Gear Review: Pearl Izumi X-Alp Enduro II Shoe

I have a confession to make: I cheated in Kindergarten.

I had trouble tying my shoes so I begged my parents for sneakers with velcro closures.  The ploy worked and I passed without having to prove my knot tying abilities.  That was probably the last time I owned sneakers with velcro.  Until now.

One Down. Two to Go.

The squiggly blue line is much more fun than the yellow lines.

I set three goals for my non-skiing adventures this off-season.  I'm happy to say that this week I checked the first of these off my list.

I mountain biked to work.

Three Minutes of Herb's

Here's a run down one of the my favorite trails: "Herb's" at Kingdom Trails.  Taken back in August, I did my best to keep up with Brad, who set a pretty good pace.

Harold Parker State Forest: Merrimack Valley Meets North Shore

A Reese's Peanut Butter Cup of Mountain Biking

The trails of the North Shore of Massachusetts have a discernible character:  rocky, technical, bold, and with lines that have a high penalty for failure.  There is no better embodiment of this style than the trails of Lynn Woods.

To the west you'll find the trails of the Merrimack Valley: Great Brook Farm, Russell Mill and Lowell/Dracut. There you'll find majestic singletrack, which incorporates the occasional boulder, rock garden, or root, on a rolling journey through loamy soils.

In between these two very different worlds sits Harold Parker.

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.

FOMBA: Trail Judo (Epic Day Part I)

Pine Forest or house of mirrors?

In the age-old martial art of Judo, you constantly push, pull, and maneuver your opponent, keeping them off balance until you wear them down into submission.  Where they expect to zig, you make them zag.  Where they want to zone out and relax, you make them snap-to and work hard.    

If mountain biking trails are the haunts of ancient warrior-teachers, then I know where the zen master of Judo lives. Lucky for us, it's in southern New Hampshire.