We’ve Been Lied to About Mountain Biking in New England | The Northeast

Sit down put those ear buds in tune out the rest of the world because I drop some real truth bombs in this video about the history of mountain biking here in new england. Bound to upset a few people but at this point in my life the truth matters more than peoples feelings. Not from New England? Or the Northeast in General? Well tell me if the points brought up in this video are issues you’ve seen in your area. I don’t want to spoil the video too much by giving too much away here in the description but rest assured this video will most likely upset quite a few people. I touch on everything from the early days of trying to affect change with nemba, local conservation groups, the state… you name it we’ve been fighting with all of them over the years to even get where we are now in the sport of Mountain biking. We are slowly changing the narrative… let’s keep pushing forward! As always if you enjoy the content and want to help support the channel consider joining the patreon below. Thank you,

https://www.patreon.com/Projectnortheast

If your still here… and your wondering about that thumbnail photo it’s pretty crazy actually. I was up for a solo adventure on one of my favorite local mountains and a couple ladies asked me to take some pictures of them hiking and ofcourse I did. Later on I get a message on instagram from that same person asking me if I wanted this picture she took of me. I had no idea how she knew who I was but it just goes to show you the real outdoor recreational community is awesome.

#mountainbike #mountainbiking #mtb #bikelife

all right so this video is going to offend people 
it just it it just is some people are not going   to want to hear what I have to say in this video 
um and it’s going to rub some people the wrong   way and some people are going to get really upset 
probably have some hate down in the comments and   uh but you know what i’m at the point in my 
life where the truth matters more than people’s   feelings it just does the title of my cover 
page on my YouTube channel is Put the Mountain   Back in Mountain Biking um I’ve been living in 
New Hampshire for um my whole life i’m in my   40s my whole like you know it’s not a career 
but it’s like my whole life living here i’ve   always tried to influence mountain bike right and 
I’ve been involved in like all kinds of different   things tried to get involved uh worked really 
hard to you know influence how we build trails   and wanting progression in our sport and honestly 
like for those of you that are watching this video   um this is mostly geared towards New England like 
the Northeast mountain bike community slash scene   this isn’t like you know anything to do with like 
countrywide but maybe you know what maybe what I   have to say in this video resonates with where 
you guys are at in your own you know struggle   right and I’ve been speaking out about our types 
of trails around here and at every avenue um   there’s been roadblocks between you know trying 
to get trails built at certain areas certain   trail systems over the years um heavily involved 
trying to be involved with Bear Brook um the early   days of NEA who we’ve seen NEMA kind of turn 180 
degrees these past couple years because people are   just weaving in droves or head left in droves now 
you’re they’re starting to kind of see the light   on progression and the different style of trail 
um cuz in New England we have the majority of   our riding is you know flat rocky rudy techy um 
style of crosscountry trails up down and around   and and that is what you get at a thousand 
different trail areas and you can have it to   your heart’s content you know what I mean there’s 
just a plethora of it and that’s what we have and   that’s it literally um so I’m gonna probably drop 
some truth bombs in this video about the mountain   bike scene and a progression and where we’re at 
and where we’re going and what we’re seeing and   over the years what we’ve dealt with in these 
different areas from you know up in from North   Conway and the early development stages of our 
of the trails up there that I was involved with   um and the stuff around Bearbrook trying to build 
those areas out and other areas and other towns   where we’ve tried to influence stuff you know 
pretty much without success in southern New   Hampshire because you’ve got a certain demographic 
of people that you know want things a certain way   right so all these things that we’ve been dealing 
with in the mountain bike industry and and the   mountain bike scene in New England is you know 
all these people are starving for this type of   stuff to ride like Highland is so busy all the 
time um all these downhill parks coming in and   people want to ride like progressive style trails 
it doesn’t have to be a flow trail but something   with you know some flow and some direction 
and you know like sustained downhills not up   down and around and you know not like making 
a downhill trail with a uphill section in it   just because oh well it’s going to be a two-way 
trail and people need to climb and they need a   break from climbing so that they can you know so 
it fits everybody and it’s like yeah but that’s   not what that’s not what it’s about like you can’t 
design every trail for everybody you know what I   mean you have to design the trail that suits the 
terrain that suits the the use of that trail and   then go from there so the truth bomb I’m going to 
drop here and some of you won’t be able to handle   this want answers i think I’m entitled you want 
answers i want the truth you can’t handle the   truth is that it’s not about conservation it’s 
not about you know moving dirt from one area   to the other you’re going to disturb the soil 
it’s and honestly it’s not about wildlife like   it’s not it’s not about sustainability um every 
single one of our white mountain trails is fall   line trail it’s not about sustainability um you 
know it all these places like for instance we   have these trail organizations around here 
that you know a certain conservation group   that I won’t name by name but they’re um in the 
lakes region um and they’re a conservation group   um and they buy up plots of land to conserve and 
that mountain bikers have had long access to and   they say uh you know yeah we’re going to buy this 
land and um you know mountain bikes were allowed   here but now they’re not because we own the land 
now even though mountain bikers have been had   access to these trails forever we’re not going to 
allow you to ride these anymore no bike’s allowed   no now that we own it cuz it’s in conservation 
now and we’re like questioning I questioned this   when it happened to me cuz we somebody you know 
went out there and they made Strava segments that   said basically like no bikes allowed and all this 
other stuff like what a passive aggressive thing   to do as a as an organization a conservation 
organization right and so I I questioned it   you know what I I mean like all these things you 
can just go along with it or you can question it   and you can be like why why are you kicking 
bikes out why why are you doing this and you   know then then the argument comes in then their 
argument comes in and it’s oh well conservation   um you know and bikes they degrade the trail and 
it’s 100% granite stone like there’s no dirt on   this trail that you are closing down well you know 
uh we don’t have anybody to uh maintain the trail   for bikes and for the traffic it’s again it’s 100% 
granite there’s not going to be any you know need   to maintain much stuff but if we need to maintain 
stuff we volunteer um how do we get involved how   do we how do we help you maintain this trail 
oh um yeah um the and you put the holes you   shoot holes through their argument and you make 
them justify why they do these things and you’ll   come to this conclusion and this argument and 
which is my main truth bomb to drop on you guys   of the mountain bike scene in New England and 
why we keep hitting these roadblocks for having   accessible terrain for people and having it like 
our mountain biking here is not accessible it’s   not like people talk about equity and inclusion 
and everything else and we do not include people   because we exclude people from being able to 
get into the sport by providing them terrain   to ride at a reasonable rate right you can’t go 
anywhere for a downhill trail in this state other   than like one or two places the one right behind 
me Arrowhead or way up in North Conway without   buying a lift ticket how is that making mountain 
biking or enduro riding or or downhill mountain   biking or any of that or progressive style riding 
accessible how does that make it accessible and I   will tell you why it’s not and why we don’t have 
that accessibility and those areas to ride yet   and that truth is it’s all about 
100% I believe in my mind maybe 99 control they want to control how other people 
go about their lives how other people use land   how other people enjoy the outdoors because it 
doesn’t fit with how they enjoy the outdoors   now you can with that truth you can just go 
down in the comments let me know how you feel   about that if it upsets you then maybe we 
should have a conversation and maybe that   maybe we should just talk about it right why 
don’t we have these things in this state in   New Hampshire we’re live free live free or die 
in New Hampshire but yet we have no accessible   progressive terrain or mountain bike trails 
um provided for us or even the permission to   put them in in areas with elevation or 
anything like that we don’t have it so   ask yourself like really just ask yourself 
why don’t we have this type of terrain here i believe honestly and personally it’s been 
this whole time about control because look at   the place behind me this is Arrowhead 
Recreational Area up in Claremont New   Hampshire this is my sponsoring shop Wheelhouse 
NH and they’ve done it they’ve done it like yeah   they a lot of these places will tell you it’s 
about liability it’s about safety it’s about   uh soil degragation in the environment 
the wildlife all these things that in the   end well no I mean we can build sustainable 
style trails but yet no mountain bike trail   or hiking trail is truly sustainable 
it’s always going to need maintenance right I see it every day I see trails in the 
hiking in the you know white mountains that   are supposedly sustainable trails and like they 
need work that’s just the way it is but if you   have and you build what people are interested in 
you won’t even have to ask people to come out and   help maintain it um but that’s my thing like the 
safety safety i’ve always been in the industry of   like you know in like high hazard environments 
and this whole thing of safety is they’ll take   a freedom away from you in the name of safety 
but yet in my industry I have to learn how to   work safely and I still have to perform the work 
so the argument that it’s all about liability and   stuff like that that is mute too because in New 
Hampshire we have snowmobiles going down trails 45   50 miles an hour in the woods and everything else 
and it’s it’s perfectly allowed because the state   of New Hampshire has bylaws about recreational use 
you open your land for recreational use as long as   you don’t charge any money you’re covered by the 
state’s insurance at least that’s how I used to   know things were set up back when I was involved 
in some clubs but you know places like this like   Claremont New Hampshire have said “Yes yeah go 
ahead and build it we’re not going to charge you   but we’re gonna make this accessible.” And they’ve 
given the opportunity for the wheelhouse and these   boys with Arrowhead to build a community and for 
all enduro riders you come here on a Thursday   night the parking lot’s full because we’ve been 
able they’ve been able to make here what people   are looking for now here is like a little bit 
different story right it’s not you know easy   terrain it’s hard terrain it’s black diamond 
terrain it’s expert level riding um it’s not   really a beginner area i’ll tell you that right 
out of the bat but just trying to work on other   projects around the state to be able to get 
blue square trails that have directional flow   that will be accessible to the general public 
without having to buy a lift ticket because you   tell me in that in the comments how many places 
can you go and maybe drive a car or or a shuttle   or do whatever and you can climb up do a big 
climb with a sustained descent and not have to   buy a lift ticket i’ll listen to you and I’ll you 
know I I know where they all are but in the end I   believe it’s about control and we need to start 
in my view calling these people out and telling   them like it is you’re wrong we need this we need 
to build this and until we start pushing back and   telling people you know no we you need to make 
this accessible to the general public and provide   this type of riding because guess what like when 
there’s a lot of rogue building going on around   the state that’s when you know we’re not providing 
that particular riding style to the general public   because there’s a need for it but we’re not 
seeing that need and we’re trying to control   or they are trying to control the situation and 
how we recreate and that in my view is the point   of this video and let me know what you think down 
in the comments you know it may be a very divisive   subject but I feel like we’re never going to move 
forward if we don’t talk about these things and   that’s always been my goal is my son’s six now my 
my other girls are much older teenagers and it’s   always been a goal of mine for when my kids were 
young to be able to go and take them on a Saturday   and just drive up to the top of somewhere have 
my wife you know drive us up she’s always happy   to do so god bless her and enjoy like a nice it 
doesn’t even have to be black down it could be   a blue or green trail just be able to enjoy like 
the downhill without having to go and spend $300   um for a lift ticket or something like that like 
it just makes for an enjoyable day of people that   want to recreate a certain way and as a family 
or whatever like make it accessible like until   we get and until we break down these arguments 
and break down that it’s all about control in my   in my view I don’t think we’re going to get past 
and I don’t think we’re going to be able to get   that accessible style of terrain and trail here 
in New Hampshire we’re seeing it like Franklin   they’re doing a great job nema is involved in 
that one like NEA and Kyle with great gains and   you know if you haven’t been there yet like it’s 
very accessible it’s one of the few areas but   yeah I can count on one hand in the entire state 
of New Hampshire places that are doing that and   uh we’re slowly changing the narrative but it’s 
very slow and it’s taking a while it’s taken 20   years to get here and we’re still 20 years behind 
I believe but let me know what you think down in   the comments hit that like hit the subscribe 
button um you know what’s instead of just like   focusing on you know what people are doing wrong 
like I think we just need to have the conversation   moving forward like how do we move forward how 
do we get these types of terrain for everybody   and make mountain biking gravity mountain biking 
accessible that’s it I think we just need to push   back a little bit on the people that just want 
to control how we recreate and uh and go from   there Like if you like this video put a comment 
down below let’s have a conversation let’s open   it up let’s talk about this stuff and uh you 
know if you like the content everything else   you want to help support the channel you know hit 
the Patreon down below and uh if you want to help   support guys that are making it happen you know 
on their little zone in their little community   um come up to the wheelhouse help them out you 
know buy some stuff especially with the bike   industry the way it is come up and do some laps 
at Arrowhead buy some nutrition you know hang out   order some parts that you need do some maintenance 
whatever support local and let’s push this thing   forward let’s push mountain biking in New 
Hampshire to the next level all right peace out