News Shorts

IMBA Trail News
Volume 13, Number 2
Early Summer 2000

1. New Trails: Chicago

   Persistence pays. After five years of arduous negotiations and countless hours of volunteer trailwork, the Chicago Area Mountain Bikers (CAMBR) have reached an agreement with the Cook County Forest Preserve District (FPD) to identify and construct a designated trail system. The new trails will be located in Palos Hills, a popular suburban Chicago riding area featuring about 40 miles of wooded, rolling singletrack. The new trails had originally been agreed to five years ago - however, an influx of controversial social trails built in recent years stalled the process. CAMBR, a chapter of the IMBA regional club RIDE, reasoned with the FPD that the illegal trail building had increased because the county had not moved forward quickly to develop and mark the proposed system. Work on the new trails officially began April 16.

2. Teetering on a Totter in BC

   British Columbia's South Island Mountain Bicycling Association (SIMBS) is constructing a technical training area near the trailhead at Hartland Park outside Victoria that will offer bridges, teeter-totters and ramps for riders of all abilities. The training area is a response to recent trail closures of North Shore-style riding at Hartland. The now-closed trails were built without permission from the local land agency group, Capital Region District Parks (CRD). SIMBS has a mandate with the CRD to ensure that trails are authorized and environmentally sustainable. They are developing a proposal for trails that include manmade structures at Hartland. Info: www.coastnet.com/~simbs

3. NOC Conference Returns in 2000

   In what has quickly become a premier North American trailbuilding and advocacy event, the highly acclaimed Nantahala Outdoor Center/IMBA Land Managers Workshop and Trailbuilding School is returning in 2000. This year's conference will be held November 8-12 at this western North Carolina resort (www.nocweb.com) in the Appalachian Mountains. The Land Managers Workshop teaches valuable trail skills to land managers - ranging from tips on designing a mountain bike trail network to how to best handle conflicts between user groups. The Trailbuilding School features a full day of trailbuilding instruction from IMBA experts, including IMBA Trails Resource Director Kurt Loheit and Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew No.3 Jen and Rich Edwards. On day two, participants will build a trail near the Nantahala Outdoor Center. The surrounding mountains also offer phenomenal riding opportunities, so grab your chamois, work gloves and notebook and head to NOC. E-mail for details.

4. NEMBA to Reclaim Wetland

   The Cape Cod Chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA) has been working to build trails for mountain bikers and preserve one of the planet's most endangered natural resources - wetlands. Within the boundaries of Town Forest, a 147-acre multi-use trail system, an old fire road on a steep hill has contributed to erosion and silt build-up in a wetland area. NEMBA and the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew examined the area and decided on a course of action: reroute the road, fortify the eroded area and replace approximately 64,000 cubic feet of soil. Wetlands are valuable environments for flood control, filtering out pollutants and recharging ground water aquifers. They also provide a habitat for various amphibians and invertebrates. Estimated completion of the project is summer '00. Info: www.nemba.org

5. Trail Grant in the Tetons

   Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, tucked in the vertical Teton Range of Wyoming, has received a $23,920 National Recreation Trails grant to create a network of mountain biking and hiking trails at the base of the resort. The trails will be free to the public. Trail construction is expected to begin this summer. More info:

6. New Trails - 52 Miles! - in Tennessee

   The Northeast Tennessee Mountain Bike Association (NTMBA) has helped open 52 whopping miles of singletrack in the Watauga District of the Cherokee National Forest. The trails, which feature long climbs and tight, technical singletrack, are the product of a 13-month planning effort by the NTMBA and the local USFS district. The highlight is the Laurel Fork trail, a singletrack that has 18 stream crossings in five miles. In a little more than a year since its inception, the 175-member NTMBA has become one of IMBA's most active clubs, featuring weekly rides and frequent trailbuilding sessions. For more info:

7. Roanoke Cyclists Fight for Trails

   When local mountain bikers approached the Roanoke, Virginia, City Council in 1997 with a proposal to open Carvin's Cove - a 13,000-acre watershed near the city - to mountain bikers, the answer was a resounding NO. Confident that council concerns about environmental protection could be addressed, cyclists didn't give up. They conducted a well-organized letter-writing and phone campaign to convince the council to establish a citizen's committee to study the idea. This spring the citizen's group came back with their recommendations: they strongly supported non-motorized recreation at the Cove, including mountain biking. The Roanoke City Council will make a new decision regarding access to the Cove later this year. Call East Coasters Bike Shop 540-774-7933 for info.

8. Minnesota Kids Get Trails

   IMBA members are building great new trails worldwide, including rural Hutchinson, Minnesota. In the late '80s, Phil Schweizer cultivated a 7.5km mountain bike track at the Crow Nordic Center, and he continues to manage the area for public use. In '95, he co-founded the Mcleod Trail Development Foundation. Recently, the foundation donated a 17-acre parcel of undeveloped land within Hutchinson to the city on the condition that it be used for cycling. Phil wants "a riding area where kids can ride trails after school." - submitted by Michelle Steiner

9. Loheit Wins Award

   IMBA Trails Resource Director Kurt Loheit received a national Medallion Award in April from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) for his work at Bolsa Chica Wetlands near Huntington Beach, California. Loheit and his volunteer associates, the Bolsa Chica Stewards, were recognized in an Earth Day ceremony for their outstanding work on trail design, erosion mitigation, native plant restoration and volunteer organization. Other 2000 ASLA Medallion award winners include Central Park (New York), Monticello (Virginia), Yosemite National Park and Disneyland (both California).

10. IMBA Sponsors Trail Symposium

    IMBA has become a sponsor of the 15th National Trails Symposium, which will be held September 21-24, 2000 in Redding, California. IMBA staff and board members will present papers, serve on panels and provide training at this important trails event, which is held every other year. For more information or to register, call American Trails at 520-632-1140 or visit www.americantrails.org

11. Memorial Fund Established

    The Gerrit Hamilton Memorial Fund has been established to honor an 18-year-old Montana mountain biker who passed away recently in a cycling accident involving a truck on the open road. Gerrit, from Missoula, was an avid racer who competed in the NORBA National downhill race last year in Deer Valley, Utah. The Hamilton family plans to donate a portion of the memorial fund to IMBA in Gerrit's name. Gerrit Hamilton Memorial Fund, PO Box 412, Lolo, MT 59847