decent mix of grooming techniques. They have a few member owned Snowdogs. The most popular sys- tems get ridden in to break and pack, sometimes backed up by XC skis. Some PV NEMBA members go out and snowshoe some of the less ridden winter trails. But the majority of the trails are ridden in with no special treatment. North Shore NEMBA has purchased a Snowdog! They have per- mission to groom trails at Harold Parker, between the Jenkins lot and the Ranger Station. They also have received the OK to groom at Georgetown Rowley and Willowdale State Forests, but Harold Parker will be their first priority. NS NEMBA may also assist in grooming the Fatty Walrus course at Winnikenni in Haverhill prior to the race, if needed. Cape Cod NEMBA rarely needs to groom. When they do, they start out with snowshoes and then ride. But long-lasting snow on the Cape is rare. Alternatively, many of the Cape's beaches allow Fat Bikes and between the high and low tides marks you'll normally see fat bike Photo by PK tracks.