Greater Boston NEMBA Chapter News

SingleTracks, February 2008

Looking forward to 2008:
Here we are. After exceeding its plans for 2007, GBNEMBA is raising the bar again for 2008!
Expanded Leadership for 2008:

On the leadership side, a new slate of chapter officers was elected. For a third year, Tim Post will continue guiding GBNEMBA as President. Rather than having a single Vice President GBNEMBA elected two Vice Presidents to help guide chapter events and projects in the coming season.

Mike Tabaczynski, a past President and past Secretary will continue in a leadership role as Vice President for another year. Greg Koch, new to the Boston area, became interested and got involved, joined GBNEMBA and was elected as the chapter's second Vice President. Bringing mountain biking advocacy and trail maintenance experience from another region, we welcome Greg and look forward to his contributions. Also, Terry Kennedy was elected Secretary for the second year and Claire Grimble will continue as the chapter's Treasurer. Claire has been Treasurer for a few years now and she's done an outstanding job keeping the chapter's finances in order. In addition to his chapter secretarial responsibilities, Terry Kennedy has taken on the role of Director of the Mountain Bike Patrol. On the regional side, Tim Post will continue to represent us as a Regional Representative and Mike Tabaczynski will remain as the Alternate.

Trail Maintenance:
Getting ready to kick off its 2008 TM program, GBNEMBA has scheduled a series of Trail Maintenance Days focused at the Middlesex Fells, Great Brook Farm State Park, Belmont and at Lynn Woods. Though all the dates are not yet firm, the plan for the Fells is to have a TM Day on the first Sunday of each month. Keep your eye on the NEMBA website for TM date postings.

Though we accomplished a lot last year, we're expecting to do more in 2008. As always, we need all the help we can get, and if you're willing to lend a hand, check the NEMBA Calendar. We're talking about a Saturday morning here or a Sunday morning there. If you can squeeze in a little time to help, we will definitely appreciate it. Bring your gloves and a bottle of water; we'll give you the tools and feed you at noon. And if you're still up to it, you can join us for a ride that afternoon.

Trail Crew Leaders:
And for those of you with a little more time and would like to become qualified Trail Crew Leaders, GBNEMBA will conduct another of its very popular Trail Crew Leader Training Courses in early spring. Trail Crew Leaders are the people with the know how to lead volunteers at maintenance days and make sure that the project is executed properly. Properly led trail maintenance crews are important to what GBNEMBA offers land managers at the many parks we ride in. Because of our training, GBNEMBA is self-sufficient by planning the work, securing the funds, providing the tools and most importantly providing the leadership. The one-day course is divided into a morning classroom session followed by lunch and an afternoon "hands-on" field session. It's well worth the time. I've taken it and I'll tell you it gives you a renewed perspective for caring for our trails.

Membership:
Overall NEMBA membership has improved however, GBNEMBA's has been flat, but has held firm. To this, we'd like to improve our numbers for 2008 and we want to challenge each GBNEMBA member to commit to recruiting at least one new member this year. When riding, take a moment to mention NEMBA to other riders. There are many opportunities to both formally and informally advertise NEMBA's benefits. It only takes a minute or two, and once known, non-member riders will sign up. Can you imagine if each of us recruited just one new member? If anything the added membership dues will allow us to do so much more this year. But then again, showcasing our trails to our newest members would be a lot of fun too. And don't forget, every penny of your membership dues goes directly into our many volunteer programs.

GBNEMBA Weekly Ride Series:
After successfully hosting last year's Weekly Ride Series, we're planning to do it again, but better in 2008. Beginning when the Fells opens in mid-April, the series will follow the same format as last year with the Wednesday Night PYT "Practice Your Technique" Ride and the Thursday Night Social Ride. Due to the series popularity, we expect to exceed last year's participant level with more than 500 riders joining in this year. If you couldn't make a ride last year, mark your calendar and join us in the spring!

Ride Guide Program:
A group of trained and enthusiastic volunteers known as "Ride Guides" was a primary reason for the overwhelming success of last year's Weekly Rides Series. Without their dedicated support week after week, the ride series would not have happened.

In preparation for the Fells opening day and the start of the Weekly Ride Series, GBNEMBA is planning to conduct its annual Ride Guide Orientation Course at the Middlesex Fells in early spring. If you'd like to lead rides again this year or if you’re newly interested, make sure you sign up for the course. It's well worth it and a great way to meet new riders.
The goal of the Ride Guide program is for mountain bikers to use the park responsibly and safely, to be aware of the park's rules and the benefits of following them, and to spread awareness of the issues present at the Fells.

At the conclusion of the orientation course, Ride Guides will understand and appreciate park considerations, will develop improved ride leading techniques and be able to lead group rides through the Fells. Leadership is paramount and we look forward to working with those of you willing to ante up to help make our weekly ride series a success.

DCR Cooperative Plans:
Continuing into 2008, GBNEMBA and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation are planning to kick the season off in late March with opening day events at the Middlesex Fells, Beaver Brook Reservation, and Beaver Brook North Reservation (formerly the old Metropolitan Hospital site). Details are still firming up, but we have been invited to participate and educate all trail users on sharing the resources.

The DCR / NEMBA No Child Left Inside Fells Ride is in the works again for 2008. After a successful series in 2007, plans are being put together to offer another monthly ride series designed to give an "outside" experience to area children. We will be partnering with Bikes Not Bombs on several of these rides and we look forward to an increased number of enthusiastic kids wanting to learn basic mountain bike skills under the tutelage of our Ride Guides and volunteer chaperones.

A new program for 2008 will entail a partnership with area road bike clubs including NEBC for a series of MTB beginner skills courses. NEBC riders have volunteered to reciprocate with road riding skills courses if anyone is interested.

Mountain Bike Patrol:
With 2008 upon us, the Mountain Bike Patrol is gearing up for another season to providing service to a number of NEMBA events to include the SEMASS-sponsored Mountain Bike Day at Blue Hills Reservation in May, NEMBAFest, and various MBAS events including the MBAS at Wendall State Forest and at the Wicked Ride of the East at Harold Parker. And let's not forget the Patrol's support at the annual Take a Kid Mountain Bike Day both at the Fells and at Blue hills.

With a number of new members joining and being certified last year, the Patrol expanded its visibility from the Fells, Great Brook and Harold Parker to newer parks including Bradley Palmer/Willowdale, Lowell/Dracut and to the South into Wompatuck and Borderland. The Patrol has ambitious plans and will expand further in 2008.

Are you interested in becoming a patroller? If you enjoy mountain biking and have interest in helping others, contact the Patrol at nembpatrol@hotmail.com. The Patrol's charter is to "inform, assist and educate" and the membership consists of volunteer, but certified riders ranging from "average" to "advanced." Each patroller spends at least 6 hours per month patrolling in assigned parks.

To become a qualified Patroller, you will need to attend the Patrol Clinic scheduled for the weekend of June 28/29 at the Ranger Station in Lynn Woods. This is a Saturday and Sunday event. Saturday will focus on Patrol skills such as basic bike maintenance, conflict management, park rules and regulations, etc. Sunday is for CPR and First Aid certification. -- Terry Kennedy

SingleTracks, December 2007

The 2007 season is wrapping up, but it's not over yet! Looking back over the year, GB NEMBA made another statement with its Trail Maintenance Programs at the Middlesex Fells, Great Brook and Lynn Woods, and had a great time with the very successful Weekly Rides Series and the DCR No Child Left Inside program.

Trail Maintenance
Since the last Singletracks issue, GB NEMBA completed two more TM Days at the Fells and one more at Lynn Woods. A group of volunteers showed up at the Fells on Sunday morning October 14th and again on November 11th for some heavy work on the Mountain Bike Loop at Nanepashemet Hill long considered treacherous by some and merely difficult by others. The volunteers built a four new rolling grade dip drainage devices at intervals along the trail starting at the top and all the way down the hill. These will divert water off the trail and will minimize the amount of tread erosion that had been exposing a fair amount of loose and slippery gravel. And to touch things up at the bottom of the hill, a couple of chronically muddy spots were cleared of debris and filled in with all the gravel mined from the hill. Acknowledgement for organizing these efforts goes to Terry Kennedy, Mike Tabaczynski and Tim Post.

On Sunday September 30th, a small crew worked at Lynn Woods doing some well-needed brushback and clearing work. The crew carrying loppers and small saws spent four hours cutting and clearing to brush back limbs and bushes along Ox Pasture Trail starting at the Ballfield parking lot and going towards the distant end near Lynnfield/Rt 1. Time permitted and a shorter singletrack from Ox Pasture to the Wolf's Pit was cleared too. Thanks to Terry Kennedy for putting this together.

All-in-all, the GB NEMBA TM Program has been a total success in 2007. However, none of this would have been possible had it not been for a large group of volunteers willing to give up a few Sunday mornings and their precious time and in most cases their precious sweat. These volunteers were amazing; they were there rain or shine. GB NEMBA thanks each and every volunteer for their help. Their dedicated efforts made a big difference in 2007 and their efforts resulted in a lot of goodwill throughout GB NEMBA's area parks. GB NEMBA appreciates you and looks forward to your continued support in 2008.

GB NEMBA's Weekly Ride Series
And let's not forget our Weekly Ride Series that was finally forced by darkness to wrap up in mid-September. GB NEMBA in partnership with the Massachusetts DCR jointly presented the Wednesday Night PYT "Practice Your Technique" Rides and Thursday Night Social Rides between April and September. Exceeding our wildest imagination, the rides were a total success having almost 400 participating throughout the season. The lion's share of the success is thanks to the core group of almost 30 trained and enthusiastic volunteer GB NEMBA RideGuides who showed up each week to lead, teach, sweep and generally make sure every participant had a great ride. Also, many thanks go out to the ride series sponsors: JRA Cycles of Medford for underwriting the Wednesday Night PYT ride and to Landry's Bicycles and Scott Gerstl for underwriting the Thursday Night Social Ride. Next time you're out looking to pick something to wear or a few things for your bike, keep our valued sponsors in mind.

DCR / NEMBA No Child Left Inside Fells Ride
As with the Weekly Ride Series, the monthly "No Child Left Inside" Bike Ride was a season highlight. Earlier in 2007, the Massachusetts DCR created a new program designed to provide an outside supervised activity for children: "No Child Left Inside". GB NEMBA supported the DCR by organizing a series of monthly rides using the NEMBA Explorers Program and designed to introduce children to the fun, excitement, and health benefits that come from riding bikes in the woods. Additionally, it was a perfect forum to teach the kid's respect for the parks, trails, and other trail users. What a success this series became.
The first ride was held at the Middlesex Fells on June 23rd with follow-on rides on July 21st, August 25th and September 15th. Local children ranging in age from 6 to 12 were led by GB NEMBA Ride Guides on a fun-filled trail ride that most had not experienced before. The young riders, chaperones and Ride Guides got to know each other before each ride and covered the need for having good working and safe equipment, knowing the rules of the trails, and were given tips for respecting the park and the environment in general. Once on the trails, the kids had a great time under the watchful supervision of the RideGuides, and each rider was coached and taught the proper skills to safely negotiate trail features with care and confidence.

The "No Child Left Inside" MTB series wrapped up at the Fells on October 6th with the nation-wide "Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day" and included VIP guest riders from the Bikes Not Bombs Earn-a-Bike Program. Fun was had by all! Tim Post and Howie Granat did a fabulous job organizing and running this series.

Belmont-McLean Land Management Committee
On September 25th the Belmont-McLean Land Management Committee voted to keep the majority of the former hospital property open to MTB use despite heavy opposition from a group of local anti-bike activists. This success was the result of years of effort on the part of Tom Grimble and Mike Tabaczynski who rallied the MTB community at the final meeting for public presentation of the trail plan and comments on September 20th. The mountain bike community is very pleased with the Belmont LMC's decision to keep a very large part of the property accessible to bikes. The trail plan was well thought out and the LMC did a very thorough job of evaluating the plan and all the user comments. GB NEMBA will be working with the LMC to implement the plan (including trail reroutes, new trail building and maintenance) and has publicly volunteered to do virtually all of the trail work free of charge to the town of Belmont.

NEBC/GB NEMBA Novice Skills Clinics
In October, GB NEMBA was asked by members of the Northeast Bicycle Club to teach a series on basic MTB skills for riders who are very comfortable on the road but may have had limited experience in the woods. The first clinic was held at the Fells and 17 riders showed up on everything from vintage 1980's Brookstone MB-1's to brand new Specialized Enduro's. The riders were queried on their experience and almost 1/3 had never been off-road on a bike! It was great fun —read Tim Post’s account in the front of this ‘zine.

Mountain Bike Patrol
With 2007 coming to a close and 2008 quickly approaching, the New England Mountain Bike Patrol remains busy patrolling area parks and supporting local mountain bike events such as the annual Take a Kid Mountain Bike Day on October 6th where the Patrol divided their force and provided First Aid and bike maintenance services for the GB NEMBA Kid's event at the Middlesex Fells and at the SEMASS NEMBA Kid's event at Blue Hills. Later on October 28th you might have seen the Patrol supporting the MBAS "Wicked Ride of the East" at Harold Parker.

With a number of new members, the Patrol is increasing its visibility and providing expanded services to NEMBA. Working towards a more regional look, the Patrol continues to look for new volunteers. If you're interested in the Patrol, contact them at nembpatrol@hotmail.com. To become a Patroller, you will need to attend the June 2008 Patrol Clinic where each Patroller is certified in First Aid and CPR/AED and instruction is provided on Patrolling skills such as basic bike maintenance, conflict management, and park rules and regulations. No experience is necessary and the veterans will get you certified in First Aid and the very necessary basic bike repair skills. — Terry Kennedy