Contents:

NEMBA News 2009

CT NEMBA Recognized with Greenways Award for Volunteerism

NEMBA Awarded Recreational Trails Program Grant

NEMBA Trail School 2009

CT NEMBA Trains a New Crew of Trail Ambassadors

GB NEMBA’s Opening Day at the Fells ~ It’s all in the Numbers

New Singletrack to be Built in Augusta

CT NEMBA’s Chainsaw Safety Course

Winners of the Trek Bicycles / NEMBA Trail Care Series

Ice Hits the Highlands of PV NEMBA

GT Bicycles Supports Patrol, Access Raffle and Helps NEMBA Get a Presence on the Race Circuit

Bike Safety Day with Team Crankfire and CT NEMBA

CT NEMBA Recognized with Greenways Award for Volunteerism

NEMBA received a Special Achievement Award from the Connecticut Greenways Council for all the hard work and dedication the CT Chapter has donated to the State of Connecticut for Trail Maintenance, Trails Advocacy, and their Trail Ambassador Program. Mark Lurie of CT NEMBA accepted the award from Susan Frechette (Deputy Commision of the CT DEP) and William O'Neill (Chair of the CT Greenways Council).

NEMBA Awarded Recreational Trails Program Grant

NEMBA has been awarded a grant of over $16,000 for trail projects in three state parks in Massachusetts. The grant will also help defray the cost of next year's trail school.

Berkshire NEMBA Trail Projects at Pittsfield SF
Pittsfield State Forest currently offers little opportunity for easy family bicycling, so Berkshire NEMBA will be constructing a 1.5-mile "family" loop trail in the Lulu Cascade area that should be enjoyable to novices and families. It should also provide a good "warm up" before tackling the more difficult trails in the forest. The chapter will also be rehabilitating a non-system trail known locally as the "Blair Witch Trail" so that it can be included on the official DCR trail map and stewarded by the chapter. Lastly, Berkshire NEMBA will be rehabilitating the Taconic Crest Trail in order to create a loop trail that connects the Turner Trail with the future Blair Witch Trail.

To accomplish these projects, Berkshire NEMBA will be purchasing over $4,000 in tools and a trail care trailer. These tools will be used not only for ongoing projects at Pittsfield State Forest, but also for future projects at Beartown State Forest, October Mountain State Forest and Savoy State Forest.

SE MA NEMBA's Projects at Wompatuck State Park
SE MA NEMBA will be receiving over $6,000 for materials and tools to replace a series of bridges that have long since rotted out and become unsafe, especially for equestrians. The chapter will also be converting an old rail bed at Wompatuck into a system of "family trails" that will be used for walking, skiing, horseback riding and cycling.

The first is to replace and repair four bog bridges that were installed to protect the wetlands that have deteriorated over the years. Some of the bridges are on trails used by equestrians, and this project would make these boardwalks safe for horse use. The goal is to create trails easily used by children and families near the Visitor Center.

Merrimack Valley NEMBA Boardwalk Project at Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro SF
MV NEMBA will be using their portion of the grant to build a five-foot wide boardwalk across an intermittent stream at Lowell-Dracut. The boardwalk will be designed for all users, and its width will accommodate DCR and emergency personnel to cross the boardwalk on snow machine and ATV.

NEMBA Trail School 2009

This year NEMBA's annual trail school was held at Putnam Memorial State Park and Huntington State Park in southwest Connecticut. NEMBA instructors, Tom Grimble and Mike Tabaczynski, presented a morning session on the theory and practice of trail design, maintenance and construction. After lunch, the group focused on project execution and hands-on clinics where participants learned how to align new trails, use clinometers, and deal with many of the real world problems that arise in the field. The group also focused on basic trail maintenance techniques such as deberming and creating artificial grade reversals, the rolling grade dip. Check out photos from the trail school.

CT NEMBA Trains a New Crew of Trail Ambassadors

On Sat March 21st CT NEMBA held its first of two TA orientation sessions for the spring at Brooksvale Park in Hamden. We had about 10 new TA's signed up from as far and wide as Farmington, Hartford, Cheshire, Milford, and Greenwich. The session seemed to go over well with lots of enthusiastic discussion among the participants about mountain biking, the TA program, their local riding, and ways to make mountain biking better in CT.

After some bagels and coffee courtesy of CT NEMBA and a couple hours of discussion around the TA program we got down to the real fun stuff... a ride! We headed up into the Naugatuck State forest for a couple of hours of riding on a wonderful spring day with temps in the low 50s and a great group to ride with.
In May, Eric Mayhew hosted another Trail Ambassador session to a packed house at the Veterans Memorial Pavilion at Brooksvale Park. There were NEMBA members from all points of the state, and some even from out of state looking to get their own Trail Ambassador Program off the ground.

The goal of the Trail Ambassador program is to provide an advocate presence on the trail systems open to mountain biking across Connecticut by serving as overall trail guides. The spirit of the Trail Ambassador Program aims to educate, inform, and guide mountain bikers out on the trail. Ambassadors assist others by directing those that may be lost, performing minor bike repairs for trail riders, suggesting points of interest, doing minor trail maintenance such as removing trash or debris from the trails, going for help in an emergency, and educating fellow mountain bikers on how to ride sensitively and responsibly.

Currently, CT NEMBA’s Trail Ambassador program has logged 69 reports for a total of 190.5 hours and 633.3 miles and the reports keep coming in. To read all of the Trail Ambassador’s reports from the field, go to www.ctnemba.com. — Mark Lurie

GB NEMBA’s Opening Day at the Fells ~ It’s all in the Numbers

150 plus riders came out to celebrate Opening Day on April 18th at the Middlesex Fells. In addition there were 14 GBNEMBA RideGuides, 6 NEMBA Patrollers, 7 NEMBA event volunteers, 15 bike industry vendors, 8 MA DCR Staffers, 2 MA DCR Park Rangers and 1 MA DCR District Manager in attendance. We also got a visit from approximately 25 hikers and an assortment of curious neighbors.

GBNEMBA Rideguides lead 21 rides throughout the 8 hour event. The temperature hovered in the high 60's with zero clouds in the sky and 100% of attendees reportedly had a blast. Our new MA DCR Fells District Manager, Tom Walsh, was on hand to meet the Fells riding community and say a few words of welcome and thanks for being good trail citizens.

Cycle Loft reported the following food consumption:
100 Frankfurters 40 Bratwurst
20 Polish Sausages 24 1/3lb mega-burgers
48 1/4lb regular burgers 160 hot dog rolls
72 hamburger buns 6 large bags of potato chips
4 jars of pickles 2 squeeze bottles of ketchup
2 squeeze bottles of mustard 3 bottles of relish
6 cases of soft drinks 2 cases of sports drinks
5 gallons of water 100 paper plates
4 or 5 napkins...

JRA Cycles gave away 14 inner tubes during their duties as neutral wrench for the day. Luna Chix gave away 300 plus LunaBars (I'll vouch for the S'more flavor!), and along with Independent Fabrications and International Bike, lead specialty rides. Newcomers, October Bikes and Fitzgerald Physical Therapy introduced their services to the local riding community. Many thanks to our volunteers and vendors for making the day so special. —Tim Post

New Singletrack to be Built in Augusta
Central Maine NEMBA (CeMeNEMBA) has received final approval from the Augusta City Council to create singletrack mountain bike trails at the Bond Brook Parcel, adjacent to the Augusta State Airport. CeMeNEMBA will begin trail construction as soon as weather permits. The goal this year will be 3 to 5 miles of sweet singletrack for those living in or near the state capitol. Check out the CeMeNEMBA chapter report for more details - volunteers will be needed! —Brian Alexander

CT NEMBA’s Chainsaw Safety Course

On March 6 several NEMBA members attended a Chainsaw Safety Course put on by Logger Rescue CT. With all of the ice storms this year, the Board of Directors had been discussing the acquisition of a chain saw for trail work. Before purchasing a chainsaw we though that it would be good idea for several NEMBA members to have gone through a chainsaw course first. About half our board members already have chain saws, while the other half never picked one up until this training event.

Lisa and Chris Manville run the National Chainsaw Safety Training Program. They were gracious enough to host us at their home for 6 hours of training. Their chainsaw safety program is one of the best in the country. The course is taught by nationally-recognized Safety Instructor, Dana B. Hinkley, who worked over 35 years in the logging industry and who has 20 years experience with the Berlin, NH Fire Department.

The training began with an extensive overview of safety equipment that went from top to bottom. Dana stressed how important it was to wear a helmet. He also made a point to educate us about the dangers of compromising a helmet's integrity by drilling holes in it for ventilation or putting padding between the webbing and the underside. Dana also advised that helmets need to be replaced after 3 years because the polymers breakdown in sunlight rendering the helmet ineffective. The importance of the helmet is not only as the first line of defense from falling debris but it's also a key safety feature if the saw were to kick back toward your face. The brim on chainsaw helmets will prevent the saw from hitting you in the face. Some helmets also have ear protection and a screen for your face to keep wood chips from getting in your eye.

Dana and Chris also stressed wearing protective chaps and boots. Both clothing items won't stop the saw from cutting into you but it will slow it down so that you can react in time to save yourself. Dana mentioned that you can buy Kevlar socks designed with fibers that will get tangled in the chain and slow it down to hopefully avoid cutting your foot. There are also protective boots but they are in excess of $200. There wasn't much that could be said for gloves except find a pair that is comfortable and durable and allow you to feel what the saw is doing.

The next subject they taught was maintenance. Obviously, if you know how to maintain your equipment, it will run well for you. They also demonstrated that there are many basic maintenance procedures that you can perform yourself to save time and money. They covered everything from air and fuel filters to servicing the clutch and drive train.

Dana also went into a lengthy demonstration on sharpening the teeth on the chain, including how to move the chain and effective and ineffective ways to sharpen.
Then we covered starting procedures. This included demonstrating how to hold the chainsaw properly for starting and examples of bad technique that might get you hurt.

Lunch was provided by Windham Tech. It included Chicken Cordon Blue, mashed potatoes, salad, and baked Ziti. The leftovers were donated to a local soup kitchen.

After lunch, we headed out to the woods to watch demonstrations on felling, clearing, bucking, and limbing. In this demonstration Dana talked about how to set up to drop a tree, which included planning escape routes, how to estimate the height of the tree, and how to cut it to place it where you want it to land.
This was done by holding an ax handle at arms length in front of you and sighting your eye with the tree. When your eye, the top of the handle, and the top of the tree line up, you are at the position of where the end of the tree or the crown will fall.

After the tree was down Dana showed us how to trim the tree and also various ways of cutting downed trees in a manner that all tension in the tree is released along the tree and not into the air where it could hurt you. These techniques are brilliant. He was able to cut just about any aspect of a downed tree and have it fall right where he wanted it to. These are great tools to have when clearing a tree from across a trail.

The training included extensive instruction of the proper clothing and safety equipment, as well as the proper cutting techniques and correct procedures for taking down trees, cutting limbs, and clearing trees that might be down across a trail.

For more information on Logger Rescue CT contact Lisa Manville at lisamanville@charter.net or 860-450-0002. — Mark Lurie

Winners of the Trek Bicycles / NEMBA Trail Care Series

The Trek Bicycles / NEMBA Trail Care Series is one of the major sources of volunteerism on public lands and trails in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Beginning in 1996, it is the longest standing and largest title-sponsored trail care series performed by mountain bikers in the country. Since Trek Bicycles became the title sponsor in 2008, the series has held 69 trail care events in New England, with over 1300 participants donating over 5500 hours of volunteer labor over the course of the season at 34 different public properties.

At the current value of volunteer labor ($22.46/hour), this monetary equivalent of the Trek Bicycles / NEMBA Series' to public trails is $123,530. Added to this is NEMBA's investment in training crew leaders to manage the events, as well as the materials and tools to execute the myriad projects.

"We're immensely grateful to Trek Bicycles for their dedication to New England trails and to promoting volunteerism," says NEMBA director, Philip Keyes. "Grassroots organizations like ours rely on the generosity of forward-thinking companies like Trek to help create and care for the places we mountain bike."
To thank the NEMBA members who donate their time, as well as provide a significant incentive to participate in the series, Trek Bicycles has donated two Top Fuel EX mountain bikes to be won at the end of the season. To qualify for the first bike, any member must attend at least one event, and the more a person volunteers, the greater the chances of winning. To qualify for the second bike, a member must attend a minimum of three Trek Bicycle /NEMBA Trail Care events.
Both of this year's winners were most deserving of riding a Trek Fuel EX. Kirk Goldsworthy attended nine events over the course of the summer, and Paula Burton (Sandy Hook, CT) not only attended eleven events but organized each of the events herself.

In their own words:
Paula Burton: I build and design trails from start to finish, from obtaining permits from land managers to organizing volunteers to cutting blow downs after the trail is built and every step in between. I'm working on my fifth trail now, and have a sixth in the pipeline. The Rock and Roll Trail in Huntington State Park, Redding CT is a great example of a shared use trail with sustainable design that is very challenging to ride. I believe that building sustainable trails helps the environment. I also enjoy teaching trail building and design and have presented at a number of trails workshops including the NEMBA New England Trail School. Working with volunteers on the trails builds local communities of riders who become stewards of the land and who educate other users. Building trails brings people together who might not otherwise interact, for instance, the hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers. While I do take trails seriously, the very best part is getting out there with a bunch of friends and riding those trails. Sometimes, I'm riding or doing trail work and I overhear someone talking about the trail I've designed. It's all good, and I just have to smile.
Kirk Goldsworthy: The majority of the trail work that I've performed has involved projects with the Merrimack Valley & North Shore Chapters of NEMBA. I typically try to attend most of each chapter's half dozen or so formal trail care events each year. I also frequently do informal trail work with one or two other guys, getting out in the woods to work an average of well over 30 days per year. Dan Streeter, Joe Dizazzo, & Bob Giunta are the guys that get the ball rolling, including getting land owner permission. I wouldn't be working on trails nearly as much, if at all, if it wasn't for the efforts of these guys. The vast majority of my trail building effort has gone into Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest and Harold Parker State Forest, my local riding spots. I've also spent time working in Ward Reservation, Russell Mill Town Forest, Great Brook State Farm, Tompson St. Reservation, Bradley Palmer State Park, Georgetown-Rowley State Forest, Pawtuckaway State Park, & Lynn Woods. Why do I work on trails, quite simply because I enjoy it. Having more trails to ride and more technical features to hit due to my efforts is also nice!

We thank Trek Bicycles for their support. Trek’s Global Brand Manager, Michael Browne, had this tosay: “At Trek, we understand the positive impact that sustainable, accessible trails have on the cycling population — at Trek headquarters, the installation of a 10-mile trail network on company land has already drastically changed the company culture for the better. It’s our belief that through partnerships like Trek / NEMBA Trail Care Series similar positive change can be felt around the country.”

Ice Hits the Highlands of PV NEMBA

As a valley resident, the ice storm of December 11th and 12th didn't leave much of an impression, at least not until I drove over the turnpike to visit my son at school in the Berkshires. The ice sparkling on the fractured trees as we climbed up to Becket got me concerned about what we would find in the forests we spend so much time in.

A detour on the way home from skiing on Sunday the 14th past Hawley State Forest and the DAR confirmed my fears. Over 50% of the hardwoods in elevations over 1200 ft were snapped. The amount of work required to find and open the trails was unfathomable at this point. Estimates of years were pretty typical in emails among the trail crew leaders.

Wendell State Forest: Early reports from a local rider indicated many large trees down, including the main access road being totally blocked. With this in mind a call went out to the Franklin County crew for a couple of work sessions at Wendell, the closest park to my home. Early on the morning of the 15th, Liam and I began a full day of clearing starting at the Park HQ and heading towards the most heavily used winter trails on the south side of Wickett Pond Road. It turns out conditions in Wendell's woods were not nearly as bad as the higher parks to the west. Clearing the trails was mostly hand work, dragging tops and small branches off the trails. The two of us made quick work of the XC Trail, Carlton Dirth, Hammerhead's Hiatus, Wicket Pond Escape and Two Brothers. I returned the next day and cleaned out the Lookout Trail, Moose Tracks, Bob is Fat, the Maple Leaf, Nipmuck and Baker Road. Fortunately, we were able to get these complete loops before the heavy snows arrived.

DAR State Forest: We knew that the higher ground was hit much worse than in and around the valley. With that in mind Hampshire County work horses George Willard, Pete Ogulewicz and Rich LaBombard took on the challenge of preparing the DAR ready for winter use. Working alone and occasionally with a few additional volunteers, logging over 120 hours in the woods in the first 30 days after the storm, these guys have just about finished clearing the NEMBA Trail, the Long Trail and Moose Run. Conditions here were pretty bad described by an Ashfield local as " a war zone …" Two bridges were damaged, one with a direct hit as shown in the photo, and another dislodged from its moorings when a 6" hemlock lifted it from the swamp as it was uprooted by the weight.

Work here will probably cease until some of the new snows disappear, but will resume as soon as possible in the spring. Contact Pete ogee377@yahoo.com or George gwil1@verizon.net if you want to be added to announcements of future work events at the DAR.

Dubuque State Forest (Hawley State Forest): Of PV NEMBA's parks, the worst hit was Dubuque State Forest. Lying at about 1500 feet, it took the brunt of the storm - over ½ inch of ice coated everything absolutely devastating the hardwoods that make up most of the tree cover.

Many, many thanks to all of you who came to Hawley State Forest January 1 and 3 on a couple of bitterly cold days to help cleanup from the ice storm. We had more than 20 people on New Year’s Day, with at least 8 chain saws going

and almost as many again on Saturday. To date over 150 hours of volunteer labor have been logged in this forest. Many hands make light work, although it was still very hard work and slow going. The crews managed to clear the road in from the firehouse parking lot up to the top of the hill where the ByPass Trail and the Snowshoe trail go left and right. ByPass was cleared down to Penobscot Road and the Snowshoe Trail was cleared about 2/3 of the way.

The volunteer crew hailed from Ashfield, Buckland, Easthampton, Conway, Sunderland, Cheshire, Windsor, Hatfield and elsewhere. They were mtn. bikers, skiers, trail runners, snowshoe racers - all sorts of trail users who love and appreciate the great trail system in Hawley. Many volunteers were NEMBA members or Western Mass. Athletic Club members.

Although a lot was completed, it really is merely a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the daunting task that awaits in the spring. The immediate goal is to clear out the "Kiln loop trails", which is the race course for one of the WMAC snowshoe races, as well as the most often used trail for xc winter skiing. This loop is Snowshoe trail, Notch trail and ByPass trail. Work resumes in earnest on MLK day, before a recess until spring.

This is a plea to ALL Hawley trail users - WE NEED HELP! During the winter months and especially in the spring. To be added to the trail crew list, please forward your email address to Tom McCrumm - South Face Farm [tom@southfacefarm.com] so you can be contacted for future Hawley SF work days. — Harold Green

GT Bicycles Supports Patrol, Access Raffle and Helps NEMBA Get a Presence on the Race Circuit

GT Bicycles has become a major 2009 NEMBA sponsor. They'll be throwing some serious support to our New England Mountain Bike Patrol, providing them with new jerseys, a tent, some high tech radios and operating funds. The patrol plays a significant role in fulfilling NEMBA's educational mission and helping provide assistance to user and park staff at the Middlesex Fells, Lynn Woods and Great Brook Farm SP. The patrol also provides first aid and logistical support for our Mountain Bike Adventure Series. If you're interested in joining our patrol, please contact the patrol director, Terry Kennedy, at tfkennedy1@gmail.com. We will be announcing a training session this spring.

We'll be debuting our annual Access raffle, but as a sneak peak, we're pleased to be offering GT high end carbon dualie as our premier prize - the Marathon. This bike is a vastly improved I-Drive suspension bike carved and sculpted around a carbon chassis. We rode the bike at the Interbike Outdoor Demo in Providence last fall, and the ride quality is superb and the looks and style of the bike is a beauty to behold.

And perhaps most exciting of all is that GT has provided four slots to NEMBA riders in their Dirt Coalition race program. Four NEMBA riders will be taking part in the various New England race series as well as some of the longer endurance races in the region. Each rider will be riding a GT carbon bike, either the Zaskar or the Marathon, and will have a custom GT/NEMBA tent that they set up at each of the races to provide materials for GT and NEMBA.

While NEMBA is not a race association, racing is a critical part of mountain bike culture, and we hope that our outreach will help educate this segment of rider to the importance of protecting and giving back to the trails. Look for updates on the program and read the GT/NEMBA riders' blogs by visiting www.nemba.org.

Bike Safety Day with Team Crankfire and CT NEMBA

Keep your eye out for the spring Bike Safety Day with Crankfire Racing and CT NEMBA. Last April, Crankfire Racing co-hosted its first ever Bike Safety Day with CT NEMBA and Bicycle Works in Middlebury, CT. Not knowing what to expect for a turnout, we gathered the troops and joined forces with Eric Mayhew from the CT chapter of NEMBA and Matt Morris from Bicycle Works, our local bike shop sponsor. As team manager of the Crankfire Racing team, I thought it would be a good way to give back to our community and to get the next generation of cyclists excited about biking, as well as a good team-building exercise for the team. It was about time that we gave back to the next generation of bike wielding cyclists. On the first gorgeous day of the new season, all the hard work paid off with a New England day that endured with a cloudless, bright blue sky projecting the warm sun on our longing skin. Half of the team was able to attend, along with a few of our good friends to help us out.

Although the morning wasn't as busy as one might have hoped, it was great to have a little more one on one time with the kids. We adjusted helmets, taught hand signals, and performed a timely safety check on bicycles. Then we "walked" the kids through a simulated street scenario with a real Stop sign and orange cones to weave in and out. Pete Scannell and I rode with the kids around the track, who were weaving in and out of the cones without effort. Our other helpers manned the tent, and performed the bike and helmet checks with efficiency. All had a good time and some learned a few potentially valuable lessons.

Overall, the day came together quite well, and we learned just as much from working with these kids as we learned about each other. The kids reminded us how much fun it can be to ride bicycles in the warm spring sun and I learned how good it feels to work with kids. I also learned how well Pete Scannell was working with the kids. To think of the possibility of bringing joy to these kids' lives for one morning with the hope of teaching them something that may save an arm scrape or even one's life brought a smile to my face. I believe the primary goals of giving back to the community and having fun safely riding bicycles with kids were exceeded. We'll be looking forward to doing it again this spring. — Eric Mayhew