Riptide open top-to-bottom; GPNEMBA at Mt. Abram Sept. 20
Plus a fall preview<!–
Bicycling party people!
Hope you’re trading in some well-earned PTO for some well-deserved time outdoor as we eye the end of our brief and oh-so-sweet summer season here in the good and honest state of Maine. While we could really use some moisture in our beloved soil, we’re grateful for an outstanding 2026 summer that’s provided no shortage of stellar sunny windows to get outside and blast around on your wheels.
We’ve got a lot of fun stuff to chat about below — from Riptide being open top-to-bottom, our first-ever GPNEMBA takeover at Mt. Abram Bike Park, the upcoming Blackstrap trail planning project, the Maine Gravity Series, and our fall event preview.
Ryan Dunfee
Volunteer President
Greater Portland NEMBA
New Riptide Flow Trail is Open Top-to-Bottom in Portland
After having to mitigate the effects of a super dry summer by renting a fire hydrant from the city of Portland we could get the dirt damp enough to shape and compact, Maine Trail Builders have completed their incredible work on Upper Riptide, and Riptide is now open top to bottom! Both Upper Riptide and Lower Riptide are open and now on Trailforks. Upper Riptide is an absolute hoot, with a wood skinny-to-kicker starting A line feature, a bunch of fun rollers, berms, and doubles you can gap, with an awesome step up/log cannon feature (pictured above) to finish it off (with a ride-around option for less advanced riders). It’s amazing what the Maine Trail Builders crew pulled off with barely 25 feet of elevation! This quick Instagram POV shows an awesome preview.
This has been another incredible project to finish and open in 2026, and one that’s super visible and access by bike from the front door of so many riders across Portland. We’ve heard “I never thought I’d see a trail like this ever get built in Portland!” too many times to count since it opened. We’re also excited to collaborate with Portland Trails on this project — our first serious collaboration with the awesome team there — who moved some of the legacy multi-use trails neighboring Riptide to accommodate our trail alignment and provide more sustainable trails for all users.
Riptide sits in the southern half of Fore River Sanctuary in Portland (southern end of the railroad tracks that split the Sanctuary), and is accessible by bike from multiple start points, including Allspeed up on Rowe Avenue. We have nearly completed adjusting the return climb to rider’s right of the trail finish so that beginners, young kids, and adaptive riders can complete a full figure-8 loop of the trail with approachable grades and minimal tech from the Technology Park trailhead. This will also make Riptide eminently lappable — each of the three descending segments will be able to be lapped easily and quickly, helping you build your confidence and skills on whatever features you’re working on.
A big thanks again to the Maine Mountain Bike Trail Fund, the Lawless and Harkleroad families, and all you GPNEMBA members (!!) for helping us fund this incredible project. We’re excited to get to work completing the Barred Behavior XC trail on the other side of Fore River Sanctuary this fall!
GPNEMBA Day @ Mt. Abram Bike Park Sunday, September 20th
GPNEMBA is stoked to be collaborating with the team at Mt. Abram Bike Park for our first GPNEMBA Day at Mt. Abram! This is our first takeover of Mt. A’s bike park, and a chance to ride the home base of the team that’s built some of your favorite local trails, including Hung Down in Lowell, the Libby Chill/Libby Thrills jump lines at Libby Hill in Gray, and many of the berms in the Galaxy/Comet area in Hamblen in Gorham. $30 discounted lift tickets are available for GPNEMBA members, and we’ll be launching some special bike park clinics soon. We’re also cooking up some special laps throughout the day, including a GPNEMBA party train lap and steeps tours on the upper mountain trails.
Blackstrap Preserve has long been one of the center points of the Greater Portland riding scene. Trails like Raven were among the first in the region to offered sustained technical descents, Flow Creek and Updraft the first machine-built trails in the area, and Busta Move hosted the biggest jumps around at the start of COVID. While our Falmouth/Windham Trail Crew has been partnering successfully with the town of Falmouth and Falmouth Land Trust to invest hundreds of hours every year into trail improvements and maintenance, much of the network is feeling tired and beat after years of traffic, erosion, and some destructive winter storms.
That’s why GPNEMBA has partnered with FLT and the town on our first professional trail planning project to guide serious reinvestment in both Blackstrap and North Falmouth Community Forest. This fall, we will be working with the team at Outdoor Sport Institute to evaluate every mile of trail at both properties and develop a trail master plan that will solve for long-term sustainability, reduce user conflicts, and provide the world-class experiences for all users we’ve long believed these properties could host. The team at OSi has experience developing visionary trail projects across the country, and is responsible for some of the most exciting new trail projects across Maine.
Stay tuned for announcements for some community workshops we’ll be hosting this fall to gather your feedback on what you want the future of these keystone properties to look like. A big thanks to the Maine MTB Trail Fund and GPNEMBA members for financially supporting this project, and to FLT and the town for partnering with us. On a related note, be sure to check out Trail Fest September 28th at Wander, a great event hosted by FLT and Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust in support of local trails.
Maine Gravity Series Continues in Camden & Mt. Abram
In an effort to build community around this growing riding scene and get folks out across the state to experience these new trails, some of our partners have organized the Maine Gravity Series across four locations starting this weekend and racing through September.
The race at Camden Snow Bowl runs this weekend, August 29 & 30 and Mt. Abram Bike Park closes out the series September 12 & 13. Each event features a Saturday practice and a Sunday race day, with multiple categories for ages as well as enduro and “enduro lite” (fewer stages) versions that are friendly for more beginner gravity riders. Click here for more details about the Camden, and Mt. Abram stops!
August & September Event Preview
We just won’t stop… make some time for these upcoming rides!
