Tunner ME and Bradbury Mountain

Two weekends ago I made my way up to Maine again and was able to ride Tunner? Turner? Mountain and Bradbury. The whole week it poured rain and happened to ease up enough to ride. The rain made everything very wet, leafy and slippery. Turner seems it would be an awesome ride/work out without leaves. Its a nice semi technical ride to the top of a mountain with a fun decent back down. When we were just before the top the usually trail was blocked off and someone that day had put in some fun twisting trails ready for packing!

The next day I rode Bradbury Mountain's B12 race loop solo. Still wet from all the rain but such a fun loop. I don't feel like talking about this past weekends trip to Bradbury mountain... I took a nice face dive off a bridge into a swamp. It was deep enough I had to fish my bike out of the water and wade my way back onto land... lucky for me it was like 70 degrees.

Advice: ride bradbury mountain
Request: compete in the Cold Crank Challenge on Dec. 4th at Fort Rock

Last ride at KT before they close!

On the Friday before Kingdom Trails closed for the season, me and two friends drove up to get one more ride in! It was a gross rainy day although the guy at the KT office said blue skies and 80 ;) It started to rain hard when we started our ride but by the end it was just cloudy. There is nothing like getting muddy and wet. It just makes the ride all that much more rugged. If your gonna get dirty, you have to get  really dirty! I can't wait until they re-open in the spring. 

Rockin' Fort Rock

Just got back from an awesome ride with the perfect group of riders at Fort Rock. The more I ride there the more I love it! and the less lost I get. I'm absolutely beat and so is my dog :) We rode for a little over 2 hours on wet slippery leaves and rocks. Challenging, and rewarding. I've got some nice bruises from when I start to get tired and delusional... my legs/brain just doesn't work right at that point! Here are some photos and video :)

Harold Parker Forest, Andover MA

On Thursday me and my friend Chris went to ride/explore Harold Parker Forest in Andover Mass. We were both very impressed with the network of single track and double track trails. We rode for two hours and never had a feeling of being lost. Although we would have done fine without it, we had mass.gov handy on my phone to glance at the online map. The website has 3 really nice legible trail maps that can easily be printed. The forest has a lot of rack face climbs, rocky technical rolling hills. I think I would have had more fun if it had not have rained for 10 minutes into our ride... I hate slippery everything. Over all Harold Parker is a great location for the race Chris and I are putting on December 4th...

Willowdale, Ipswich Mass.

It was supposed to rain all day but instead it was beautiful and sunny. A friend and I decided to ride Willowdale and do some trail clean up at the same time. We rode for about an hour before stopping and lining areas with logs and rocks that were getting washed away. Willowdale is a perfect place for an easy ride. For every single track loop there is a double track crossing for a nice break before more technical single track. We also built rock obstacles for everyones enjoyment. So if you ride Willowdale, enjoy the fixed trails and stunts :)

Lining the trail with logs... using my guns

before

after

before

after

Fort Rock, Exeter, NH

Fort Rock is a trail network half a mile from my moms house and a great spot for rocky technical rides. There aren't many hilly climbs but there are a lot of sections where walking your bike is necessary. Fort Rock covers a lot of area and I've gotten lost in the dark there before. Thankfully a highway runs along side it and once finding that we were able to ride it home.
I'm off to ride the Rock today...

Sometimes its necessary to take breaks...

3 Day Bike Binge

These past three days (oct. 7,8,and 9th) I've gone on a mountain biking binge with a fellow rider. The first day we rode Willowdale  in Ipswich, Mass. Willowdale is actually my home spot. It is located across the street from where I live and I can easily go on a quick hour single track ride at my convenience. The trails at Willowdale are great. They consist of rolling up and down single track with steep technical climbs and rocky, log covered trails. There are a lot of nice double track as well. At Willowdale you can ride for hours on new trails with speed and a good workout. In the spring there is a mountain bike race held here called the Weeping Willow Mountain Bike Race.

On Friday the 8th we adventured over to Lynn Reservation in Mass to explore the single track trails here. There were some nice technical climbs, views of Boston's skyline, rock covered single track, steep descents, wide dirt roads, hours of biking and easy navigation.

Finally on Oct. 9th we attended the NEMBAfest at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, NH. The fest had miles and miles of marked trails for any level and a challenging loop to demo bikes. I demoed my first Single Speed hard tail 29er and I'm convinced I have to have one now. Bear Brook is a huge state park of 1000 acres with trails from dogsled training, horse back riding, hiking and mountain-biking. After riding and hanging out from 12-4 we ended the night at Pawtuckaway State Park for a friends music and art show. All and all it has been a perfect past three days of riding and adventure.