The beginning of the 2023 season was marked by major success punctuated by a storm of adversity. In early April, Ride NoCo launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to rebuild upper Hurricane and reroute the bottom of Half Day. Just six weeks later, we exceeded our $20,000 goal, and through the second quarter of 2023, Ride NoCo raised $29,500. This was Ride NoCo’s most successful public fundraising effort ever, which included winning two grants.
This success was a blessing because a storm on April 30th dropped over three inches of rain and caused the worst flooding in the Mount Washington Valley since Hurricane Irene. Trails all over the Valley and beyond saw significant damage and the Hurricane Mountain Zone (HMZ) was not exempt. Hurricane Highway and Hurricane were hit hardest with many washouts and several large crevasses on both trails.
To address the storm damage, Ride NoCo expanded Tulip Trails’ planned scope of work to tackle the entirety of Hurricane, not just the top, and to address the washouts on Hurricane Highway (see details below). Volunteers addressed the rest of the network during six trail days throughout May, and the whole network was looking spiffy right in time for summer. We are so thankful to our volunteers for a massive effort to open the network!
Then, well, it just kept raining, and the summer of 2023 became the wettest summer in New Hampshire’s history. Yet, the rain did not seem to dampen most riders’ spirits. According to Trailforks data, ridership in 2023 remained the same from 2022.
The last big push for the season was completing the Half Day reroute. Ride NoCo held multiple trail days to supplement IdeRide’s work and opened the new trail in September (see details below).
Thank you to everyone who donated and volunteered their time. Without you, the HMZ could not be the most rad publicly accessible place to ride in the northeast!
Rebuilt Upper Hurricane and Tune-up - $12,500
Tulip Trails rebuilt upper Hurricane to match the flow and style of lower Hurricane. To address storm damage and because funding was available, Tulip Trails also spruced up the entirety of lower Hurricane. The result is a much smoother and faster trail with more berms and exposed ledge.
Hurricane Highway Repairs - $2,500
To address storm damage, Tulip Trails not only fixed washouts but also constructed catch basins and improved drainages that increased the sustainability of the trail.
Half Day Reroute - $23,500
Ride NoCo agreed to adopt and steward Half Day in 2018 and committed to rerouting the lower half as a way to legitimize the trail with the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF). Ride NoCo has now fulfilled its commitment, and the WMNF was impressed with final trail. IdeRide began and finished rerouting Half Day in August. This reroute eliminated the last quarter mile of trail, which was overly steep with an average grade of 28% and heavily eroded. The reroute more than doubled the distance to .54 miles and decreased the grade to a more sustainable average of 13% so it will experience significantly less erosion and degradation. The soil and terrain in the new corridor is also much more suited for mountain biking, and the reroute has some unbelievably fun rhythm sections and beautiful rockwork. Half Day now caters to a wider array of abilities but stays true to the technical riding that we all know and love.