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A few of the members of Carrabassett Region NEMBA

Carrabassett Valley News Letter

Carrabassett Region chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association

(CR NEMBA)

10.28.11

Carrabassett’s Mountain Bike Club (CR NEMBA) has enjoyed an extremely productive year. We attribute our success to the partnerships we’ve formed with the Town of Carrabassett Valley and Maine Huts & Trails, as well as support from land owner/managers and a volunteer base that has stepped up in remarkable ways. Our volunteers put in over 1,000 hours on the construction and maintenance of trails in CV this past season!

Mountain Bike Trails

The club assisted the town at the Outdoor Center in the construction of a trail that connects the center to Rte 27 near Campbell Field and a children’s loop, both of which are located near the pump track we built last year. These trails are 3’ wide, bench cut and covered in a fine crushed stone. They were designed for the beginner rider and are intended to invite riders to the ODC from the Narrow Gauge rail trail. We also built a trail that uses x-country trails 7, 29 & 32 with a “tread with in a tread” and single track re-routes. This trail is slightly more technical but still enjoyable for the low-intermediate rider.

We also improved existing trails on MH&T system, in the Bigelow Preserve and on Penobscot Nation land in the Reddington pond area.

Organized Group Rides

The club organized 3 weekly group rides and welcomed members and non-members alike. Alison Thayer lead a Monday night ladies ride, Sunday mornings club members took turns leading a ride from the Outdoor Center and on Tuesday evenings Matt Swan lead a ride out of Northern Lights bike shop in  Farmington. These rides allowed us to meet new riders and to show people what there is for trails and how to link them up for a great ride.

Events with regional draw

The club partnered with the Town to host two events at the Outdoor Center that drew participants from all over New England and Atlantic Canada.

IMBA/NEMBA Trail school

In May we hosted a trail building school. The program was presented by experts from the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA) and the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA). Class room discussion covered topics such as building and caring for trails, planning and executing trail projects and boardwalk construction. Field clinics included trail assessment and rehabilitation, designing & construction of new trails and working with rock. Over 50 people participated. It was an incredibly professional and informative event that helped set the stage for the trail work we completed over the summer.

Carrabassett Back Country Cycle Challenge

In July we held a 60 mile mountain bike endurance race that was part of the US CAN endurance series. The series had two races in Canada and two in the US. 150 riders (6 pro’s) spent the weekend in Carrabassett to see if and how fast they could complete this course. Over 50 volunteers including the Sugarloaf Ski Patrol helped make this happen. By many accounts it was the best venue and course of the series.

CR NEMBA 2010 - 2011  President's note  

The first season for CR NEMBA was absolutely incredible. We formed on July 31, 2010, with a handful of interested mountain bikers and ended the calendar year with over 80 members! We held 4 trail work days where we improved trail sections at the Outdoor Center and on Maine Huts and Trails.  These projects totaled over 500 volunteer hours. Thank you to everyone who participated.  

Most importantly we formed new friendships and brought the mountain bike community together to improve mountain biking in the region. If you participated in a trial work day you know how much fun it is. If you haven't, there will be plenty of opportunity to do so this year.  

Partnerships are extremely important to our continued success.  The Partnerships we formed with Maine Huts and Trails as well as the Town of Carrabassett Valley have been strengthening through continued communication and planning. We will look to strengthen our partnerships with CVOA, as well as the JV Wing snowmobile club and the Carrabassett ATV club as well as form new partnerships with the The Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL) and the High Peeks Alliance among others.  

There has never been a better time to improve and expand the mountain bike trail system in the Carrabassett Region! I point to the Carrabassett Outdoor Center and Maine Huts and Trails as examples of places where we have enjoyed tremendous support and will see more trails this year and in the coming years.    

There is a lot going on in the area with regard to land transfers (Crocker Mountain 11,798 acres, Orbetin Stream 5,945 acres, Rediomgton parcel 10,802 acres) to the state and it is important that the Mountain Bike Community have a voice in the development of the Bureau of Parks and Land's land management plans for these pieces of property. We have attended recent meetings regarding Crocker Mountain and asserted our presence as a user group. We will continue tracking this process and advocating for Mountain Bicyclists. Here is a link to the forest Legasy Application that describes the project in detail http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/documents/highpeaksconservationproject.pdf  

We are always looking for more people to be involved. If you have a specific interest (or general interest) please let me know and I will put you in touch with the right person within the club. dhughes@epsteincommercial.com   If you have not joined the club yet , please consider doing so today, right now, by clicking on this link . It's wicked eazy.  

Thank you for your continued support.   Dave Hughes

Join Carrabassett Region NEMBA! - (See attached Mission Statement)

Go to the membership webpage of nemba.org

• choose a membership plan and select a membership level;

• click the drop down menu "NEMBA Chapter to Join?" and select Carrabassett Region NEMBA;

• click the drop down menu "Membership Order Status" and select New Member

• then click "check out" to go to the payment method screen.

Done, it's that easy!

We can't do the work of making the Carrabassett Region a world class mountain biking destination without your support! Please get involved!