Fall Fiesta 2016

CCT NEMBA is throwing its annual “Thank You Fest” for all its members who support NEMBA all year long.

Rides and food are all just a small part of the fun when you join us at Gay City State Park in Hebron, CT, on Sunday, September 25, 2016.  Meet up with your fellow mountain bikers who have helped keep our trails open and fun to ride.

Not a member? Well, you can join at the event and still enjoy the festivities!

Guided rides, lunch and much more!  Rides are free to the general public.  NEMBA membership required for lunch (swag raffle to follow).  $35 to join if a not-yet-member.

All donations help support mountain biking, our trails and parks in CT as well as throughout New England.

2016 Schedule:

• 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM: Registration
• 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Advanced Ride
• 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Intermediate Rides & Women’s Ride
• 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM: Beginner Ride
• 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM: Lunch

* Helmets must be worn by all riders.

Watch our video from last year's Fall Fiesta:

Gay City State Park

Date: 7/25/14
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Gay City State Park
Town: Glastonbury/Hebron
Trail Conditions: Good, clear, a few mud spots
Observations/Information: I participated in the Thursday RAW ride led by Al Tinti. We had six riders in total. We started at Blackledge Falls and rode into Gay City on the Cabin Trail, then did a loop in Gay City, and back into Blackledge on the Ribbon Trail. We did 11 miles in just under two hours.

Trails were all clear and, for the most part, dry, with just a few muddy spots and water in the stream crossings. The trails in Gay City and Blackledge were as they've been for years, wide and with multiple braids in places. Someone's been closing some of the braids in Gay City- a positive development, and also doing some rock armoring ant trail clearing.

The RAW rides are fun social no-drop steady-paced rides. Thanks to Al for leading it. Afterward we enjoyed refreshments in the parking lot (photo).
Trail Ambassador Name: Glenn Vernes
Trail Ambassador E-mail: glennvernesatgmaildotcom
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Various
Time of day: Afternoon
Time/Duration (hours): 2.0
Approximate Distance (Miles): 11
Image 1: RAW 72514 003.JPG

2011 Fall Fiesta: a wet start that led to fantastic riding!

Everyone was huddled under the tents when I got there

But when the sun came out it was going to be great

Al Tinti

The Stragglers Ride

Pizza!

If you joined for the first time or renewed your membership you received a free CTNEMBA pint glass!

The Eastern Connecticut Hammer Organization (ECHO) was camped next door

and actually went riding, too!  They brought the beer courtesy of 

Giles Corey Brewing

Steve Eldridge

Glenn Vernes

Peter Blume

Mike Lafevre

The Beginner's Ride

Waiting for the pizza

TA Report: Gay City State Park

Date of Activity: June 18
Town: Hebron
Condition of Trail: Varied
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold

Encounters and Observations: This was my first visit to Gay City on bicycle and I came away quite impressed. There is truly something for everyone, ranging from wide flat trails that are easy to cruise to washed out trails that are highly technical due to the resulting boulder fields. The trails were generally dry, although there were a few muddy ruts. I was the only biker at the park, although there were a few walkers, one of whom complimented me on my bell that I rang to give notice that I was coming.

Email: bikehikekayak123@sbcglobal.net
Location: Gay City State Park
Trail(s) Ridden: All of them
How did you use the trail: Ride
What was the time of day: 5 p.m.
Hours: 1
Distance: 7 miles

TA Ride Report: Gay City State Park

Date of Activity: 5/1710
Condition of Trails(s): Fantastic! All cleared and rippable. A few muddy stream crossings that I always walk. A few of these crossings could use some work -- maybe later this year I can help the master-builders with this work.

Trail Ambassador Name: Lon Hultgren
Trail Ambassador Email: HultgrenLR@MansfieldCT.org
Town: Hebron
Location: Gay City SP; and slope west of the Blackledge River
Trail(s) Ridden: I rode the red trail from the picnic area north to the singletrack that leads out to Rte 94, crossed the river on Rte 94 and took the Blackledge Falls trail up to the power line right of way; then rode the NEMBA loop trail off the right of way all over the eastern facing slope and back to the right of way, then took the main trail on the western side of the Blackledge River to where it hooked up with the red trail back over the river and back to the picnic/parking area.
How did you use the trail: Mt. Biking
What was the time of day: 3 PM
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): 8.6

Observations: Our NEMBA brethren have spent many hours making this an almost perfect trail (except for the rock garden near the end, which is pretty brutal).

Gay City Trail Report

Date of Activity: 4/21/2010
Condition of Trail: Bobs Trail had a few muddy spots however it is well packed and fast. Red and single track up to Birch Mountain Rd. are in good shape

Trail Ambassador Name: Kris Ridgeway
Email: kristopheridgeway@sbcglobal.net
Town: Hebron
Location: Gay City Park
Trail(s) Ridden: Bobs Trail, Red trail
How did you use the trail? Mountain Biking
What was the time of day? 5-7PM
Hours riding: 2 hours

Encounters & Observations: Rode with a crew of 5 people of all different abilities. Gay City is great for beginning of season. Saw 2 guys riding fast on hard tails with bike shop shirts. Saw several others at trail head coming back.

Easy Does IT Ride Recap

From left to right in the picture, it was Al Tinti, Earl, Dennis from Manchester, Jeff from Glastonbury, Dawn Thompson (John Isch's wife), and John.

We had our first Easy Does It ride at Gay City last night. It was a nice night, trail conditions were quite good with the exception of a few soft spots. We had 6 folks total, with a one to one ratio of ride leaders to riders. We were out for about 1.5 hours.

2009 Fall Fiesta - Ad Hoc Ride Leader Report

I became the Ad Hoc Intermediate Ride Leader for the second intermediate ride at CT NEMBA's Fall Fiesta at Gay City State Park on Saturday, September 19th. The ride started out with a mix of abilities led by Al Tiniti, CT NEMBA Secretary and local Glastonbury/Hebron riding legend. At one point the less experienced riders in the group decided to head off on their own with Al to show them some interesting local trails which put me in charge of the rest of the ride.

The planned route for the Fall Fiesta was marked with blue trail markers which was intended as a mixed ability route. Interspersed were Hero loops to give the more advanced riders a little more challenge on what I would consider a pretty challenging trail. One such loop shown at the top of the map above was really cool and he rode it twice, too.

There was really cool technical decent on the trail that led to an armored, raised stream crossing.

Those were some really big rocks that were maneuvered into place. Below is a little video of two of the guys in our ride group going over this rock bridge. The first rider's name is Mark and he is riding an orange IF (Independent Fabrications) steel hard tail. The next rider is all the way from Beacon, NY and is riding a GF Cake.

After the second loop on this Hero course, we continued up the Red Trail and at the first climb, we lost the first person in our group, Joan pictured up above on a sweet, personally autographed by Gary Fisher, full suspension 29er. Of course, it wouldn't be a NEMBA ride without a mechanical. In this case one of my quick links broke so I replaced it with another and hoped that it would hold. I know I have said this before but it's time to get a new chain!

At one point we diverted off the signed route and started heading south. I remembered riding this way a few years ago and wanted to try it again. At the gas line, we lost another member of the group, Tom who rides a Green Voodo Canzo 29er. After crossing under the a power lines we ventured into Black Bridge Park. I thought there might be a trail that would keep us from having to go out onto Rt 94 but it turned out it was a fisherman's trail that led to the dam. So we back tracked, got out onto Rt 94, and rode the hardball for 50 yards to the next trail head.

This trail started out as an old cart path and then turned into some awesome single track. About halfway down the trail is when Steve's chain broke. Two broken chains on one ride!

I was all out of quick links, having used my last one on this ride and gave Paula two on the ride at Millers Pond two weeks ago so Steve pulled out his CT NEMBA Trail Ambassador multi tool and fixed his chain lickety split!

We hooked back up with the main trail at Gay City, ran into the Epic Ride that was returning from Case Mountain. Glen was riding sweep on his rigid, Redline SSer 29er.

Bill Lake and this other guy were on the tail end of the epic ride, too. The guy in foreground is riding Ventanna 29er, geared, with a rigid fork!

The Garmin Edge reported that the length of the ride was 10 miles!