Norwich
Building off of a popular circle pump track constructed last year on the north side of the park, volunteers this summer laid out an approximately 0.8-mile trail surrounding the periphery of the athletic fields. The new path includes a skills park area with braid-shaped loops and wooden features — inserted in an area previously overrun with invasive species — views of Blood Brook and a series of new bumps on the other side of the circle track.
Made possible by grants from the Norwich Women’s Club and Upper Valley Mountain Bike Association as well as donated materials and labor by Norwich-based Webster & Donovan Excavating, the project drew 15-30 volunteers during each of three weekends in August. The outings were organized by Norwich resident and avid cyclist Gered Dunne, who revitalized efforts to incorporate mountain biking at Huntley Meadows last year.
Previous efforts had surfaced about 10 years ago, but eventually fizzled.
“We worked with the women’s club, the Norwich Trails Committee and the Norwich Recreation Council, and everyone got on board,” Dunne said. “We were all kind of sold on the idea that this would be something that a lot of people in the community would enjoy.”
The trail avoids the need to enter via Huntley Meadows’ parking lots, starting at the Turnpike Road sidewalk and traversing a grassy, downhill slope to a kiosk area that will soon contain information and a map of the area.
Skirting the south soccer fields, the path passes a pile of boulders that will eventually become obstacles, Dunne said, before entering a wooden features area that required the removal of invasive buckthorn and knotweed. A series of standard bridges, see-saw-style ramps, “A”- frames and table-top structures rest here, along with a strip of bridges that successively get narrower to promote balance development.
The obstacles were designed by East Burke, Vt.-based OTB builders, hired by project leaders to ensure quality structures.
“If we were going to put this much time and energy into it, we wanted to do it right,” Dunne said. “We didn’t want it to be a hack job. That’s why we can’t thank the contributors enough. They made it so that it’s a much better trail to learn and grow on, and a lot of people have been enjoying it.”
From the skills park, the trail enters a thin patch of woods and continues northward alongside Blood Brook. This portion briefly coincides with a pre-existing walking path before deviating back onto the newly created route near Huntley Meadows’ playground.
UVMBA chairman Brian Riordan, of Norwich, said overlapping with walkers is part of the learning process for young mountain bikers, especially if they hope to one day venture more deeply onto wooded multi-use trails.
“This is an opportunity for young riders to become educated about trail etiquette, things like passing on the left and communicating with other trail users in front of you when you’re approaching them,” Riordan said. “When you’re riding in the woods, it’s not only the roots and rocks you have to be aware of, but also other trail users. And this is a multi-use trail. Walkers are welcome to use it.”
The trail passes Huntley Meadows’ softball and baseball fields and tennis courts before arriving on the circle track molded from dense clay in 2016. The area includes a number of ramps and jumps and remains popular among children and adult riders, Riordan said.
One of the latter, Strafford resident Keith Lewandoski, practiced on the course last week before assisting an after-school Norwich Recreation mountain biking group led by instructor Jane LeMasurier. “It’s wonderful; it’s a blast out here,” Lewandoski said. “My 9-year-old son (Evan) and I both love it. It’s a good work out and an easy place to come and mess around on your bike.”
A short distance beyond this area rests a series of big bumps, parallel to the goal line of Huntley Meadows’ northernmost soccer field. The undulating series was being utilized by LeMasurier’s group last Wednesday, approach speed garnered by a hilly trail adjacent to the parking lot.
One by one, the dozen-or-so members of the program rumbled over the bumps, some not pedaling at all and getting some serious air. “It’s definitely awesome,” said Marion Cross seventh grader Simon Phipps, who began entering youth races this summer. Added classmate Thor Joseph: “The wooden skills park is my favorite. I love the teeter-tot.”
Dunne’s long-term vision is to connect the Huntley Meadows trail with other mountain biking paths in Norwich, such as the Blue Ribbon/Gile Mountain and Parcel 5 networks, as well as the former site of the Norwich Pool along Charles Brown Brook.
“We’d like to connect all of the trails and have more maps and signs so that Norwich can be a mountain biking destination,” Dunne said. “Having trails like this that are so close to the town center is a good step toward that because when you have areas near schools and neighborhoods, kids use them as a stepping stone, build confidence and eventually grow mountain biking (culture) in the area.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.