ideRide blog gets new address

ideRide is still dedicated to keeping Kingdom Trails on the cutting edge and keeping you informed of related events and news. You can access our blog through our website at www.ideride.com or go directly to http://kingdomtrailsblog.ideride.com

KT goes downhill

The ideRide shuttle made its maiden voyage to the Burke Mtn summit this weekend.

Riders enjoyed great weather and a lift to KT's awesome downhill trails from 9-5 satuday and sunday.

The shuttle will not run next weekend, June 13- 14 or August 21-24  because the toll road will be closed for an auto race. Other than that, the shuttle will run on all summer  weekends. 

KT's new trail leads to logride

The village trails in East Burke often get overlooked. They are not a easily made part of a loop until KT's new trail, Burnham Down, was opened this last weekend. Now, as you exit from descending Burnham just cross the street and enter the village trails through the park. It was on a recent ride through here that I discoversd a large pine had fallen right in  the middle of the trail. The next time I rode the same section I found, much to my delight, that some industrious individuals had transformed the obstacle into a log ride. 

The high level of craftsmanship was evident in features such as the dovetail joinery. The responsible parties are obviously highly skilled carpenters.

IdeRide and Valencia Sports Group

We here at IdeRide are pleased to announce a sponsorship with the Valencia Sports Group and their amazing product line including Six Six One, Royal, and Sunline Components! We have used the Six Six One products in particular for years and they are arguably the industry standard.
Expect lots of bumps and bruises avoided due to the great design.
The crew is also looking forward to checking out Royal and SunLine. The Sunline bars namely have been getting some great reviews lately with some of our riding friends and we can't wait to check them out.
Busy weeks here with our first day camp in the bag, shuttles at Burke Mountain up and running, new trailwork, photo shoots and plenty more in the works.
So get out and ride but check in here after often so you can see what we're up to!

ideRide hosts youth skills clinic for The Middle School Partnership

Saturday June 6th, Led By Adam Corbeil, Founding Director of The Middle School Partnership, Department of Human Services, The City of Cambridge, a group of six 8th graders and four counsellors made the trip from Boston to East Burke. When they arrived, ideRide coaches Linden and Sasha were ready, with 10 full suspension bikes and helmets, at The Wildflower Inn. Skye Nacel of Mocean 365 was on hand to catch the action on film.

After a meet and greet, Linden led the group, covering points like how to determine optimal bike fit and basic mechanics and maintenance.  Next he introduced basic skills that are essential to being an efficient confident rider. At this point the kids got to put these basic skills to work on the trail. The descent from the Inn to East Burke Village was the first taste of singletrack for all of them, and they loved it!

Once in East Burke they found a fleet of hardtail jump/park bikes waiting for them. Once astride these oversized BMX bikes they descended to the KT pumptrack where Sasha and Linden showed them how to rail berms and pump rollers to generate speed. 

The day commenced with a jump demo, and a bbq at the ideRide jump park and lodge.  Knight, Linden & Sasha wowed the kids with their style and tricks and then gave a little coaching to those brave enough to try it themselves.

As the sun set on this fun filled day everyone enjoyed burgers and dogs,and reflected on the days events .

This group of kids were outstanding for their respect, determination, bravery and natural skills.  It was a great pleasure to all of the ideRide crew to meet and ride with them! To view all of the awesome pics that Skye got that day go to www.mocean365.smugmug.com

Construction begins on KT's new downhill trail

On Sunday, May 31 at 9:00 am twenty hardcore freeriders met at the Burke mtn base lodge parking lot. The goal, to  build the long anticipated trail that will connect J-Bar to the summit.

Despite near constant rain volunteers came from near and far and included some of  VT's best professional trailbuilders such as Hardy Avery, Stowe's trail guru and Aaron Codling of New England Freeride. Headed up by KT's own John Worth, This trail building machine left an awesome section of trail in its wake.  

There is much work left to be done with Sundays labor yielding only an eighth of the total trail length. The next volunteer day is Sunday,  June 14, see you there!

ideRide is pleased to announce the addition of a new sponsor, Transition Bicycle Company. Transition has been creating a stir in the freeride community in recent years by offering sharp looking bikes that perform well and stand up to the abuse of freeriding.

ideRide campers will have the pleasure of riding the a Transition Dirt Bag demo. 

The DirtBag is built for the classic freerider that must be able to handle any stunt, jump or drop in front of them as well as pedal to the top. The DirtBag is Transition's sentimental favorite bike that is constantly winning over riders for its versatility and burliness. 

Visit Transition and view the other great products they offer at transitionbikes.com

The ideRide crew will be in on hand at VMBA's presentation of NWD9. Last year's screening was a smash hit, sell-out with 450 people in attendance. 

There will be a raffle with tons of great prizes including ideRide t-shirts and a seasons pass or two day passes on the ideRide shuttle. 

It will be a fun packed evening and look for the ideRide jump park in NWD segments from Cam Zink, Aaron Chase and Adam Hauck.

On Friday ideRide will be attending  the 2009 Mountain Bike summit. Most people agree, Whistler has done it right and now we can build, using their knowledge and experience, our own dream here on the east coast. 

Big shout out to Patrick at VMBA for making it happen.

Kingdom Trails Open!

Kingdom Trails will  open The Darling Hill trails on Friday, May 1.

You can get your membership for $50, up alittle from last year but still a bargain. Rip it up!  

VOLUNTEER TRAIL WORK

The first Sunday of every month (June-October) Kingdom Trails holds a volunteer trail day.  We meet at the Darling Memorial Park at 9:00 am for a day of trail maintenance. You can get to the park by driving through the village of East Burke, north on VT Route 114, about 1/4 mile past the village on the left you will see the playground and parking area. Dress appropriately and bring plenty of water. We supply tools, but bring along one of your own if you want. We usually wrap up the day around 1:00 pm or so. Feel free to contact KT for any further information.

 This Sunday, 5/3 we will be cleaning up "Old Webs". The trail sustained some damage from a logging operation this winter and is in need of attention.

Burke and Kingdom Trails move into bike season

There was a palpable sense of excitement in East Burke today. The last vestiges of winter have subsided and left us with mid summer temperatures and trail conditions.  The guys at East Burke Sports are back in bike mode with the ski stuff stashed and fearless leader John Worth back at the helm. Lead mechanic Orion could be found assisting cute girls with bike setup while Adam and the newest addition to the EBS team, Sam Miles assembled the new 09 Trek rental fleet. EBS offers a full line of rentals with plenty of sizes to choose from, at a reasonable rate. From basic hardtails to sweet full sussy xc, these bike are quality rides, meticulously maintained by professionals.

Whether you are a weekend warrior looking for a ride for the day, or an avid biker looking to upgrade your ride, EBS can hook you up with expert advice and the latest and greatest offerings from Sinister Bikes, Santa Cruz and Trek. 

 

 In anticipation of a busy season John is looking to add another mechanic to the roster. To apply, call him at 802 626 3215.

New video released featuring Kingdom Trails "Freeride Trail"

Local ripper and artist Mike Richardson made this film of Orion two years ago. It was originally part of a longer film that he entered in the higlands first annual film contest. His work got him a prize for "best crash".

Its official, spring is here! After hitting up some bone dry single track on Rastaman and the Desert at the Perry Hill trails in Waterbury we headed up to the Stowe Bike Park and found Ron &  Jason from iride bike shop, young local ripper dylan and a few other disciples of dirt. They were dialing 'em in and had a few sets running with plans for full operation in the next couple of weeks. These guys take their jumps seriously and the transitions looked steep and smooth, as usual.

Jason informed me that they will have a weekly "dig day"  anyone interested in helping can inquire at iride in Stowe. A ton of work goes into these jumps and they could use the help.

Pump track getting dialed in!

Winter is finally over! Signs of spring are everywhere and at the Kingdom Trails pumptrack wednesday night those signs were in the form of BBQ and shovelling. 

The beautiful weather promted an impromptu call to arms for the ideRide team and so at 6pm we all met up with tools and food in hand. Matt was the hero of the day when he somehow managed to carry a grill, five shovels, a jug of water, and a 12 pack, all while pushing his bike! Go Matty!

The energy that everyone feels at this time of year has done wonders for the track with its berms and rollers growing to new heights. The addition of a grill will make pump track bbq sessions a regular event with one already planned for next week.

It was a great start for a season that looks to hold so many exciting and fun additions to the already epic KT scene.

ideRide on Decline Magazine's website

Yesterday Decline magazine ran a press release about ideRide. You can check it out at http://declinemagazine.com/.

For most freeride mountain bikers Decline Magazine is the rag of choice. They cover stories from a rider's point of view and display the articles and top notch photography in an exciting and artistic format. That is why the ideRide crew was psyched when the '08 Decline Photo annual came out with an ideRide Bike park featured in photos  taken during the filming of NWD 9. 

We're looking forward to many more photo opps this summer with ideRide events and shoots  in the works. Stay tuned for details!

 

Scholarships, demo bikes donated for youth mountain bike camp

Hey everyone, The iR team is getting stoked to ride some dirt! While waiting for old man winter to do his thing we've been honing our skills at the ideRide indoor bike park and gearing up for an exciting summer. The youth mountain bike camps are looking to be a huge success with the Kingdom Trails and the whole community throwing in their support.

One of the goals that we at ideRide have is to get kids involved in mountain biking. With the current state of the economy this goal seems unatainable to some families. We feel that the sport needs to be accessable to all, regardless of income. This is why we have been working to get scholarship funds from local businesses and demo bikes from shops and companies. We are psyched to announce that as a result of those efforts there is a mountain bike camp scholarship available for quallified families thanks to Ben Mccormic Physical Therapy and a full suspension demo bike from Sinister Bikes. The scholarship and bike are good for the freeride camps or all mountain camps.

Inquire about the scholarship and/or registration forms at info@ideride.com.