Monday, September 26, 2011

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.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

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.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Leominster State Forest: Revisited and Revealed

This summer's third trip to Leominster State Forest recently allowed me to revisit some of my old favorites, as well as explore a corner that I hadn't touched in the years that I had been biking there.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Bradbury Mountain State Forest: Maine Attraction

Maine: New England's blueberry stained flannel shirt wearing drunk lumberjack uncle,
covered in mosquito bites, who likes to go fishing and play pond hockey.
A short drive north of Portland, just outside the L.L. Bean mothership in Freeport lies the little town of Pownal, Maine.  There you'll find a sleepy little hamlet with a blinking traffic light, a church, and a country store.  If you're a mountain biker who likes to camp, you'll also find the best fucking mountain biking destination northeast of Sebago Lake.

Yeah, that's right Acadia... I just threw down the gauntlet.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

New England Ski Movie Premieres

 "Solitaire" from Sweetgrass Productions

In the next few weeks, skiers will gather in bars, theaters, and auditoriums to pay homage to last year's ski season.  This rite of passage marks the beginning of the new ski year, and helps us all survive the waste of a month that is November. (Well, at least for those of us who don't have hunting licenses.)

I did a little research to figure out where we can catch the premieres of some of the sexy looking new films, and my needlessly obsessive research is your gain.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Russell Mill Town Forest: Packed Full of Flow

Follow the bedrock road.
Recently I had a chance to make the trip up Route 3 to Chelmsford, MA and explore the offerings of Russell Mill Town Forest.

I discovered what many of the Metrowest mountain bikers already know.  Russell Mill has some of the best singletrack in the region.