IMBA to Host Final 2003 Wild Ride at Feather Falls December 6
For Immediate Release
11-04-03
Contact: Jenn Dice, IMBA government affairs director
303-545-9011
The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) has hosted a series of mountain bike rides, called IMBA Wild Rides throughout 2003, to showcase trails that could be lost to potential Wilderness designations. Recently re-introduced Congressional legislation calls for 2.5 million acres of California public land to be reclassified as federal Wilderness. Bicycle use is categorically prohibited in Wilderness areas. Many of the proposed areas contain popular mountain bike trails that cyclists have ridden for years.
Each IMBA Wild Ride is designed to celebrate the spirit of mountain bicycling and increase awareness of great trails and lands that need protection from development, but not specifically through Wilderness designations that ban bicycle use.
The final IMBA Wild Ride for 2003 will be Saturday, Dec. 6 at Feather Falls near Oroville, California. Feather Falls, the sixth highest waterfall in the U.S., provides a spectacular backdrop for some classic singletrack. Riders will enjoy a nine-mile loop of fun and challenging singletrack. The trail winds through the 15,000-acre Feather Falls Scenic Area located in the Plumas National Forest. Local cyclists are concerned that the entire ride and many more miles of trail around Lake Oroville maybe closed to bicycling due to Wilderness designations. IMBA and local cyclists want these trails protected from development but not through formal Wilderness. For more detailed information or to register for the ride click here.
IMBA hosted six Wild Rides in 2003: Condor Peak, Grouse Ridge, White Mountains (Near Bishop), South Fork of the Trinity/Chinquapin, Mount Lola/Castle Peak and Mill Creek. Stay tuned for more IMBA Wild Rides in 2004 including events at King Range (Lost Coast) and Antelope Creek.
To learn more about IMBA's work to save trails in California or to view a detailed list of land being considered for Wilderness designation visit http://www.imba.com. IMBA could support about half of the areas being considered for Wilderness as they do not overlap mountain biking trails. IMBA is focusing on the proposed Wilderness areas that conflict with significant riding opportunities. We advocate boundary adjustments and/or alternative types of protection to keep these areas wild and open to mountain biking.
IMBA is a national and international education and advocacy organization with 500 member clubs, 32,000 individual members, and more than 400 corporate partners and dealer members. IMBA creates, enhances and preserves trail opportunities for mountain bikers worldwide. In 1988, five California mountain biking clubs created IMBA.
Today, more than 60 bicycling clubs in California are IMBA affiliated. California bicycle manufacturing, retailing, tourism and publishing businesses generate an estimated $2 billion per year in economic activity.
