Merrimack Valley NEMBA Chapter News

May 2009 MV NEMBA Chapter News

Park Serve Day Wrap-Up

The prime riding season is well under way and so is the level of activity coming from the NEMBA chapter known as Merrimack Valley. We’ve just completed a successful trail day at Great Brook Farm in Carlisle MA for Park Serve Day. Twenty volunteers turned out on a beautiful Saturday morning in April. The area of the park known as Indian Hill had a complete face lift on both sides of the hill.

Some of the work included: drainage, a new water bar, bench cutting, bush whacking, a general clean up and a new bail out line was developed up the granite climb. Pizza, refreshments and free T-Shirts awaited volunteers at the visitors’ center after the work was completed. Thanks to the local DCR and to all the volunteers who showed up. Don’t worry if you missed this one, we expect to be back working at Great Brook in the coming months.

Russell Mills Conservation Land Update

As some of you may know, the Chelmsford open space committee has given Merrimack Valley NEMBA permission to develop a trail system at Russell Mills in Chelmsford MA. This has been on going for several years now. The trails being developed are suitable for all users. Some may recognize a similar style found at the Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro state forest. That is not a coincidence.

We currently have about 6 miles of new Singletrack ready to go at Russell Mills. When added to the original system of fire roads and double track, most riders will find more than enough to make the trip worthwhile. For the more adventurous of you out there, riders can access Great Brook Farm with a short stretch of back roads from Russell Mills. By combining these areas together one can quickly bump the bike computer up into the mini epic range.

We expect to have a grand opening to present the new trail system to the general public in May. At this event we expect to have organized rides, a raffle and a BBQ. This will be a coming out party if you will to introduce another segment of the general population to the good will and good work of the NEMBA community. I expect to have a complete wrap up of this event in the next issue of Singletrack.

Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro State Forest

What can I say about the Dracut state forest that hasn’t already been said by the hundreds of satisfied users of the park? The trail system is maturing to the point that the thread is now quite nicely packed down. That means a fast and predictably surface under your tires. The brush has been swept back where necessary and the rock features are monitored and maintained to insure a level of safety. Nobody wants to feel the earth move under your tires as your setting up for a drop. We should all feel very proud and happy with the way that trail system in Dracut has turned out. Trail users of all kinds are going well out of their way to make the trip to Dracut.

What’s Next?

In the coming months we have trail days scheduled for Great Brook Farm, Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro state forest, Russell Mills and the Billerica state forest. The dates for these events can be found on our web site at mv-nemba.org. The Tuesday night rides are in full swing at the Dracut state forest and the Friday night rides are picking up momentum at Russell Mills in Chelmsford. Weekends usually find riding opportunities in other areas of the Merrimack Valley.  -- Norman Blanchette

SingleTracks, February 2008

It's early January, the snow is falling, again, and it’s time to write up a chapter report for Merrimack Valley. That can be tough at this time of the year. Most of our bikes are semi retired right now waiting for drier ground and warmer temps. The news and activity coming out of Merrimack Valley NEMBA at this time of the year tends to be on the slow side, but I'm guessing that's pretty normal with most chapters.

This "off season" can be used to reflect a bit on what are our goals as mountain bikers. Is this the year you're going to buy a new bike? Maybe get yourself on a full suspension rig? Or maybe you want to set a goal to ride more or to attend more trail maintenance days at your favorite park. What if we all set out to attend just one more trail event then we did for last year. What about our status as members. Has it expired? Will you rejoin and encourage a friend to do so also?
This all relates back to the health, viability and strength of our local chapter. If everybody was just interested in showing up for a few trail days and or group rides once in a while, we soon wouldn't have a real working chapter. Lets face it; most of us have invested decent money in our riding gear. Were going to be riding whether it's here in Dracut or somewhere else. That's the easy part. Trail Building? Again that's a no brainer. More trails equals more riding options that we all benefit from. But what about that volunteer stuff that happens behind the scene. That's the stuff that most members never see or spend much time thinking about. But it's important.

This chapter report would normally be a good time to report on the results of our chapter elections for 2008. But we really didn't have a chapter election because we really didn't have anyone step forward to put his or her name into the mix. After 9 years on the Board for Merrimack Valley I was looking to step back a bit from the role as chapter President and carve out a new role for myself, within the chapter, that would involve me with membership recruitment and planning for special events at our park here in Dracut. So for now it looks like the status quo is in place for the MV board. That would be myself, Norman Blanchette as President, Bob Giunta as Vice-President and Hugh Folsom as Treasurer.

I do feel there's more that we can do but we can't continue to draw time and resources from the same core members year after year. I would like to see a ride schedule in Dracut that caters to new inexperience riders. We could advertise at the local bike shops to get hold of new customers as they’re purchasing their bikes. I'd like to see a ride that caters to woman only. We don't see many women at our rides. I'm sure they're out there but they may be intimidated to ride with the guys.

We could have special events like fun rides, poker runs and such that bring positive publicity to our group and invite new members to take a look. There may also be a role for someone who finds the political side of this to their liking. There are times when the issue of mountain biking and the impact of more trails, hunting etc, in the forest become an issue with the local city council. Maybe somebody out there has the passion to attend these kinds of meetings and build a coalition of support within the community. I'm sure I could come up with more ideas like this but I think you get the idea. Meanwhile this is your chapter so feel free to speak up and be heard. Any ideas or suggestions are always welcomed. Here's to a great 2008. --Norman Blanchette

SingleTracks, December 2007

Looking back at 2007 I felt our biggest challenge would be to develop a successful relationship with our new team at the DCR in Carlisle. Our previous liaison was reassigned, and we now had the task of selling ourselves, and NEMBA all over again. We quickly discovered they were not about to give us a blank check.

Early on we were held in check while dealing with political issues with other user groups. The DCR played it safe and allowed us to keep busy with plenty of trail maintenance work at the Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro state forest. A request came in from an unlikely source at the Greater Lowell Vocational School to cut a new section of trail that would create a short loop for walkers from the parking lot. We were able to finish that in late spring.

Now fast forward to late summer / early fall. We were asked to do a trail relocation project for the DCR at Great Brook Farm. That turned into a joint project with the Greater Boston Chapter. That project was flawless and set the tone for future joint ventures with Greater Boston. I also think it went a long way in getting the DCR more comfortable with us. We hope to carry that momentum into the new year.

The Tuesday ride series, "Two for Tuesday," (as in two separate starting times), continues to build momentum from last year. Judging from the buzz on the forum, it is one of the better organized and attended rides in the Merrimack Valley. Many thanks go out to Lionel for his promoting and arm-twisting techniques to see that this ride stays viable. My work schedule doesn't allow me to make many of those rides but trust me; I'm usually there in spirit.

We had a very unusual event this past fall with Eastern Mountain Sports. They closed several of their shops for the day and sent a small army of volunteers to the Dracut state forest for some trail work. Bob Giunta put them to work on a major boardwalk project that was started and completed on that same day. That was followed up with a BBQ on site and a ride. This might have slid under the radar a bit because it was held on a Tuesday. But regardless, it was pretty well attended. I have a feeling we may see more events like this with EMS in the years to come.

We continue to look towards the Tyngsboro part of the forest for possible future new trail development. That will take a lot of hard work and a bit of luck on our part. But with our strong core of volunteers, I wouldn't bet against us. Speaking of volunteers this would be a good time to give a tip of the helmet and a Merry Christmas wish to our hard working and dedicated bunch here in the Merrimack Valley. Big thanks go out to Bob Giunta, Kirk Goldsworthy, Lionel Chapman, James Vogh, Barry Moore, Stuart McDonald, Bob Paolillo, Hugh Folsom, and Jack Cooper. —Norman Blanchette