New Crew Helps the Trails

IMBA Trail News
Volume 13, Number 2
Early Summer 2000

Jen and Rich Edwards. the new Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew No. 3, have called many places home. They left their roots in Pennsylvania and upstate New York to spend years living car-free in Washington D.C. Four years at City Bikes as shop rats and eventually managers got them started in the bike industry. Determined to use their bikes not just for commuting and play, they also worked as couriers.

"Nothing moves through D.C. faster than a courier with a rush delivery," says Rich.

Volunteering as trail stewards in Rock Creek Park introduced them to working with land managers. Rainy days spent working on the park trails gave them an understanding of water and erosion.

They escaped the urban lifestyle with a self-supported, mostly off-road trek through the Appalachians and west across the Rockies to Moab. A winter spent in Tucson working as tech support for Intuit software was followed by two blissful summers in Slatyfork, West Virginia, working as guides for Elk River Touring Center. In the Monongahela National Forest they developed their trailbuilding skills working with the local US Forest Service ranger district and with IMBA's Trails Resource Director Kurt Loheit. While trekking the hills and hollows of Gauley Mountain looking for future trail alignments to develop, they found a companion in the form of Sasha, their speedy rat terrier.

As the leaves fell last fall they returned to Tucson to work for Arizona Off-Road Adventures and explore the rides of the desert Southwest. While in Arizona, they attended another trailbuilding school and learned about desert trailbuilding and revegetation.

Rich and Jen are now based out of a blue, 2000 Subaru Outback which transports them all over the eastern half of the United States. They look forward to many moons of trailwork and riding on the right coast.