BackLoafRiver
New member
While at a conference this weekend, I was able to get in a couple rides at UMaine.
I have posted about this place before but every time I ride, I seem to find so much new stuff.
I talked for an hour to a techie at the LBS who gave me the low down on some of the riding at Orono. There are two sides to the network...east and west. All the West side stuff is located near the University while the East side is behind the high school a few miles away. They are part of the same network since the UMaine Forestry Department owns all the land behind the school.
Thursday my riding buddy and I decided to go to explore the woods behind the school. The entrance was pretty easy to find...a long double track that is used for the schools xc team. We followed it for a while until it dumped us out into a much more open space.
From here, the singletrack was a bit more difficult to find. Occasionally we we would find a trail only to have it lead to a dead end.
After about 30 minutes of random dead-end trails, we found the goods. And man, were there ever goods to be found.
The trails run the gamut from very rooty and rocky, to smooth and buff. Because there is no signage, you just have to explore and it is easy to get lost. Most of it requires a lot of control over your bike and some smart pedaling. Definitely the most difficult riding I have done yet. I spent a lot of time walking. The trails can be quite inconsistent, going from flowy to a rooty climb followed by an instant 3 footer to a rock hairpin turn. Again, tech but fun. Thursdays ride came in at just about 7 miles in an hour and change.
There is no local organization responsible for building the stuff. Just a few guys who make a line, and ride the crap out of it. And there are a ton of riders who get out.
Did some solo riding on the West Side Friday. Ride total of 6 miles. Here are some shots:
I have posted about this place before but every time I ride, I seem to find so much new stuff.
I talked for an hour to a techie at the LBS who gave me the low down on some of the riding at Orono. There are two sides to the network...east and west. All the West side stuff is located near the University while the East side is behind the high school a few miles away. They are part of the same network since the UMaine Forestry Department owns all the land behind the school.
Thursday my riding buddy and I decided to go to explore the woods behind the school. The entrance was pretty easy to find...a long double track that is used for the schools xc team. We followed it for a while until it dumped us out into a much more open space.
From here, the singletrack was a bit more difficult to find. Occasionally we we would find a trail only to have it lead to a dead end.
After about 30 minutes of random dead-end trails, we found the goods. And man, were there ever goods to be found.
The trails run the gamut from very rooty and rocky, to smooth and buff. Because there is no signage, you just have to explore and it is easy to get lost. Most of it requires a lot of control over your bike and some smart pedaling. Definitely the most difficult riding I have done yet. I spent a lot of time walking. The trails can be quite inconsistent, going from flowy to a rooty climb followed by an instant 3 footer to a rock hairpin turn. Again, tech but fun. Thursdays ride came in at just about 7 miles in an hour and change.
There is no local organization responsible for building the stuff. Just a few guys who make a line, and ride the crap out of it. And there are a ton of riders who get out.
Did some solo riding on the West Side Friday. Ride total of 6 miles. Here are some shots:
