Trail Rider Magazine

8 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com MVTR ADV RALLY 2026 MVTR ADV RALLY 2026 Lakes Region Casino Lakes Region Casino By Jim Bird By Jim Bird Spring is officially behind us, and summer has begun. All that winter maintenance you never got around to? Be er learn to ride with the flaws or fix them quick, bub. The trails are open, and the off- road agenda just keeps ge ng busier. My first official event this year was helping prep and guide for the Merrimack Valley Trail Riders (MVTR) ADV Rally to benefit the Cys c Fibrosis Founda on on June 6 & 7. The Rally base of op- era ons for the last few years has been the Lakes Region Casino on Route 106 in Belmont, New Hampshire. Not only does the Casino have easy ac- cess from real paved roads and a large, level, well- drained parking lot, it also hosts about 14 miles of never-level, "for this event only", single track. The MVTR Rally boasts 10 different ADV tracks to choose from, with minimal overlap of tracks. Much/most of the track development and man- agement credit goes to our favorite fast German, Fabian Haupt. Before the rally even starts, Fab's put in a few thousand miles checking, clearing, and recording tracks. And with all those tracks, a mo- vated rider could stay entertained for a lot more than two days! The track loops are similar to a turkey run, except GPS tracks replace route sheets and arrows. For those with marginal or absent naviga on skills, guid- ed tours are offered. I was such a guide along with a few dozen others. My loop of responsibility was the 130-mile Fluffy Bunny Loop. (aka - The Killer Rabbit) The bunny hops southwest from the casino all the way down to Henniker. The ten available tracks cover a full range of difficulty, from the 150-mile scenic asphalt loop to the hard enduro singletrack in the hills around the host facility. The guy who laid out that single track is our very own Dave Rauseo. Dave's a real nice guy. A gem of a human and a real peach. Easy to talk to and comes across as a fine chap. However, riding his single track does at mes make one wonder what sort of internal demons he has and how they got there. The easy line is never the Dave line. Beware. It's been said that if you're out in the middle of nowhere, the plan is fall- ing apart, and everything has gone sideways, there's no one you'd rather have with you than Dave. Of course, if you're in that situa on, Dave is quite possi- bly, already with you. Fortunately, his skills at ge ng out of s cky situa ons are just as strong as his skills

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