I copied the following about the Millstone Venue site it's very interesting.
The Maz will be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Hope to see as many riders as an NECS race. Not to be hinting or anything but the "Non" in Non-NECS may not be there next year.
With no NECS events in Vermont this year I'd personally like to see that changed next year!

NECS in Vermont for 2009,
The Maz


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Hey,

I have been working on the course along with Ezra, Noah, Pierre and Dan, and it's very cool. What is most interesting is that you journey threw an incredible piece of history, the granite capital of the world. Pierre the owner of Millstone, grew up in these quarries and he is a walking history text. These are retired quarries and when they dried up the "Rock of Ages" monument company, just left the mining equipment were it was. It is now in a dense forest with as soft dirt floor, however, their are huge granite piles, derricks towers, and walls everywhere. On very hot days the cool air that is housed in hollows granite piles, slowly drifts out into the woods and it feels likes you are in a refrigerator. In 100 ft, you can go from 93 degrees and to a cool crisp 55 degrees. What a gift! Also, because it is a rocky area that drains well, it is almost never closed due to mud.
During the war when steel was in shortage they scavenged most large steel structures, but they left some cool stuff behind. The trail is crisscrossed by thousands of feet of monster steal cables and at one point there is a boiler from a steam locomotive on the course. If you love history this is a great place to race and ride. The quarry are now filled with water (ponds and lakes) and they are around every corner on the course. Some small, and some like the grand canyon.
We are opening up the woods and trail so you get a history lesson and epic views as you race and ride. If you love the Kingdom trails you will love Millstone, each awesome riding but each with their own attitude and flair. Also, I helped design the course to have flow for XC racing. I have been racing expert since 1992, worked as a pro photographer at UCI and USA cycling races for 4 years and have a feel for what makes a good and a bad course. This course will make you smile, and you will get the magic hammer feeling (regardless of ability) many times throughout the course. You know when you are riding well, and everything clicks and you have that great feeling, this is it.
We have tones of goodies for prizes and you get a meal as well. Lastly, their is camping, showers, B&B, and a bike wash. Here is a link to a TV interview about the race, just wait threw the first section for a couple of seconds. http://www.wcax.com/global/video/pop...ne Rockin Ride

Later, Andy

[url]http://www.Millstonegrind.com/[/url]
[url]http://www.millstonetrails.com/[/url]

Sounds like a cool place to ride, will have to check it out some time.

Thanks for the info.

Ryan

I was out there last weekend for a nice 4 hour ride. Some really fun, technical single track sections along with some great views of the old quarries. Reminded me a lot of Cornish TF with the rock and root sections and twisting, turning singletrack. Everything is marked red (expert), blue (intermed.), green (beginner).

If you go for fun, make sure you have a trail map. Everything is well marked but it is nice to be able to plan your route. They usually have maps at the main barn but on the weekend they aren't there very early in the morning. They do have 3 suggested routes with arrows based on technical level desired, but I recommend plotting your own course instead of following their arrows.

I didn't ride all parts of the race course, but the few sections I did had nice flow. Lots of off-camber roots everywhere so I'm not sure how much fun it would be in the rain, but the area does drain well so mud was limited, especially compared to Kingdom Trails.

Good luck if you are racing,

Aaron