Merrimack Valley Trail Day - Sept 24th

[MTBME]

Our next trail project is without a doubt the most exciting trail project ever undertaken in the Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro state forest. This new trail is in an area of the forest that currently has no singletrack of any kind. That gives us a chance to go in there with a clean slate.

We already have the flags in place for 1.5 miles of new single track by the Gumpus Road area of the forest and quite a bit of brushing back has already taken place. In fact, we already have both of the boardwalks in place. We have a layout in place that gives us rolling singletrack, with many technical features incorporated for the thrill seekers in all of us.

With your help we'll have this done by the end of this week, and will have a chance to enjoy this trail all through the fall and early winter. This is the trail that will be a catalyst for even more trails out in that area for the next several years.

So the punchline hasn't changed. With a good turnout, we have a chance to get this trail cut end to end on the 24th. For more information contact me at n.blanchette@comcast.net or Bob at facdesign@comcast.net

[MTBME]

I took a few pictures of some of the lines we are creating on our next trail that we'll be cutting on the 24th of September. As usual the photos never seem to do any justice to the actual terrain being photographed.

[MTBME]

The trail will flow in a true cross country fashion but will incorporate many technical features along the way.

[MTBME]

The trail will run about 1 1/2 miles and will take users to areas of the forest never seen before.

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This photo doesn't do any justice to the many drops to be found in this particular area.

[MTBME]

Here's a link to Gumpus Road where we will be parking for this Saturdays trail day. Cut and paste the whole link for best results.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Gumpus+Road,+Dracut+MA&ll=42.663788,-71.341438&spn=0.036875,0.067596&hl=en

[MissJean]

What time? And, if one is running late, will you be easy to find from the parking area?
Jean

[MTBME]

We are looking at 8:30 for a start time but realistically, after mulling around with coffee and munchkins for a little while, it may be 8:45 or so before we walk into the woods. As far as getting there late, not a problem. If you walk straight into the woods from the edge of Gumpus road where the cars are parked, about 40 yards, you will intersect the trail which runs parallel to the road in that area. We will probably be spread to the left and the right of that point. You'll see and hear us no problem.

[slapheadmofo]

I should be able to make it.
Looks like it'll be some fun stuff.

[catbbq]

Norman - What tools should we bring? Spades? Rakes? What else?

I got a really cool battery powered skil saw.

[off piste]

Who's bringing their bikes to ride afterwards?

[MTBME]

"What tools should we bring?"

The trail has been scratched out pretty much from start to finish. That means most of the lopping and cutting has already been done. What remains is removing the duff, brushing back a few spots, a little benchcutting, some rock work, and working a few drainage issues.

The goal is to have a rideable trail from start to finish on Saturday. Depending on the crew we may have to come in at a later date to work the jumps and drops. We'll see. Between me Bob and Kirk we have enough loppers, spades and bow saws. What we need is hard firm rakes, McClouds, fire rakes and rock bars if you got them. If you have a favorite tools that your comfortable with, by all means bring it along. Looks like a cool fall day for Saturday. Finally!

[gnurider1080]

ill probably be there.

[MTBME]

"Who's bringing their bikes to ride afterwards?"

I expect quite a few bikes to be there.

NB

[MTBME]

Looks like great cool weather for this trail building day. By the way, this trail day is part of the Merlin / NEMBA series.

[off piste]

"Who's bringing their bikes to ride afterwards?"

I expect quite a few bikes to be there.

NB



;D ;D ;D ;D

[off piste]

Great turnout! That trail ended up quite nice. Awesome ride afterwards to boot!

[BG]

Thanks everyone for showing up and helping to make today a milestone Trail Day for Merrimack Valley Nemba and Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest.
It's going to be a great addition to the expanding trail system all of us are working so hard to have available to ride and enjoy. It was exciting to see members from 4 different NEMBA chapters working dilligently to make this happen. A great crew, a lot of fine work and a great ride today, Thank You all again for your effort and trail building energy, we hope to see you again soon to both build, maintain and ride with each other on these trails and yours, that we have all spent so much time and imagination creating.

Bob G

[gnurider1080]

Great turnout! That trail ended up quite nice. Awesome ride afterwards to boot!

yeah and you got an extra run on it! ;D

[off piste]

Great turnout! That trail ended up quite nice. Awesome ride afterwards to boot!

yeah and you got an extra run on it! ;D


;D ;D ;D

[slapheadmofo]

You guys have been doing some really great things with the trail system in LDT. I was really impressed with the quantity and quality of what's been done there over the past few years. Today was a very well organized work day; it was obvious how much preparation and planning went into the new trail, and I think that was what made it possible for us to get as much done today as we did.

I was glad to be a part of putting it in place, and it was good to see/meet/ride with all of you guys. Now I just have to make a point of getting back there to ride more often...

Dennis

[MTBME]

We had a pretty decent turnout of about 15 volunteers Saturday but you wouldn't know it by the pictures I took. We were so spread out along the one and a half miles of trail, that I never saw half the people there after we left the parking lot. But that doesn't diminish their contrabution. Thanks to Jean (old broad), Bill Cody, Lionel (thinone), Jack Cooper, Chris (catbbq) and Dan from North Shore who allowed us to use 4 of their Mcloeds.

Also thanks goes out to Bob (BG) and Kirk (kgoldswo) who got in the two boardwalks by themselves in the weeks leading up to the event, not to mention scratching out most of the trail and neutralizing many of the bees nest along the trail. It was good to see Mike (gnurider), Dennis (slapheadmofo), Mark (tele-mark), James Vogh and Jason Dell make the trip out to Dracut. We'll continue to get out there in the next few weeks to finish off the stuff we couldn't get to and to start developing some of the more technical sections.

[MTBME]

Here's Jason putting the finishing touches on a log roll.

[MTBME]

And later when he got to try it out. Still needs a little more work in that area.

[MTBME]

This rocky area has a lot of potential that we will be developing in the future.

[MTBME]

James giving a new line a go.

[MTBME]

Gnurider lining up a drop

[MTBME]

Kirk G and Bob G trying to decide which drop looks right

[MTBME]

And finally I have slapheadmofo who just cleaned a rolling jump combination but was just getting out of the picture frame. We got a lot more work to do in there. The skys the limit right now. I expect that trail to continue to evolve in the next year or so and should be very special when it is all said and done.

Thanks again - Norman

[konagurl]

alright, so I just heard about this new trail yesterday from someone who rode it and after hearing them rave about it I just had to see what all the fuss was about. You guys rock!!! The trail is awesome! It's windy, technical, and I can't wait for the snow to be gone so I can practice the new lines and take my friends out there to show them how good that place is. NEMBA has worked so hard out there and you guys really truly kick a**. The LDT used to be a place I rode just because it was there. now it's becoming a destination and I rank it right up there with one of my favorites. It's a little known secret that I wish more riders knew about.

[MTBME]

Thanks. That is high praise indeed and accurately reflects the hard work that has gone into that trail system the last 3 years. I'm wondering how easy it was for you to find that new trail. We toned down the entrances a bit to allow us more time to define the lines before "releasing" it to the general public. We expect to continue adding more trail next year and to continue making LDT state forest a destinstion of choice, not convenience. If you and your friends would like to help out send me an email or visit our web site at http://www.mv-nemba.org.

[konagurl]

yeah, it actually wasn't easy at all to find the trail which was why we probably didn't know about it till almost 2 months after it opened it sounds like. The person who saw it only did because they saw a hiker go into it.

I'm noticing a trend going with efforts in trying to make a big continuous loop. I think this is great! since the forest has so much space to utilize but instead theres funky trails that just sort of loop into one another. people who don't know the place just end up riding in circles. But now theres a very distinct loop and I think it's great.

I live in the area off of thompson lane just beyond spruce swamp and thats a whole section completely untouched that I think it would be really neat to build something there in the future also. I'd love to help out with any trail days and will get in touch.

also, I posted a ride for this saturday @ 11:00. here's the link if anyone is interested:
http://www.ragemtb.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2701

abbie