Friday, October 22, 2010

One is the lonliest....

Maybe it was the heavy rain and hail earlier in the afternoon...
Maybe it was the fact that I forgot to send out the group email until the day of the ride...
Maybe it was because it was 40 degrees out...
Maybe I just have no friends and chronic halitosis...

Probably a combination of all of these, but I was the only one to show for last nights ride.  Since I was there, I decided to ride anyway and I have to say it was a bit spooky.  I have always had a very active imagination and there are times when it really doesn't do me any good.  Like being in the woods alone on a cold October night with a full moon with intermittent mini snow squalls.  I tend to get skittish when I find myself in those circumstances and last night was no exception. 


I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy myself because after all, I was riding my bicycle, and that should be enough.  Also, I decided to test out my double light setup (bars and helmet) which was enough to sear the retinas of even the most determined sasquatch that was stalking me.  I even managed to snap a photo of one who tried to sneak up on me while I was riding the new section of mighty chicken.

Next week will probably be our last regularly scheduled ride of the season and we'll be at Bear Brook and I really hope I am not alone there because it's much scarier at night than Franklin Falls.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Taste Of the Trail Event

This event takes place tomorrow night Thursday the 21st, it is a fundraiser for a trail from Tilton to Franklin. A lot of us use that trail very often. Fundraising is to build a bridge over the river to fix a gap in the trail toward Route 140.  If you are free, this looks like a great event and a great way to advocate for more and better facilities to get from point A to point B via bicycle in Central NH.  
Taste of the Trail Event
 
Benefit for Winnipesaukee river Trail

Enjoy food from 13 area restaurants, a silent auction and a live auction. We are excited to bring together the people from three communities, Tilton, Northfield and Franklin, to celebrate this multipurpose, recreational trail and to raise money for its continued maintenance.

Buy tickets ($20) at Tilton, Northfield & Franklin Town/City Halls, Franklin Savings Bank (Tilton, Franklin), Grevior's Furniture, Pauli's Bakery & Restaurant. No tickets sold at the door.

It will be an exciting evening! Invite your friends and family.


Winnipesaukee River Trail Association Only 1 day to purchase tickets for Taste of the Trails/Auction, Thurs, Oct 21, 5-8 PM, Riverfront Place, Tilton. Auction list getting longer daily: Bib #1 for Winni Trail 5K, Rowell septic tank pumping, handcrafted wooden toys, 2 Lake Region Snowmobile Club memberships & sweatshirts, handcrafted cutting board, handcrafted necklace & bracelet ... almost 60 items for silent & live auction!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Winnipesaukee-River-Trail-Association/270360568652

Speaking of Ahern

CNH NEMBA is hosting a trail day at Ahern State park this Sunday the 24th.  Sign in will be 8:30-9:00am at the Ahern parking lot on Right Way Path (Old State Prison Rd.) off Rt. 106 just north of Laconia.

Click Here for location on Google Maps

Coming in from Laconia to the south you'll take a left on Right Way Path and then another left on the access road to Ahern (there is a sign for the park).

The plan is simply to rake and /or leaf blow the existing trails. We expect to finish before lunch.  Please bring rakes or leaf blowers and brush nippers to cut the occasional branch.  We may corduroy a few chronic wet spots to stop the mud from getting churned up next Spring.
Bring your bike if you feel like riding after.  We can lead for anyone who is new to the trails.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Darkness at Ahern

I've ridden Ahern enough to know that you should plan on bringing your technical game along for the ride. Throw in a dark October night and a bunch of fast riders and you know it's on...
8 of us left Chainline Cycles somewhere around 6 and by the time we got into Ahern proper, we had about 15 minutes before we needed lights. There was however, one rider who won't be named (he's from foreign land best known for Benny Hill reruns and afternoon tea) who claimed that there was no need for lights and ironically found that his light actually didn't work when he was forced to admit that it was indeed dark. Lucky for him, someone lent him a camping headlamp and he was able to soldier on. Pretty amazing feat considering that you really can't have too much light to ride Ahern and we certainly weren't waiting up for him.
Given the nature of Ahern in the dark we had all the typical minor crashes and mishaps including a broken chain, but all in all everyone made it out unscathed. If your looking for lots of tight, technical, twisty New England singletrack Ahern is a good place to start. My GPS has finally given up the ghost so I have no actual course from last night, but I was told we did 12 miles total. Below is a my artistic rendering of where we seemed to ride last night. I think it is pretty accurate except the actual circles we rode were probably a bit tighter.

Realistic simulation of actual ride
 
Next week we'll be riding Framklin Falls to try out the new extension on Mighty Chicken.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Mighty Chicken under the Lights!

Ever wonder what a Mighty Chicken looks like under the cover of darkness?  Wonder no longer!  Here are some great prolonged exposure shots taken by Andrew Jenness on a recent ride at FFD.



Be sure to get out and ride the Chicken again soon, some of the crew was hard at work last weekend adding a new extension to the bottom.  I can't personally speak to how awesome it is yet, but from the chatter I hear it is a fine piece of work (as always).

Get out and ride!