Pay Dirt program hits Colorado

IMBA Trail News
Volume 12, Number 2
May 1999

More mountain bike riders will soon be volunteering to maintain Colorado's trails. A group of pro, semi-pro, and expert racers have banded together to bring the Pay Dirt program to the state. Designed to encourage mountain bike racers to participate in trail maintenance and advocacy, the program llows racers to earn points in the Colorado Off Road Point Series (CORPS) series by performing trail work.

The Pay Dirt concept, which originated in New Jersey by JORBA's Sarah Frost, has prompted the development of similar Pay Dirt programs in five areas throughout the United States.

How does it work? Participants can earn first place points in the CORPS series (one time only) by volunteering five hours of time with any trail organization. All volunteer work that benefits trails will qualify. However, the work must be done with an official organization such as an IMBA affiliated mountain bike club or government agency.

The program was officially introduced at the '98 Keystone CORPS finals and was met with great enthusiasm and support from most everyone. In fact, a father/son duo, Russell and Braden Kapius of Littleton, Colorado, have become the first participants in the program. They each performed eight hours of work on the famous Flume Trail in Fraser, Colorado under the guidance of the USDA Forest Service.

The program won a Trail Tune-Up grant from NORBA to help fund administrative expenses.

More information on Colorado Pay Dirt can be found at www.boa-mtb.org/paydirt/ .