Frontenac Secteur SUD National Park Adventure

It’s not common for a 30 mile gravel ride to rise to the level of needing a story about it, but this one does. This ride wasn’t a ride, it was a journey, an experience, a shit show. A shit show that I got to enjoy with my lovely wife and our two friends, Liz and Dan.

I’m typically tasked with finding and leading rides (or hikes) whenever we travel. I do have a reputation for taking my wife and our friends on rides that are a *bit* harder than I might advertise, or with a wee bit more climbing than mentioned. That’s part of what I do, but I HONESTLY don’t set out to do it. This just sort of happens, there’s “one more hill,” or we’ve only got “a few more miles to go.”

Anyone who has tried to find a ride hundreds of miles from home knows the challenges associated with choosing loops purely based on GPS tracks. Be it TrailForks or RideWithGPS, it’s caveat emptor when you download that GPS file and hit start.

Arizona!

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.

Waterbury Area Trails Alliance Gravel Grinder

Well, it's spring 2019, so that means rain... April, and so far early May, have been rainy, rainy, rainy. Mountain bike trails are a mess, and events like the Muddy Onion, Rasputitsa, and the Waterbury Area Trails Alliance (WATA) gravel grinder have been impacted by the rain in one way or another. I did the Muddy Onion, and while it was a bit muddy, I fortunately finished right before the cold deluge began. Rasputitsa is on my bucket list, but I haven't committed yet, and this year's course seemed miserable with not only rain, but sleet and snow.

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.

Vermont Overland Pave' Madness (AKA Hot As Balls)

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

Muddy Onion 2018, Montpelier, VT

Jean and I have ridden in the Muddy Onion in Montpelier, Vermont for the past couple of years  2017  2016), and the event really set the bar for gravel rides. Great route, great support and an amazing apres ride bash all made for memorable rides. Sadly, the organizing shop, Onion River Sports closed its doors, but some dedicated people are working to keep the dream alive and Onion River Outdoors is being born. And while the doors are not open yet, the Muddy Onion lives on!

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)

Acadia National Park--2017

It's another Memorial Day vacation and another trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. As you may recall, Jean and I were there last year and had a great time.

Much of this year's trip was similar to last year, great rides on the carriage roads, short hikes with killer views, and some amazing sea food.

Of course, this year, we had THREE dogs with us as we have added to our pack with Ruby Roo.

Three dogs, plus Jean and I in our travel trailer was a little tight at times, but doable. And, far easier to deal with than if we had all been in a tent!

RockyMounts TomaHawk Roof Rack Review

I have bikes and I like to go places. I like to take my bikes when I go places so I need to safe and secure way to bring them with me. I’ve been a Thule guy for a LONG time. I’ve had Thule racks on the roofs or the backs of my cars and trucks for almost 20 years. Right now I still have 8 bikes worth of Thule Racks for my truck and my wife’s car. But alas, Thule hasn’t kept up my needs, which currently include the need to carry a plus bike on my roof.

2017 Muddy Onion Video

Muddy Onion 2017 from David Alden on Vimeo.

For the full story and link to the photo gallery, go here!

Instagram!

It's almost the middle of March and the weather is still nasty, with a wind chill today estimated at well below zero F and a blizzard or winter storm coming along in a couple of days. Damn.

Between the weather, and my schedule for the first couple of months of 2017, I've been sorely missing my bike(s). My schedule has not only kept me off the bike, but it's also been getting way of putting together any good content for the site. Double damn. Read on...

Dreaming of Warmer Weather

As I delve deeper and deeper into winter survival mode, I think back fondly on a great trip the wife and I took to Tortola in the British Virgin Island a couple of years ago. Aside from almost drowning, it was a great trip.... Not a mountain bike destination per se, but the riding was fun and the weather was warm!

Santa Cruz, Part 1

Santa Cruz MTB Trails from David Alden on Vimeo.

More pics here!

Rose Mountain Rumble

Another gravel ride is in the books, and I'm happy to say that I had a great ride at this year's Rose Mountain Rumble!

Awesome route and awesome weather... what more could a rider ask for?

Rider photos are up here!

My buddies Jason and Dave had done this ride last year and they raved about it.

Mainly Maine

Back to Maine again? Yes, this is our third trip to Maine this summer (Acadia National Park and Bradbury Mountain State Park) as we try to get some use out of our travel trailer.  This trip was to Georgetown Island, sort of near Bath.

We didn't have a specific agenda in mind, and didn't even bring the mountain bikes! Our main plan was to hang out with our friends James & Jessica and just enjoy the Maine coast line.

As is almost always the case, we didn't get on the road as early as we had hoped on Friday morning but go to our destination without incident.

North Conway, NH

I really need to spend some more time riding in North Conway. The trails are awesome and I have a skinny younger brother who seems to enjoy reminding me that it's damn flat on my home trails.

Spending the majority of the time riding in the Boston area, I develop a false sense of security. I feel comfortable riding just about everything on my fully rigid single speed, and then when I occasionally hit some gnar in New Hampshire I start thinking about how I can get "just one more low gear" on my bike and how I can eek out a little more travel in the suspension.

Bradbury Mountain State Park, more Maine!

Back to Maine...

Our camping season started in Maine, and we had a good time so we went back for more.

This time, Bradbury Mountain State Park for mountain biking. It was relatively close so it served as a great little weekend get-away.

It's been several years since I rode the trails at Bradbury Mountain and I had forgotten what they were like. Perfect reason to refresh the memories...

Central Vermont Cycling Tour

Vermont? Gravel roads? A camping weekend? Yes, sign me up!

A couple of months after a super fun ride in the Montpelier area (Muddy Onion), it was time for Jean and I to head back up for another fun event, this time the Central Vermont Cycling Tour.

If you're a regular reader of this blog (and why wouldn't you be?), you may recall that Jean and I attempted this ride last summer. (READ MORE)

NEMBAFest 2016, Kingdom Trails, East Burke, Vermont

You want photos? Read on...