Trail Report Haley Farm

Date of Activity: 2/28/10
Trail Ambassador Name: Stephen Eldredge
Trail Ambassador Email: steveeldr@yahoo.com
Town: Groton, CT
Location: Haley Farm/Bluff Point
Trail(s): several
How did you use the trail: biking
What was the time of day: 1:30 to 3:30
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): ?

Condition of Trail(s): I went out fully expecting to turn around and go home because the trails were under water. To my surprise, not only were the trails not underwater, they were still firm and fast!! I rode around the fire road up towards the train tracks then hit the single track. I only encountered one area that was swampy, really good drainage in most areas. headed over to Bluff Point and could see that the fire road heading toward the parking lot was flooded, went up into the single track and everything was smooth and flowing. Up in the woods there are a couple of areas that don't drain well and there were a couple of puddles but for the most part a great day!!

Observations: Couldn't have asked for nicer weather this time of year, mostly overcast but the sun poked out a few times. I only saw a handful of dog walkers and hikers and four other bikers! Two bikers were on single speeds 1 a 29'er (Mark) and the other a 26'er (Don) both great guys I've ridden with before and I realized as we were talking that we had done the same thing almost exactly a year ago. Well we rode again and they kicked my ass again, only not as bad this time. It was a great day but I had to bail and go pick up my son from his friends' house.

TM Report: Salmon River State Forest (Greyville)

Date of Activity: 2/28/10
Condition of Trails(s): light snow
Trail Ambassador Name: John Czaja
Trail Ambassador Email: mountainbiker9109@yahoo.com
Town: Hebron

Location: Salmon River State Forest (Grayville)
Trail(s) Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance
What was the time of day?: 12:00-2:00 PM
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): 3

Observations: Hiked around the trail south of old Grayville Road. There was still a light snow on trails. Only one bike track seen. Removed many sticks and cut deadfall cut away from the trail. I covered over a section of trail that had been braided. The original trail is on the left hand side of the photo. This small bridge crossing sides were substantially washed away from extreme heavy rains. After a bit of wet work the sides were armored with stones in the immediate area.

Before:



After:

TA Report: Roosevelt Forest

Date of Activity: 2/27/10 Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten Trail Ambassador Email: edperten@sbcglobal.net Town: Stratford Location: Roosevelt Forest Trail(s) Ridden: Most of them How did you use the trail?: Mountain bike riding What was the time of day?: Late morning Duration (Hours): 2 Distance (Miles): …a bunch… Condition of Trail(s): Snow covered, some wet leaves Observations: I added my bicycle tracks to the cross country ski, snowshoe and foot prints in the snow. Wet cakey snow, good traction, had to walk up some hills, otherwise everything was rideable.

TA Report: Rocky Neck State Park

Ambassador Email: Thom(at)ectrr(dot)com
Town: East Lyme , CT
Location: Rocky Neck State Park
Trail(s) mixed
How did you use the trail: biking
What was the time of day: 9:30 am
Duration (Hours): 20 minutes
Distance (Miles): 2ish

Condition of Trail(s): ummm wetter than I expected.

Observations: .It's rained for days as well all know. But this morning I awoke to about an inch on the ground. Figured it would have a nice frozen surface to ride on... ummm I was wrong. Very Wet!!! Had a short area that was actually nice, hit some "trail streams" and decided to head back on a branch trail... should have just turned around.

TA Report River Highlands State Park

Date of Activity: February 14, 2010

Trail Ambassador Names: Glenn Vernes
Trail Ambassador Email: glennvernes33athotmaildotcom
Town: Cromwell

Location: River Highlands State Park.
Trail(s) Ridden: Yellow, White, Red, green, unmarked
How did you use the trail? Mountain Bike
What was the time of day? Afternoon

Duration (Hours): 1.5

Distance (Miles): Around 8

Condition of Trail(s): Good


One last ride before the mega storm that would surely bring society to a halt. It started snowing about halfway through the ride. Trails were in good condition, a thin layer of snow with icy footprints, frozen hard, but a lot of sticks down. I picked up what I could. I concentrated on the unmarked trails on the northern end of the park.

TM Report: Mianus River Park

Date of Activity: 02/20/10
Condition of Trails(s): Snow packed, slushy in some areas

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Stamford
Location: Mianus River Park
Trail(s) Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance
What was the time of day?: 1:30PM
Duration (Hours): 1
Distance (Miles): N/A

Observations: Hiked into Hill Trail to make sure out stone wall project was not undone, it was untouched so I hike in the area locating large stones to be used in the project

TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Date: 2/21/2010
Condition of Trails(s): Still lots of snow, crusty & corny in the sun
Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador Email: eatsleepfish_at_gmail_dot_com
Town: Newtown
Location: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Trail(s) Ridden: Upper Gussy, Mulikin, Newtown Trailway, Poly Brody Forest Road
How did you use the trail?: Mountain Biking
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): 7

Observations: The Gussy saw some waffles come through later in the day on Saturday evidenced by the frozen patterns in the snow. Quite a bit of snow has melted, maybe less than 50% coverage at this point The Mulikin was virginal and Trailway didn't look like anyone had ridden on it since the last snow but I could have been mistaken because it's a heavily walked trail as well. Did a little TM (pictured below) by finding a few more flat rocks for the wet section south of the Trichter. This section needs a bit more work.

TA Report Upper Paugussett State Forest

Date: 2/20/2010
Condition of Trails(s): Mostly snow covered, crusty and starting to melt
Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador Email: eatsleepfish_at_gmail_dot_com
Town: Newtown
Location: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Trail(s) Ridden: Upper Gussy
How did you use the trail?: Mountain Biking
Duration (Hours): 1.5
Distance (Miles): 5
Observations: The Gussy was virginal but the crusty snow slowed things down considerably. Warmer temps could be bad news for here and elsewhere.

TA Report: Roosevelt Forest

Date of Activity: 2/20/10 Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten Trail Ambassador Email: edperten@sbcglobal.net Town: Stratford Location: Roosevelt Forest Trail(s) Ridden: Several How did you use the trail?: Mountain bike riding What was the time of day?: Late morning Duration (Hours): 1.5 Distance (Miles): a bunch Condition of Trail(s): Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Observations: Most trails were rideable, had to walk up some hills, a mixture of wet snow, slush, melting ice, leaf covered, some deep sections of snow. The wettest area was the parking lot which was a mud bath. Got a good workout. Passed through the Boy Scout camp area, two pick up trucks had brought in the supplies and were neatly parked by the leantos. When I was a boy scout we carried all our gear in on our backs, walked miles through rough terrain and slept in tents. My how things have changed.

Outside Magazine, March 2010: Spurning Rubber

An interesting mountain bike article in Outsider Magazine, March 2010..."The government's ban on bicycles in wilderness areas is dead wrong." Spurning Rubber Through years of misinformation, mountain bikes have gotten lumped in with ATVs, snowmobiles, and other maligned vehicles by people citing environmental concerns. But on several different metrics—erosion, runoff, soil compaction, loss of vegetation—study after study has found the trail impact of mountain bikers to be equal to or less than that caused by hikers, and far less than equestrians. A 2006 study by the National Park Service concluded that "Horse and ATV trails are significantly more degraded than hiking and biking trails...[T]he proportion of trails with severe erosion...is 24% for ATV trails, 9% for horse trails, 1.4% for hiking trails and 0.6% for bike trails."

TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Wide Snow Track on the Gussy

Date of Activity: 2/15/10
Condition of Trails(s): Mix of packed snow, frozen ground & water, and leaves

Frozen Lake looking south towards Shepaug Dam

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador Email: eatsleepfish@gmail.com
Town: Newtown
Location: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Trail(s) Ridden: Poly Brody, Upper Gussy, Mulikin Trail, Newtown Trailway

Here is the sign the ATVers tore from the tree off of Hanover Rd

How did you use the trail?: Mountain Biking
What was the time of day?: 12:00 PM
Duration (Hours): 3
Distance (Miles): 9

Still hunting at Upper Paugussett

Observations: Snow is a mixed bag on the Gussy Trail. Melting a lot more now but the trail is really holding up well. The Brody road isn't too bad on the west side but decided to stay off of the east side after yesterday's ride. Any more warm weather and it will be too soggy to ride.

Hunting is still active at Upper Paugussett:

Small Game is in season until Feb 27!

Furbearing Animal Season for Coyotes ends April 27th

Spring Turkey: April 28th - May 29th

TA Report - Wadsworth Falls SP

Date of Activity: February 12 & 15, 2010
Trail Ambassador Names: Barry Burke
Trail Ambassador Email: barry@bburkedotcom
Town: Middletown
Location: Wadsworth Falls SP.
Trail(s) Ridden: Yellow, Orange, Blue, Red, White,
unmarked
How did you use the trail? Mountain Bike
What was the time of day? Late Afternoon

Duration (Hours): ~ 2 total

Distance (Miles): Around 6-7 total. Friday's ride was awful, only going about 3/4 mile in 30 minutes due to too-deep snow. Monday's was much better, mostly packed snow over frozen dirt, and some frozen dirt bare spots. On Monday, I went from the main lot all the way to the church,

with side trips along the way. I moved a really ugly, brittle, branchy tree off the Laurel Brook Trail

Condition of Trail(s): Too much snow on Friday and Good on Monday.

Two after-work trips to the frozen park. No other users were noted on the trails, but there were two other cars in the main lot. I was the first visible waffle print on all but the unblazed orange-to-blue trail.

TM Report: Mianus Park

Date of Activity: 02/15/10
Condition of Trails(s): Packed Snow

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort, Ryan Tucker, Kyaiera Tucker
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Stamford
Location: Mianus River Park
Trail(s) Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance
What was the time of day?: 9:15AM
Duration (Hours): 2.5
Distance (Miles): N/A

Observations: Last year the Mianus TM crew did a trail reroute because of a fall line issue and erosion on a short steep section. Since performing this reroute some individuals keep reopening the section and removing all the logs and brush used to block this 50ft section of trail. The rock wall at the top had a gap that the original trail went through, last year we start the process of continuing the existing wall across but the wall we start was partially removed. Today we rebuilt the wall adding additonal rock, but the wall need to be built higher to match the existing wall.

TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

ATVs are still tearing up the fire road

Date of Activity: 2/13/10
Condition of Trails(s): Mix of packed snow, frozen ground & water, and leaves

Are you?

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador Email: eatsleepfish@gmail.com
Town: Newtown
Location: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Trail(s) Ridden: Poly Brody, Upper Gussy, West side Bridal trail, Mulikin Trail, Newtown Trailway

On, on!

How did you use the trail?: Mountain Biking
What was the time of day?: 3:00 PM
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): 7

More ATV tracks

Observations: Perfect riding snow, just the right consistency for traction and yet smooths out the rough stuffs. Lots of frost heaves on the Poly Brody. The Gussy is awesome!

Looks like there might be another ATV coming in from the Pond Brook side. Passed a guy on the Body road and it looked like he had been climbing but then I started seeing these gray marks on the trees and food color in the snow -- must be a hasher, you know the Drinking Club with a running problem: Hash House Harriers.

TA Report: WIlton Woods

Date of Activity: 2/13/10
Condition of Trails(s): Packed Snow

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Wilton Woods
Trail(s) Ridden: Orange, White, Blue, Yellow
How did you use the trail?: Hiking
What was the time of day?: 8:30AM
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): 4
Observations: Complete solitude, did not come across anyone the entire time. Will need to come in with the chain saw when it all thaws to remove some minor down trees and repair a log section on the back blue.

Trail Ambassador Report: Mianus River Park

Date of Activity: February 14

Trail Ambassador Name: R Tucker and K Tucker

Trail Ambassador Email: rrtucker at gmail dot com

Town: Stamford

Location: Mianus River Park

Trail(s) Ridden: Stamford Trails

How did you use the trail: Hike and TM

What was the time of day: 2-4:15pm

Duration (Hours): 2 hours

Distance (Miles): 4 miles

Condition of Trails(s): Packed snow

Observations: Packed snow on most trails, some snowshoers have gone off trail, and observed several hiking social trails.

Optional

Trail Maintenance hours: 2

Work accomplished: Replace Hill Trail closed section, loped and cleared branches and limbs in Trail Corridor, assessed several spring projects.

TA Report: Troutbrook

I took a panoramic shot of the Orchard and photo stitched 6 pictures together for a 180 degree shot.

Date of Activity: 02/14/10
Condition of Trails(s): Packed Snow

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Weston
Location: Troutbrook
Trail(s) Ridden: N/A
How did you use the trail?: Hiking
What was the time of day?: 1:30PM
Duration (Hours): 1.5
Distance (Miles): N/A

Observations: Hiked from Elm Rd parking lot up to Orchard, luckily I saw NO bike tracks in the snow so I am hopeful that no one is biking during the Jan 1 through April 30th no biking period.

TA Report: Collis P Huntington SP

Date of Activity: 2/13/10 Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten Trail Ambassador Email: edperten@sbcglobal.net Town: Redding Location: Huntington State Park Trail(s) Ridden: Carriage roads, Rock 'n Roll How did you use the trail?: Mountain bike riding/walking What was the time of day?: Late morning Duration (Hours): 2 Distance (Miles): a few Condition of Trail(s): Snow covered, a lot of walking, a good 3"-5" of powder Observations: We got a great deal of alternative exercise… Mounting and dismounting the bicycle every few minutes Taking the bike for a walk in the woods Rolling down hills Spinning tires and skidding in the snow Banging your cleated shoes on the pedals to remove the caked on snow Riding on the hard packed areas on the carriage trails Riding on the frozen lakes

TA Report: George C Waldo State Park

Date of Activity: 2/12/10, and 2/13/10
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton
Trail Ambassador Email: peburton@aol.com
Town: Southbury CT
Location: George Waldo SP
Trail(s) Where's Waldo
How did you use the trail: biking
What was the time of day:late afternoon on Friday, early morning Saturday
Distance (Miles): 4 miles
Condition of Trail(s): Ranged from 4 or 5 inches of snow to no cover, excellent winter riding conditions
Observations: It is great to have a fun hours ride so close to home. And the conditions this winter have been great for riding, so I've been out on the bike much more usual for this time of year.

Belltown Bikes: CT NEMBA member starts framebuilding business

Bob Spooner, East Hampton CT resident and 29er pioneer in CT, has been building fillet brazed steel frames for himself and his friends for in his spare time several years. He's decided to make it official and incorporate as "Belltown Bikes". The pictured frame, Bob's 12th overall, is the proud possession of CT NEMBA board member Al Tinti, and a great example of Bob's craftsmanship and level of detail.

Check out the curved seatstays, offset seat tube and plate for direct mount front derailleur (allowing for extremely short seatstays of 16.9" for a 29er), tubular head tube reinforcement (drilled for derailleur cable routing), thru the top tube routing for a dropper seatpost cable, use of a salvaged brake rotor for a brake reinforcement, and cowled Paragon Machine dropouts with replaceable hanger. Bob even cut the outline of a bell into the front of the seatpost reinforcing lug, and a T into the back!

Here are some of Bob's own words on his new enterprise:

"East Hampton at one time had 30 bell factories...hence the name. I struggled with a name for my little operation. I wasn't too big on plastering my own name on the DT. The kids and I came up with a dozen names, but none seemed right. We finally went with Belltown. My buddy Rob is a sign/sticker maker and I traded him my old FSR for stickers.

Al's was #12, and I'm just about done with #13. I'm confident of the fabrication by now, but am still tweaking the process. Every one is very different at this point. Perhaps the designs will begin to narrow down and I'll actually have a certain "style". I do like short chainstay bikes that like to go around corners...that's for sure.

I have no intention of feeding my family with this deal. I would have to pump out 2 frames/week. If that is the schedule then one is pumping out plain-jane frames. I like doing the fancy-pants stuff. There are a few builders getting by doing 15 frames/year...but one has to have a strong following for that.

I have a few more projects in the works and am looking forward to riding this 650B rando/commuter I'm working on now. Just brazed my first fork last night."

Bob Spooner

TA Report - Rocky Neck State Park: "The Flurries before the Storm Ride"

Date of Activity: 2/10/10

Trail Ambassador Name: Thomas Lamourine

Trail Ambassador Email: Thom(at)ectrr(dot)com

Town: East Lyme , CT

Location: Rocky Neck State Park

Trail(s) mixed

How did you use the trail: biking

What was the time of day: 6:30 am

Duration (Hours):30 minutes

Distance (Miles): 4 - 5

Condition of Trail(s): just the perfect 1" of snow... Perfect surface underneath

Observations: Great quick ride!!! Only went out for a short blast before the real snow started falling but I'm so glad I did!! No other person was on the trail that early, quiet, serene ride with times of slow easy pace and other times short quick bursts of speed. No worries of dogs or hikers. The trail surface under the snow is hard and fast if you really want to get moving, though I'm sure by this afternoon there will be too much snow to do any real riding.

TA Report: Middletown Madness @ Wadsworth State Park

Date of Activity: January 31, 2010
Trail Ambassador Name: Steve Eldredge
Trail Ambassador Email: steveeldr@yahoo.com

Town: Middlefield
Location: Wadsworth State Park
Trail(s) a bunch; Orange, yellow

How did you use the trail: biking
What was the time of day: 1p.m to 3:p.m.
Duration (Hours): 2 hours
Distance (Miles): no idea

Condition of Trail(s): packed snow, some ice, slippery in sections,especially going over logs and some of the uphill singletrack

Observations: It was cold!!! I had a problem with my cleats icing up and not being able to click in which made some of the down hills interesting. We had a great time with the NEMBA bunch, Glen did a great job leading the pack on his single speed 29'er. A lot of hikers and dog walkers, everyine was friendly though I did hear a couple of comments about those crazy guys and gals bike riding in these conditions.

TA Report: Wadsworth Falls, SP

Date of Activity: February 8, 2010
Trail Ambassador Names: Barry Burke
Trail Ambassador Email: barry@bburkedotcom
Town: Middletown
Location: Wadsworth Falls SP.
Trail(s) Ridden: Yellow, Orange, Blue, Red, White,
unmarked
How did you use the trail? Mountain Bike
What was the time of day? Late Afternoon
Duration (Hours): ~ 2
Distance (Miles): Around 6-7, I think... I lost my second cycle-computer head this winter during this ride.
Condition of Trail(s): Good, with snow pack and dry hardpack. A crystal clear day ~ 32F. Some crunchy leafy areas and solid ice.

An after-work rip around the frozen park. No other users were noted on the trails, but there were two other cars in the main lot. A large tree is down, 8-10' off the ground, across the red trail. This will take some doing to safely get it on the ground.

Race Across the Sky ... 2/26/2010

The Connecticut Challenge, a non profit group that supports cancer survivors in Connecticut, will be hosting this Special Movie Event.

One night only!

Friday, February 26th 7:30pm

Community Theatre, Fairfield

Tickets: $18

(click here for more information and purchase tickets)

The Leadville Trail 100: At 10,000+ feet, against the misty backdrop of a former mining town, Leadville, Colorado, 1228 cyclists line the starting line. For many, it will be the most difficult race of their lives. For some, a bragging right to say they raced alongside the best in the world. Some imagine victory. Most hope only to finish. But everyone will count.

TM Report: Wilton Woods

Date of Activity: 02/07/10
Condition of Trails(s): Cold

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Wilton Woods
Trail(s) walked: Blue, Orange, Black Diamond
How did you use the trail?: Trail Maintenance
What was the time of day?: 9:00AM
Duration (Hours): 3
Distance (Miles): 4

Observations: Ran into a couple of lost bikers, gave then directions back to the lot. Cleared a lot of branches from the trails, gathered some stone for a spring rock armoring project on the yellow trail by the long tree ride.

TM Report: Mianus River Park

Date of Activity: 02/06/10
Condition of Trails(s): Cold

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort, Ryan Tucker, Kyaiera Tucker, Rich Coffey
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Stamford
Location: Mianus River Park Trail(s)
What was the time of day?: 9:00AM
Duration (Hours): 3

Observations: Cold morning with impending snow that never came. Met at Merribrook Red Barn bridge and discussed what tools would be required for the scheduled February's trail maintenance. Hiked out to Oak Trail to chain saw out a huge tree across the trail, Hiked back to Indian Rock Trail to remove another tree and also review a fall line issue up a steep hill that has serious erosion. Ryan and I reviewed the alternatives, Ryan took pictures and will prepare a case for a trail re-route.

TA Report: Pequonnock River Valley (aka Trumbull)

Date of Activity: 2/7/10 Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten Trail Ambassador Email: edperten@sbcglobal.net Town: Trumbull Location: Trumbull Trail(s) Ridden: Several How did you use the trail?: Mountain bike riding What was the time of day?: Late morning to early afternoon Duration (Hours): 3-4 Distance (Miles): Several Condition of Trail(s): Frozen, crunchy, snow, ice, leaf covered, good Observations: When you have trouble getting out of that nice warm bed in the early am; When you know it is in the high teens or low twenties with the forecast for a light wind to further cool things down; Push yourself to ride as I sure felt better afterwards.

Order of the Orange Headcap

The Order of the Orange Head Cap is awarded to CT NEMBA Trail Ambassadors that have shown outstanding dedication to Connecticut Trails and who have really gone out of the their way to make a difference for Mountain Biking in CT. Through their spirit and perseverance they are promoting trail user responsibility and accountability.

2009 Recipients

Glenn Vernes
David Francefort
Mark Lurie
Paula Burton
Ed Perten
Thomas Lamourine
Rich Coffey
Eric Mayhew
Ryan Tucker
Mike Lefevre
Mark Leggitt
Al Tinti
Keith Coughlin
Nathan Lunstrum
John Rich
Deanna Baker
Joe Woyciesjes
Steve Eldredge
Barry Burke, Jr.
Tren Spence
Joe Tinti

Art Roti

Winter Social Party Pictures