NEMBA: New England Mountain Bike Association

NEMBA's Trail Building Schools

NEMBA teaches scores of people each year about how to build and maintain multiple use trails. Here's a description of one of them from the 2000 season.

"Hey, Kurt, I think I know a shortcut to Hell." I say as we cruise the overstuffed van into Connecticut's Satan's Kingdom, northwest of Hartford, site of this year's trail building school. My track record on short cuts hadn't been too good thus far; one short cut leading us through the bowery bowels of Revere MA, the scrap metal capital of the world. But I've got a good feeling about the weekend.

For the first time, I don't know 90% of this year's crop of students—a good sign that NEMBA is reaching a broad set of mountain bike trail enthusiasts. Greeted by CT DEP's secret weapon, Bob Palmer, we scan the drizzling skies and realize that our open air classroom just isn't going to cut it. But Bob's a resourceful kind of guy and scores us a 1930's stone building, a natural history museum that's complete with stuffed bears and the skinniest excuse for a raccoon that I've ever seen—a perfect offbeat atmosphere to make our home base.

Forty mountain bikers from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire made the trek to People's State Forest, and I was gratified that there were even representatives from FOMBA and the Vermont Mountain Bike Advocates. The instructors were top notch. Kurt Loheit is IMBA's Trail Resourse Director and had flown in from LA. Peter Brandenburg is Massachusetts Trails Coordinator for the DEM and Krisztina Holly is NEMBA's fearless president. Henry Edmunds, Connecticut's AMC Trails Chair, was a great addition, as was Paula Burton, of both the AMC and NEMBA. Connecticut DEP's Bob Palmer was key in organizing the event, and his staffers, Charles Adams and John Duncan, taught an excellent workshop on chainsaw techique. Last but not least, CT NEMBA's John "I live to build boardwalks" Turchi helped to build one of the most substantial boardwalks I've ever seen.

Saturday morning was spent among the embalmed wildlife doing indoor coursework on such sundry topics as designing, funding and implementing trail projects, trail assessment and design, and the fundamental of erosion control techniques. The afternoon featured hands-on clinics on installing waterbars and rolling grade dips, trail design and a chainsaw workshop. Despite the full day, Bob Palmer led some hearty folk off on a killer mountain bike ride. After dinner, a keg of Harpoon and a slide show by Kurt, we crept into our tents nestled along the Farmington River.

Day Two began early with a hearty breakfast among the immobile beavers, flightless eagles and skinny racoons. We then hit the trails with more clinics on switchbacks and trail reroutes, building a boardwalk and learning more about trail design. I couldn't help but be impressed with Turch and other members of the CT NEMBA crew who moved two telephone poles across one of the biggest mud holes I've seen, all without the help of winches or come-alongs. It was a great and productive morning.

By mid-afternoon we returned for some more good grub and a wrap-up discussion of what we learned. We were all so pleased with what we'd done that we'd forgotten to pick up Kurt, who was still wandering the woods in search of the perfect trail. Doh, just another short cut, I guess!

Sponsors of this year's school are IMBA, EFTA, NEMBA, CT DEP and Harpoon.

Go to past NEMBA Trail Maintenance Projects Menu