Hansi Johnson's blog

So we are watching history happen as we speak.

The Rock Sports Complex is starting to take shape.  This will be the first full service, private Bike Park in the Midwest.  Folks in the Milwaukee area are going to see that the Ray's phenomenon go summer and they are super stoked!

Well folks its that time of the year again.

Time to start thinking about congregating, riding bikes, and telling each other tall tales about things we have built and will be building!

This will be our THIRD regional summit.  Pretty amazing to think how far the region has come in the past four years.  I am especially happy with this seasons Summit as it will be held on the trail system that has perhaps the deepest roots in our region.  The CAMBA Trails.

For the past four years as IMBA’s Midwest Regional Director, I have been tasked with supporting off-road cyclists in building and maintaining trails. This work has not always been easy as each state has its own set of challenges.  But one thing is for sure, good help is always appreciated, and moves us closer to better mountain biking.

Two years ago, the Wisconsin Bicycle Federation approached me with the idea of a partnership, one that shared a vision for Off Road Cycling in Wisconsin as well as membership.

Some great words via Reed Smidt of the Minnesota Off Road Cyclists on Mountain Bike Radio on why to vote Midwest for the Bell Built Grants!  So far we have all three midwest projects in the running for the grants!

This is not about good versus evil.  Or about us versus them.  Norwegian versus Swede or even 29er versus 26er.

This is about shrugging off a wet heavy stereotype.  Like pulling off a rain drenched cycling jacket after getting caught in an unexpected maelstrom 2 hours into a six hour ride.

Partnerships are what make change possible.  Perhaps the best example of that for me was this season, when IMBA, Trek and the Copper Harbor Trails Club partnered to bring Aaron LaRoque and Andrew Shandro to the Keweenaw.

So while working at IMBA I have often heard the word "Friendraising" tossed around versus "Fundraising".  Meaning that is most often relationships that raise money for your cause versus knocking on doors.  I have seen this in action many times in the last four years but the last version was pretty awesome. Greg Maino is a person I met years ago while I was working for Current Designs as he was an employee at Downwind Sports in Houghton, MI.

Whew.

Man what a weekend!

Yup.

This could be the most exciting thing I have seen take shape in my three years of working with IMBA.  That says A LOT as Cuyuna, Copper Harbor and CAMBA and MORC have had some pretty major things to jump up and down over!  Right now we have 30 folks signed up for the school which starts on Friday the 21st of September at Spirit Mountain.