Merrimack Valley Chapter
Welcome to the web site for the Merrimack Valley Chapter of NEMBA, New England Mountain Bike Association. Merrimack Valley is one of 18 NEMBA chapters throughout New England. We will keep this site up to date with breaking news on rides, events and trail maintenance issues. We welcome any feedback from you that can make this site even better.
Norman Blanchette
MV NEMBA
The Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro State Forest has been completely revitalized in the last 10 years and is now a destination of choice for all outdoor user groups. The trail system has been expanded to allow riding or hiking options from 2 to 20 miles.
Russell Mills trail system can be accessed from Great Brook Farm with a short stretch of back roads. When combined with Great Brook, epic ride combination are possible.
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Slaphead (No Dabs) Mofo - Dracut SF
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Weekly Ride Series Returns
The trails are ready to ride
Tuesday evenings has traditionally been set aside for the weekly show and go rides and this year is no different. The Two for Tuesday (as in two start times) is up and running and is already very well attended.
If the turnout gets too big we have on occasion broken up the riders into several different groups. That makes it that much easier to find the pace that's just right for you. Join us at the Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro State Forest.
Park at the Trotting Park Road lot in Lowell off of Varnum Ave. Start time is usually ~5:00 for the early riders with a return to the parking lot at ~5:30 to pick up the 2nd wave.
These rides are at an intermediate pace with stops to regroup. Nobody gets left behind. The rides are cross country in nature with plenty of opportunities to play on the rocks. Come on out.
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Russell Mill TM and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Saturday May the 16th, Merrimack Valley NEMBA completed its 3rd TREK/NEMBA trail day for 2009. We spent the day at Russell Mill Conservation Land in Chelmsford MA. We had a dozen volunteers spread out to work on 4 separate projects. We headed back to the parking lot a bit earlier than usual because we had a ribbon cutting ceremony to attend.
Merrimack Valley NEMBA has been working with the Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship to develop mountain bike specific trails at Russell Mill. This work has been on-going for about 2 years now. Bob Giunta has been the driving force behind this project. As a result of his dogged efforts, Russell Mill now sports about 6 miles of new mtb specific Singletrack.
The town of Chelmsford decided that Saturday May the 16th would see the dedication of the new trails at Russell Mill. We would have a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by a BBQ in the parking lot. After the BBQ we would take to the new trails on our mountain bikes.
As part of the ceremony, Merrimack Valley donated a check for $200.00 to the Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship. Chapter President Norman Blanchette and chapter Vice President Bob Giunta presents a check to Philip Stanway of the Open Space Stewardship.
We had quite a mix of people showing up for this event. We managed to tame these wild beasts to keep the parking area secure.
All those NEMBA members that attended will be entered in the Trek Bicycles / NEMBA Trail Care Series for 2009. If you attended make sure I have all your contact information.
This year we have 8 days set aside on the calendar that will get us out to Lowell, Dracut, Tyngsboro, Carlisle, Chelmsford and Billerica. And there's reasons to believe that Southern NH may get a 2nd look this year.
The DCR has given us permission to take a look at trail opportunities in the Billerica State Forest. This could be the year when we finally pull Billerica into our ride orbit. Look for 2 trail days that will be set aside for Billerica this year. Our full trail schedule is listed below.
Our relationship with our new contacts at the DCR continues to move forward. They have become more confident with us and may be willing to approve bigger and more productive projects. Hopefully we'll see the fruits of that relationship pay off in the new year to come.
Meanwhile we will continue to stay ahead of any issues involving our access to the local trail system. The bottom line is to keep the trails safe, clean, open and user friendly with a heavy dose of the fun factor.
Directions
TREK / Trail Care Series Schedule for 2009
April 11th - Saturday
April 25 - Saturday (National Trails Day)
May 16 - Saturday
June 28 - Sunday
July 18 - Saturday
August 9 - Sunday
September 12 - Saturday
October 17 - Saturday
All Trail days start at 8:30 AM unless notified otherwise .
