Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Kingdom Long Weekend

A group of us headed to Kingdom, Vermont for a long weekend of mountain biking. Despite some last minute cancellations, ten of us, plus two kids, made the trip. Now for those of you who read this blog regularly, you will know that there has been at least half a dozen or so posts on trips to Kingdom. And you also know that Kingdom has probably the finest mtb trail network in the North East. Therefore, I tell you about some new developments this year:

The Good

The riding is still fantastic with some great well-maintained single-track! Kudos to the Trail association for their amazing work.

Sidewinder - everyone's favourite trail has a couple of new lines. If you find yourself behind a slower rider, you a have passing options.

Beer and pizza at the Trout River Brewery!!

The Bad

Pines and Widow Maker are both closed because of some logging operations. The will be reopened at some point, likely with some changes!

The Ugly

Old Webbs - one of my favourite trails, a fast, flowing single track between tall pines - has been totally ruined by the same logging operation mentioned above. About 50 per cent of the trees, if not more, have been cut down and there is a wide logging track going through it.

The Final Word

Despite those little annoyances, Kingdom is still a fantastic place to ride and we had a blast! Here are some pics:

Pierre and Susie


The BC Bike Race twins - Kari & Bill

Smiley Andrea ripping down Rim


K & B auditioning for the Cirque du Soleil

Saturday night at the Trout... noone made a scene...


Me, Joel & Pierre - as you can tell, it was cold...

Even colder on Monday! 40 F, that's about 4 celcius!

Awesome weekend with a great group of people! Can't wait to go again, I got my season's pass!!

3 comments:

Kari said...

Papa G rocks! Thanks for a super trip Gilles - I had a blast. I appreciate you organizing everything (accomodations, meals and ride routes)!

Anonymous said...

ekks! Hopefully people are speaking up about the logging!!
Isn't mtbing an essential part of that cities business!!! (tourism)
I can't see logging making the long term money as tourism does.

Tourism is pretty easy dough in some regards.

Logging, if done by clear cutting etc... has long long long term determinental effects that are long lasting.

Hopefully they don't kill off the tourism there...

Anonymous said...

Just wrote a letter to the officials of VT and to kingdom trails...

"I just read a report from some tourists (mountain bikers) stating that some of the trails in Kingdom trails, VT are being threatened or are currently being destroyed by logging.
Hopefully the area isn't being threatened by logging?

I think this area is heavily dependent on tourism dollars.
Thoughts on the street are that this place may soon be lost to logging.

Logging, if done correctly can be sustainable. But, if not, it has great great long term consequences. One of them being tourism. Tourism is the number one exportable product in the economy. Whereas, logging is way way way way down there on the list of unsustainable items. Takes years and years to grow back. And, clear cutting has long long term effects that can be irreversable.

Just some thoughts before its all thrown away on quick to do cash... not long term thinking..."


If you love your trails, do the same. Voices need to be heard or the only thing they will hear are chainsaws and the cash register drawer!