Hop River State Rail Trail

Date: Sept 28, 2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Hop River State Rail Trail
Town: Vernon-Bolton
Trail Conditions: Very Good
Observations/Information: Started on RT 30 near Pedal Power (Vernon), I noticed trail landscaping done (grass cut, trees pruned, brush cut back). Mile marker #2 through #12 looked great....all leaves blown off the trail....easy riding! Ran into Danny and Lance training for the "90 Miler" on Oct 8th. The ride begins at 6:00 am following the entire Hop River out to Willimantic, then linking the Airline Trail down to the Cranberry Bog (East Hampton). Any takers?? A great break in humidity and a nice fall ride!
Trail Ambassador Name: Peter Blume

Cockaponset SF - Weber Woods section

   

Date: September 25, 2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Cockaponset SF - Weber Woods section
Town: Clinton/Westbrook/Deep River
Trail Conditions: Messy, moist, and crunchy
Observations/Information: I conducted my first recon mission on Weber Woods since the big storm and was surprised to find a lot of good work done- most of the large stuff cut up and moved out of the way; I rode the periphery, then the innerds, and with the exception of a couple of major trees blocking the trails in spots, there was really only tree chum that needed tending to- I did a lot of dismounting to work on this, but it got old fast; the trails were very messy and moist with some nasty muddy sections that had to be avoided, but I still had a great ride; next step is to do a major hike to "pick up sticks" and tackle whats left of the large stuff.
Trail Ambassador Name: Don Hazuka

TA Report: Hop River State Rail Trail

Date: Sept 25, 2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Hop River State Rail Trail
Town: Vernon-Bolton-Andover

Trail Conditions: Damp & Leaf covered (Good)

Observations/Information: The first official weekend of fall, this morning was all quiet on the Hop River. In my 2 hour ride, I may have passed (10) joggers....no bikers. My friend Phil hit the road, preparing for the Ashford Metric Century Ride next weekend. The trail was damp and leaf covered. Trail-side water basins are full from the September rains. It was peaceful hearing the flowing water run through Valley Falls. The humid conditions brought out some bugs, if stopping for more than a few minutes. I did pick up a couple of water bottles for trash.

TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Date: 9/25/2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown, CT
Trail Conditions: Wet, but rideable
Observations/Information: Wow! I saw five mountain bikers riding the Gussy today! That is the most bikes I have ever seen on the trail at any given time.

The trail is pretty wet but definitely rideable, after all sustainable trail building techniques were applied when building the trail and I didn't see any mud.

The Rest of the forest is bound to be wet and muddy and that is why I only rode the Gussy up and down.

TA Report: Collis P Huntington SP

Tree down on blue trail

Date: 9/25/2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Collis P Huntington SP
Town: Redding
Trail Conditions: Wet, wet, wet!

Observations/Information: If you can wait a few days, please do so. 5 inches of rain on Friday makes for sloppy trails at Huntington.

Rocky Neck State Park

Date: 9/22/11
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Rocky Neck State Park
Town: East Lyme
Trail Conditions: great!!
Observations/Information: Well, the State Trail Gnomes have been at the trails. 90% of all the big trees have been cleared!! My foot was still a minor issue so i basically stayed on the main stuff so I don't know if they got up and into the unmarked trail ( I did ask ;) )
Trail Ambassador Name: thom Lamourine

TM Report: Bennetts Pond

   

Date: 9-18-11
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Bennetts Pond
Town: Ridgefield
Trail Conditions: Excellent
Observations/Information: Chip (FCNEMBA local rider) took us on a nice tour of the Hemlock Hills area, starting from the Ned's Mountain Road entrance.

There were a few blowdowns here and there that we cleared. Those folding saws really come in handy!

Seemingly way "off the beaten path", this park doesn't look to be ridden too much but it's an awesome area with lots of granite outcroppings and quite a bit of up and downs.

Connected with Bennetts Pond and Pine Mountain, it's a huge area. It forms one of the largest nature preserves in the Southwest portion of the state.
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C, R Tucker

TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Date: 9/18/2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown, CT
Trail Conditions: Really nice
Observations/Information: Still a little wet on the Poly Brody in a few places. Cleared a few more remnants from Irene and Lee now that I am riding geared and want to keep my derailleur in one piece.

Found a Bud Light bottle on the Gussy! Are you KIDDING me? A beer bottle? Hope who ever drank that wasn't hunting.

Somebody modified the tranny on the second skinny. I think it fixes the problem - thanks to whomever did it!

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador E-mail: ctnemba 'a la' gmail
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Poly Brody, Upper Gussy
Time of day: Morning
Time/Duration (hours): 1
Approximate Distance (Miles): 5

TM Report: Collis P Huntington State Park

Date: 9/22/11
Trail Name: New Trail at Hungtington

Observations/Information: After receiving the $10,000 from REI, we headed up to Huntington to start scoping out the trail. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted but all that went out the window when we got on the ground. We found tons of rollers, grassy meadows rock strewn gardens, and dense mountain laurel thickets. We mapped and taped about 1.5 miles of future, fast, flowy singletrack.

Trail Ambassadors: Paula Burton; Mark Lurie; Glenn Vernes

Duration: 1 hour

CT NEMBA is awarded a $10,000 Grant from REI

Katie Ulvin (L) of REI awards CT NEMBA Chapter President Mark Lurie the grant check

On Saturday, the Connecticut Chapter of New England Mountain Bike Association was given a check for $10,000 by REI (Norwalk).

The grant is for two projects (1) build a new trail at Collis P Huntington State Park and (2) expand our Trail Ambassador and Trail Maintenance program in the Hartford Area.

We will be forming a partnership with REI in all of our Trail Maintenance and Trail Ambassador activities in the future and can't wait to work with them in the future on new trail projects such as the one at Collis P Huntington State Park and else where.

TM Report: Trumbull-Pequonnock

Date: 9-17-11
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Pequonnock River Valley
Town: Trumbull
Trail Conditions: Dry
Observations/Information: The Joint TTC / FCNEMBA-sponsored Trail Work Session today focused on building a berm on the Red Trail. Last July we worked with the Freeriders to build a reroute and this session was a follow up to enhance the long downhill ride and more effectively close the washed-out gullied fall line our collaborative reroute was built to avoid.

The assembled team brainstormed and thought a berm might be the best solution. The large rocks were moved with a rock crib (netting and poles) and made a super-solid foundation for the berm. We were blessed with an abundance of Grade A mineral soil available nearby and this was tightly packed in.

With this berm in place, the downhill run is even faster now and the kicker and rock bridge that follow make a fun ride on a solid sustainable solution. The sharp turn at that bottom may choke a few less technical riders ("moi!") but this is a Freerider-inspired Red Trail - not for the faint at heart.

BTW: There should be an article with more photos on Trumbull Patch shortly - we had an unsolicited reporter with us on the project!
Trail Ambassador Name: Rich C, D Francefort, K and R Tucker, C Keczkemethy

TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Date: 9/16/2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown, CT
Trail Conditions: Very Good

Observations/Information: Still free flowing water on the Poly Brody above the cut off to the Beach but given the amount of rain we got from Tropical Storm Lee I figure this section will be wet for awhile. Riding through it won't hurt it though after all it basically a gravel road.

I cut back the blow down above this section so that you can at least ride over the tree. I did find a tree in the woods near here that is really long, laying on the ground and is perfect skinny material - time for a reroute?

The Gussy is riding really tight! Wish the bike was running a little better because I would have had a great rip but hey being able to ride out of the woods is better than having to do the walk of shame!

TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Are you kidding me?

Date: 9/14/2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown, CT

Trail Conditions: Poly Brody is very wet but as usual Upper Gussy is well drained and not hint of mud!

Observations/Information: There's old furniture decorating the parking lot at Echo Valley, still. Blowdowns still block the Poly Brody in places, not to mention the Brody is very wet, however the Gussy is AWESOME! There is a new blowdown by the second skinny but it's more of a Widow Maker and trail needs to be rerouted around it.  Very buggy though, I think I had 20+ mosquito bites on me by the time I got home!

Tropical Storm Lee damage

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie
Trail Ambassador E-mail: ctnemba 'a la' gmail
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Poly Brody, Upper Gussy
Time of day: Evening
Time/Duration (hours): 1
Approximate Distance (Miles): 5

West Rock Ridge SP

Date: 9/14/11
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: West Rock Ridge SP
Town: New Haven/Hamden
Trail Conditions: Great, some minor blow downs on Baldwin Drive
Observations/Information: Trails in good shape, some blow downs on Baldwin Drive, all you can ride around and still remain on the paved Baldwin Drive surface. Took the old wood/fire road back, it was nice to spin back versus cross country.
Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten

TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Date: 9/13/11
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown
Trail Conditions: Good
Observations/Information: Trilbies in good shape, And I had a good ride except for the swarms of mosquitos!
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton
Trail Ambassador E-mail: PeburtonatAoldotcom...com
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Upper Gussy, Polly Brody
Time of day: Afternoon
Time/Duration (hours): 11/2
Approximate Distance (Miles): 5

West Hartford Reservoir

Date: 9/11/2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: West Hartford Reservoir
Town: West Hartford
Trail Conditions: wet/muddy/rutted
Observations/Information: Rode the full loop this morning... lots of mud .. The fire roads are severely damaged from last wednesday's heavy rains. Trails are relatively free from debris (I did a "pick up sticks" session) the Wednesday after the hurricane.
Trail Ambassador Name: charlie beristain

Hop River State Rail Trail

Date: Sept 11, 2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Hop River State Rail Trail
Town: Vernon-Andover
Trail Conditions: Excellent & Dry
Observations/Information: Sept 11th "We will never forget". A beautiful morning for a ride out to Andover. Trail conditions are fantastic for both riders and runners. This morning was very busy! Essentially, there are no sticks or debris on the trail. It has been cleaned up post Hurricane Irene and the rains early this week! CT NEMBA member Matt Viara hosted a (40 mile round-trip) ride out to the Willimantic Brew Pub. His ride began at Pedal Power RT 30 in Vernon @ 12:00. I passed his group on my way home. There must have been 30+ riders doing the beer tour. Enjoy the weekend!
Trail Ambassador Name: Peter Blume

George C Waldo State Park

Date: 9/11/11
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: George C Waldo State Park
Town: Southbury
Trail Conditions: Excellent, but a little wet in places.
Observations/Information: Paula and I rode Waldo Sunday morning. Trails were in excellent condition. They have been cleared of storm- related blowdowns, and have also been blown clear of leaves. Recent rain has cured the dust problem and left the soil just about the perfect consistency for traction in most places, although there are two wet spots, one on Waldo and one on Daffy. There is one new (rideable)tree down. There is also a new ride-over (blowdown) that is currently ride it or walk it (no alternative line).

Waldo just might be the most cleaned up riding area in the state right now, and the new ride-overs add challenge and excitement, making a great place even better.
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton, Glenn Vernes

Trout Brook

Date: 9/11/11
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Trout Brook
Town: Easton
Trail Conditions: Great, some minor blow downs
Observations/Information: Trails were in good shape, some minor blow downs, some ponding of water.
Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten

Bikes, Brats, and Brews - Biketemberfest

CT NEMBA's first Bikes, Brats and Beers Ride was a smashing success!  15 riders showed up for a spectacular Saturday morning to ride Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme, CT.  Rocky Neck took a beating from Tropical Irene a few weeks ago and last week also got a big helping of rain water from the remnants Tropical Storm Lee.  Except for a few blowdowns on the Red and White Trails you could barely tell that this area has suffered two tropical storms in the past two weeks, all thanks to the diligent efforts of the areas Trail Ambassadors, Cory Stiff, Steve Eldridge and Thom Lamourine.

Are you ready to ride?

There was a mixed bag of riders from all over the state.  We had Brian down from Barkhamsted, Paula, Glenn, and myself from Newtown, Kevin and his crew from Oxford, Ana from South Windsor, Sean from Middletown, Jim from Shelton, Edwina from Rocky Hill, Mark from Brewster, MA (who was vacationing on Giants Neck), as well as quite few locals like Corey, Steve, and a few others that rode from where they live to the ride.

Steve (l) lead the ride.  Paula, Glenn, and Ana (on right).

We had a mixed bag of riders, with bikes for all types of riding, including Downhillers, singlespeeders, 29ers, 650b's, rigid bikes, full suspension rigs.  We even had a heavy metal head banger!

Riding a bike that looked more like it belonged on stage at a Death Metal Concert!  The only thing missing was some Deicide or Six Feet Under playing while this guy was riding.

There was really no urge by anyone in the group to charge off on their own and the pace Steve set was great so that everyone was able to keep up.  Of course, when we hit one of the blow downs that was still blocking one of the trails (the land manager won't let CT NEMBA use chain saws at the Neck) it looked like a conga line of mountain bikers.  While Rocky Neck State Park might not be one of the most challenging, or very large riding areas, it's still a lot of fun and has a lot of fun and challenging sections.

Today's ride (red), what we missed (cyan)

We hit most of the trails and did a few repeats, too.

It wouldn't be a good NEMBA ride without at least one Mechanical!

Of course, the other main attraction of today's ride was the Beer tasting held after the ride at Divine Wine Emporium in East Lyme.  Being sampled were BBC's Oktoberfest, Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale, Lost Sailor IPA, and the Coffee House Porter.  

While sampling these fine brews, Thom Lamourine cooked up Frankfurters and Bratwurst while we drooled over custom bikes from Watson Cycles.  Andrew Watson is a local, custom bike builder that build fat bikes, Cyclocrossers, roadies, and steel mountain bikes in all three wheel flavors:  26"; 650b; 29".  Additionally, he does custom titanium handle bars.  Andrew joined NEMBA today and we hope to do more together in this part of the state more regularly!

It was a great time and we are planning on making this a yearly event!

BikeTember Fest

Well, It turned out to be a good time,... I didn't get to ride as I had foot issues so I'll let Mark or someone else give a report on the ride. But,  Cory Stiff helped with the first round of trail clearing and Steve Eldridge went back last night and worked hard to get the last of the trails open so everyone could ride, then lead the ride,... Thanks guys.

Also Thanks to:
Ken, the owner of  Devine Wine for opening his doors to us
Andrew Watson for bringing his awesome bike to show
Just a few Pictures to start and I'll link up the rest.

More Images here....

If you took any pictures you want to have posted up send them to me at Thom1(at)CTNEMBA{dot}com and I'll add them to the slideshow  :)

West Hartford Reservoir Status

Date: September 8, 2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: West Hartford Reservoir
Town: West Hartford
Trail Conditions: Unknown
Observations/Information: West Hartford Res took a beating from the heavy rains ... finger rock road near Kilkenny rock has extreme erosion as do some of the other fire roads. The Res was closed today and may or may not open tomorrow, as they are hoping to get some big trucks working to do the repairs .. making it dangerous for us. Res 6/rout 44 entrance is OPEN .. so that may be a better alternative until the farmington ave Res is reopened.
Trail Ambassador Name: Charlie Berstain
Trail Ambassador E-mail: cberistain comcast net
How did you use the trail? Other Trail use

Rocky Neck State Park

just entering the Swamp Trail                             One of many heading up the fire road

Date: Sept 8, 2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Rocky Neck State Park
Town: East Lyme
Trail Conditions: Wet, slippery leaves, still some major trees on the fire roads to clear.
Observations/Information: went to check so more of the trails this afternoon to see what else needs to be cleared. Didn't get far as I hit some wet leaves on the edge of a cliff and twisted my ankle, not bad but I cut the trip short and just headed up the fire roads, noticed a bunch of bigger trees blocking the main route up the middle of the park. kinda changes my route plans for the Fest, but far from a deal breaker
Trail Ambassador Name: thom Lamourne

TM Report: West Rock Ridge SP

Date: 9-7-2011
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: West Rock Ridge SP
Town: Hamden
Trail Conditions: Wet and soggy
Observations/Information: This was my second post-Irene visit to West Rock. I did a loop from the southern portion of Mountain Road, south on Red, west on Purple (not open to mountain bikes), and north on White. There were lots of little sticks and leaves that I raked off the trail. I had a few small trees to remove from the Red Trail. There was one tree crown on the White Trail by one of the by-passes that I cleared, along with a tree across the White Trail near the northern junction with Red. With all the heavy rains, water is absolutely everywhere. This is the soggiest I have ever seen West Rock. I created numerous small nicks in the side of the White Trail to get water off the trail. On a positive note, I was pleased to see that the terrain just up the slope near White was relatively firm, indicating a good location for future trail relocation. At my request, the state recently cut a 12-inch diameter hemlock that fell across the White Trail a few months ago, causing users to create a by-pass. The DEEP workers tossed brush on the by-pass and I added some more as I cleaned up the original trail a bit more. As I left, I fished Colt .45 and Mike's Hard Lemonade cans out of the canal near Mountain Road. This is an ongoing problem. I didn't appreciate having to tiptoe through the poison ivy to get to some of the litter. I spoke to a runner on the White Trail and he said the Red and White Trails around Lake Wintergreen were clear. He said there were trees down on the White Trail that have been removed. He also said the White Trail was clear from Lake Wintergreen to Purple, which is good news since I did not have time to get there. As always, bikers should stay off the trails until they are much drier. This is a good opportunity for people to get out there and help the park by taking a walk and picking up sticks.
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

TM Report: Collis P Huntington SP

Date: 9/5'11
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Collis P Huntington SP
Town: Redding
Trail Conditions: Storm damage
Observations/Information: I continued to work on the blowdown situation at Huntington. I had reports of 3 blowdowns on the Rock and Roll. I cut one two days ago. Well, I got to the second one today. It was big and difficult to cut. It was between two of the three boardwalks. People were already making braids. I also cut several other small things falling into the trail. I had heard that the last one was just a bunch of brush. Well, that was an understatement. Two or three trees fell on top of each other and the trail. The picture just shows the brush, but there are 30 inch trees in there. There is no good way to do a reroute because of a wet area below and a very steep area too near the carriage roads above. There is about 50-60 feet of trail obstructed. I notified the land manager, and he will send his crew as soon as he can. Needless to say, his crew is quite busy right now. There are also trees down on the South Pond and Twister.
Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton

Upper Paugussett State Forest

   

Date: 9/5/2011
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Town: Newtown, CT
Trail Conditions: Nice
Observations/Information: Raked and cleared blowdowns on the Upper Gussy Trail. One of the blowdowns became a new up and over, too. Fixed the armoring on one of the stream crossings, too.

Surprised to find another blowdown already cut through - thanks to whom ever did that!
Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie

TM Report: Rocky Neck SP

Date: 9/5/2011

Report Type: TM Report:

Trail Name: Rocky Neck

Town: East Lyme

Trail Conditions: Tree-y

Observations/Information: Cory and I headed in to Rocky Neck to clear out as much as we can for the BikeTember Fest. Luckily a lot of the stuff we could just roll off the side of the trail. Few "brushy" tree tops. and one big ass tree that needs a chain saw, but we can duck under it, though probably not on the bike.  got a good part of the loop cleared out for the most part. still some derailleur snakes here and there but the walker are doing a good job on crushing that stuff down So we should be good for the Fest/ride!!

Cory Clearing the trail!!

Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Thom Lamourine