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• FLOW TRAIL CONSTRUCTION GUIDE • TIPS FOR PRODUCTIVE WORKDAYS • WEST VIRGINIA’S ROCKY SINGLETRACK
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BUILD IT, RIDE IT KICKING OFF IMBA’S TRAIL FUND
TRAILS.
Without them, there is no such thing as mountain biking. Maybe that’s why mountain bikers are so passionate about trails: protecting them, building them and sharing them. Whether it’s a ribbon of dirt in the backcountry or a sculpted lip at the local bike park, IMBA’s network of advocates, including volunteer and professional trail builders, have made the world a better place to ride. While the passion has always been there, the access has not. Only through the support of our members has IMBA been able to have an impact. Our summer “Build It, Ride It” funding drive highlights our efforts to meet IMBA’s mission of creating, preserving and enhancing great mountain biking experiences in the most tangible way possible—with great trails. For a real-world example, take a look the Coldwater Mountain trail system in northeast Alabama. An original investment of $20,000 from the IMBA Trail Fund created a compelling master plan that was adopted wholeheartedly by the local community. Five years later, more than $1 million has been invested in mountain bike trails, trailheads and access to neighborhoods. This doesn’t even include the additional hundreds of thousands of dollars used to build a new brewpub, or the other investments made by local businesses to cater to an evergrowing number of visiting riders. Even with great stories like this, the extent of IMBA’s success is sometimes only evident in hindsight. When mountain bikers first organized themselves, IMBA’s stance was strictly defensive—fending off threats to trail access was all we knew. In the quarter century since our founding, we have become much more proactive, training thousands of people to build durable and enjoyable trails, creating untold miles of singletrack in partnership with land managers and working with political leaders at the highest level of government to create better mountain bike opportunities. In the future, I hope that the concepts of mountain biking and trails will become one in peoples’ minds. Mountain bikers have a tremendous opportunity to emerge as community leaders in every city and town, and creating trails can and should be at the forefront of the national conversation about recreation. We’d love to see trained volunteer trail builders ready to take the lead on any project in any location, with skilled mountain bikers guiding kids and adults alike on rides to explore the great outdoors. Whatever your vision for the future of mountain biking is, I suspect that it includes trails. But that vision requires all of us—together—to invest in it. Please join me in supporting the “Build It, Ride It” fund this summer so that IMBA can continue to lead the way with more and better trails across the U.S. and around the world. Let’s build it, and ride it, together!
Chris Bernhardt, IMBA Field Programs Director
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IMBA Trail News | U.S. Edition Summer 2015, Volume 28, Number 2
IMBA creates, preserves and enhances great mountain biking experiences BOARD OF DIRECTORS Elayna Caldwell (Chicago, IL) Mike Cachat (Ontario, CA) Chris Conroy (Golden, CO) Howard Fischer (Armonk, NY) Jim Grover (Matthews, NC) Kent McNeill (Bellevue, NE) Alden Philbrick (Alexandria, VA) Luther Propst (Tucson, AZ) Faryar Shirzad, (Arlington, VA) David Treinis (Alta, WY) Robert Winston (Carlsbad, CA), Chair of the Board David Zimberoff (Chicago, IL) DEPARTMENT AND REGION DIRECTORS Michelle Barker, Upper Midwest Region Director, michelle.barker@imba.com Jason Bertolacci, Colo./Wyo. Region Director, jason.bertolacci@imba.com Chris Bernhardt, Director of Consulting Services, chris.bernhardt@imba.com Dan Brillon, Finance Director, dan.brillon@imba.com Richard Cook, Development Director, rich.cook@imba.com Anthony Duncan, Mid-Atlantic Region Director, anthony.duncan@imba.com Mark Eller, Communications Director, mark.eller@imba.com Jeremy Fancher, Interim Policy Director, jeremy.fancher@imba.com Laurel Harkness, N. Calif. Region Director, laurel.harkness@imba.com Patrick Kell, Southwest Regional Director, patrick.kell@imba.com Kerri Salazar, Director of Operations, kerri.salazar@imba.com Tom Sauret, Southeast/SORBA Region Director, tom.sauret@imba.com Steve Schneider, South Central Region Director, steve.schneider@imba.com Mike Van Abel, Executive Director, mike@imba.com Andy Williamson, Great Lakes Regional Director, andy.williamson@imba.com SUBARU/IMBA TRAIL CARE CREW Jordan Carr and Lani Bruntz, jordanandlani@imba.com Designed by Sugar Design, Inc. Images and stories available for re-use by permission only.
IMBA 4888 Pearl East Circle, Suite 200E, Boulder, CO 80301
ph 303-545-9011 fax 303-545-9026 info@imba.com
KEEP UP WITH ALL THE LATEST TRAIL NEWS FROM IMBA
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Follow us on Facebook at fb.com/ IMBAonFB and on Twitter @IMBA_US. Check out our trail videos at vimeo.com/ IMBAUSA. Sign up for monthly email newsletters, tailored to where you live, at IMBA.com/traillove.
KEVIN ADAMS NAMED VICE PRESIDENT OF IMBA CHAPTER AND MEMBER SERVICES
MBA is pleased to announce a newly established position—Vice President of Chapter and Member Services—that will direct strategic initiatives, programs and services that result in greater local chapter effectiveness as well as association membership growth. IMBA has hired Kevin Adams to take on this critical role. Adams was most recently a vice president of program management for a Fortune 500 company and a board member of the Mid-Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts (MORE), an IMBA chapter in the Washington, D.C., metro area. He volunteered for two years as MORE’s trail boss and one year as treasurer. Prior to two decades in the private sector, Adams served two decades in the U.S. Marine Corps. “I want to raise IMBA’s organizational capacity so that we can better serve our chapters,” said Adams. “It’s important that we increase the value of what IMBA provides to its chapters so that they, in turn, can raise their organizational capacity to provide more value to our shared membership. That’s necessary because all mountain biking is local.” Adams was a trail runner for several decades before getting into mountain biking. He said he never experienced such a strong community or willingness to pitch in prior to that. “Most mountain bikers have a highly developed sense of stewardship and willingness to work hard to improve trail experiences for everyone,” he said. “That has always resonated with me. Some of my dearest friends have come from the mountain bike community, and I want to give back to that.”
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RESURRECTING AN EPIC IN ARKANSAS In October, 2013, IMBA Executive Director Mike Van Abel listened as newly hired Region Director Steve Schneider described his plans for mountain bike development in the South Central region of the U.S. (Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Oklahoma and east Texas). IMBA had recently defined this region—its ninth in the U.S.—and something stood out to the two men: a 50-mile trail system, called Syllamo, nestled in the beautiful Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, about two hours from Little Rock. Ravaged multiple times by storms, the Syllamo trail had lost its IMBA Epic status and was at risk of disappearing altogether. Van Abel asked a simple question, “What can we do to restore it?” When Syllamo (made up of five, intertwining loops totaling 50 miles) received IMBA Epic status in 2010, it was described as, “one of the finest, purpose-built mountain bike trail systems in the country.” The terrain offers something for everyone: plenty of rolling singletrack accommodates lessexperienced riders, but those same trails, when ridden at speed, get fast, furious and fun. The technical limestone block sections and the burly rock steps widen the eyes of even seasoned riders. It was obvious that Syllamo was worth resurrecting, but the task at hand—repairing and restoring 50 miles of pristine singletrack—was enormous. Schneider got the ball rolling by gathering local, influential stakeholders to support the effort, including Wes Wright, the president of IMBA chapter Friends of Syllamo Trails (FOST); U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Jim McCoy; Stone County Judge Stacey Avey, local newspaper owner Rusty Fraizer, as well as longtime area
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trail stewards and several local business owners. In order to rally more troops and get them trained on how to do sustainable trail work, IMBA sent its Trail Care Crew (TCC) to visit the area in February 2014. More than 100 volunteers participated; half attended the IMBA Trail Building School while the other half cooked food, provided lodging and cut corridor out on the trails. At the end of the weekend only a few miles of trails had been cleared, but the community was coming together. Word spread across the Ozarks and mountain bikers
Photo: ArkansasOutside.com
began to emerge to help the remote trail system. Schneider involved the Walton Family Foundation’s northwest Arkansas office, which provided a grant to Crossland Trails to restore Syllamo’s 13-mile Red Loop. In summer 2014, a new partnership was formed with the Arkansas Department of Corrections to utilize the work program inmate crew at Calico Rock Minimum Security Prison, located 20 miles from Syllamo. Known to land managers across the country, the group was brought on to
Join your local IMBA chapter, or associate your existing membership with a chapter, by visiting imba.com/join
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help the local U.S. Forest Service District with Syllamo’s trail repairs. For the rest of that year, local volunteers toiled endlessly to remove miles-long sections of briars and honeysuckle that were consuming the trails. The plants had taken over in the aftermath of a catastrophic, 2009 ice storm that devastated the hardwood canopy, allowing those invasive species to thrive in full sun. In January 2015, inmates arrived to clear access roads and clean up the three primary trailheads. After one month, a hand-picked crew of 10 inmates was chosen by the prison warden to focus on the trails, guided by FOST/IMBA members. For two months, the crew worked five days a week, clearing trail corridor to three feet on each side. They also mended trail damage caused by the feral hog population on Green Mountain. During that time, local businesses provided coffee, food and encouragement to these young men, who expressed their appreciation for being outside with an opportunity to give something back to others. As the work neared completion, a new mountain bike race was scheduled to showcase the restored trails and support FOST’s ongoing work. The first-ever Mountain View Epic ran May 15-16 and celebrated in truly “epic” fashion with challenging, 100- and 60-mile options covering all of Syllamo. “Words cannot explain how good I feel as both a local mountain biker, and as an IMBA region director, to be able to collectively build momentum over the course of this tremendous journey, and to be a true link in the chain for IMBA’s mission,” said Schneider. “Go ride Syllamo! Then spend some time listening to the best bluegrass music on the planet in the city of Mountain View. It’s a very magical place.” RIDER RESPONSES LEAD TO TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS AND NEW PARTNERSHIPS IN GEORGIA Three months ago, significant trail work was completed on Georgia’s Aska Trail System in the Chattachoochee-Oconee National Forest (CONF). This work followed a 2012 trail assessment done in collaboration by CoTrails and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). As a result of the Aska Trail System assessment, the Blue Ridge USFS District authorized work on Flat Creek Loop Trail (5.7 miles) that included limited trail decommissioning, construction of rerouted trail, and several trail alterations intended to improve sustainability. A private contractor completed the work about three months ago.
Following the trail work, IMBASORBA received a significant number of comments about the maintenance, ranging from very dissatisfied to satisfied. Because the majority of the feedback was negative—questioning the effectiveness of the drainage, the impact of the work on the trail and the degraded ride experience—IMBA-SORBA hired Keith McFadden of Blue Ridge Geographics to assess the work. McFadden’s recommendations and conclusion included the following: The construction methods used for the maintenance on Flat Creek and other trails in the Aska System represent techniques that in the past were considered accepted but are no longer desirable, particularly for trails used for mountain biking. In particular, as built, the water diversions, gradedips, and reversals are not sustainable, detract from the user experience, and in some cases, are potentially hazardous. It is recommended that some of the more severe problem areas be re-worked and modified to minimize the hazards and fit more closely to IMBA standards for mountain bike trails. This assessment, along with the advocacy work done by the Ellijay Mountain Bike Association and Terry Palmeri, IMBA-SORBA Associate Region Director, has led the Blue Ridge District is to create a cost share agreement with IMBASORBA. The agreement places IMBA-SORBA in a central role for work projects in the USFS district. The first task is to remedy the maintenance work performed on Flat Creek, but other projects for the district’s mountain bike trails will be included. Additionally, the USFS intends to work with IMBA Trail Solutions to update the Forest Service’s specifications regarding trail maintenance. The goal of this partnership work is to take mountain bikers’ experiences into account when building and maintaining Forest Service trails that are used for mountain biking.
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TURNING TRAILS INSIDE OUT THE LIFTED AND TILTED BUILDING STYLE
IMBA
published Trail Solutions: IMBA’s Guide to Building Sweet Singletrack in 2004, and followed with Managing Mountain Biking: IMBA’s Guide to Providing Great Riding in 2007. Those books had a profound influence on trail design and construction, helping thousands of trail builders, bike advocates and land managers learn how to create sustainable trails. Just as mountain bike technology has continued to evolve, so, too, have trail building techniques. In 2014, IMBA published Bike Parks: IMBA’s Guide to New School Trails, which is already helping create the next generation of bike-specific facilities. The emphasis in Bike Parks, however, is on organizing, funding and overseeing bike park efforts. Unlike IMBA’s first two books, it does not go into great detail about the specific design and construction methods that produce bikeoptimized trails. This article is meant to help fill that gap. Of course, a few pages in Trail News are not a sufficient resource to convey all the knowledge required to create a masterpiece in dirt. But it is quite possible for builders who have gained skill and confidence with the trail building advice in IMBA’s first two books to adapt and expand their trail building repertoires.
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OUT-SLOPE TO IN-SLOPE The shift from out-sloped to in-sloped trail tread is a good place to start such a discussion. Traditional rolling contour trails, the kind that IMBA’s first two books focus on, are built with a constantly out-sloped tread to allow water to sheet off the trail surface—this remains a very legitimate trail building technique. However, heavy trail use tends to degrade that out-sloped tread over time, as both users and natural forces steadily displace the soil. Water will eventually channel down the tread, causing gullies and cupping. Instead of continuous out-sloping, we have learned that a combination of out-sloping and in-sloping—along with pronounced grade dips—will greatly extend the life of the trail. From a rider’s perspective, replacing constantly outsloped features with ones that are in-sloped changes the riding experience. Even a few degrees of in-sloping, especially when applied to wide-radius turns, rewards mountain bikers with a swooping sensation and the ability to dramatically lean their bikes toward the center of the turn.
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Similarly, grade reversals can be built so the dips are out-sloped and the crests are in-sloped, allowing the rider to shift her weight up and down, and from inside to outside, to enhance momentum—a sensation similar to riding a pumptrack. As these features become more pronounced, the trail tends to feel increasingly bike-specific, both in terms of aesthetics and ride qualities. A trail with high-bermed turns and frequent grade reversals that are big enough to launch fast-moving riders into the sky is recognizable to riders and non-riders alike as a bike-specific trail design. The most common term for this building style in mountain bike circles is “flow trail.” 3 NEW TRAIL TYPES Singletrack With Out-Sloped and In-Sloped Tread: Typically hand built and from 1.5 to 3 feet wide, these trails closely resemble traditional trail construction, but add bike-optimized flavor by out-sloping the dips and in-sloping the crests of grade reversals. Turns can be in-sloped on the flats but may be out-sloped for better drainage when diving into gullies. Side slopes of 40 percent or less are best—steeper slopes require lots of earthworks to build turning platforms. This building style works well for both shared-use and single-use trails, generally with two-way traffic. Wide Singletrack With Flow Elements: Either hand built or machine built, this style blends traditional trail construction with frequent bike-optimized elements. These trails are usually 3-4 feet wide. Dirt can be harvested from borrow basins or imported to the site to facilitate raising and tilting the tread. This style of trail is well suited for somewhat steep to lowerangled hillsides, usually in the range of 20 to 35 percent grades. Often, but not always, signed for one-way and/or bike-prefered use. Full-Featured Gravity/Flow Trails: Created with machine-built construction in most cases, the corridors for these trails are typically 4-7 feet wide. Side slopes are typically 10 to nearly 30 percent, resulting in average trail grades in the range of 5 to 8 percent—that’s plenty steep for bigtime air and high speeds with minimal braking. There are several modern-day classics to emulate, such as Whistler’s A-line; Coldwater, Alabama’s Sparkleberry; or the Vapor to Valhalla link-up at Snowmass Mountain in Colorado. These trails are usually most successful when signed for one-way and/or bike-prefered use.
LIFTED AND TILTED If the desired outcome is a strongly bike-flavored trail, the emphasis will shift toward bigger features and more pronounced in-sloping. These “lifted and tilted” builds require lots of dirt to create the oversized features, and may require additional rockwork to contain the soil and ensure it stays in place. Check out the “Borrow Basins,” “Rockwork” and “Water” sidebars for more info.
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An extremely steep side slope requires an elevated wooden structure to create the desired trail grade. Just past the woodwork, there’s a small, out-sloped drainage point.
ANATOMY OF A LIFTED AND TILTED TRAIL
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The tread becomes out-sloped, allowing water to drain away from the trail surface and down the side slope.
At this turn, an enormous rock wall is used to maintain the trail grade. Both of the elevated turns (A and B) are in-sloped to enhance the riding experience.
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system, I try to use the steep side slopes for climbing trails or shared-use segments,” said Joey Klein, veteran trail designer and builder with IMBA’s Trail Solutions. “More gently angled side slopes, from five to, at most, 40 percent, are the best match for either entry-level singletrack or gravity, flow and downhill trails.” “It’s counterintuitive that gently angled hillsides are the best places to build both beginner trails and gravity trails,” continues Klein. “But when we are trying to boost riders into the air we do not need super-steep grades. To create big turns, fun jumps and happy landings we want a consistent, moderate trail grade matched with enough side slope for proper water drainage.”
BORROW BASINS The lifted and tilted building style requires substantially more building material—typically dirt or rock—than traditional singletrack. This creates an additional burden on the landscape during construction, as soil must be excavated from borrow basins (AKA “honey holes”) and incorporated into the trail. A single feature, like a large-radius bermed turn or a tabletop jump, may require several tons of soil. “The borrow basins definitely require attention from an environmental impact point of view,” explains IMBA Trail Specialist Joey Klein. “Dirt can be taken from one area and used in another—the basins should be re-filled with organic spoils so plants can regenerate quickly.”
It is entirely possible to create this type of trail with hand tools and human power. IMBA’s Trail Solutions team has recently built trails in China and Mexico where power machinery was unsuitable, but skilled and strong human labor got the job done. However, there is no doubt that mechanized trail building equipment offers a timesaving advantage for flow trail construction. The skill of machine operators, not the size of the equipment, has the most influence on the end result. While it is true that smaller machines may produce a narrower trail bed with more of a natural singletrack feel, it’s also true that bigger machines are often required for large-scale projects. Finding the right location for this type of trail is an important consideration. As the angle of the side slope increases, the degree of “lifting” required—in other words, the amount of earthworks required to create big berms and jump-friendly grade reversals—increases substantially. The recently completed Paradise Royale trail in Northern California features segments where the side slopes range from 50- to 70-percent grades. Due to the steepness of the hillside, an enormous effort and massive amounts of soil and rocks were needed. “When I analyze a site and start planning a trail
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MAINTAINABLE OR SUSTAINABLE? There’s no doubt that bike-optimized trails featuring in-sloped tread, abundant rollers and high berms are a hoot to ride. When a new gravity or flow trail opens to the public, the response is usually rampant enthusiasm and a big increase in bike traffic—with all ability levels taking to the trail to experience something new and different. This often leads to erosion, particularly because inexperienced riders need to refine their braking, cornering and jumping techniques.
ROCKWORK Native (or occasionally imported) rock can provide an alternative to harvesting soil from borrow pits to elevate the trail tread. Skillfully executed rockwork is tremendously durable, but it requires careful effort and a strong focus on job site safety. Machines are occasionally useful, but the majority of rockwork requires hand labor. Always work in teams—the more hands the better—and use all the requisite safety gear, from hard hats to eye protection to steel-toe boots. Levers (usually steel digging bars) and special devices like rock cradles are far more efficient than brute force for moving big stones.
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“There’s nothing inherently more or less sustainable about lifted and tilted trails compared to traditional singletrack,” says Klein. “But if a trail gets super popular because it’s so fun to ride, and at the same time riders are sliding through turns and constantly hitting their brakes, there’s definitely going to be some significant soil loss. I tell local groups to expect this, especially in the first few seasons, and to be prepared to perform a relatively high volume of maintenance, including patching berms and smoothing out the trail tread.” In this sense, bike-optimized trails can be thought of as maintainable, rather than self-sustaining. (Of course, all trails require some degree of regular maintenance.) But the trade-offs are often well worth the increased load on volunteer maintenance crews. In New Mexico, the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society recently built a new flow trail called Hustle and Flow—with assistance from Klein—that is earning positive feedback in the community. “The trail required a huge effort and pushed our volunteer trail crews to their limits,” said Tim Fowler, the chapter president. “We underestimated the time required to build all the berms and jumps. Still, there are no regrets. The end result is fantastic—it was especially gratifying to see high school-aged riders showing up to help build the features, and getting excited about a new style of trail.”
Teddy Jaramillo and Lewis Starvrowsky, both 16 years old, are two of the young riders who joined the work crews. “I’m super stoked to see more people getting into flow trails and having them available in our community,” said Jaramillo, who is a four-time state champion in BMX and the reigning national champion for the 15-18 age group in category 3 downhill racing. “I will definitely join our local IMBA chapter in Santa Fe and help with future trail projects.” WATER Any trail that is built with raised tread, berms or jumps will require a water source during construction in order to ensure that the soils bond and produce durable features. Ideally, the water source will also be available for maintenance and reshaping. Depending on the climate and soil types, as well as the volume of trail traffic, water might be applied on a seasonal, monthly or weekly basis. Also important is a means for compacting the dirt, either by hand or (preferably) with machines, to help features hold their shape.
Below: Teddy Jaramillo and Lewis Starvrowsky sample the Hustle and Flow trail.
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NO GLAMOUR TIPS FROM THE TRAIL CARE CREW
ave you heard the term “glam digger?” It derives from the uncomfortable situation that arises when a loudmouth mountain biker shows up at a trail work event and pulls diva moves like rearranging the route or reshaping recently completed features. Fortunately, in our time on the road as the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew we have not encountered many glam diggers. The volunteers we get to work with week in and week out are almost always thoughtful, earnest and great to be around. Workdays are dirty, strenuous and sometimes a little dangerous. We have seen teams fall apart on sunny afternoons while other groups have a rip-roaring good time despite a drenching rain. What makes for a rewarding and successful workday? Here are some of our favorite tips. LOOK BEYOND THE COOL KIDS Reach out to the entire community—hardcore riders bring experience and building knowledge, but they can also (intentionally or unintentionally) send the signal that beginners are not welcome. Be sure to let volunteers know that everyone’s efforts are needed and appreciated. KNOW YOUR TOOLS Take the time to familiarize the group with each tool: how to carry it, how to use it, how to store it and how to maintain it. Don’t be fooled by bravado—we’ve heard people say things like, “Oh yeah, I’ve used one of these babies before,” while holding the wrong end of a digging bar. WHAT’S UP WITH THE LAND MANAGER? Make an effort to understand the purpose of the workday from the land manager’s perspective, not just from a rider’s point of view. It’s a big bummer to have the land manager show up during your effort and declare that work needs to be changed or removed—make sure these issues get sorted before the dirt starts flying. UNDERSTAND YOUR LANDSCAPE As a trail steward, work with the landscape to create the best possible trail experience. Sometimes this takes an extra measure of creativity, like when we visited Brookings, South Dakota, and helped local riders build sweet singletrack on top of a former landfill. We could only dig a few inches down before hitting refuse, but everyone kept smiling and we etched out a fun trail segment.
THINK WATER Despite decades of educational efforts by IMBA and other trail-savvy organizations, many land managers focus on usergenerated erosion, even though it’s water that does the most damage. Let’s get those trails out of the flats, valleys and other water collection spots! If that means moving an entire trail corridor to a side slope, do it—future trail workdays and maintenance efforts will benefit from the change for years to come. LET IT FLOW Determine the particular experience you’re hoping to provide with your specific trail and make sure everyone on the work crew knows what they’re trying to achieve. Take the time to “flow check” while you are building in order to tweak the design to match the intended riding experience—whether it’s tight and technical or open and fast. Even a brief run down the trail in work boots can provide a sense of how the trail will ride—and it’s a nice break from moving dirt. KEEP IT MAINTAINED Dirt shifts with time, vegetation grows, and users don’t always make the best decisions—each of these factors create the need for ongoing trail repairs. Building new trail is a great thing, but don’t forget that maintenance can be incredibly rewarding, too. Let your work crews know that making an old trail ride as good as new is just as impressive as fresh construction. — Jordan Carr and Lani Bruntz travel the United States in a Subaru Outback, teaching the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew curriculum.
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SUBARU/IMBA TRAIL CARE CREW SPONSORS 11
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GO YOUR OWN WAY POCAHONTAS TRAILS KEEPS IT REAL
ome mountain bike groups pondering the chapter program have worried that aligning closely with IMBA might bring an unwelcome degree of oversight, especially regarding trail construction. Will our group be instructed to start building flow trails? Do we have to conform to published trail building practices no matter what the local terrain offers? As a founding member, and now the president, of the West Virginia-based IMBA chapter Pocahontas Trails, Eric Lindberg admits he wrestled with some of those concerns. “Our local riding community is pretty small, and we have a strong preference for a certain type of trail,” says Lindberg. “We wanted to become a better organized, more effective organization and becoming a chapter seemed like a good way to achieve those goals—but we did not want to be told to stop building trails the way we like them.” Lindberg’s hometown of Slaty Fork, West Virginia, is adjacent to the Monongahela National Forest, and just a few miles from Snowshoe Resort. The resort has long been a fixture of American mountain biking, hosting competitions from the earliest days of 24-hour races (the Snowshoe event is now defunct). Today, Snowshoe features a modern bike park and nearly 40 trails for all levels of riding, from mellow greens and blues to full-on experts-only descents that challenge even pro downhillers. “When people come here looking for smooth, open and flowing trails we send them right to the resort,” says Lindberg. “They have done a great job putting in more of those kinds of trails. If you want to ride the natural terrain in and around the resort, and the trails in the national forest, you are not going to find much that is suited to beginners. It’s difficult, rocky trail riding with almost non-stop technical demands. A 15-mile ride can take all afternoon.” PRODUCTIVE PARTNERSHIPS
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Lindberg may be a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to riding styles, but that has not stopped the Pocahontas Trails chapter from forming excellent relationships with the leadership of both the Monongahela National Forest and Snowshoe Resort. Nicholas Brown, a Forest Service Recreation and Trails Specialist in the Monongahela’s Marlinton District, says, “We simply couldn’t offer the same quality
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Eric Lindberg is the trails that we have now without the president of the Pocahontas efforts of the Pocahontas Trails IMBA Trails IMBA Chapter. chapter.” Brown cites a recent formal partnership agreement for volunteer work as a critical step forward. “Before the agreement, we did not operate with the same level of communication and trust that we now have,” says Brown. But what about the highly demanding riding style that Lindberg and other local riders prefer—how well does that work on public trails? “The landscape, especially all the natural rock we have, dictates that trails here will be challenging for any type of user,” says Brown. “When the mountain bikers want to add even more difficulty, like a kicker for jumping, I ask that they include an obvious go-around. We meet regularly and make sure that the work is performed at a high standard—I have no complaints about the way they build and maintain trails.”
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Top: Philip Yates tackles a technical West Virginia trail. Bottom: Joanna Yates holds on loosely.
Similarly, Pocahontas Trails has forged a partnership with Snowshoe Resort. Josh Olson, who oversees the resort’s bike park and trails, has the perspective of a seasoned professional who has built trails in locations like Colorado’s Keystone Resort and Minnesota’s Spirit Mountain. “This is a somewhat remote destination from major metro areas, so all of us who live here are in it together,” says Olson. Snowshoe resort continues to expand the onmountain options, making a substantial investment in new beginner and intermediate trails, to the tune of at least $300,000, according to Olson. The resort shares the wealth with the local riding community with solid support for Pocahontas Trails, including granting $1,000 annually for tools, covering all supplies for maintenance work performed on resort property, as well as donating season passes and other items that the chapter can use for prizes at races and events. As with the Monongahela National Forest relationship, an active agreement has helped solidify and expand the ways that Pocahontas Trails and Snowshoe Resort work together. “The agreement calls for the chapter to perform 300 or more hours annually
of volunteer service on the cross-country trails that are located on the resort’s property,” explains Olson. “The trail work must be approved ahead of time, and we generally limit their efforts to maintenance work with hand tools—if machines are involved it’s the bike park crew operators who run them.”
WHAT ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY?
How does the chapter’s emphasis on gnarly, old-school trail riding fit with IMBA’s guidelines for sustainable trail building? “Not every trail we build or work on looks like something from an IMBA instruction manual,” says Lindberg. “Honestly, we do a good amount of building in the old ‘rake and ride’ style, where you just clear the organic matter away from the rocks underneath and there’s your trail. But it holds up here because we do not have an enormous volume of traffic, and also because if we see erosion starting to occur we know how to do the rockwork or rerouting required to address the issue.” For this situation, there’s nothing wrong with that approach, according to Rich Edwards, the associate director of IMBA’s professional trail design and construction arm, Trail Solutions. Based in Richmond, Virginia, Edwards has spent most of his riding and trail building career on the East Coast and is very familiar with West Virginia mountain biking. “Basically, if you don’t like riding rocky trails you’ll never become a mountain biker in places like West Virginia or Western Pennsylvania,” says Edwards. “From a sustainability point of view, the super-rocky trails are basically bombproof. You can ride them in the pouring rain and there will be no sign of your passage. From a construction point of view, IMBA fully embraces and supports the development of technical trails. It all depends on the local riding community making a determination about the type of experience they want to provide and following through on that vision.” For Lindberg, there’s little doubt about what the desired experience is. “I’ve had the thought in the past, maybe we should build a beginner flow trail or something. But I quickly conclude that Snowshoe Resort is going to do a much better job building a big, machinebuilt trail than our little work crew could possibly achieve. We will keep building our style of trail—in total, the different riding options work well together.”
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CORPORATE AND DESTINATION MEMBERS THESE PARTNERS SUPPORT MOUNTAIN BIKING IMBA corporate and destination members are active participants in the mountain bike community and provide essential funding to fuel IMBA’s work. To find out how your company can strengthen engagement with trail users and become a champion for trails, contact development@imba.com.
IMBA U.S. ABOVE & BEYOND Companies in this group go above and beyond their annual membership dues with additional support for IMBA programs and initiatives.
Bicycle Sport Shop Breakaway Research Group CamelBak Products, LLC CLIF Bar CST Tires Dirt Rag Magazine Fox Head, Inc. FOX Racing Shox Interbike Maxxis International Niner Bikes Osprey PeopleForBikes Primal Wear, Inc. Recreation Equipment International (REI) Salsa Cycles - QBP Scott USA Smith Optics Western Spirit Cycling Yakima CORPORATE MEMBERS Big thanks to all current corporate supporters, whose membership drives MTB advocacy and much of our important work.
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360 Adventures 3Point5 - Promotive - Experticity A’ME Grips Adventure Maps, Inc. Advocate Cycles Alchemist Threadworks All Points Real Estate Alyeska Resort Anthill Films Auburn-Opelika Tourism Bajadventours Banks Chiropractic Center, PC Basecamper Vans Bent Creek Lodge Bentonville Convention & Visitors Bureau Bicycle Technologies International - BTI Big Agnes Big Bear Lake Camplands Big Mountain Adventures Bike Fixtation Bike Helena BikeFlights.com
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Bikeschool and Bikeguiding Zermatt BikeTourFinder BikeTours.com Boa Technology Inc. Boulder Business Products Boyne City Michigan Canyons Resort Cascade Huts Cascade Motel and Mini Storage CatEye CatEye Chamois Butt’r Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival City of Fayetteville, AR - Parks & Recreation Department Club Ride Apparel Cog Wild Mountain Bike Tours CopperHarbor.org Country Inn Deerwood Crankjoy.com Crested Butte Mountain Resort Cycling Sports Group, Cannondale Cycle Path & Paddle Cyclesport Philippines Inc Cygolite Da Blue Box, LLC Denver School of Science and Technology Cycling Club Desert Sports Deuter USA DirtBaggies Domahidy Designs DT Swiss, Inc Echo Canyon Resort & Marina ECOS LLC Elk River Guest Ranch Elk River Touring Center Escape Adventures Eureka Springs Parks and Recreation Eyedentity Graphics, Inc Feedback Sports LLC Finish Line Technologies Five Rivers Metro Parks Focus Bicycles USA, Inc. Gates Carbon Drive Giant Bicycle Grand Targhee Resort Green Guru Gear GU Energy Labs Hacienda Nicholas Bed & Breakfast Hampton Inn & Suites - Oxford, AL Handup Gloves Hans Johnsen Company Hawley Company Hayes Bicycle Group Hero Kit Higher Ground Trails Honey Stinger Hot Springs Village Humboldt Underground Bicycle Repair Humid Creative Agency Hydrapak, LLC ICEdot Iceman Promotions, Inc.
J&B Importers Jamis Bicycles/ G. Joannou Cycle Jans Mountain Outfitters Jenson USA Kali Protectives Keystone Bike Park Killington Resort Kitsbow Mountain Bike Wear Light & Motion Industries Louisville Mega Cavern Underground Bike Park Magura USA Marin Mountain Bikes Marquette County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Mavic, Inc. Michelin North America, Inc. Moots Cycles Mountain Bike Diaries MTB Project MTBR.com Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Get-a-way National Bicycle Dealers Association - NBDA National Geographic Maps National Park Service Rivers, Trails & Conservation Assistance Program New Belgium Brewery Nick Joe Rahall, II Appalachian Transportation Institute NoExam.com North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Northern Lights Cannabis Co. Olympic Spine and Sports Therapy One Carbon Bicycles Optic Nerve Oskar Blues Brewery Osprey Packs, Inc Outdoor Industry Association - OIA Panama Trail Builders Assn ParaisoRides Park City Lodging, Inc. Park Tool Paul Component Pearl Izumi Performance Bicycle, Inc. Peru for Less Pica’s Taqueria Pivot Cycles Pivot Cycles Planet Bike Platypus Hydration Pocahontas County Convention & Visitors Bureau Product Architects, Inc. Red Agave Resort Red House Media Redding Convention & Visitor’s Bureau Ritchey Design Roanoke Mountain Adventures, LLC Robert Bosch, LLC Rodale Inc. Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge Santa Cruz Bicycles San Juan Hut System Sedona Real Inn & Suites
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ELITE PARTNERS With annual contributions of $100,000 or more, these supporters make a significant and positive impact for everyone who rides a mountain bike. Bell Long-time corporate supporter Bell Helmets stepped up to the elite level with the 2013 introduction of Bell Built Grants.
SUPPORTING COMPANIES ROLL UP THEIR SLEEVES The companies, destination partners and foundations that join and maintain their IMBA memberships make a big difference for mountain biking. Without their strong support, we would not be able to powerfully leverage the contributions of our individual members. Beyond the financial support that our corporate partners lend, many of them find additional ways to give back. For example, employees of Scott Sports USA recently contributed a dose of sweat equity, digging and shaping features on the Rush Trail in Draper, Utah, not far from their workplace. On a trail workday in May, the Scott crew joined other trail volunteers—including kids from the Lehi High School NICA mountain bike racing team—to improve turns and add rollers. One of the new features, a step-up jump, was even called the, “best trail feature ever,” by a stoked young rider.
Singletracks.com Sinuosity SockGuy Stan’s NoTubes Steamboat Ski & Resort Steamboat Springs Bike Town USA® Initiative Sutter Equipment Company Taos Ski Valley, Inc. Team Hutchings Windermere Real Estate Techno Quest LLC Teton Mountain Bike Tours Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association - TMBRA The Bike Farm The Clymb The Inn at Steamboat The Rock Sports Complex Tools for Trails TrailArts Travel Oregon Trek Travel Troy Lee Designs USA Cycling, Inc. Velohut Inc. Visit Casper Visit Knoxville Voler Team Apparel White Pine Touring Whitefish Bike Retreat Winter Park Resort WTB (Wilderness Trail Bikes) Yeti Cycles Yin Yang House Acupuncture & Wellness Center
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Shimano Shimano American Corporation has supported IMBA advocacy and communications projects for many years. Currently, Shimano provides elite-level support for IMBA’s Mapping Project, featured on MTBProject.com. Specialized Specialized Bicycle Components supports IMBA’s work in many ways, including providing funding for the Public Lands Initiative, IMBA’s California Region and IMBA Europe. SRAM SRAM Corporation and the SRAM Cycling Fund helped launch IMBA’s regional and chapter program in 2011 and 2012. The fund currently broadly supports IMBA’s Public Lands Initiative, IMBA Europe and the Bike Park Initiative. Subaru of America Subaru is the title partner of the Subaru/ IMBA Trail Care Crew program and has been since the program’s inception. Subaru also supports IMBA members through the Subaru-IMBA VIP Purchase Program and is a presenting sponsor of IMBA Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. Trek Trek Bicycle Corporation donates $10 from every full-suspension mountain bike they sell to help fund IMBA’s Trail Building Fund in the U.S. and Canada. Trek is also the official bike of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews. That support has led to hundreds of new miles of trails in local communities and new projects worldwide. Additionally, more than 800 “Game Changer” Trek dealers donate $10 to IMBA for each full-suspension bike sold. 15
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POB 20280, Boulder, CO 80308-3280 USA
NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENVER, CO PERMIT NO. 631
LET’S BUILD GREAT TRAILS! Awesome rewards available Visit imba.com/trail-fund for details
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