Arizona!

Beverly Bike Park?

I've been kicking around the idea of a bike park somewhere in Beverly.

UPDATES WILL BE BELOW

Exactly where? Who knows.

How big? Dunno.

When? No idea.

But, all things start with an idea, so if you're interested, please fill out this short form.

Arizona Adventures

I’ve never been one to shy away from biting off more than I can chew, so when Glen tossed out the idea of a one day epic 100-mile ride along the very remote Arizona Trail, I was in. I even started to train for it, but then, well, life got hectic, and “training” turned into drinking lots of coffee hoping that it would be a suitable replacement for proper sleep, diet, and exercise. 

It wasn’t.

2019 Video Recap

Just a video montage of some of the rides we (Racer-X) slayed in 2019. X Gon' Give It To Ya.

Stowe!

For many people, think mountain biking in Vermont, and you're going to think about Kingdom Trails. And, that's for good reason, the trails in East Burke are world-class and getting better every year. But, Vermont is a big state and there are plenty of other spots to ride. Jean and I had a free get-away to Stowe so I thought it would be a perfect chance to see what's going on in that part of the state. I had seen some killer video of various trails and I wanted to check 'em out.

More Kingdom Trails!

I've been up to Vermont A LOT this year... gravel rides, mountain bike festivals, races, it's all been good because I do love the Green Mountain state. As the season winds down, some friends and I made one last sojourn before the leaves were all down and the temps dipped below freezing.

CircumBurke 2018

I’m not afraid of making bad decisions and biting off more than I can chew, but when I registered for the CircumBurke Challenge, I actually had a plan.

That plan hadn’t included a crash and a really, really, really uncomfortable groin injury that kept me off the bike for a few weeks followed by a brutal work schedule that also kept me off the bike for a few weeks. So, when Glen and I headed up to Vermont, I was mentally exhausted from work, and hadn’t done a serious mountain bike ride for about two months. But hey, the race is only 26 miles so…

Photo Gallery

OCD MTB (and BMX too)

I'll admit it, I’ve got some quirks.

Most of my friends know at least of them, for example, my bike’s tires have to match. This is non-negotiable. I can NOT have, for example, a Kenda front tire and a Maxxis rear tire. Not only do the brands need to match, but the models must match too. I couldn't have a Kenda Nevegal and a Slant Six on the same bike. Although, I will make an exception if a specific tire is designed as a front or rear (think of the Panaracer Smoke & Dart). But, again, they MUST be paired, and I couldn't willy-nilly choose a front and rear tire, even if they're the same brand. I KNOW it doesn't make sense, but I CAN NOT do it. Also, if one tire needs to be replaced prematurely (torn sidewall or something), I need to replace both. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I can't help it. But there's more...

Trail Work

I think my tally by the end of 2018 is going to show that I've spent more time working on trails than riding trails. And that's okay...

NEMBAFest 2018

Well, well, well... more than a month has passed since I was in East Burke for the 2018 edition of NEMBAFest Powered by Pedro's. I guess I lose some points for not keeping my blog up to date, but you, the reader, get what you pay for.

It was, by all accounts, another excellent event. The trails were in primo condition and it was great to hang out with friends and family. The group included Mississippi Dave, Tito the Swedish Bimbo, and myself in my luxury camper; Glen the Cottage of Wattage in his tent; and my brother, brother-in-law, nephew and a smattering of North Conway hooligans in my brother's camper. There were more than 1000 other riders there as well, but I don't have much to report on them.

10 Tips to Better Mountain Biking

I originally wrote this article about 15 years ago. Apparently it's been circulating on the Interwebs ever since because I recently got an email inquiry about it from a content developer in Australia. As I had a chance to review it, I realized that all of this still holds true today so I've dusted it off and made sure that it works with the latest iOS while also being ANT+ and Bluetooth compatible. Additionally, the tips below work with ALL hub spacing standards, all BB standards and all MTB wheel sizes, 26, 27.5, 27.5+, 29, 29+ although, if you want the fat bike tips, you'll need to send in $20 for the retrofit kit.

10 Tips to Better Mountain Biking  

Fat Bike FakeNews

I’m not going to lie, I’m not a fan of fat bikes.

I had one but I just couldn't drink the Kool-Aid...

Read just about any fat bike propaganda and you’ll see statements like, "and you can ride them everywhere” or “any trail, any time of year.”

You’ll also read that the wider tires “float on surfaces where other tires would sink.”

Bicycling Magazine (which is pure drivel), even boasted that "staying fit in the winter is hard, but fat bikes make outdoor exercise possible."

Beverly Commons Trail Report

Kingdom Trails with Some of the Racer-X Crew

Kingdom Trails with some of the Racer-X crew, October 2017 from David Alden on Vimeo.

Harold Parker State Forest Trail Report

NEMBAFest 2017 Video

NEMBA Fest 2017 at Kingdom Trails, East Burke, Vermont from David Alden on Vimeo.

Cannondale Bad Habit 1 Video Review

NEMBAFest--Day 2

Thanks to Bear Cieri and Clif Bar for the pic!

After a cloudy start, Saturday turned out to be a truly amazing day.

Ralph played camp host and brewed coffee for the crew and after we all scarfed down some breakfast, it was time to hit the trails.

Mike Lawless made the day trip up from MA to join us too, and after a quick shock check at the SRAM/RockShox tent, we were rolling.

We hit many of the favorite trails, Harp, Coronary Bypass, Pastore Point Loop, Coronary, Troll Stroll,  Eager Beaver, Webs, West Branch, Hog Back, Sidewinder, and Old Webs before heading back to camp for lunch.

NEMBAFest--Day 1

Mud.

Mud was the theme for day one of NEMBAFest 2017 in East Burke, Vermont.

The morning started out dry, as Dave Tufts, Glen Gollrad (both BMX brothers from the '80s) and I hit the road early from the Boston area, but skies turned darker and wetter as we traveled north...

That rain created quite a few headaches for campers in the RV area on Darling Hill.

There was a huge area of grass that was deceptively deep, slick, and squishy and many people got stuck.

Fortunately, I didn't, but there was one huge travel trailer that was "camped" in the middle because you could tell that there was no way he was moving until it was dry. And several others fell victim to the mud too!

NEMBAFest 2017

Another great weekend in the Northeast Kingdom!

• Day 1 (Friday)
• Day 2 (Saturday)
• Video!

More is coming, but in the meantime you can also check out last year's coverage including the huge photo gallery.

Wanna buy some land in East Burke?