ECGA Gravel Goodness

On Saturday July 30,  Noah Leavitt and Dan Tieger, along with some other folks, worked with the Essex County Greenbelt Association to host an informal gravel ride starting in West Newbury.

The roughly 25-mile loop included a mix of road and off-road accessing Maudslay State Park, the Martin Burns Wildlife Management Area, the abandoned J.B. Little Road, trails around the Indian Hill Reservoir, and some quiet paved roads.

About 30 riders set out in multiple groups broken down by an estimated average speed. I tried to go back and forth between everyone, but the fast riders were long gone. That being said, I was able to snap a bunch of shots of the majority of the participants, and from the smiling faces, it seemed like everyone was having a good time. 

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.

Battle of the Blowers vs Bloviators

It's that time of year to start the leaf blower battles. The autumn leaves are down, trails are covered and the debate rages as to what is better--"clean" or "natural."

I say there is no universal right or wrong approach, but generally I favor groomed trails. 

In fact, for the most part I don't think leaf removal adversely affects trails and more likely may confer benefits to trail users.

Before you load your aspersions and invectives in a flaming bag to hurl at me, let's lay out some facts or at least some informed opinions that I'll use to make my case.

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.

Let Me Tell You About My Shovel

William Macy's Shoveler from the 1999 Mystery Men

I’ve mentioned before that I’m always looking for convenient and efficient ways to get tools out to the trails. Many times the best tool for the job is relatively big, or heavy, or both, and in those cases I will either schlep that stuff out by foot or load up the bike trailer. 

There are, however, some pretty kick-ass tools out there that are strong enough to do real work, yet packable enough to stow in a bag. 

Enter the DMOS Delta Shovel. Available in both steel and aluminum, it folds down to be easily carried in a back pack, and it extends to allow you to dig, move rocks and do anything you want a shovel to do.

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

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.

Jeff Lenosky Trail Boss Ride at NEMBAFest

Another great Trail Boss ride at NEMBA Fest! Thanks to everyone who rode! #nemba #nembafest #mountainbike -#trailboss

A post shared by Jeff Lenosky (@jefflenosky) on Jun 24, 2018 at 5:50pm PDT

Read on...

Vermont Overland Pave' Madness (AKA Hot As Balls)

Vermont Overland Pave' Madness 2018 from David Alden on Vimeo.

WATA Gravel Ginder

And then at about mile 9, I knocked my wife to the ground...

That was just one of the highlights along the WATA gravel ride in and around Waterbury, Vermont.

Ever since we did the Muddy Onion a couple of years ago, Jean and I have been fans of gravel rides. Great routes, great vibes, and great views have pulled us back for more and more rides, and this was our first year at the Waterbury Area Trail Alliance Gravel Grinder.

We opted for the shorter "traditional" loop which included about 27 miles and 2800ft of climbing and it was filled with--as promised-gravely goodness.

ECTA Spring For The Trails Half Marathon

"You're kind of a big guy for a trail runner..."

That comment came at me at about mile 4 while I was chatting with another runner, and I didn't know what to say. I just kept on running, smashing trees and scaring the wildlife like a woodland Godzilla.

Truth be told, that comment came from a really nice woman whom I chatted with for a couple of miles, but I thought it was pretty funny.

This was the second trail marathon of the season and the weather was markedly better than the one in April. While the race in Falmouth skirted freezing temperatures, early May in Ipswich brought bright sun, clear skies and temps in the high 60's. Toward the end of the run, I was so warm that I ran shirtless for a bit. With that said, I should apologize to all that were blinded by pale white skin that shone like a beacon. Squirrels had to avert their eyes, and I covered up before hitting the finish line.

Cape Cod Trail Race 2018

It's officially race season! I'm excited that I've got a bunch of events on the calendar--running, mountain biking, gravel rides, and hopefully some cyclocross this fall. I enjoy participating in these even if I toe the line woefully unprepared. In fact, that's my typical strategy, and my race results usually reflect that.

But hey, I can have just as much fun sucking wind in the middle of the pack as I would if I was standing on the top of the podium being deafened by the roar of my fans and burdened by medals and trophies.

With all that said, Jean and I, and Liz and Dan combined the first camping trip of the season with the first race of the season and de-winterized the campers for a weekend at Bourne Scenic Park. That put us in close proximity for the Cape Cod Trail Race in Falmouth. The race was fun, the camping... well... (see below after race pics)

Beverly Commons Trail Report

GPS WTF

I've been using a number of different mapping systems to record my rides and runs, but to also try to collect tracks to create a library of trail maps.

I've been using Strava, Wahoo Fitness, Trail Forks (all on my iPhone), and Garmin Connect through a Edge 520 head unit. It's somewhat surprising how different the stats are between these various services on the same short loop...

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.