GBNEMBA 2008 Wednesday and Thursday Night Ride Series

Starts April 16th. Ends October 9th.

What is the Fells Wednesday Night PYT Ride?
What is a "PYT" ride??? PYT stands for Practice Your Technique. It is a ride where we go out and practice our technique or skills. It will usually start with a short talk about what we know and what we want to learn and then go for bit of a warmup ride and then we'll find a couple places to try skills such as skinnies or log rolls/hops and practice them until we are more comfortable. This ride is great for beginner mountain bikers or even experienced riders, and meets every Wednesday (you don’t say!) night starting in April at the Fells and continues through the season, usually into October. Come out and learn something new or get better at something you are rusty on - and maybe meet some fellow riders to ride with in the future.
Sponsored by JRA Cycles in Medford MA. www.jracycles.com

What is the Fells Wednesday Night Womens Specific PYT Ride?
It is the same thing as above, but for women. This ride meets every other Wednesday night and creates an atmosphere that helps women learn mountain biking skills.
Sponsored by JRA Cycles in Medford MA. www.jracycles.com

What is the Fells Thursday Night Social Ride?
This is an all levels ride. There will be at minimum an advanced and a mellower group going out each week. If we have enough volunteer ride leaders, there may be an intermediate or other groups. Advanced and intermediate riders should know their own abilities. Experienced novice riders are welcome on the mellower ride. It's a great way to get out and meet fellow riders, learn about a great riding area and a great organization, and get in a good workout during the middle of the week.
Sponsored by Landrys Bicycles in Boston, MA. http://www.landrys.com/

When and Where?
We meet at the Flynn Rink parking lot at 6pm and ride at 6:15. Keep an eye on our website - www.gbnemba.org - we update the homepage regularly with the ride times if they change (sometimes a little later in the middle of summer). Also, in case of threatening weather we may cancel and that will be on the homepage. Directions to the Flynn Rink – this will get you real close (just go another 100 yards north on Woodland Road and turn left throught the median into the parking lot): DIRECTIONS

Who can go?
These rides are open to anyone who is interested in a fun evening ride, as well as current and prospective NEMBA members. All riders must be fit enough to handle strenuous activity for about 1.5-2 hours. Riders should bring a serviceable mountain bike, be over 18, have water and must wear a helmet. Remember that mountain biking may be an exhilarating sport, but it is also dangerous. Know your limits and don't take unnecessary chances. NEMBA assumes no liability...

So what's the ride like?
What you will first notice is our volunteer Ride Guides, who break off with small groups of riders with similar skills and pace and lead a fun and appropriate ride through the woods. We always need more Ride Guides, so if you know your way around the Fells and would like to volunteer, let Tim know.
We also use sweepers who are generally used to riding with certain leaders and know their routes. We always need sweepers, too, so if you would like to volunteer, let Tim know. It is the teamwork between these two folks that keeps a group together and having fun.
Some ride leaders also use a clever method to keep a group together and moving at the same time. It is a technique borrowed from the good folks at VORBA and entails having the first rider behind the leader stop at a trail intersection to wave the rest of the riders through until he or she sees the sweeper and is only then able to resume riding.
The ride itself depends on the ride leader, but typical terrain in the Fells is rocky, gravelly and rooty. There are hills, but mostly short and usually somewhat steep. There are no long grinding climbs. Most of the terrain is suitable to novice and intermediate riders. Expert riders will only be challenged by distance and pace.

About the Fells
Riding in the Fells is becoming more of an issue to all users and park managers. It is a privilege we do not want to abuse, so please be sensitive to the issues, such as soil/trail preservation, park hours, and the tranquility and safety of fellow users and park regulations.

Best practices include:

Thanks for keeping it cool.

Rain Policy
If it is cloudy, threatening, misty, sprinkling - we ride. If it is pouring down rain - we cancel...but check the website to be sure! We’ll try to post on the NEMBA Forum as well.

See you out there!

Introducing the Spring/Summer GBNEMBA MTB101/102: Novice "Practice Your Technique" Ride Series / Clinics

GBNEMBA  is sponsoring a series of two-day beginner mountain bike
clinics/rides this spring and summer, beginning SATURDAY MAY 3.  For those of you newbies (or roadies) who own a mountain bike but would like some instruction or want to brush up on off-road technique, this is for you.  Also, please do forward this to any friends, family, colleagues, etc.  who might
like to join us-- it is open to anyone with a functioning mountain bike (and helmet, of course).

The format will include some short intro discussion, and then we will go off-road to ride and work on basic biking skills:  handling, braking, cornering, picking a line, dealing with rough terrain, how to
be a good steward of the trails and a safe mountain biker, etc.

Detailed information is below, but the rides are being held on the
following Saturdays, 10am--noonish

May 3 Belmont May 3 - Belmont MTB101 Skills Clinic CANCELLED. We'll try again May 10th.
May10 Great Brook

June 21 Middlesex Fells
June 28 Lynn Woods

July 19 Great Brook
July 26 Belmont

August 16 Belmont
August 23 Middlesex Fells

Rain will cancel the clinic. 

Feel free to come to any or all of the rides-- they are being run as two-day (a week apart) clinics, building on skills, but anyone is free to come anytime.


There is google map info on the locations of all the rides below:

DCR's Middlesex Fells, Flynn Rink (Woodland Road) Medford, MA
Flynn Rink

DCR's Great Brook Farm, Ice Cream Parking Lot, North Road Carlisle, MA
Ice Cream Lot

  Lynn Woods, Ballfield Parking Lot, Great Woods Road, Lynn, MA
Ballfield Lot

Belmont, Rock Meadow Parking Lot, Mills Street, Belmont, MA
Rock Meadow Lot

When: meet @ 9:30am / ride @ 10:00am
Level: Novice/Beginner
Terrain: Varied - Mostly smooth and flowing with a few challenges to
practice on
Pace: all will be waited for
Duration: 2 hours
411: What is a "PYT" ride??? It is a ride where we go out and practice
our technique or skills. It will usually start with a short talk about
what we know and what we want to learn and then go for bit of a warmup
ride and then we'll find a couple places to try skills such as skinnies or log rolls/hops and practice them until we are more comfortable. This ride is great for beginner mountain bikers or even
experienced riders who may be a little rusty. Come out and learn something new or get better at something you are rusty on - and maybe meet some fellow riders to ride with in the future.

Introducing the Spring Beginner Skills-Fit-Shifting Clinics from 5/2 to 6/27 at Great Brook

When: 5/2 to 6/27 every Fri at 6:00 PM.
What: Beginners bike fit, shifting and riding skills will be our focus.
Where: Great Brook State Park, 984 Lowell St, Carlisle, 01476.
Contact: Cindy by email.

Send all your beginner friends for enjoyable evenings of comardarie and no stress learning. If our turn out is good there will be more people available to teach and break our group up.

We'll check the basic fit of your bike and show you how to make the most simple adjustments.

Shifting explained and made simple.

Then we will move onto riding skills, climbing, decending, small log jumps all in a very slow non-threatening pace!

Every nite will finish up with a slow ride to practice what we have learned.