Blower Brigade Deployment…

If you have ridden MMCC lately, you know that the trail is buried in leaves. Thankfully, many of the orange marker ribbons are still in place from the trail build last Spring.  Jim Crissman (DirtPo) has posted in the MMBA NE Chapter forum, that we clear the leaves for safe Fall/Winter riding.  If you have a gas blower or a rake and strong shoulders, reply to Jim’s post.  We need to declare a time and deploy the blower brigade.  Thanks for any of your help.

http://mmba.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=93945

UPDATE: Thanks to Jim Crissman and Ken Eddy for checking this task off of our list. The MMCC Trail is ready to ride again.  Join up with the group ride at MMCC on Sunday Nov. 15th @ 10am, if you aren’t gunning for a deer.  No worries, the buckslayers are not allowed to hunt on MMCC property.

MMCC Trail Added…

The Mid Michigan Community College Trail has (finally) been added to our TRAILS tab.  Steve Hoffman and Vaughn Murray are the trail coordinators. There is a link to our MMCC Trail Report topic on the MMBA Forum.  Please use this topic to report any issues, make suggestions, share a ride story, etc.  The trail is seeing a lot of action this Summer.  If you haven’t ridden it yet, you should.  Also note that this trail is posted “no hunting“…so ride it safely, until the snow start dumping.

Wednesday Ride…

Group ride!  Wednesday Aug 12th, Mid Michigan Community College trail – 6pm sharp!  Trail is in GREAT shape (we rode it Sunday and it was outstanding)

Please note that the main parking lot will be closed for resurfacing, so we’ll meet at the parking lot where our trail crosses the asphalt road.   Directions:   Continue on Mannsiding Rd past Old Clare Ave (where we normally turn left).   Take 1st drive on left  (approx 100 yards past stop sign) and continue to the 2nd parking lot on left (just before the yellow gates).

It looks like there will be a carpool group leaving (at 5pm) from the parking lot of the “old” Holiday Inn (near conference center) on Wackerly Rd, in Midland.

MMCC Group Ride…

Group ride (tomorrow) Saturday August 8th, Mid Michigan Community College at 9am sharp!  Weather permitting.

Wednesday Group Ride…

See our “Rides” tab or http://mmbane.wordpress.com/rides/ for updated “Wednesday Ride” information.  This is a well established group ride, with deep roots and dedicated participants.  You won’t regret hooking up with these dirt lovers!

Tonight happens to be at Burns Rd (5:30pm sharp).  For future e-mail notifications on the Wednesday night group ride details, contact Steve Hoffman at shoffman813[at]sbcglobal[dot]net.  This will save me from having to post details every week…thanks.

Also…Thanks to those who participated in last night’s group ride and meeting with MMBA Director, Marne Smiley.  A little dirt, some beer, lively conversation…good times!  Sorry, I forgot to snap some pics.

Tonight! Wednesday Group Ride @ MMCC

If you are looking to get a ride in tonight, you should hook up with the group at the Mid Michigan Community College (MMCC) Trail.  If you don’t already know, the group leaves at 6pm sharp from the main parking lot. The 10 mile loop will take a little over an hour to complete (Vaughn says that the trail and lap times are improving).  Usually, the ride concludes at Ruckle’s (in Clare) for a brew and a bite.

MMCC is in Harrison, MI…see older posts or Google it for more info.

MMCC Trail Build Kicked Off!

 

The "roller coaster" section

Day 1:  Perfect weather!  Two small crews working in two different sections.  Each crew following the orange ribbon markers plotted out by Vaughn Murray.  The crew that I was in tackled an extra dense section. The chainsaw and loppers were mandatory here.  Our section was further complicated by the removal of some trail markers, prior to our arrival.  Steve, Tom and I did our best to think like Vaughn and forge ahead.  We later rewarded ourselves at Ruckles (in Clare) with fish dinners and cold beverages.

Day 2:  Again…perfect weather!  About a half-dozen of us formed one team and tackled what will be the last mile of the loop.  It’s fast and flowing through slightly rolling terrain.  It concludes with a roller coaster style, winding section before spilling back out into the main parking lot at Mid-Michigan Community College.  This section made our mouths water with anticipation of bombing it on our bikes.  Of course, it can’t all be fast and flowing…what comes down, eventually has to go up again.  There will be some good climbs to test your strength as well.  A glimpse of Vaughn’s “roller coaster” section shown at left.

We need more volunteers to speed up this build process.  There is plenty more trail to build.  Upcoming work dates/times to be posted soon.  Thanks to those who volunteered last weekend!