Mountain bikers go for a ride

About 600 people participate in Blue Hills event

By JESSICA RAVITZ
The Patriot Ledger

Some participants had thousands of dollars of fancy gear, while others rode hand-me-downs with training wheels. But all had one thing in common: a love for mountain biking.

The ninth annual Blue Hills Mountain Bike Day was held yesterday at Houghtons Pond. And from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., the grounds were abuzz with people at play.

Organized by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation Urban Parks, Blue Hills TrailWatch and the New England Mountain Bike Association, the event drew an estimated 600 participants. Thanks to local businesses that sponsored the event, they came free.

They gathered for skills clinics, guided trail rides and games. There were vendors, raffle prizes and lines of people – young and old – eager to take on the obstacle courses.

“Drive your legs, drive your legs,” yelled Greg Bostick of Brockton, from the sidelines, as his 7-year-old daughter, Danielle, worked her way through a thick trail of rocks.

“I got through (the rocks), but I fell off the first time,” Bostick, 42, admitted when Danielle returned. “And on the trail, I kissed a tree.”

“I didn’t fall down once,” his daughter turned to remind him, before heading off to tackle the rocks again.

“She keeps me young,” Bostick laughed, watching Danielle, who began riding a bicycle only one month ago. But now that she rides, it’s an activity they can share.

“What better gift for Father’s Day?” Joe Sloane asked while looking at all the participating families.

Sloane, who helped plan yesterday’s event, is a volunteer coordinator for Blue Hills TrailWatch, a group he helped found 12 years ago. Volunteers are educators out on the trails, which wind through the 7,000 acres of park, and act as the “eyes and ears for the rangers,” Sloane said.

Maggi Brown has been a park ranger for 20 years and has been at the Blue Hills Reservation for 12 years.

“I’ve done this park ranger thing as far away as Alaska, but I’ve come back home,” said Brown, a Weymouth native. “On a day like today, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Not everyone at the event was a rider. Marcia Soldan, 57, of Hopkinton, only came for her husband’s sake.

“It’s good to see that big kids don’t forget to be kids when they’re older,” she said, watching as full-grown men hopped their bikes over barrels.

There are 4,500 members of New England Mountain Bike Association, the biggest regional mountain biking organization in the nation. Richard Higgins of Easton is president of the southeastern Massachusetts chapter, and he said the members, who pay $20 a year for individuals or $30 for families are giving back to a sport they love and are watching it grow.

Seth Lawrence, owner of Serious Cycles in Plymouth, said by phone that if his growing business is any indication, biking is one of the fastest-growing sports.

“The biggest thing is people want to get outside and get in shape. It doesn’t feel like exercise.”

That is what brought Francois Charlotin Jr. of North Attleboro to yesterday’s event. He was catching his breath, in the shade of a booth, while trying to recover from his first ride in about five years.

“We’ve been meaning to get back into (riding) and thought this would be a good excuse to start,” said Charlotin, 37, referring to the friend at his side. His wife, however, won’t join him.
“No, I can get her into dropping me off,” he laughed, “but that’s about it.”

Jessica Ravitz may be reached at jravitz@ledger.com.