Bear Brook State Park: Return of the Flow (Epic Day Part II)

"Now where did I drop that damn camera?"

Have you been missing the flow?  Too many days at Lynn Woods or Harold Parker got you thinking that mountain biking is all about rock gardens and sketchy lines?  I think I have just the place for you.

It was the second half of "The Epic Day of Mountain Biking".

Part I of "TEDMB" began with some trail Judo FOMBA, and the afternoon agenda had Brad and I headed over to the other end of the neighborhood, Bear Brook State Park.

Truth be told, I've been to Bear Brook before. However, I managed to explore all the trails that sucked.  Although I had ridden and liked Bear Brook Trail, my enthusiasm for the other trails at Bear Brook was muted given that I didn't find where the flow was hiding.

Luck was smiling on Brad and I that afternoon.  Just as we were readying ourselves to head out onto the trails, we bumped into a NEMBA executive who gave up the goods on the local trails.  He handed us two maps: both of which were completely useless. However, one had some scribbling on the back.  Crumpled and bleeding ink, this ancient parchment had a barely legible list of trail names and
directions: "Bear Brook, Catamount (first left), right, Carr Ridge, Hayes Swamp, Hayes Field, Salt Lick, Unnamed Trails"

Like some secret code, we combined this list with a few other tidbits of information they passed along, and unlocked a whole level of flow at Bear Brook that had been hidden to me before.

Brad and I effortlessly hammered out 10+ miles on the trails that afternoon, swept up on the playground of twisting, turning, smooth singletrack.

The guy who gave us the map
looked kinda familiar.

This park has fast become one of my favorites.  With ample camping on site, and FOMBA close by, this makes a great weekend destination.... Which is probably why NEMBA has picked it as the site for this year's annual NEMBA-Fest on October 8-9.  This presents the perfect opportunity for those unfamiliar with the park to get to know it, and learn of its secret trails.  If you can wait that long.

In the meantime, here's the video of our adventure: