Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Page Hill Trail Day Sunday Sept 14th

We are starting construction of a new trail at Page Hill on Sunday 9/14.

This new singletrack trail will run from near the bottom of Shock Therapy to near the bottom of Spring.

Registration will be from 8 to 9 am at the top of Clough Road. Directions can be generated at this link.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Video / Review of Shock Therapy

Check it out one of the first video's and reviews of our new machine built trail, Shock Therapy!

Jesse already has a punch list of things he'd like to refine.  Like we said this trail will never truly be 'complete'.  Get out there and give it a rip and let us know what you think.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/374730/

Monday, August 4, 2014

Flow Trail Complete!

It was a long day but we managed to punch through and complete work with the Kubota on our last day of the rental period.  Most all of the hand work and fine tuning and sculpting is also done and we are happy to present 'Shock Therapy' to the world!

I'm not sure what the final head count for the day was but I want to say it was a crew of around 20 give or take a few.  Many of which put in near a 12hr day to put this trail to bed.  This was a big team effort by the chapter but a special congratulations is in order for Jesse McGowan who really championed this project and saw it through to completion.

A flow trail like this is never fully 'complete'.  We have been test riding sections as we built them trying to make sure the lines made sense and the flow was indeed present but speeds will increase as it rides in and there is always smoothing and tweaking to be done.  The last 10ft or so of the trail is still a tad rough we were running out of daylight at the end of the day but everything else has been tampered / trimmed / buffed out.


finish crews followed the machine smoothing berms and trimming roots


one of the last few berms before leaving the powerlines section and heading into the woods


Chris S. and I discussing the finer points of appropriate whoop height


finished berm to whoop section


Greg D. testing his mini-table


The flow looked quite nice

What this trail needs now is WHEELS!  Pack those lines down and give us feedback while you are at it.  There have been a few calls for a tour so keep your eyes peeled here and on the listserv for some group rides coming up in the near future.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Page Hill Trail Day and Test Ride - August 3rd!

CNH-NEMBA has been working on a new flow trail at Page Hill. We started hand-building in the fall of 2013, but soon realized that that job would be too tough for hand work alone. This year we rented a Kubota KX-018 mini-excavator for 4 weeks (July 7th through August 3rd)

The project is nearing completion, but we are looking for your help to put the finishing touches on and to help us ride it in. Please join us This Sunday. We will be out there from 8 AM to 4 PM, but feel free to come by any time, even just for a test ride. We have tools out at the work site so just bring your bike, work gloves and water. Since we are focused on completing the project this will be a no-frills trail day. Don't expect the usual staffed registration table with coffee and donuts. We will already be out in the woods digging!

The map below shows the new flow trail. The solid blue line is for the completed section and dotted line for the section remaining to be built. The quickest (but not the most fun) way to get out to the new trail is shown with red arrows. This will bring you to the middle of the completed section of trail. From there you can ride or push up to the top.


Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Directions to new Flow Trail at Page Hill

This map below shows the new flow trail. Solid blue line for completed section (as of this morning) and dotted line for the section remaining to be built. The quickest, but not the most fun, way to get out to the new trail is shown with red arrows. This will bring you to the bottom of the completed section of trail. From there you can ride or push up to the top. We have two more weeks to use the excavator. We need a hand-work and test-ride crew behind the machine keeps us moving forward. We'll be out there most days for the next two weeks at various times of day. We expect to be out all day for the next two Sundays. We have a good collection of hand tools out there. Get in touch if you'd like to come help out!

Monday, July 21, 2014

Flow Trail Progress at Page Hill

We are two weeks into our 4 week rental of a Kubota kx-018 and things are progressing great with the flow trail at Page Hill.

The trail is about half done and we are getting more efficient with the machine work as we go.  Confidence levels are high that we will complete the trail within the next two weeks.  The beginning of the trail is ready for test pilots, all of the really technical features have B lines and any jumps are rollable with less speed.

We also have some hand built finishing work to do and crews will be out doing work this week and this weekend so if you are interested in lending a hand in getting this trail to completion contact Jesse at (jesse[at]mcgowans[dot]info)

Here are some great pics taken during one of the recent build / test ride sessions:





Monday, July 14, 2014

Elm Brook Map Re-Posted!

Elm Brook is back up and running with active trail work and we've got a trail map back up on the Trail Maps page.  Get out and check it out!  There is a new bridge on Canal Street:





In other news, its possible to link Franklin Falls, Highland XC and Spaulding Woods in a somewhat reasonable manner.  If you do just about all the single track at each location you end up with about 20mi of trails with about 18-19mi of connecting on pavement/dirt road/jeep road.  50/50 trail to pavement is a pretty good ratio if you ask me!

We are spoiled in Central NH.  My next goal is linking Franklin and Page Hill in an interesting manner...

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Trail Day @ Page Hill Sunday 6/15

Registration will be at the main parking lot on Murray Hill Rd from 8:30 to 9:00 AM.

Trail work will be from 9 am to 2 pm.

NEMBA will provide water, snacks, and tools.  We have several minor improvements planned for Bear Claw trail, including berm'ing a few corners and adding some fun features.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Franklin Falls Trail Day Recap

Trail Day was a huge success!  Seventeen volunteers showed up and we completed just about everything on the agenda, plus some extra bonuses.

With the exception of installation of a bridge, a new trail was completed that gives a bypass option for the steep hill between Rusty Bucket and Cellar Hole Trails.  The crew knocked out the trail bench in short order.  Our prefabricated bridge was stranded when the Beltline Road flooded late Saturday night, as the surge from Friday nights heavy rains raised the reservoir level over 3 feet.  When the water recedes we will be able to retrieve it and drag it to its final destination.  Thanks everyone for a great effort!  Glenn Cilley and Chris Schoeder provided great leadership for the team along with a healthy dose of sweat equity.  Eric Lovering was a bench cutting machine.  Veterans: Grant Drew, Mike Henderson, Scott Pelletier, and Barry Hersh also contributed needed muscle and knowhow.  The turnout of new faces really made it happen fast. At least six new folks lightened the load.  I was bouncing between crews and unfortunately, I didn't lock all the new names in my brain. Hope I have more opportunities in the future to get to know everyone better.

After completing the new trail, Eric and Glenn turned their attention to giving Salmon Brook some much needed attention.   Erosion damage on the switchbacks and connecting benches was repaired.  The pictures look great, looking forward to getting some wheels on it.

While the main crew worked on the new bypass trail, Jesse McGowen and Chris Rodger moved a few tons of dirt to reconstruct the finish line jump at the end of Mighty Chicken. The switchbacks were also de-rooted and smoothed.

Yet other volunteers armed with leafblowers, cleared existing trails of winter debris.  Among them were Matt Bowser and Matt Clark.

- Mike

Monday, May 12, 2014

Sunday May 18th Trail Day @ Franklin Falls

Sunday May 18th
Registration 8-9am (working until 1-2pm)
Federal Dam Access Rd. Franklin, NH

You know the drill...bring work gloves, water.  Some tools will be provided but bringing a rake or loppers is always handy. Light refreshments will be on hand.

We have a laundry list of things we'd like to accomplish. Including a new trail, reworking the jump at the bottom of Mighty Chicken, de-rooting a few sections here and there that have gotten choppy and chewed up as well as some general winter clean up.

Any questions contact Mike Geldermann at geldermj@yahoo.com

Hopefully we'll see you out there!

Friday, May 9, 2014

Ramblin' Vewe is Ready to Ride!

It's official.

Ramblin' Vewe has pulled the signs and all trails are open and ready to ride! Get out there!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Spaulding Woods Open for Business!

Just got word that the upper trails at Spaulding Woods are officially open for riding!

Sounds like the new trail Pat's Outback is still a bit swamped so hold off on riding that one for now.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Spaulding Closure

Hey All.

We are very close to being clear of mud season but a few spots persist and no matter how bad we've got the itch its important to respect our land manager's wishes and stay off trails until they are ready.

Spaulding Woods has officially closed the 'upper' trails per the announcement at their website: http://spauldingwoods.org/

Trails closest to the parking lot are riding fine but please give the stuff up top a bit longer to dry out.  They will be updating their website as conditions change so keep your eyes peeled.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

MUD Season


You know the drill everyone.  The snow is melting, we are all itching to get on dirt but we have to use our heads this time of year.  We had a more substantial snow pack than we've had in the last few years so its probably going to take a bit longer for the trails to harden up this season.

Ramblin' Vewe Farm is officially closed to riding and has signage on site that we all need to respect.  Even if things are getting closer to being ready, if the signs are up do the right thing and save it for another day.

While other riding spots may not be 'officially' closed many of them might as well be for now.  Please use your best judgment.  Here is a recent report from damnation at MTBR from Friday the 11th:

"First Hand Report on Franklin and Spaulding-today at noon-- Lots of snow and ice at Franklin, that's about 50-85% snow and ice coverage-ice up to 4" deep on Snowmo trails/roads and singletrack, compaction here. I walked Coleman Road and came down Sniper, my adopted trail. What is not snow or ice, is mud--- the fabled drainage at Franklin is still frozen below the surface from the 5 degree below normal Winter. Some of the snow is still 8-16" + deep. Sniper was a ribbon of ice from Winter compaction.So when the snow and ice go, another week at least, we will still have mud. And Lots of branches and debris from a stormy Winter. Two weeks looks better unless it is 70, blue skies, above freezing at night. It could be May 1...ditto Spaulding--I drove down to the parking lot, and saw the same amount of snow as Franklin--have pics of today if I figure out how to post them."

So be smart.  Stick to the road or class VI or take this opportunity to visit some friends down south.  Many ride spots are already riding well down in MA and southern NH.  We'll update here as things get better in our area.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

New Map for Spaulding Woods

Yet another iteration of the map for Spaulding Woods.  This area continues its meteoric rise! Be sure to check it out this Spring. (This map is also posted on the Trail Maps page)