Friday, June 25, 2010

Thursday Night Ride

Seems that now that we are scheduling the rides further in advance we are gaining traction on the Thursday night rides.  Thanks to Mike G. for pushing us to be more proactive on the scheduling.

Anyway, great ride last night.  We did a combo partial quarry ride then over to the hospital trails for the usual technical fun. All told we had 8 show up (some a little later than others) and 4 were newcomers.  Hugh amazed us all with his fearless downhilling and techy skill set and even demonstrated for everyone how one should Not go over a log pile.   Jim managed to not run into me despite his best efforts and has now officially graduated from 'Shy Dove' riding style to the elite 'Somewhat Concerned Crow' style.  He has come a long way since his introduction to the sport just 2 years ago, and if he ever decides to go singlespeed everyone better watch out.  We also had our youngest rider of the year who is reportedly 15 years old. 

We had so much fun that when we got back to the parking area a few hours later we found a 3 additional latecomers and took them on a last loop up to the top of Winant and back down again.  Hope to see everyone next week up in Laconia. 

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

July Ride Schedule

The locations for the Thursday night rides are now set for the month of July. See the events calendar for details.

Note that the July rides are scattered around the state so start times are 6pm to give more travel time.


Friday, June 18, 2010

Thursday Ride in Plymouth



It was back to the Kevin and Matt show for yesterday's ride.  We planned on a small local loop within Fox Park then a ride through town to Gyro and done. 

Unfortunately the small loop I had planned in Fox Park, that used to be my go to back when I was in school at PSU has been completely abandoned.  A shadow still remains and I was able to stay on track (usually) from memory but it's easy to see it hasn't seen love in a long time.  It was always meticulously maintained by locals in years past with even some substantial man made features that are now succumbing to the elements.



But in true to form 'circle of life' style Gyro is in great shape and looks to have been on the receiving end of lots of hard work lately.  Trails are the buffest I've seen them and there are some new features built and others expanded.  Almost makes me want to buy a dirt jumper for some lunch break laps...

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Diehards

We had a massive group ride of 3 tonight in the rain at Franklin Falls.  Chris still reigns supreme as the 'perfect attendance' king; He has yet to miss a group ride this year.  We may have to think up some sort of end of season award for whoever has done the most group rides, but at this rate there is no touching him.

Anyway, wet and rainy tonight but we did the usual loop plus Salmon Brook Trail (SBT) for a total of just under 7 miles.  A bit greasy in spots, but the trails are in really good shape.  Amazingly, the crazy sloped section with the bridging on SBT was in great shape.  We scoped out possible reroutes for the third switchback to increase the radius and make it a better turn, but we'll have to go back on a nicer day when we can spend some time thinking it through.

See y'all next week.  I think Kevin will be hosting up in Plymouth, so we'll post some directions in the upcoming events section in the next few days.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Tuesday EMS Ride

Ben from EMS Concord as well as some of our brothers and sisters in arms from the Southern NH chapter drove up to Franklin for their Tuesday ride this week.

Great group and great riding.  I for one really needed a nice conversation paced ride to get my legs back in order.

We didn't ride SBT but we did just sneak in at the bottom so that a few people could take a look at the completed third bridge.  And I must say, nice work guys!  I don't want to name names in fear of missing someone but you know who you are.  A truly elegant solution to the problem at hand and if you ask me it looks like its going to stand the test of time.

Of course I forgot to take pics, but all in good time.

Be on the lookout for some more rides popping up in our calendar, we are looking to cross promote a bit with the EMS ride and Southern NH.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

HB191 Passes!

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/bill_status.aspx?lsr=307&sy=2010&txtsessionyear=2010&txtbillnumber=HB191

 This is a very important issue for cyclists. Access to trails is often disallowed because a landowner is afraid of being sued as a result of an injury. Thank you representative Gene Chandler for sponsoring this bill and Rob Adair from White Mountain NEMBA for being the bill's champion.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Thursdays with Chris

I am proposing a name change to our Thursday Group Ride. Chris' streak continues...

We had a lighter headcount yesterday with just me and Chris showing up for a jaunt at FFD. We did the usual with some variations on direction. I will post up the ride data soon.



Also finally got out to SBT to take a look at Mike's handy work with the new bridges spanning the wet spots, they look great! and ride just fine. They were even a tad wet from yesterday afternoon's T-Storms and I didn't have any issues with sliding out. I think the chainsaw scouring should be enough, no chicken wire needed.

I still have yet to ride the bottom section of SBT 100% clean. There are some tricky spots especially for a SS, but it will be a nice change of pace for FFD to have a spot that takes a whole season to conquer.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Safe Routes to School

CONCORD, N.H. - The Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission will host the State's first-ever Safe Routes to School conference.

The conference is June 11, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.at the Concord Holiday Inn, 172 North Main Street, Concord.  Registration is free to everyone and is open until June 9 by clicking here, or emailing ncoates@cnhrpc.org or calling 603-226-6020.  There will be free refreshments for all registrants, but lunch is on your own.

NH's First Lady Dr. Susan Lynch is the keynote speaker and she will speak about her work to combat childhood obesity and how communities can work together to get children and families more active.  In addition to speaking across the state about ways to prevent childhood obesity, Dr. Lynch serves as the spokesperson for the physical activity program "Walk NH," which is designed to challenge NH families to have fun getting in shape.

The conference aims to bring statewide transportation, school, health and community leaders together to share their knowledge and experiences in Safe Routes to School with anyone interested in improving mobility and health in their community.

The goal is to bring public awareness to and help attendees learn how to improve health in children, help their communities become more pedestrian and bicycle friendly and begin to improve air quality in their communities. Experts will also teach attendees how to start, manage and complete infrastructure projects through the Safe Routes to School program.

This conference is made possible by a Safe Routes to School grant from the NH Department of Transportation.

For more information, please visit PATH NH