NEMBAfest, i had fun,did you?

Great weather, hardpack on the trails, foliage, barbeque, live tunes, deals on gear, (plenty of parking?) and all for a terrific cause. Thanks for a wonderfull day to all the Nemba menbers who gave up their time to make the whole event a success.

[splat]

FunTime was had by my whole family, My wife and I did some good rides, the kids had a great time on the obsicle course, was just lots of fun!!

Thank you every one helped make this possible ! you did a great job.

[Shubnigurath]

kick-ASS time guys, nice fastrack trails, cool little trials show and always nice to check out everyone else's ride. The lack of Harpoon beer in spite of thier presence there was a bit of a bummer though, oh well. Special thanks to that dude on the trail whom gave me the spare tube..you rock bro. 8)

[SloMoJo]

Agreed!
What a great day, and success for NEMBA.

I hated to leave at 4pm. I rode for 20 miles today, the farthest ever for me! First time at Great Brook, and had a blast.

I just showed up with $15, so "Thanks" to everyone who made it all happen.
Cheers

[EVIL BOTA]

The fest was run well. I don't think the riding is all that great there. The good thing is that all had fun. Hope they have it at a different location next year. I like to climb .There wern't to many places to do that there. A couple of the loops were fun, but I find it a bit boring at carlisle.

[Adam]

I had a blast there, seeing biking friends I hadn't been in touch with in years!
With the huge crowds (or at least as it seemed from the parking lot overflow) I hope the fundraiser was successful. There were some very creative loops marked also-having ridden GB quite often I found some new twists to some old loops.
As with many adventure rides, I'd love to see the trail markings stay past the event. People plan some great ability-level rides for each event, and it's a shame to see the markings disappear right afterwards. Cheers,

Adam

[CouchingTiger]

Good time for sure. The event was, as far as I could tell, a HUGE success. I suspect the turnout was a little more then planned but that is a good thing.

Given that, I'd say next year, more lead rides (like maybe 5x the number) leaving every 15 minutes or so with four different categories so that you get a repeat type/level ride every hour. As a ride leader it was impossible to maintain the entire groups, given the sheer numbers. I had a group of like 26 people and we just couldn't maintain with those numbers. My wife had a group of 45 (which they split into two). Don't get me wrong though, too many folks at a charity is a GOOD problem to have ;)

Excellent time for sure. Thanks to everyone for all of their hard work which made this event a ton of fun and I'm sure went a long way in the fight to save/purchase Vietnam (the trail system not the country).

-Couch

[AA]

Hey EVIL-BOTA,

I'm sure NEMBA is open to suggestions on event locations so if you know of good places for big events shoot an email to pk@nemba.org. The tough thing is having a place that caters to everyone (beginner, intermediate, advanced, free-riders). It is nearly imposible to satisfy that diverse a group of riders. The worst thing that NEMBA could do is have an event that has strictly advanced terrain. Frustrating beginner and intermediate riders with overly difficult trails is not a good thing. IMHO I thought Great Brook was a perfect location because there was a big vendor/swap area, room for trials, the band and food in the same place.

AA

[BrianK]

Awesome event! I had an incredible time and that's the first time I've ever done two rides in one day. The weather was perfect too.

Thank you to the event organizers for putting on such a great event!

So how did the fund raising go? What's the status on the Vietnam fund?

-BrianK

[EVIL BOTA]

Don't get me wrong I had fun. I hope I didn't come accross like I 'm some great rider(intermediate-adv?). I just like to climb(cause its the only thing I'm good at..lol). Carlisle is a good place ,because they can handle all the parking and the venders. I have ridden there a few times.Just not my favorite place is all. Nemba did a great job. I was just hoping they are gonna try to have the fest at different locations.

[pk]

Man, I'm beat! Believe it or not, putting on something like this takes a lot out of you. I know the other key organizers are pretty tired too. But we're totally STOKED that the event went so well. Yeah, parking was problem but we had 1000 people at the event, so what can ya do?

No official numbers yet on the Vietnam fundraising, but I think we scored about 40K for the fund--which means we've raised almost 90K. Very, very cool.

I thank you all for coming--the ranger was really impressed with how great mountain bikers are, and while I'm sorry we couldn't have a beer garden--I think everyone had a great day.

btw: I thought Two Ton Shoe did a great job with the tunes. You might want to blast them an email of thanks at jeff@twotonshoe.com. They were solidly behind this effort and really came through to support the cause.

Kevin Brody, as always, was THE trials man!

Lastly, if anyone can come up with a "perfect" venue for next year, let me know!

pk

[hogboy]

Great Brook is actually pretty much as perfect as you can get for a throwdown.

[cgrimble]

It was awesome!! I personally want to thank all of the volunteers for their time. Some of the jobs were tough but they all did a fantastic job!!


Claire

[pk]

Claire, you have fully proven yourself to be THE Dirt Diva!

You did a great job organizing the volunteers and all the rest, and I couldn't have done it w/o ya!

In gratitude, please print out this coupon for your free trip to the Cayman Island!

;D

pk

[splat]

.........


Lastly, if anyone can come up with a "perfect" venue for next year, let me know!

pk


Pk

maybe you could start a discussion for suggestions.
and give us a list of what some of the requirements are . Like PARKING ! ( I guess that rules the Nam out really fast ! ) terain,etc , I Have some thoughts but not sure what all needs to be looked at.

JJG

[grizzly]

Just wanted to let everyone know we had a great time at Great Brook. The trails were marked well, and we enjoyed the challenge of negotiating the tandem on the advanced loop. Thanks for everybody's effort organizing this event.
Jim and Cathy(on the green Ventana tandem)

[Carsion]

Thanks to everyone that put on this event. I have been riding for almost 8 months now and it makes me so happy to have a community aspect that NEMBA offers.
Joining NEMBA was just as important as buying the right bike for me. I am looking forward to joining in more NEMBA events, trail maintence and maybe leading a ride at some point.
So, two thumbs up for those who made this all possible.
;)

Hey my post was deleted! ;D looks like I'm gonna fit in here as I always say " I'd never join a club that would have me as a member"

[pk]

Hey there, Treadhead.

I had to delete your post because it was creating some very weird formating problems. It has nothing to do with contect.

But don't worry, we still don't want ya as a memba! ;D

pk

Hey there, Treadhead.

I had to delete your post because it was creating some very weird formating problems. It has nothing to do with contect.

But don't worry, we still don't want ya as a memba! ;D

pk


Hmmmm I thought it looked a little funny ???

DG
Don't sing it bring it!......ooops wrong forum. :)

[johnbigbooty]

Thanks for a great time. I took my 8 and 10 year old kids, and they enjoyed the show, the trails, the especially the family ride. The more my kids see of this sport the more they like it. Only suggestion, and it's a small one, was that some kid-friendly food would have been nice. Next time I'll just pack my own. The location could not have been improved upon from the family man's perspective.