Group Rides Coming

Well, the long range forecast doesn't look great for next Thursday so we decided to postpone the official start of the group ride season until Thursday May 5 at 5:30 (leave parking lot by 5:45) at Franklin Falls.  Thursday nights' will be our official ride night again this summer and we will be riding from here on out every week until October rain or shine.

We're also hoping that the weather will actually get nice soon, it's been way too cold for this time of year.  I'm really sick of wearing winter gear and booties on 90% of my rides and am looking forward to another long season of wearing nothing but bike shoes and bug spray (I know it's a horrific thought).  So if you see a big oaf riding around wearing nothing but bike shoes and stinking of deet, it's probably me and you might want to steer clear.  I'm going to claim Seasonal Affective Disorder on the police report.  I hope bail will be set low.

Last year's spring riding ended poorly.

On a brighter note, I rode parts of the quarries and Concord Hospital trails yesterday and I'm happy to report that they are pretty dry.  There's still alot of debris on the trails but just about everything is rideable.  Be nice to the trails if you do run into any wets spots.

See you next Thursday for the season opener (I promise to be fully clothed).  We will get ride locations for May on the calender as soon as we get a feel for how wet some of the locations are.  

State of the Chapter (and Trails)

Franklin Falls could use a few more warm days to get rid of the last of the snow.  There are still some drifts in the woods in the low and shady spots but its melting fast.  And thanks to FFD's unique soil composition even the spots with melting snow are basically dry and firm.  So once that snow is gone they should be good to go!

There are a few small blown downs and lots of little dead fall scattered around per usual for this time of year so if you're out riding early this season be sure to stop here and there and begin the process of clearing some of that stuff out if you can.  We'll have our official trail day at the Dam on May 15 to get things completely squared away for the season.

There is also some chatter about trails in the Concord area quickly coming into their own as well.  Keep your eyes and ears peeled for our weekly rides to get going soon...

In other chapter news we are working on coming up with better signage for our managed trail systems.  We are working out size, materials, etc. as well as designs that meet the specs of our various land owner partners.  We invested in some leaf blowers to make those trail days that much more efficient and we are also brainstorming on some cool events we might try to pull off later in the season.

As always we are dreaming and planning big for a great year on the trails!

Hurry Up Already!

Spring is FINALLY starting to take hold in our neck of the woods. 

CNH NEMBA will be having a chapter meeting this Thursday at 6pm at Franklin Falls Dam.  We will be discussing our trail day schedules for the year among other business and possibly also taking an exploratory ride of the trails at FFD to see what kind of shape they are in weather permitting.

One thing we have already decided is our Trial Day for Ahern State Park originally scheduled for this Sunday is being pushed back to a date TBD.  Trails there are still pretty thoroughly covered in snow and we won't be able to do much useful work there for at least another week or two.

Keep your eyes peeled on Upcoming Events for the rescheduled date.

In the meantime while you wait for our trails to dry out, take a trip down south.  I spent this weekend shredding the handy work of our brothers from the North Shore and Merrimack Valley chapters.  Willowdale, Russell Mill, and Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro are all riding great right now.  Just goes to show you, well built trails will drain fast and ride well nice and early.