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Northeast Monkeyfest summer 2009

maddog17

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2008
2,817
106
Methuen, Mass. U.S.A.
The monkeys were discussing what his custom title should be and I came out with "King of Beers", to which TreeSaw shouted "That's it!"

The rest is history.
i remember us talking about peoples custom titles and i remember us all voting for "king of beers". i just didn't know that it was actually changed!

need to think of one for me now...... :rolleyes:
 
Friday

  • Met Treesaw and Squirrel in Rutland, rode for a couple few hours at Pine Hill Park - about fifteen miles of trail, recommended.
  • Drove to Long Trail brewery in (?)Bridgewater? for lunch and beer and more beer in bottles.
  • Drove to East Burke, arriving maybe 4:00, douglas had arrived and disappeared for a ride. Unloaded and set up.
  • Ate, drank, went for a night ride, Darling Hill Road, out and back on White School then Sugar House Run to Kitchel and return. The revised Kitchel for the first time using lights was goofy. Got back just before midnight.
Saturday

  • Coffee. Blueberry pancakes.
  • One crew, deyv, Isa &c. headed up mountain.
  • An initial social crew met at the top of Darling Hill and split into two or three groups who occasionally met and traded members.
  • W00dy, Greggah, Joe, Herb and I, if I remember correctly, wound up doing Darling Hill to Loop to Tap and Die (note to self - bag the sunglasses when riding in the woods...), River Run, Webs, Dry Feet, Violet's Outback, Sidewinder, Old Webs, Border, Knob, Cow Path, Sugar Hill, Rim, Connector, started Pines but couldn't follow it, (Worth it?), then Kitchel.
  • Food. Beer. Most of the crew heads to the brewfest.
  • Herb and I hang around, then ride up the road and ride Dashney Down which is interesting but still a little too wet in the upper reaches.
Sunday

  • Coffee. O.J. Breakfast sandwiches.
  • The whole herd meets again at the top of Darling Hill and does Harp, (?Pastore point? ?Coronary?), Tody's Tour, Webs, River Run, Dry Feet, West Branch, Hogback, Violet's Outback, Border, VAST to Beat Bog and Kitchel for the third time.
  • All the groups with the exception of douglas the riding robot managed to arrive back at the lodge at once.
  • Qou fan and Big T had done 90% of the cleanup work at the lodge and departed - we had beers and lunch and finished cleaning out the lodge and got on the road.

Weather the whole weekend was clear and in the 80s and 90s - sweat hog heaven. The KT crew has put limitless effort into bridging wet spots and building wonderful bermed curves and jumps on descents. The Darling Hill trails were the driest I have seen them in years. Really one of the best Monkeyfests evah, but they all are, first for the people and then for the riding.
 

Greggah

Motorboat
Oct 9, 2008
273
6
Gonic, NH
Friday

  • Met Treesaw and Squirrel in Rutland, rode for a couple few hours at Pine Hill Park - about fifteen miles of trail, recommended.
  • Drove to Long Trail brewery in (?)Bridgewater? for lunch and beer and more beer in bottles.
  • Drove to East Burke, arriving maybe 4:00, douglas had arrived and disappeared for a ride. Unloaded and set up.
  • Ate, drank, went for a night ride, Darling Hill Road, out and back on White School then Sugar House Run to Kitchel and return. The revised Kitchel for the first time using lights was goofy. Got back just before midnight.
Saturday

  • Coffee. Blueberry pancakes.
  • One crew, deyv, Isa &c. headed up mountain.
  • An initial social crew met at the top of Darling Hill and split into two or three groups who occasionally met and traded members.
  • W00dy, Greggah, Joe, Herb and I, if I remember correctly, wound up doing Darling Hill to Loop to Tap and Die (note to self - bag the sunglasses when riding in the woods...), River Run, Webs, Dry Feet, Violet's Outback, Sidewinder, Old Webs, Border, Knob, Cow Path, Sugar Hill, Rim, Connector, started Pines but couldn't follow it, (Worth it?), then Kitchel.
  • Food. Beer. Most of the crew heads to the brewfest.
  • Herb and I hang around, then ride up the road and ride Dashney Down which is interesting but still a little too wet in the upper reaches.
Sunday

  • Coffee. O.J. Breakfast sandwiches.
  • The whole herd meets again at the top of Darling Hill and does Harp, (?Pastore point? ?Coronary?), Tody's Tour, Webs, River Run, Dry Feet, West Branch, Hogback, Violet's Outback, Border, VAST to Beat Bog and Kitchel for the third time.
  • All the groups with the exception of douglas the riding robot managed to arrive back at the lodge at once.
  • Qou fan and Big T had done 90% of the cleanup work at the lodge and departed - we had beers and lunch and finished cleaning out the lodge and got on the road.

Weather the whole weekend was clear and in the 80s and 90s - sweat hog heaven. The KT crew has put limitless effort into bridging wet spots and building wonderful bermed curves and jumps on descents. The Darling Hill trails were the driest I have seen them in years. Really one of the best Monkeyfests evah, but they all are, first for the people and then for the riding.


Saturday @ the Bike N' brew fest www.IDERIDE.com was giving free shuttle rides to the top of Burke Mountain. After a few beers I suggested to w00dy and DHFXJOE that we go to the top and ride the DH trail. Probably not the best idea without a DH bike, pads or a proper helmet. Lets just say Greggah and JOE played a little game of HIKE-A-Bike 50% of the time on the way to the mid-mountain point. But the real payoff was when we got to the Camptown trail over to Enchanted forest to the bottom of J-bar. Its a really nice rip. Then after the festival we rode the new Burnham down trail back to the lodge.

Working on the video/collage of pictures as we speak.
 

Quo Fan

don't make me kick your ass
Did some body ask for a picture flood?

OPEN THE GATES!!!!!!!!!
Corn?!?!?!?


Maddog17's future ex-wife


Woody



DHRFXJoe on Kitchel



BigT on Kitchel



Jump Jam at the Brewfest










This doesn't end well





Beer servers at the Brewfest







Trout River Brewmaster


The bank that played. Kind of jazzy.
 
Last edited:

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,808
2,121
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
Monkeyfest 6 or 7 (we couldn't decide) was another great success. Many different rides, beers and monkeys to hang with is always a winner in my book! It was great to meet Greggah and Mr. Bishop and to see the familiar faces of Douglas, JBP, Herb, QuoFan, BigT, DHRFX_Joe, maddog17, Woody, Deyv & Isa and to introduce them all to our cousin Eric.

Friday, Sq-Earl and I met up with JBP at Pine Hill Park in Rutland, VT for a little tour. The Pine Hill Trails are great and feature a whole lot of amazing bridge work. A Teaser for you all (I'll make a whole thread of our ride at Rutland so as not to distract from the Monkeyfest vibe) of JBP & I heading onto the suspension bridge.


Post ride, we all headed to the LongTrail Brewery to enjoy some IPA & Imperial Stout and lunch before finishing the drive up to the Monkey Lodge. When we arrived at the lodge, QuoFan & BigT were relaxing and shortly after, we were joined by a few other monkeys fresh from the trails. Maddog17 & Greggah began manning the grill and TreeSaw got the corn on the cob ready for our monkeyfeast.

After dinner, more monkeys began arriving and I got a call from Mr. Bishop who had just driven past the lodge, turned around and called...I ask "what do you see" and he tells me a red barn, ball fields & a cemetary so I tell him to look past the ball fields at me waving to him from the deck of the lodge :rofl:

Everyone has arrived for the weekend so we enjoy a few beers and catch up before our semi-drunken night ride. After the ride there was monkey trifle to eat and more beer to consume while watching some of the meteor shower before crashing.
Saturday morning = bacon, blueberry pancakes and lots of coffee to fuel us for our rides. Our groups divided and Sq-Earl, Deyv, Isa, Douglas, Eric and I headed up Burke Mountain (via the new Burnham trail and then the roads) to the campground to ride the mountain side which was newly opened and in great shape!!! After LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of climbing, we were woo-hooing down Dead Moose Alley, Moose Alley and back to the Monkeylodge for snacks, beer and to prepare to climb back up Burke Mountain (only half way this time) for the brewfest. At the brewfest, I had a magical pocket of chips that was virtually never ending and after sampling all but 2 of the 19 offerings, and a couple of stouts, we hit Burnham Down to the monkeylodge. Next item of business was showering, ordering wood fired pizza and (duh) more beer.

After a good night's rest, we rose on Sunday morning for coffee, breakfast sandwiches and a trip up Darling Hill to ride more. Upon returning to the lodge, we found a note from QuoFan & BigT indicating that they had graciously done 90% of the clean-up for us so we cracked open some beers, packed up and headed home.

Another great weekend in the Kingdom!!!

In short:
Beer -- Bike Rides -- Beer -- Steak tips -- Beer -- Bike Rides :)
 

Greggah

Motorboat
Oct 9, 2008
273
6
Gonic, NH
Where'd you order wood fired pizza from? Was the brewfest worth the $15 admission?
The pizza came from a house on the Burke mountain road right near the entrance to the new Burnham down trail. Treesaw grabbed a menu on the way back to the lodge. They are only open on saturday and they deliver.

I would say the beerfest was worth $15. Maybe not $20. But over all a good time.