FellsBiker.com Middlesex Fells Reservation
Stoneham Medford Winchester Melrose Malden, Massachusetts
"Friends" of the Fells Angry About Trail Re-Route
The "Friends" of the Fells are angry at the DCR over a recent orange trail (Reservoir Trail) reroute near Bear Hill in the Fells. Their main complaint appears to be that the trail was rerouted to make bikers happy, as the end of the trail consists of giant stone steps. They don't mention that they built those steps themselves only a few years ago, specifically to inconvenience bikers. Also, the orange trail is now a multi-use trail, open to bikes. Removing or bypassing stone stairs whose primary purpose was to antagonize bikers, is something that should be done. All that said, the real reason the trail was rerouted, was that the stoney section of a trail overlapped a very muddy area, where the trail itself turned into a stream during wet periods.

Read the full article, minus my own commentary, on wickedlocal.com:
DCR on spot over stone steps, rerouting of Middlesex Fells trail
DCR Accuses "Friends" of the Fells of Misleading the Public
It's decades overdue, but the DCR is finally, publicly pointing out that the "Friends" of the Fells is lying to the public. Bikers have been saying this for years, as the "Friends" of the Fells has posted countless articles, letters, and even entire websites strongly pushing false and misleading information about the impact of mountain bike use on trails. The purpose of these lies, in my opinion, has been to convince their greater membership, and the public in general, to side with them in their battle against mountain bike trail access. People who might otherwise think that mountain bike access in the Fells is fine, may change their mind when they are told the DCR is "turning the Fells into a bike park", which is a complete lie.

Read the whole article on wickedlocal.com, we also saved a local archive of the article:
DCR disputes claims about Fells management (Archive)