Conference noted::bicycle

    I just did Mt. Snow last Friday.  Muddy, and challenging.  Cost of
    a trail pass is $6.00, or trail + lift $25.00.  Definitely worth a day
    of adventure.  
    
    steve

    
    	I've gone to Killington a number of times.  One ride up the chair
    	can keep you entertained for ~4 hours.  The cost is $13, I think.
    	Stratton also offers it at a cost of $13.  Again, these are one
    	time rides up.  Killington offers a 'tour of the mountains' which
    	takes you up, down, and all around.  Lots of fun and you get to
    	ride all the mountains.
    
    	Melanie
     
    

    I've also done Killington (last year). and it was a blast...but hold
    on for a good, rocky ride down!
    
    Lisa

Temple Mt. does not run the ski lift in the summer.  There are several Mt. Bike 
trails there.  In the beginning of the summer, there was a $3/day charge.  I 
believe they have since eliminated this fee.

There was a Mt. Bike race there a few weeks ago.   The new trail had lots of 
hills.  Many of the racers like the new trail (I don't race, so couldn't give 
you first hand...what I could see of the race, was there was lost of 
zig-zagging up the mt. side and then they went off into the woods.  My husband 
and children said there was some good technical downhill???).

If you are interested in racing, I believe Temple Mt. will have another race in 
the October (9th??) timeframe.

    Thanks for the info.
    
    ...Tom

  My wife and I are planning to do some mtn biking over the Memorial Day
  weekend with two of our nephews.  My nephews would really like to try
  Killington or some other ski area. We would also consider other good 
  trails to ride in Maine, New Hampsire, or Vermont.

  Basically we are looking for the following:
  - trails that are relatively easy to follow and would be considered
    moderate
  - a bike shop nearby where we could rent decent quality mtn bikes for
    the weekend
  - a good campground nearby

  
  Any recommendations?  Thanks.

    /bob

    Rather than going to a mountain, where most of the riding is either
    down off the chair lift or straight up the mountain, I suggest looking
    at a XC ski center.  One area of particular good riding, with lead
    rides, and cheap housing is Craftsbury Nordic (Vt).  Housing is a step
    above dorm and dining is whatever they happen to be making, usually
    spagetti.  
    
    steve
    
       

    
    Bob,  one other option... Loon mountain. The bike shop is right across
    the parking lot. They have good bikes, I think they even have bikes 
    with suspension forks there. The options for riding there are, 
    The two cross country areas West and East. I haven't tried the west
    but the East is beginner to intermediat riding there is on main loop
    and bunch of other smaller loops. If you stay on the main loop it 
    brings you to a real nice picnic area by the river. 
    You also have options of bringin the bike up to the top and riding
    down.  There is beginer to imtermediate riding, very nice views, 
    If the kids get tired of riding, there is other activities from 
    the top like the cave walks on the top, which is also rated 
    green, blue and advanced.  Food and ice cream on top of the mountain
    too ;-)
    

You could also try Waterville Valley.  They have a mountain bike program
set up this year and have a bike shop on the premises and a wide varity
or terrain and is close to a number of the white mountian national forest
trails.

The mountain bike program is being set up by Slade Warner who was one of 
the top montain bike racers on the east cost this year.

They have a web home page at 

         http://www.netimpact.com/biz/waterville/

While it does not have anything on their mountain biking it does have 
an e-mail address they you could likely ask for more information.

         info@waterville.com

Scott

    Another option is sunday river, they had a bike shop about a quarter
    of a mile below the lifts and you could basically go anywhere. Also
    you could buy a lift only ticket or a package with a bike and a ticket.
    All kinds of terrain that basically corresponded to the level of 
    difficulty skiing. they also have single track trails, but these 
    were too hard for me.
    
    Saul

re: .6

Yet another option: A new trail complex just opened at the base
of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, on Rte. 16 just north of Pinkham
Notch.  We went X-C skiing there last week.  The trails that are
currently open are pretty mellow - they will be developing more
challenging trails for next season.  They will open the trails for 
mountain bikes in the summer, for a fee I assume (this place is very
commercial).  I think they have about 25km of trails currently.
Nice views of the eastern flanks of Mt. Washington and the northern
Presidentials.

I don't know for sure that they'll rent bikes but I'd be surprised
if they don't.

Camping is available in White Mountain Natl Forest campgrounds (e.g., 
Dolly Copp just up the road) and in commercial campgrounds in the
area.

It's called Great Glen Trails and is run by the same company that
runs the Auto Road.  (In fact, when conditions are good, you can
X-C ski the first few miles of the Auto Road, or take a snow-cat
up and ski down.)

Andy