Summer Days and Summer Rides

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." Ambrose Redmoon

But sometimes that judgement is wrong, and getting up that big rock face, or riding down that big roller, was better to be feared than ridden!

Lots of good riding since the last post! Went to Mt Holyoke in Amherst, MA for the first time. The trails were dry and very well built. We rode the more technical section off of Batchler Street that at times had me off the bike. Met the CT folks there and Dave Plain was our ride leader.....great job showing us around despite the mosquitoes!

This week I took a few days off and rode at Bradbury Mt in Pownell, MA and went to Backcountry Excursions in Parsonsfield, MA. Cliff has been leading rides out of this place for 15+years and has built some fabulous singletrack! He has an agreement with the timber company that owns 9,000 acres of land abutting his. This is where he has free rein to build the trails. To help preserve the trails, Cliff only leads rides.....there is no self-service riding here like there is at Kingdom Trails or Millstone in VT. But this is exactly what keeps these trails in excellent condition! Well worth the trip.....you can find him on the web....

The Southern NH chapter of NEMBA is gearing up to host NEMBAfest this year. Last Wednesday I met with Philip Keyes, the executive director of NEMBA and Greg Preville, the park manager at Bear Brook State Park, to go over the details of using the pavilion. This is going to be an excellent location to stage NEMBAfest! We're going to have vendors, demo bikes and BBQ....who could ask for more.....oh yeah, and some great trails to ride. Check it out at www.nemba.org. After the meeting, Philip, Holly Carson (friend extraordinaire......OK I'm still trying to win her friendship back after having given her fire away to the guy at the next campsite during Great Glen) and I went for a great ride. After some dry weather the trails are looking good!

There will be a ride this Sunday (August 30th) at 8 AM at Bear Brook (meet at Hayes Field). After the ride we will have a cookout and meeting to discuss NEMBAfest and also get dates for our fall trail days. Hope to see everyone there!