News Briefs

IMBA Trail News
Volume 16, Number 5
Winter 2003

Attend the '04 IMBA Summit

Mountain biking advocacy leaders, top federal land managers and key representatives from trail and conservation groups around the world will gather June 4-8 at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, for the 2004 IMBA Mountain Bike Advocacy Summit. The summit will feature seminars on key advocacy issues, including mountain biking on federal public land, urban trail conflicts, Wilderness and grassroots mobilization. Attendees will also spend a day in Washington, D.C., meeting with members of Congress in support of key mountain biking initiatives. This will be the largest IMBA event in our 16-year history. It's open to all mountain bikers and government officials; registration will be limited to 450 people. More details, including registration information, will be available soon at imba.com.

IMBA Staff Changes Announced

IMBA is pleased to announce several staff promotions that will strengthen our access and advocacy work. First, Scott Linnenburger and Aaryn Kay, two-year Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew veterans, have moved to Boulder, Colorado, to tackle fulltime IMBA in-house positions. Scott is managing the growing IMBA Trail Solutions professional trailbuilding program and Aaryn now coordinates the acclaimed Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew. Kevin Stein, a four-year mainstay in IMBA's membership department, has been promoted to Membership Manager. He's focusing on recruiting and renewing individual members-a key function for our organization. Brandon Dwight is tackling a new IMBA staff position: Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator. Brandon, who managed IMBA Sprockids in 2003, is working closely with our state reps, club leaders and other field advocates to provide assistance and enhance communication. He's also managing IMBA's National Mountain Bike Patrol (where he'll benefit from Stein's continuing guidance). Avery Stonich, who did a great job of coordinating our Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew in 2003, left IMBA in November to join a Colorado advertising agency called 'Nuff Said.

IMBA Backs National Bike Summit

The fourth annual National Bike Summit, hosted by the League of American Bicyclists, will be held in Washington, D.C., March 3-5, 2004. Mountain bicyclists are encouraged to attend and help power this focused effort by the national bike community to lobby Congress on critical bike advocacy issues. With the reauthorization of the federal transportation bill still pending congressional approval, it is imperative that mountain bicyclists support the Recreational Trails and Transportation Enhancements programs and protect the approximately $600 million annually appropriated to bike path, bike lane and dirt trail projects. The National Bike Summit combines educational seminars, advocacy training, lobbying Congress and culminates with a bike ride with the Congressional Bike Caucus. IMBA is a proud sponsor of this event. For more info, contact the League of American Bicyclists at 202-822-1333 or visit www.bikeleague.org.

Changes in Sprockids Program

Sprockids founder Doug Detwiller resumed general management of this successful kids riding program in January. IMBA provided day-to-day program coordination and financial support for two years, but will not be able to fulfill this role in the near future. IMBA will continue to promote and endorse this important effort. Detwiller will focus on his pioneering Sprockids Coastriders club in British Columbia and he'll provide guidance to other Sprockids clubs in the U.S., Canada and abroad. Detwiller can be reached at: or you can visit www.sprockids.com. IMBA will honor all Sprockids club memberships through 2004. Sprockids clubs that would like to continue to receive IMBA club benefits, including affordable liability insurance, are encouraged to renew as regular IMBA mountain bike clubs after their Sprockids club membership expires. For details contact: .

Kona/IMBA Freeriding Grants

Mountain bike groups looking to develop technical riding will soon benefit from a new grant program focused on building challenging trails. In 2004, Kona and IMBA will award five cash grants to fund the development of freeriding, downhilling, and dirt jumping projects. IMBA affiliated clubs are invited to apply for five $500 awards. The application deadline is March 1, 2004, and the grants will be awarded in April. Funding for the program comes from Kona and the Kona/IMBA Bowling Party, an annual Las Vegas fundraiser held during Interbike, the bicycle industry trade show. The program's goal is to support the development of freeriding opportunities on public land. Grants will be used for a variety of purposes, including gaining land manager approval, addressing liability concerns, trail and stunt construction, trailhead kiosks and signage, and freeride organization building. For more information, or to apply please visit imba.com/resources/grants.

IMBA/Jack Doub Memorial Fund

IMBA recently established an endowment in the name of teenage mountain biker and member, Jack Doub of North Carolina. Doub died after complications from an injury received during practice for the Snowshoe (West Virginia) NORBA National downhill race in June 2002.

Jack started riding at age 11 and won nearly every cross-country race he entered during the next two years. At 13, he began racing downhill, with equal success. Jack took second at the 2002 NORBA Snowshoe (NCS event) in junior expert dual slalom. His accident occurred the next day in downhill training.

Despite all of Jack's skill and accomplishments, his greatest strength was involving and encouraging others to ride, especially children. Jack simply wanted others to encounter and love life and mountain biking as much as he did. His family and friends have established the IMBA/Jack Doub Memorial Fund to encourage kids to ride their bicycles. For more information, visit http://www.imba.com.

REI/IMBA Outdoor Stewardship Toolkits

Mountain bike groups coast-to-coast will soon receive a substantial boost for their volunteer trailwork projects, as a result of a $25,000 grant from Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) and IMBA. In December, REI and IMBA selected 50 mountain bike clubs as recipients of REI/IMBA Outdoor Stewardship Toolkits. Each toolkit includes tools, signage, clothes and educational materials. During 2003, IMBA's network of 450 affiliated clubs and 32,000 individual members performed more than 1 million hours of volunteer trailwork and built nearly 1,000 miles of new trails. IMBA and REI anticipate that the outdoor stewardship toolkits will motivate clubs to organize even more volunteer projects in 2004. REI, founded in 1938 as a consumer co-op by a group of Pacific Northwest mountaineers, is a national retailer of quality outdoor products. For a list of grant recipients visit imba.com.

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	News Briefs IMBA Trail News Volume 16, Number 5 Winter 2003 Attend the '04 IMBA Summit Mountain biking advocacy leaders, top federal land managers and key representatives from trail and conservation groups around the world will gather June 4-8 at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, for the 2004 IMBA Mountain Bike Advocacy Summit. The summit will feature seminars on key advocacy issues, including mountain biking on federal public land, urban trail conflicts, Wilderness and grassroots mobilization. Attendees will also spend a day in Washington, D.C., meeting with members of Congress in support of key mountain biking initiatives. This will be the largest IMBA event in our 16-year history. It's open to all mountain bikers and government officials; registration will be limited to 450 people. More details, including registration information, will be available soon at imba.com. IMBA Staff Changes Announced IMBA is pleased to announce several staff promotions that will strengthen our access and advocacy work. First, Scott Linnenburger and Aaryn Kay, two-year Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew veterans, have moved to Boulder, Colorado, to tackle fulltime IMBA in-house positions. Scott is managing the growing IMBA Trail Solutions professional trailbuilding program and Aaryn now coordinates the acclaimed Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew. Kevin Stein, a four-year mainstay in IMBA's membership department, has been promoted to Membership Manager. He's focusing on recruiting and renewing individual members-a key function for our organization. Brandon Dwight is tackling a new IMBA staff position: Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator. Brandon, who managed IMBA Sprockids in 2003, is working closely with our state reps, club leaders and other field advocates to provide assistance and enhance communication. He's also managing IMBA's National Mountain Bike Patrol (where he'll benefit from Stein's continuing guidance). Avery Stonich, who did a great job of coordinating our Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew in 2003, left IMBA in November to join a Colorado advertising agency called 'Nuff Said. IMBA Backs National Bike Summit The fourth annual National Bike Summit, hosted by the League of American Bicyclists, will be held in Washington, D.C., March 3-5, 2004. Mountain bicyclists are encouraged to attend and help power this focused effort by the national bike community to lobby Congress on critical bike advocacy issues. With the reauthorization of the federal transportation bill still pending congressional approval, it is imperative that mountain bicyclists support the Recreational Trails and Transportation Enhancements programs and protect the approximately $600 million annually appropriated to bike path, bike lane and dirt trail projects. The National Bike Summit combines educational seminars, advocacy training, lobbying Congress and culminates with a bike ride with the Congressional Bike Caucus. IMBA is a proud sponsor of this event. For more info, contact the League of American Bicyclists at 202-822-1333 or visit www.bikeleague.org. Changes in Sprockids Program Sprockids founder Doug Detwiller resumed general management of this successful kids riding program in January. IMBA provided day-to-day program coordination and financial support for two years, but will not be able to fulfill this role in the near future. IMBA will continue to promote and endorse this important effort. Detwiller will focus on his pioneering Sprockids Coastriders club in British Columbia and he'll provide guidance to other Sprockids clubs in the U.S., Canada and abroad. Detwiller can be reached at: or you can visit www.sprockids.com. IMBA will honor all Sprockids club memberships through 2004. Sprockids clubs that would like to continue to receive IMBA club benefits, including affordable liability insurance, are encouraged to renew as regular IMBA mountain bike clubs after their Sprockids club membership expires. For details contact: . Kona/IMBA Freeriding Grants Mountain bike groups looking to develop technical riding will soon benefit from a new grant program focused on building challenging trails. In 2004, Kona and IMBA will award five cash grants to fund the development of freeriding, downhilling, and dirt jumping projects. IMBA affiliated clubs are invited to apply for five $500 awards. The application deadline is March 1, 2004, and the grants will be awarded in April. Funding for the program comes from Kona and the Kona/IMBA Bowling Party, an annual Las Vegas fundraiser held during Interbike, the bicycle industry trade show. The program's goal is to support the development of freeriding opportunities on public land. Grants will be used for a variety of purposes, including gaining land manager approval, addressing liability concerns, trail and stunt construction, trailhead kiosks and signage, and freeride organization building. For more information, or to apply please visit imba.com/resources/grants. IMBA/Jack Doub Memorial Fund IMBA recently established an endowment in the name of teenage mountain biker and member, Jack Doub of North Carolina. Doub died after complications from an injury received during practice for the Snowshoe (West Virginia) NORBA National downhill race in June 2002. Jack started riding at age 11 and won nearly every cross-country race he entered during the next two years. At 13, he began racing downhill, with equal success. Jack took second at the 2002 NORBA Snowshoe (NCS event) in junior expert dual slalom. His accident occurred the next day in downhill training. Despite all of Jack's skill and accomplishments, his greatest strength was involving and encouraging others to ride, especially children. Jack simply wanted others to encounter and love life and mountain biking as much as he did. His family and friends have established the IMBA/Jack Doub Memorial Fund to encourage kids to ride their bicycles. For more information, visit http://www.imba.com. REI/IMBA Outdoor Stewardship Toolkits Mountain bike groups coast-to-coast will soon receive a substantial boost for their volunteer trailwork projects, as a result of a $25,000 grant from Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) and IMBA. In December, REI and IMBA selected 50 mountain bike clubs as recipients of REI/IMBA Outdoor Stewardship Toolkits. Each toolkit includes tools, signage, clothes and educational materials. During 2003, IMBA's network of 450 affiliated clubs and 32,000 individual members performed more than 1 million hours of volunteer trailwork and built nearly 1,000 miles of new trails. IMBA and REI anticipate that the outdoor stewardship toolkits will motivate clubs to organize even more volunteer projects in 2004. REI, founded in 1938 as a consumer co-op by a group of Pacific Northwest mountaineers, is a national retailer of quality outdoor products. For a list of grant recipients visit imba.com.


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