We will be working on the next segment that will extend the south end of the trail from Drinkwater Pt Rd down close to the Cousin’s Island Bridge. Please bring gloves, boots and bug spray. It’s also best to wear long pants and long sleeves. We will provide water and snacks. The work will include light clearing (raking, lopping, etc), material staging, maybe a little bench cutting and some bridge and boardwalk construction. Please meet where the power line crosses Drinkwater Pt Rd.

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https://www.facebook.com/events/116606301860627/

The post Yarmouth West Side Trail Day May 4th appeared first on Greater Portland NEMBA.

This event is sponsored by your friends at the Greater Portland Chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA) and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.  Rivalries has agreed to donate a portion of the evening’s proceeds to GPNEMBA.  We will also be accepting donations to help support GPNEMBA’s trail fund and to outfit our new tool trailer  Hope to see you there!

The post Mountain Bike Season Kick-Off Party! appeared first on Greater Portland NEMBA.

Healthy Kids Happy Kids, is hosting “Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day” with Center Street Cycles and Specialized Bicycles this Saturday Oct. 6th at Bradbury Mountain State Park!

The event starts at 10am. We’re leading 3 group rides for kids
broken up by age and skill level. Plus we’ll have a skills course
for them to play around on. After the rides we’ll have a cookout
with live music. And hopefully we’ll be out of there by 1pm.

Cost is $25 per family which includes event and cookout. This does not include park entry fees.

If you need more info please call or email:
Tim Corcoran
tcorcoran1@live.com
207-233-9182

Thanks!

The post Saturday is Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day! appeared first on Greater Portland NEMBA.

At last, a trail connection from Blackstrap Hill to Hadlock Community Forest in Falmouth! The town has obtained permission from key landholders to create such a trail, linking up these two prime mountain biking areas. Now it needs to be built and we need your help to do it.

Please join us on Saturday, September 29^th at 8:30 a.m. for this trail building events. [A 2^nd event, if needed, will be on the following Saturday, October 6^th.]  We’ll finish up by 1:00 p.m.

The map below shows the location of the trail. We will be building the portion that lies between the Turnpike and Hadlock Road.

We’ll meet at the Hadlock parking lot, at the end of Hadlock Road (off Rte 100 near the Rod & Gun Club), then divide into teams and begin work at four different locations. Bring gloves, water, snacks and wear boots, long sleeves & long pants.

This is a great opportunity for the mountain bike community to show its support for Falmouth’s trail building efforts. Please plan on joining us!

For more info contact chris@allspeed.com

The post More Trail Connections Coming to Falmouth! appeared first on Greater Portland NEMBA.

This Saturday, the 8th at 8am at Bradbury Mountain State Park – Bridges and Fill on the Ragan Trail. Meet at the Tool Shed at the Park’s HQ at 8am. Contact pat@cascobaysports.com for more info.

Saturday, 9/15 at The Blackstrap Hill Preserve in Falmouth. Contact Andy Meyer at andymeyer@maine.rr.com for more info.

Also on 9/15th, Yarmouth Westside Trail Work Day in Yarmouth. Contact Andrew Favreau at andrew.favreau@gmail.com for more info.

On October 13th, Yarmouth Westside Trail Work Day in Yarmouth. Contact Andrew Favreau at andrew.favreau@gmail.com for more info.

The post Trail Work Opportunities in September and October appeared first on Greater Portland NEMBA.

In the afternoon, our friend Jack Zinn is hosting the “Alpine Woods Mountain Bike Jam”!
Group rides of all abilities from 11am-2pm, live music and BBQ afterwards featuring the Jason Spooner Band and special guests…
There is a $20 suggested donation with all proceeds going to Falmouth Food Pantry!
Jack’s address is: 13 Alpine Drive Falmouth, Maine.
Contact Jack at zinnjack1@gmail.com for more information.

The post Sept. 8th – Trail Work in the Morning – Ride and Party in the Afternoon! appeared first on Greater Portland NEMBA.

Ah, the joys of the interwebs!

-BD

The post Data Lost… Rebooting… appeared first on Greater Portland NEMBA.

You are invited to join us in assisting the Falmouth land trust and conservation corps on their next trails project this Saturday, July 23rd. This will involve construction of a new loop off the Upper East Branch Trail (behind the Falmouth High School) that will take people down along a beautiful stretch of river. The materials are on site (thanks to the Rage TNR group that helped!), so this will be relatively easy work. We’ll start at 8:30 that morning, meeting at the left rear corner of the parking lot behind the Falmouth high school on Woodville Road. Bring water, gloves, hat, bug dope and snack food. No need to bring tools (but you can). If you miss us at 8:30, head down the trail into the woods directly behind the far end of the new turf field. We’ll divide into three groups to build two foot bridges and cut and blaze the trail from one end of the loop to the other, about 0.2 miles. We should be done by lunch time.

If you haven’t been involved in a project in Falmouth, this will be a good one to get involved in. Mountain bikers are the main trail users in Falmouth and it would be great to show them our support!

2. Happy Cats Trail Day Wednesday July 27th 5:30 pm

There have been some issue recently with access to a section of the Blackstrap riding area in Falmouth. To hopefully appease the situation we need to make some improvements to the trail network ASAP. We will work Wednesday evening to harden trail and reroute a couple sections. It is extremely important to get this done as we may risk losing access to a section of the parcel. It is also imperative that no rogue trail is built in that area. We have legal access to the parcel, but things must be done there by permission only! If you need clarification on this please contact me directly. If you’ve ridden in this network you know full well what a shame losing access would be! Please show your support and lend a hand Wednesday evening. We’ll meet off the side of Blackstrap road, near the happy cats sign. Bring water, gloves, hat, bug dope, and tools if you have them.

3. Mountain Bike Adventure Series Ride Sunday July 31st at Bradbury.

This is sure to be a great time and is a fundraiser for the chapter. Folks from other NEMBA chapters will be joining us for guided rides, bike demos from Papa Wheelies in NH, socializing, and specials from Buck’s Naked BBQ right up the road after the rides! The cost is $10 dollars for members and $25 for non-members, which comes back to the chapter. if you’re not already a member this is a very easy way to join the chapter. We’re looking for volunteers to help out at the event, if you’re interested please respond to this email ASAP. More information is available here:

http://www.mtbadventureseries.org/mtbadventure/bradburymtn.htm

Other Topics

Blackstrap Area – Just to reiterate, we (all public recreators) are at risk of losing access to a privately owned parcel in this area due to rogue trail building and other property access issues. Do not cut rogue trails in this area. Please also lend a hand at the Wednesday trail day to show the landowner we’re supportive and cooperative stewards of their land!

River Point Area – On Tuesday, a group of Falmouth volunteers installed a new walkway over the railroad bridge leading from Hannaford to River Point. The bridge went from very nearly being torn down to now being open for non-vehicle traffic. A citizen advocacy success. No more crossing the tracks or hopping the fence there. Do watch out for poison ivy in the River Point fields and we will mow to widen the trail soon I hope.

Chapter Election – We’ve pushed back the date of the election to the early fall. If you’re interested in running for the board (president, vice president, treasurer, or general) please let me know and we’ll add your name to the ballot. The more folks we have involved at the planning level the bigger and impact we can make in the community.

Monthly Mixers – Based on feedback we received in the membership survey, we will start having monthly mixers in August. These will act as casual chapter meetings to discuss projects and other bike related topics. Most importantly they’ll provide a chance to meet new people, talk about bikes, bring together the cycling community, and have a good time. We’re working on a venue, but the monthly mixers will be in Portland and be held during the week.

Libby Hill Group Ride – Libby Hill trails is sponsoring a group mtn bike ride led by its members on single track at Libby Hill in Gray for the next 7 Wednesday nights at 6:30. We ask folks to contribute to our donation box at the kiosk on Libby Hill where we will meet. Rides last about 1.5 hours. A great chance to try some different trails. We are also on Facebook and also have a website (http://www.libbyhill.org/).

Thanks and we hope to see you at some of these events!

The post Greater Portland NEMBA Announcements 7-22-11 appeared first on Greater Portland NEMBA.

Other Upcoming Goings-On…

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine is having a pizza party fundraiser June 21 from 5-9 p.m. at Flatbread Pizza on the Portland waterfront.  You can’t beat the combination of pizza, beer and bicyclists. Flatbread will donate a portion of the proceeds from every pizza sold during the evening (including takeout orders) to the coalition. Shipyard Brewing Co. will donate $1 for every beer sold.  You can find out more at http://www.bikemaine.org/events/flatbread-party . The BCM is a great asset to cyclists all over the state and has been really supportive of GP NEMBA over the past few years! Please consider attending the fundraiser to show them your support; plus its gonna be a great time!

Sunday, July 24th – Carrabassett Backcountry Cycle Challenge!

This is a 50 mile bike race put on by the Carrabassett Valley chapter of NEMBA. They’ve got some great trails up there and a top-notch facility to run the race out of. This is going to be a great event! Discounted registration closes June 19th and can be accomplished via BikeReg. Here is the link to Bikereg where you can register and find more detailed information about the race, course, facilities, food, and anything else: http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=13416. The Carabassett Valley NEMBA chapter is also looking for 50+/- volunteers (Saturday, July 23 and Sunday July 24th) to help run the event. To be added to the volunteer list please email Deb Bowker at BOWKER3@roadrunner.com

GP NEMBA in the press!

An article came out in the Portland Press Herald on the Yarmouth trail project thats picking up steam: http://www.pressherald.com/news/coalition-works-to-craft-yarmouth-hiking-biking-trail_2011-06-06.html

A second unrelated article on riding in and around Portland was also published on Mountain Bike Magazine’s website with pictures and quotes from our chapter members! http://www.mountainbike.com/mountainbikecom/featured-stories/beat-heat-best-rides-portland-maine

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