Lessons from the Desert

IMBA Trail News
Volume 15, Number 2
Early Summer 2002

Ask just about anyone who attended the April IMBA Summit in Moab, Utah, if the event was successful and the answer would be "yes." Our Summit - the biggest gathering in IMBA's 14-year history--attracted 170 leaders of mountain bike groups, government agencies and conservation organizations to the banks of the Colorado River for three solid days of brainstorming, networking and fun.

Smooth logistics, dynamic speakers and high-quality dialogue are important. But the true measure of the IMBA Summit will be its contribution to improved mountain bike access and advocacy. We won't know exactly what that is for several years because so much of our collective work can only be measured over time. But several positive trends and promising developments were evident during the Summit. Here are a few:

• Federal agencies increasingly hold IMBA and all mountain bike advocates in high regard. Our trailbuilding and trail management knowledge is respected. We're known for presenting ideas and strategies clearly and dynamically. We're viewed as professional...and up and coming. This growing reputation will speed the development of new trails.
• The quality of work performed by IMBA state reps and affiliated clubs has never been higher. No one group or region has a monopoly on great ideas: they're coming from all over the world. Grassroots advocacy is usually the key factor in shaping trail access. When it's strong, access improves. Today, it's stronger than ever.
• Success stories of mountain bike tourism are taking shape all over the globe. Trail tourism is a growing business - and not only in well-known mountain regions laced with great trails. Where mountain biking stimulates jobs and sales tax revenues, government officials and civic leaders are likely to support it.
• Freeriding, extreme downhilling and stunt-riding can be embraced and supported by our movement. The keys are ensuring environmental protection and creating special use areas that provide great challenge in controlled environments. We need to get kids on bikes. Our sport needs a new generation of enthusiasts. All mountain biking must be environmentally responsible and sustainable. Finding ways to support new types of riding is one key way to assure mountain biking's future. We have the imagination and creativity to do it.
• IMBA is securing new partners for tangible partnerships. We're working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers; the Bureau of Reclamation; Rivers, Trails & Conservation Assistance branch of the National Park Service and Forest Enterprise in the United Kingdom. The focus is new and better trail opportunities--in many cases on land where mountain biking has not been promoted or even considered.

These five points are just the tip of the iceberg (or could I say, just the trailhead of a 100-mile stacked-loop trail system?). During the next few months, we'll post the key Summit ideas and outcomes on our website.

We learned a lot in the desert. Now the challenge is putting those lessons to work in our backyards.

- Tim Blumenthal