Saturday offered great weather for a morning technical ride. Low 80s and fairly dry. The Dracut/Lowell State Park off of Pawtucket Boulevard doesn’t get as much press as some of the other more well known playgrounds for mountain/woods bikers, but for those in the know it is a hidden gem. A lot of credit has to go to the locals and NEMBA guys for investing the time and sweat to put in some of the more imaginative and playful single track layouts in the north shore. Go to this link to read the NMBA write up on Dracut/Lowell State Park: http://nemba.org/ridingzone/lowell_dracut.html. This map: http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/parks/trails/lowell.pdf can help to orient a rider, but does no justice to the number of trails that exists deep in the woods. The itinerary for the day was to explore the quadrant east of Spruce Swamp, that is bisected by Carney Road, a loose gravel fire road, and bounded on the far east side by Gumpus Road.
Twisty, rooty, and boulder strewn roller coaster rides abound and take the rider past tranquil marshes and spacious pine tree stands. Most of the trail network has been trimmed back so that riders don’t have to slap and bushwhack through the greenery, but there are a few fallen trees that must be negotiated. Some places require deft maneuvering between rock and sapling to simultaneously avoid a jammed tire and/or crushed knuckles. There are a number of small flowing water crossings in this area, but the NEMBA guys have laid down wood bridges to allow crossing without portage or a deep mud bath. The water everywhere also serves as a great breeding ground for a rather interesting variety of black fly. Even after lubing up at the car with “Deep Woods” cancer-causing chemical death spray the little bastards descended around the face at any pause in forward progress. Standing still for a breather or sip out of the Camelback required wild flapping and flailing to keep the midges from getting up into the nostrils. But that nuisance didn’t detract from the sheer joy of rockin’ and rollin’ through serpentine cut backs, or dropping down rock gardens and tree root stairways that invite for a thrill but can put the rider out of the saddle right quick if he or she isn’t paying attention. In many places the rider will face obstacles that counter intuitively require an aggressive attack to get past or over, rather than slowing down and over thinking.
