Honorary Board

The IMBA honorary board of directors is comprised of high-profile public figures and athletes who endorse and publicly support IMBA's mission to create, enhance and preserve great trail experiences.

	Hill Abell Bicycle Sport Shop in Austin and is one of the founders of both the Austin Ridge Riders, an IMBA-affiliated club, and the Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association. Abell was also a member of the Texas Trails Advisory Board from 1996-2006, during which he helped distribute funding for mountain bike projects statewide. Abell was nominated to the IMBA board of directors in 1993 and was its chairman from 2002-2010. Under his guidance, IMBA launched Trail Solutions, its team of professional trail consultants. Abell was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2007.
	John Burke Lance Armstrong In 1996, as one of the top ranked cyclists in the world, Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer. With the help of his medical team, family and friends, Armstrong recovered and went on to win the elite Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, from 1999 until he retired from racing in 2005. Armstrong has also become a leading advocate in the fight against cancer. The Lance Armstrong Foundation unites people through programs and experiences to support cancer survivors and the fight against cancer. To date, it has raised more than $400 million for the fight against cancer, and has distributed more than 70 million LIVESTRONG wristbands. In 2002, Lance was named Sports Illustrated¹s Sportsman of the Year and has won four ESPY awards for Best Male Athlete as well as an ESPY for Comeback Athlete of the Year in 2000. Lance is the only athlete to have been named AP Athlete of the Year four times in a row (2002-2005) and in 2008 Time Magazine named him one of their 100 Most Influential People. Most recently, Forbes Magazine ranked him the number one Most Influential Athlete in 2010. In 2012 Lance announced his desire to compete in the Ironman series with the goal to participate in the Ironman Championships in October. Lance continues to lead his Foundation to identify the issues faced by cancer survivors and improve quality of life for members of the global cancer community. He has five children and splits his time between Austin, Texas and Aspen, Colorado.John Burke John Burke began working at Trek Bicycle in 1984 and has been president of the company since 1997. In addition to leading Trek, Burke served as chairman of President George W. Bush's President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and is a founding board member of the Bikes Belong Coalition. A native of Madison, WI, Burke is an avid cyclist and runner and has finished Ironman Wisconsin as well as the Boston and New York Marathons. Trek believes that the bicycle can be a simple solution to many of the world's most complex problems, and is committed to breaking down the barriers that prevent people from using bicycles more often for transportation, recreation and inspiration.
	Stan Day Stanley R. Day, Jr. is SRAM’s founder. SRAM is a leading global designer and manufacturer of high-end bicycle components, including the brands SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ, Zipp and Quarq. He has served as CEO since 2007 and as the chairman of the board of directors and president since SRAM’s founding in 1987. Prior to founding SRAM, Day was a marketing manager at Molex Co. for the personal computer and telecom industries. In addition, he currently serves on the board of World Bicycle Relief, a non-profit organization. He holds a B.S. in Management from Tulane University and a Masters in Management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University.
	Steve Flagg Steve Flagg co-founded Quality Bicycle Parts in 1981, starting in a small office in St. Paul, Minnesota. The company has averaged 33 percent growth per year, and has been recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business. In addition to guiding QBP as its CEO, Flagg has devoted countless hours to bicycle advocacy, serving on IMBA's governing board for the maximum number of terms. He is a current director on Bikes Belong's board.
	Juliana Furtado Juliana Furtado raced mountain bikes and managed to accumulate a few titles. She is a two-time World Champion, three-time World Cup Champion and five-time National Champion. Furtado was also very proud to represent the U.S. at mountain biking's initial inclusion in the Olympics at the 1996 Atlanta games. While not out on the trails, Furtado works with Santa Cruz Bicycles promoting her namesake bike, the Juliana, and chases her young son around town.
	Ned Overend Ned Overend has been racing mountain bikes and winning titles for three decades, including being the first UCI XC world champion, a six-time national XC champ, two-time Xterra triathlon world champ and recently—at the age of 55—the 2010 single speed national champ. Overend is an inductee in three halls of fame: mountain bike, U.S. bicycling and Xterra. His contributions to trail advocacy in his hometown of Durango, CO, have been recognized with a mountain bike park being named after him (Overend Mountain Park). He is a board member of Bicycle Colorado and works at Specialized Bicycles in sports marketing and product development.
	Hans Rey Hans Rey is considered a living legend among mountain bikers worldwide. He is a former Trials Biking World Champion and is considered by many to be the pioneer of the freeride movement. He made a name for himself via his trials stunts, including performing at the 1996 Olympic Games closing ceremonies. Rey has traveled to more than 70 countries and has become a global ambassador for our sport. In 2005, he and his wife started the non-profit charity Wheels 4 Life, which provides bicycles to people in need of transportation in developing countries. Rey has been an IMBA supporter from the early days and understands more than most people the importance of mountain-bike-specific trails. From his experiences, he came up with the concept for Flow Country Trails, which he believes can be a big part of the future of our sport. Rey was inducted in the Mountain Biking Hall of Fame in 1999.
	Rebecca Rusch Rebecca Rusch entered the cycling world in 2005 when she transitioned from an illustrious career of adventure racing to ultra-endurance mountain bike racing. She quickly rose to the top of 24-hour solo mountain biking, winning three World Championships (2007-2009). She is also three-time winner of the Leadville 100 race and is the women's course record holder. In 2010-2011 Rusch organized a mountain-town film festival featuring the Race Across the Sky movie with all proceeds benefiting local and national IMBA chapters. Rusch hopes to continuously further the sport of mountain biking, especially its appeal to women and young girls. She founded the Gold Rusch Tour, a six-stop tour around the country that encourages women to "get out and ride." In her spare time, she volunteers as a trail advocate, builder and fundraiser for her local IMBA organization, the Wood River Bicycle Coalition.
	Mike Sinyard Mike Sinyard, the president and founder of Specialized Bicycle Components, was a passionate believer in the mountain bike before anyone knew what the phrase meant. In 1981, Specialized launched the Stumpjumper, the first mass-production mountain bike, bringing the sport of mountain biking into the mainstream. A strong advocate for sustainable trails and transportation, healthier lifestyles and youth programs, Sinyard was an early supporter of IMBA and Bikes Belong. He also helped start the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA). The father of three children, Sinyard loves to ride with family and friends at every opportunity.
	Travis Stork Dr. Travis Stork is an emergency room physician and host of the Emmy-award winning daytime talk show, "The Doctors." He is also a New York Times bestselling author and medical advisor for Men's Health magazine. He bought a mountain bike with his first paycheck out of college and was hooked after only one, off-road ride. He rides his bike to work every day.
	Dave Wiens Dave Wiens has been well-known in the world of mountain bike racing since the late 1980s. Paralleling his competitive career, Wiens has been continually involved with trails and trail advocacy. He raced professionally for nearly 20 years, collecting two World Cup wins, two U.S. National Championship titles and six Leadville Trail 100 victories. In 2006, Wiens founded the non-profit Gunnison Trails, where he currently serves as executive director. Along with maintaining existing trails and educating trail users, Gunnison Trails proposes and works toward the creation of new trails and trail systems. Wiens is also the advocacy director for Ergon, a German firm that designs and manufactures ergonomic cycling components and accessories. Wiens lives in Gunnison, CO, with his wife, Susan DeMattei, also a former professional mountain biker and 1996 Olympic bronze medalist, and their three sons.