“I came up with a new motto, Only YOU can prevent trail erosion”, Hank wryly quips with a nod to the old Smokey the Bear saying about forest fires.
We were having a conversation about the new generation of mountain bikers, who, just like previous generations, are in need of schooling on trail building, care and etiquette. His sense of humor enables him to deal with these more serious issues, and seems to help him convey his values and opinions without alienating riders and landowners alike. He has great working relationships with the town and the abutters of the town forest, that is, they give him carte blanche to build and maintain the local forest trails. Hank admits that the wink-and-nod relationship with the town and with private landowners could change at any moment—the forest could be “harvested”, or a private landowner could decide to develop the land. At any rate, he is a first-class “old-school” trailbuilder –designing switchbacks, proper drainage features, wooden bridges and jumps, using only his instinctive eye and riding experience.
Hank Glowiak is the owner of Chuck’s Bikes in Morrisville, Vermont. I’ve had a few occasions to follow him on some of the best singletrack riding anywhere. On basically what amounts to the side of a hill above Cadys Falls, you can ride up that hill with hardly a grunt, rather winding up some of the twistiest, sometimes smoothest, sometimes rootiest stuff in the Northeast…..One of those rides where it’s as fun riding up as it is down….
While on vacation this July, I got to ride again with him. He’s got some unique opinions and viewpoints about the local riding, the bike industry as a whole, and don’t get him started about politics or the redundant packaging of his egg and cheese breakfast sandwich from Thompson’s Flour Shop( I was forewarned by the owner when I went to pick one up for him after our ride)
While on vacation this July, I got to ride again with him. He’s got some unique opinions and viewpoints about the local riding, the bike industry as a whole, and don’t get him started about politics or the redundant packaging of his egg and cheese breakfast sandwich from Thompson’s Flour Shop( I was forewarned by the owner when I went to pick one up for him after our ride)
He’s not a board member or president of any local chapter of NEMBA, IMBA, VMBA, in fact the trails he rides and takes care of aren’t even mapped. To know of this riding area, you really have to know Hank or one of his friends. The trails are within riding distance of another huge network of trails in Stowe. the tourist capital of the state and up-and-coming mountain bike mecca in it’s own right. But just like most of Vermont, the geography plays a huge part of who you know and where you ride. Every little valley seems to have its own network of riders and trails. And every little valley is surrounded by mountains and hills that have defined the state since the beginning of time. Morrisville has always been very much a working class town. It’s a crossroads that sees a lot of everyday traffic going somewhere else. Morrisville gets some of the overflow from the ski resort visitors and those wanting to escape the mountain traffic and enjoy the countryside. Morrisville is also the economic center of the region—it has two supermarkets, farmers feeds ’n needs stores, an old-school movie theater with all the latest hit flicks, a McDonald’s, a skate park, plenty of building contractors, no lack of wi-fi when you need it, and of course, Chuck’s Bikes, well respected in the community for providing great service and sales to bmx’ers, roadies, commuters and local trail riders.…in other words, something for everybody. The one thing lacking in Morrisville is an organized bike club. “Diversity”, another of Hank’s favorite words. “Bike clubs are necessary to draw on the diverse demographic that is biking. Some people need to ‘belong’ to a club. That’s OK ..!. but I am my own bike club. I contribute in my own ways, therefore indirectly being a part of the bike club network”. He explains that he organizes his own trail work days, but digresses that very few of the locals ever show to help. “I get folks who report broken tree branches that are hanging over the trail—they should bring along a trail saw next time and stop and cut it out of the way…that’ll save the next rider from being impaled by a stick or losing an eye…” Talking to Hank more recently, he reported that after Tropical Storm Irene, he personally cut 33 blowdowns out of the way on one mile of trail, with handsaws!
“I’ve read in certain club mags that ‘all trails need to be flow trails’ designed with increasing speeds in mind, but some trails just need to be old-school, renegade, twisty gnarly stuff that makes you look ahead to the next turn. Stuff that is challenging, makes you think, and reminds you how dangerous it can be. Keeps you awake. New England doesn’t always fit the models for proper trail flowyness” (One ride on the Cadys Falls trails with Hank will beat that into your rider’s mind! ) Not to say that Hank’s trails don’t flow nicely into one another…and some have that pump-track feel, even when up on the side of that hill.
“Probably 40-50 people ride these trails every weekday. Even more on the weekends and during the peak (fall)season”. But he’s happy that they don’t all know all the trails. There are some that are only known to Hank and those who follow him on a ride. A ride through the ferns to hidden, pine needley singletrack, seeming at first glance to be virgin trail, but then obvious that these are heirloom trails, some gnarly, some smooth and, yes, some even ‘flowy’, and well-taken care of.
Chuck’s Bikes carries the latest offerings from a very functional assortment of bike companies, like Redline, KHS, with Hank’s personal ride being a Transition. He’s also one of the only Norco dealers in the US…look him up at http://www.chucksbikesvt.com and on facebook or just give him a call 802-888-7642
