NCATV Club Newsletter
NCATV Club Newsletter
TIME
FOR A
RIDE -
It’s
my first ATV ride of the season, and the goal is to check
out the new trail heading south along the railroad bed, then to turn
around and
ride north to look at the new bridge at the Trailhead. It’s a mostly
sunny late
afternoon as we start out, and the winter stiffness quickly wears off
as I
begin to get the feel of the throttle under my thumb and the trail
under my
tires.
The
new trail is great, and will keep riders from drifting off
into the neighboring cornfield. I also notice that other parts of the
trail
have been smoothed out and widened slightly, which should make it a bit
easier
to navigate. We travel into the wooded section, where the air is cool
and damp
and all is peaceful. I know some people may think that "peaceful"
just wouldn’t be possible with the sound of the engine buzzing in my
ears, but
my arctic cat’s hum is a soothing sound. In fact, with my sense of
hearing
slightly dulled, my other senses seem to be heightened.
As
we turn and head back toward the river, I take deep breaths,
soaking in the scents of the rich soil and fertile fields. I try to
avoid
inhaling the white particles (dandelions) floating around in the air
like
snowflakes. The sun winks at me through the trees until I suddenly come
out
into full sunlight, not blinding but brilliant as it reflects off the
surface
of the rippling river.
Sitting
low in the sky, surrounded by a few slow moving clouds, the
sun brightens the green of the fields and trees around me. Everything
seems
more alive, and I feel the rush of traveling forward through space and
time.
Now, I’m no adrenaline junky, and my average speed is about 10 to 15
mph, but
speed has nothing to do with the boost of energy I get just from being
out in
the open spaces.
We
continue our ride to the trailhead to see the bridge, and it
is very impressive. It’s hard to believe that a few workers managed to
get that
structure built in just a few days. Everyone involved should be proud,
and the
rest of us should be very grateful for their hard work. It is now time
to ride
back home as the sun sets behind us and casts its last rays on the
mountains up
ahead. But just when I think the adventure is over, we come upon a
young female
moose, grazing in the swamp just off the trail. We slow down and ride
by. She
sees us, but is not alarmed. She simply looks at us and then turns and
casually
moves off into the woods.
Although
my throttle hand is a little tired by the time we
arrive home, the ride could not have been a better blend of man,
machine and
nature. I can hardly wait to get out there again!
by
Carla
Allen
OLD HOME DAY
On June 24, the NCATV
Club once again joined the Old Home
Day celebration at Stratford Hollow. It
was a great ride from the trailhead to the Hollow.
We had the opportunity to ride in the parade,
visit with other ATVers, look at the old engines, watch the kids play,
and join
the many citizens and friends that were there for the Buffet. The food was great and many of us had a
chance to mingle with the residents and talk about our Club and thank
landowners for sharing the use of their land with us.
We want to congratulate Oliver Arsenault,
landowner, for receiving the Boston Post Cane, given to the oldest
citizen in
July 1st (or
the first Saturday in July) always
seems to produce rain for our event. The
question was: Could we make it to the
Bog, enjoy the lunch served by the Stratford Youth Fund volunteers,
pick up the
tables and tents, and make it back to the trailhead before it rained?? As was true for the past few years, once
again, the thunder rolled, the wind blew, and the rain came down. But guess what? We
all enjoyed the lunch, the Youth Fund
benefited from the day, and we were not discouraged by the rain or the
“muddy
mile.”
Thanks to Ed Rhodes for
riding back with Edwina, Mary, and
Jean (from
Overall, it was a
successful day. Just remember if you come
to this event to
have your rain gear on board, because more than likely you will need it
some
time during the day.
Join
the Club
that
gives you trails!
PRESIDENT’S VIEW
The Stratford Old Home
Day Parade and Buffet were a fun
time for all and a great time to meet other ATVers.
The weather was a lot cooler than last
year. I would like to congratulate Mr.
Arsenault on receiving the Boston Post Cane.
The cookout at Stratford
Bog to benefit the Stratford
Sports fund was also a fun time but what started as a beautiful day
turned very
quickly into a thunderstorm, high winds and a down pour.
Ten minutes later the sun was out just as if
nothing had changed.
On July 15 we had our 9th
year at the Mount Washington
Auto Rode. This year the auto road made
changes to ATV access. Starting this
year ATVers can only ride up the mountain if a Club has an organized
event. They have also increased the price
from $10
to $20 per machine and the Club must collect the fees.
We as a Club didn’t increase the
This year the ride to
the radar station in
The 7th New
England ATV Rodeo on August 11 &
12 (Friday & Saturday) is also fast approaching.
Pass the word that this is the place to see
and demo the new Bombardier (now called can-am BRP) ATV’s and the other
manufacturer’s models for 2007. The
dealers will have the 2007 models for you to compare all at one place.
On Friday
night at
Our new trail maps are
in the process of being
printed. They will be available in two
weeks at a cost of $3. The money will be
used for trail maintenance
To all of our members
thank you for your trail donations
and spreading the word about our trail system and for those riders that
are
showing their support by joining our Club and working on our trails.
Harlan
Connary, President
TRAIL ADVISORY
With
the recent increase in
number of riders on our trail system we have had landowners call and
voice
their displeasure with late night riding. If you really stop and think
about
it, our trails were not designed with night riding in mind. Many trails
come
far to close to homes and disturbance is unavoidable. If you don’t own
a piece
of land with a trail near your home, you only have to use your
imagination a
little to know how you would feel if you were awakened by a snowmachine
or ATV
an hour or two after you get to sleep.
Trails
traditionally were not
designed; they were just laid out using common sense and the sheer
willingness
of a group of volunteers and gracious landowners who wanted to make a
trail
system work to provide fun and access to riders. Today, with the large
number
of riders that are being drawn here to enjoy our great trail system, we
have to
be much more careful to keep trails away from residential areas because
of the
disturbance factor.
One
more issue we are hearing about is
the amount of dust that riders leave on people’s cars, laundry, and
buildings.
On dusty and dry days you would think riders would slow down passing
homes and
most riders do. The problem is that some “don’t” and those are the ones
we hear
about. It takes only a little common sense or courtesy to avoid these
problems
around residential areas. Courtesy should be shown around all homes
regardless
whether they own a section of trail.
We
keep repeating
ourselves about keeping “Landowners” happy, but it is the most
important issue
we have to deal with when we are riding on 99% private land. Nothing
can be
taken for granted.
The
North Country ATV Club is now
asking riders to restrict their riding hours to between
Ted
Burns
REPORT FROM
TRAIL MASTERS
Seeing
that I have not been able to ride for
the last month, it is going to be a little difficult to write a news
article.
I can tell you that there has been a lot of trail maintenance done this
summer
and there is a lot more to be done. We are having problems
on some
of the trails with dust, noise, and late night riding. Back when
we built
some of the trails, there were just a handful of us riding so it wasn't
a
problem. It may be possible to build new trails around some of the
problem
areas, but there are many trails that cannot be moved. If we were
to lose
some of these trails, it could close down a big portion of our trail
system. No one wants this to happen! Please, we all need to
ride
responsibly. One way to think about this is as if you were the home or
camp
owner. How much dust, noise, or being awakened in the middle of
the night
would you be willing to put up with? As a Club, we are very
reluctant to
post a speed limit or a curfew on our trail system. We will be
posting
signs in the sensitive areas in hopes that riders will read and follow,
or we
could be facing more trail closings. I do not believe that there
are any
riders that would deliberately do anything to get our trails shut down.
Please
read and obey the signs. I will be back on the trails in a
couple of
weeks. See you on the trails.
Ken
Adair, Trail Master
Bill
Adair, Trail Master
9TH
The NCATV Club sponsored
a climb up the mountain for the 9th
year on July 15. More than 160 people
enjoyed the great day. As I was riding
up, I wondered why I kept coming back.
Well, I enjoy the freedom of the ride, looking at the majestic
mountains
surrounding me, the many tiny little flowers that spring up along the
road and
the rest areas, and the soft green moss that is growing along the side
of the
road with water cascading down over. And
this year I saw a giant boulder with a tree growing on top of it, the
roots
were hugging the boulder to reach the ground for life. And then there
was the
robin that soared up from a valley and over my head at about 4000 feet. Hopefully, if you ride up the mountain, you
will notice a few of the things that make the ride so great.
Thanks for coming go out
to Wayne Hall with the Stratford
Police ATV, Berlin Mayor Danielson and the Berlin Police Department,
Mary Gail
Scott, news reporter, and all the Trail Patrol that attended.
GREETINGS FROM NEW
MEMBERS
We
joined your ATV Club last year and never
got up there to ride; we live in Bow, NH. Well, this past weekend
we made
it up there for the Bog ride (July 1). We rented a camp . . . .with everything you need. We have
to say ~~ We have gone on a lot of trails in NH and your
Trails are the best in the State! My husband and I had a
wonderful 6 hour ride on trails and still have trails we didn't get
to.
We are returning July 14 and 15 with friends. I am sending
our money
for family membership and a little extra to help with the Club.
We really
appreciate everything you and your Club have done for ATV riders.
We
cannot ride in our town at all. The mountain views in
--
Doug and Marilyn
Dennison
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
Thank them for
helping North
Country ATV Club Create
and Maintain Trails
PLATINUM SPONSORS ($500
– Over)
Big Rock Campground
No.
Blueberry
Hill Inn & Cafe No.
Burns Trk Stp Mini-Mart
No.
The
Family of Bev & Gus Dwyer
First Colebrook Bank
Grand Ole Lodge
No.
Osgood Paint. &
Contr.
GOLD SPONSORS ($250 -
$499)
All
Around
Basket of Stitches
Connolly
Cabins
No.
Coös
Motor Inn
Currier RV Ctr – Polaris
Currier RV Ctr - Yamaha
L. L. Cote
Errol, NH
603-482-3272
Ray
Davis Real Estate Colebrook,
NH 603-237-4400
Down
Home Motel
Emerson
& Son Home Ctr.
Exit
9 Motor Sports
Harold & Laura’s Snack
Bar No.
Hayes Ford, Inc.
P. A. Hicks & Sons,
Inc.
Kingdom Cat
Lemieux
Garage
The
News & Sentinel
Northern Tire, Inc.
Perras
Ace, Inc.
Perras
Treasures
Perry
Stream Land & Timber Co.
Profile
Mtrspts Plus, LLC
F. B. Spaulding & Co.
Trailstop Cafe
No.
Beaupre Electric, Inc.
Colebrook Plmb & Htg
Physical Therapy Options
Geo. M. Stevens & Son
Valley View Farm
Versatile Technologies
Arthur & Gail Breton
Douglas & Marilyn Dennison
James & Glenda Duhaime
Ronald & Shirley Dupuis
David & Marcy Gondek
Steven
A. King
Jim Lister
Jeffrey
Masters
Susan & Michael Mounsey
Joseph Douglas Peters
Chuck & Sue Purdell
Stacey &
Jackie Roese
Michael & Kathleen Smith
Thomas “Otto” Whelan
2006 Membership Form
New Member
_____
Renewal _______
Date
______________________________________
Name
_____________________________________
Address
___________________________________
Town
_____________________________________
State _____________ Zip
_____________________
Telephone
_________________________________
E-Mail_____________________________________
Memberships
Single
$10; Personalized $11 _________
Family
$15; Personalized $17 _________
No.
in family __________
Name on Second Card
__________________________
Trail Maintenance/Club
Donation __________
Platinum Sponsor ($500 &
Over
_________
Gold Sponsor
($250-$499)
_________
Silver Sponsor
($100-$249)
_________
(Platinum
& Gold Sponsors send
info to
go on our
Web page; Silver Sponsor send
name to
be published in newsletter)
Total Amount
Enclosed
__________
Mail To: NCATV Club,
No.
7th New Engand Rodeo
Welcome to the mountains
where the
trails are!
Dealers &
Manufacturers, Food, Cohos
Supper at Nighthawks (Friday), Obstacle Course, Jr. Obstacle Course,
Mud Rally,
ATV Pull (Sat. Only), ATV Blessing (Sat. Only)
Family Fun – No Pets – No
Alcohol