What started as an informal mountain bike race more than a decade ago is now a full-fledged summer celebration at one of Aroostook County’s outdoor gems, the Nordic Heritage Center.
Volunteers with the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle are busy this week setting up the four season trail network and lodge for the Nordic Trail Festival on July 21 and 22.
The two day festival features adult and youth mountain bike and trail running races, kids activities, a beer garden, food and music.
“It’s really just a festival to bring everyone together to enjoy northern Maine and what makes our place so unique,” said Mike Chasse of Presque Isle, who’s helped organize the fest with the family business, Bike, Board and Ski.
About 140 competitive mountain bikers and runners are registered and ready for races, including a downhill ride Friday night on the adjacent slopes of Quoggy Jo Ski Hill and 6-hour bike and running relays on Saturday on loops through the trail network.
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- Mountain bikers taking a zigzagging route up a slope at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle during the 2015 Nordic Trail Festival. (File photo/Dave Allen)
This is the 13th year that some kind of mountain bike festival has been held at the Nordic Heritage Center, and the 3rd year in its incarnation as the Nordic Trail Fest.
The festival started as an informal annual mountain bike race, “with 20 guys and two cases of beer,” said Tom Chasse, owner of Bike, Board and Ski.
Since the first Nordic Trail Festival in 2014, the festival’s attendance has grown and has helped put the Nordic Heritage Center on the map for trail lovers around New England, as well as locals who have not spent much time there, Chasse said.
With more than a dozen miles of four-season trails in the hilltop woodlands at the border of Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield, the Nordic Heritage Center is well known for hosting the World Cup Biathlon ski and sharpshooting competition, but it’s also growing in popularity for its trails in summer and fall.
Chasse, whose family used to farm some of the land that now makes up the trail network, said that the festival has a good balance between offering competitive races and family-friendly activities that let people enjoy summer and explore the venue’s trails at their own pace.
Racers pay a fee for the festival, and can camp free at the Nordic Heritage Center. General admission to the event is free, but this year the festival will host a beer garden with a $10 entrance fee during the Saturday evening concert.
Local singer-songwriter Travis Cyr opens the concert at 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by the Maine roots band Ghost of Paul Revere. Governor’s Restaurant of Presque Isle also will be selling food throughout the festival
The trail festival is largely volunteer-run and the proceeds help support the Nordic Heritage Center, which offers free year-round access and programs like youth ski lessons and weekly group mountain bike rides.
Once a part of the Maine Winter Sports Center, the Nordic Heritage Center is managed and run by a local steering committee, and owned and supported by the nonprofit Libra Foundation.
The Libra Foundation recently invested in repainting the Nordic Heritage Center’s lodge and the installation of a new set of steps, Chasse said.
The Nordic Heritage Center also is planning to hire a part-time venue manager for the first time, a position that Chasse said could help grow the facility’s reach and impact in northern Maine’s outdoor scene.
