International Mountain Bicycling Association

🤘 Spring 2024 Membership Drive Prize Winners 🤘 Congrats to the 6 winners from across the country, and a huge thank you to everyone who joined or renewed their membership during the month of May—your support helps us move trails forward! Brian Johnson - Trail Pittsburgh Garrett Tarian-Toth - National Supporter Malcolm Fox - Central Michigan Mountain Bike Association Darryl Ray - Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers (BUMP) Amy Mahoney - Augusta-GA and Aiken-SC (CSRA) John Hallman - Black Hills Mountain Bike Association (BHMBA)

We are excited to announce an upcoming conference dedicated to empowering local grassroots affiliates and partner organizations! This event is designed to help you "Level Up" in key areas such as fundraising, programming, stewardship, and community engagement—essentials for creating and sustaining thriving trail communities. Check out the agenda & learn more about this event: https://lnkd.in/gSK_Y5PJ

The trail stewards of Ashbury Woods in Erie, Pennsylvania, recently leveled up their trail knowledge alongside IMBA veteran Joey Klein. Read more about this Trail Care School from the perspective of one of our IMBA team members who’d not yet experienced one of these trainings in person: https://lnkd.in/g36_BCpS

Few parts of the United States can rival what Bellingham means to the mountain bike industry. Bellingham is home to just under 100,000 people and is surrounded on all sides by staggeringly beautiful landscapes, from the Salish Sea to the west to Mount Baker and the North Cascades to the east, and all manner of lush PNW greenery in virtually every direction. The city sits 20 minutes south of the Canadian border, providing quick and easy access to a whole slew of world-class options in British Columbia, and conversely, is the first stop for Canadians trekking into the States looking for fresh stashes of trail. Brice Shirbach ventured up to this tippy top of the northwest corner of the United States for his latest edition of “Mountain Bikers Riding Bikes, Talking Trails” – read more about a few of the stewards that keep these trails in top riding shape.

There’s a new bike day in the future for one lucky rider. IMBA is helping communities across the country create and enhance great places to ride in the dirt, and the Pivot Cycles Trail 429 is a great bike for all of those places. We’ve partnered together for a win-win opportunity for all mountain bikers. By entering this sweepstakes, you’ll support IMBA’s mission and have a chance to win a Pivot Trail 429. See the details: https://lnkd.in/gbFTFZ2c

IMBA Trail Solutions is back in Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia! This build team is revamping the nearly mile-long advanced downhill run known as “Missing Link” with some fresh shaping of that signature East Coast dirt.

“In the era of the CCC, trail development followed the tenets of environmental sustainability – the trail should keep users on it and have as little impact on the surrounding land as possible. In recent years, the idea of the triple bottom line has been incorporated into trail development. Sustainability can only happen if it checks out to be good environmentally, economically, and socially. Simply put, trails should not erode too quickly, and they should meet the needs of the users while providing economic benefits to surrounding communities, many of which have been struggling due to industry changes in the previous decades.” - Kristian Jackson Kristian recently penned “Sustaining Momentum in The New Golden Age of Trails” in which he discusses how the three ranger districts in Western North Carolina are working to achieve this new balance of sustainability:  https://lnkd.in/g5aWtzUr

Dozer or Mini Ex? Our IMBA Trail Solutions team uses both, but for different reasons and in different ecosystems. Hear directly from one of our lead operators, Tylor, about the pros for building in a high desert environment, like Pioche, Nevada where one of our teams is wrapping up now, with a dozer.

Five pump tracks installed and ready to ride in five consecutive days? Sounds like a pipe dream! In April 2024, five Navajo Nation communities made it happen through cooperative planning, committed partnerships, and iron will. Communities that partnered to receive the new pump tracks include Crownpoint and Navajo Township in New Mexico; and Nazlini, Hard Rock, and Kayenta in Arizona. Led by Lisa Chee, Acting Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Coordinator, the Navajo Area Indian Health Services initiated a vision for the project, tying access to pump tracks to increased physical activity, health, and connection for people of all ages in Navajo communities. They also secured the funding through grants from Indian Health Service Health Promotion/Disease Prevention program and Outride. IMBA Community Engagement Specialist Joey Klein and Navajo Nation Coordinator Laura Johnson provided on the ground consulting. American Ramp Company’s Perry Ramsey ran the installation of their composite, modular pump track systems. Silver Stallion’s Shaun Price was on the ground, documenting the process and outcomes. Each community coordinated the clearing of the land and preparing of the sites with leadership from local trails organizations such as K’é Community Trails of Crownpoint, NM. Congratulations to these communities on making this happen, and the investments in biking infrastructure that increases opportunities for more bodies moving and age-inclusive fun on two wheels! https://lnkd.in/gYjDEu7R

Another solid trail care & trail management training on the books for U.S. Forest Service Region 5! Last week in the Cleveland National Forest, federal land managers from three districts of the U.S. Forest Service gathered on Thursday & Friday with IMBA’s Chris Orr to spend time in the classroom and in the field learning the fundamentals of trail care: assessment, clinometer reading, tool basics & best practices, knicks, rolling grade dips, and more. The next two days (Saturday and Sunday), stewards from the Laguna Mountain Volunteer Association and San Diego Mountain Biking Association joined county and city land managers from San Diego to learn the same techniques. And the trails in the Cleveland and San Diego County are better for it! More on this coming together in the coming weeks!