Saturday, November 11, 2017
A Kingdom Sampler: Bikepacking Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom
Brandon and I were running out of daylight. Miles short of our goal, we pushed our bikes through dense forest and around jagged rocks, lifting them over blowdowns on a barely visible trail that seemed more a figment of my imagination than reality. I had been nervous about this scenario all day- and now my fears were materializing. We were hitting the most difficult section of the day at precisely the wrong time. The thick woods were closing in around us, further choking out what little light remained in the gray skies above. Just as I began to consider retreating to the road we crested out of gully and my perspective changed completely.
Labels:
2017,
Bikepacking,
Mountain Biking,
Vermont
Monday, September 18, 2017
FOMBA to Bear Brook Epic (October 2016)
Red carpet treatment. |
But like most things, it is fleeting, and you need to make the time to breathe-in some of its essence before we descend into the hellish hangover that is November. And what better way to capture the sights, smells and feels of the season than a leg crushing epic mountain bike ride in the hills of sourthern New Hampshire?
Labels:
2016,
Mountain Biking,
New Hampshire
Friday, September 15, 2017
Boston to Northampton Epic Trail Ride (July 2017)
My bike took me here. |
Labels:
Bikepacking,
Massachusetts,
Mountain Biking
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Your Bucket List is Weighing You Down: A Harvard-Boxborough Study Proves It
Sweet, sweet, singletrack descents. |
Labels:
Massachusetts,
Mountain Biking,
Trip Report
Thursday, October 6, 2016
The Other Side of Highland (September 2016)
A hint of Fall on the trail. |
Labels:
Mountain Biking,
New Hampshire,
Trip Report
Friday, September 23, 2016
Moosalamoo's Leicester Hollow & Chandler Ridge Loop (August 2016)
Sun, bike, singeltrack and water: a winning combination. |
I'm no stranger to brambles, having stumbled through more than my fair share of bushes over the years. I regularly fished for baseballs in rasberry bushes wearing only shorts and a t-shirt when knee high socks and parachute pants were all the rage. Heck, you'll still find me waist high in thickets of prickers looking for hidden singletrack. I've picked more thorns out of my body and cursed more burdock than I care to remember. So a warning about "stinging nettles" didn't phase me, until he repeated with any hint of a smile now gone from his face: "Really, watch out for those stinging nettles."
Labels:
Moosalamoo,
Mountain Biking,
Trip Report,
Vermont
Friday, September 16, 2016
Fat Biking and Finding Humility in the Adirondack Backcountry (July 2016)
Big wheels keep on turnin'. |
Labels:
Adirondacks,
Mountain Biking,
New York,
Trip Report
Monday, March 28, 2016
To The Chic-Chocs, We Don't Stop (March 2016)
"What have I done?" Cowering
the backseat of Justin’s truck, I lay my head against the cool window as Justin,
Silas, Kirk and I rumbled through the Quebec countryside in the wee hours of
the morning. I was ten hours deep into
my thirteen hour journey from Boston to the Chic-Choc mountains on the Gaspé
peninsula in Eastern Quebec and seriously questioning whether I should have
made the trip.
Labels:
Backcounty Skiing,
Canada,
Chic-Chocs,
Quebec
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Fat Bikes: Making Warm Snowless Winters Suck Less
It was about this time last year that I carving lines in deep untracked powder through the woods in the Blue Hills. Those were the days- "were” being the operative word.
As if a look out the window wasn’t enough to nail home the sad state of the snowpack, this morning’s long term forecast is calling for temperatures in the 40’s for the foreseeable future. While there's still plenty of winter left to fulfill our backcountry skiing plans, the next few weeks aren't looking so good. But like anything in life, you can sit home and cry in your Cheerios or you can adapt, evolve, and find a silver lining. If you’re a winter outdoor enthusiast, you may need a fat bike to mine that vein of silver.
Labels:
fat bikes,
Gear Review,
mountain bike,
Mountain Biking
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