2006 Annual Report

IMBA Trail News
Volume 20, Number 1
Spring 2007

It's Time to Ride

By Hill Abell, IMBA President

With new opportunities and challenges presenting themselves almost daily, it's always difficult for the staff and board at IMBA to look back at the year past. Nonetheless, it's an important exercise that helps us understand where we're going. This issue of Trail News will highlight many of the successes from 2006, ones that we are honored to share with our fellow advocates and supporters.

IMBA has long strived to fulfill the "international" part of our title. In 2006, we confirmed IMBA's global reach with the success of our International Summit, held in Whistler, B.C., in June. With more than 400 delegates in attendance representing 17 different countries, the Whistler Summit addressed a wide range of topics, such as "Building Trails in Urban Ecosystems," "Reaching Out to Women Riders" and "Managing Risk with Trail Design." Everyone at the summit was astonished at the breadth of riding styles offered at that mountain community, and we all came away with fresh ideas on how to make our home areas more bicycle friendly.

Building the effectiveness of our network of IMBA-affiliated clubs was a major focus in '06. There would be no IMBA without the staunch support of the hundreds of local and regional mountain bike clubs across the globe. We recognize that the most successful clubs are often the ones with full-time leadership, so we are committed to generating resources so clubs can hire paid staff, or have access to an IMBA staff member based in their region. Thanks to the generous support of Specialized Bicycles we now have a staff member in California who has bolstered our ability to successfully advocate for trail access with land managers and who provides much needed support for our volunteers. We intend to replicate that success in several key regions across the country.

A core tenet of IMBA's mission is to create and enhance trails, and we're doing that in a big way with Trails Solutions, our fee-based trailbuilding arm. Building on the success of the Subaru Trail Care Crews, Trail Solutions offers planning, design and construction services, implemented by masters of the craft. From the King Range in Northern California to State Parks in Maryland, Trail Solutions creates must-ride trail experiences, and the demand for these services is growing exponentially.

IMBA has another home run in the publishing world with our new book Managing Mountain Biking: IMBA's Guide to Great Riding. Building on the success of Trail Solutions: IMBA's Guide to Sweet Singletrack, the new book offers an essential collection of best practices for planning, designing and managing successful trail networks and bike parks.

Please read on to learn more about IMBA's accomplishments last year. We have some really big goals for '07 that we hope will keep you stoked about hitting the trail with us.

It's Time to Ride,
Hill Abell

IMBA Financials

By Erik Esborg, Finance Director

IMBA continued its steady growth rate in 2006, marking our most successful year ever. With particular thanks to the bourgeoning success of our Trail Solutions program, we took in more than $2.5 million. Support from individuals was the strongest in IMBA's 18-year history. As you can see from the charts on these pages, IMBA is putting those funds to good use, delivering on-the-ground programs that support mountain bikers and mountain bike clubs around the globe. With your help, we're aiming to exceed $3 million in revenues and contributions in 2007. Many thanks for your valued support!

IMBA 2006 Revenue Growth
IMBA 2006 Annul and Legal Funds
IMBA 2006 Spending
IMBA 2006 Total Income
IMBA 2006 Expenditures

10 Things IMBA Did for You in 2006

1) Heroes.

We celebrated five heroic trail advocates through the FOX/IMBA Heroes program: Jay Jones (NJ), James Brown (BC), Mark Flint (AZ), Mike Vitti (NY) and Bill Victor (SC). Turn to page 12 to read about the first inductee of 2007.

2) Summit.

The 2006 IMBA Summit/World Mountain Bike Conference (held June 20-23 in Whistler, BC) drew more than 400 attendees from 17 nations. The threeday program featured seminars on mountain bike tourism, trail design and other topics related to the high-growth sport of mountain biking.

3) Science.

IMBA compiled research on trail impacts, including a landmark study conducted by Dr. Jeffrey L. Marion of Virginia Tech University. Another study, compiled by Dave White from Arizona State University and Pam Foti from Northern Arizona University, was made available to bike advocates with help from Shimano.

4) Trails.

Our field programs - IMBA Trail Solutions and the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews - teamed with land managers and local mountain bike clubs to build or improve hundreds of trail miles around the globe.

5) Kids.

Our Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day program continues to improve and expand. In 2006, the day was celebrated in locations as diverse as Yokohama City, Japan; Treviso, Italy; and Chiluca, Mexico. More than 100 groups registered their rides on IMBA's website. Once again, IMBA corporate supporter Schwinn supplied kids bikes to participating groups.

6) Freeride.

Kona Bicycles sponsored this year's annual publication about sustainable freeriding. The 16-page, full-color magazine packed with useful articles on topics like "The Emergence of Bike Parks," "Overcoming Objections to Freeriding," and "Great Places to Freeride on Public Land." Visit IMBA's website to view these and other freeride resources online.

7) Grants.

We distributed thousands of dollars to IMBA-affiliated clubs through programs like the IMBA/CLIF Bar Trail Preservation grants, Kona/IMBA Freeride grants, and USA Cycling/International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) Trail Tune-Up grants.

8) Volunteers.

IMBA and REI launched the Volunteer Stewardship Challenge last year. The objective: boost volunteerism in the mountain biking community - which is already highly commendable - and do a better job recording and sharing those achievements with others.

9) Patrols.

The National Mountain Bike Patrol (NMBP) program continues to grow and improve. We now have dozens of patrol units and hundreds of members on the ground, providing valuable volunteer service to land managers.

10) Epics.

Epics are why we love mountain biking. We selected three new outstanding routes in 2006, adding to the 37 great rides we've picked since 1999: Comfortably Numb, Whistler, BC; High Country Pathway, Pigeon River State Forest, MI; Santos Trail System, Ocala, FL.

Building Capacity for IMBA Affiliates

By Mike Van Abel, Executive Director

Call it an association, a community or a tribe - IMBA is fundamentally a network of people linked together by common values and goals. In 2007, I hope to see IMBA attain new levels of effectiveness and relevance. Since we can only be as good as our local capacity permits, IMBA will devote sigificant resources to developing our network at the ground level.

Capacity refers to an organization's ability to achieve its mission and purpose. It includes components such as volunteer leadership, funding, communications, member programs and business management systems. When a nonprofit group lacks capacity, too much of its resources are used to support management and administration and not enough go into achieving its core goals.

Increased capacity is essential for IMBA's clubs and patrol groups. Our ranks are filled with highly motivated volunteer leaders - hardworking folks that have often dedicated themselves to organizing and directing local mountain bike groups for a decade or more. Without better resources, and improved results, many of these volunteers will burn out before their missions are fulfilled.

In 2007, IMBA will offer several new tools to increase capacity at the local level. Chief among our goals is facilitating the deployment of more field-based professional staff to serve in distinct geographical regions. The importance of professional staff cannot be overstated. Our own history illustrates this: We hired our first Executive Director, Tim Blumenthal, in 1993. IMBA took off under his leadership, and we have grown every year since. Other mountain bike organizations also serve as models: the Michigan Mountain Bike Association, the New England Mountain Bike Association and the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association -all three boast paid staff - are some of the most effective advocacy groups in our network.

Last year in California, with generous assistance from Specialized and other industry leaders, IMBA partnered with NorCAMBA to explore new strategies and a new organizational structure for the Golden State. IMBA California now has a statewide volunteer leadership council whose energies are focused on advocacy and stewardship programs - and desirably less so on governance. The program budget for IMBA California is bolstered by local clubs and affiliates who share a portion of each of their member's annual dues to sustain California-based paid IMBA staff. This model can be expanded to other regions.

This year, IMBA will roll out a new club affiliation program tailored to help local startup groups plug in to our business infrastructure and its IRS tax-exempt status. Already two local groups have applied to become chartered IMBA chapters. Several more have expressed interest in following suit. Internationally, IMBA affiliates have similar capacity-building needs and interests. The successful development of IMBA Canada provides a model for IMBA's national-level affiliates. IMBA is putting the final plans in place for how other national organizations can benefit from IMBA affiliation. Groups currently pursuing international affiliation include Spain, Australia, Mexico, the Netherlands, the U.K., Ireland, the Czech Republic, Italy and France.

The goal of a viable association is to connect and organize its constituents and resources in order to more efficiently advance its mission. Greater local capacity will yield greater national and international capacity, which is the necessary means to the more desirable end of guiding and growing the sport of mountain biking.

Specialized Leads Sponsorship of IMBA California Office

In January 2006, IMBA and Specialized, close partners since IMBA's founding in 1988, announced a new "California Campaign" initiative, and the opening of a California IMBA office underwritten by Specialized. Tom Ward, formerly the California State Parks Recreation Manager, staffs the office and has been instrumental in crafting the many successes of the past year.

IMBA California has been a resounding success. In just one year, mountain bikers in the Golden State have celebrated dozens of miles of new trail, the adoption of fair trail management policies, and a host of new partnerships with agencies and user groups. Ward's work has helped further unite the mountain bike movement in California. Plans for 2007 and beyond promise to open new trails throughout the state.

"Tom's hard work, and the support of Specialized, has made possible a level of advocacy support in California that previously didn't exist. At the end of the day, this means new riding opportunities throughout the state," said IMBA Executive Director Mike Van Abel.

IMBA first partnered with Specialized at an industry-wide breakfast meeting held by the company at the 1988 Interbike tradeshow in Anaheim, California. Many credit that breakfast with raising the industry's early awareness of the urgent need for trail advocacy. "Specialized's early financial and operational support jumpstarted our efforts and inspired the entire industry to help us in the battle for trail advocacy," says Van Abel. "By partnering on the new IMBA California office, we're building on that 30-year legacy and creating a model that we're hoping other companies will continue to support in the future."

By emphasizing collaboration with other stakeholders, unity within the mountain biking world and a firm approach to shared-use trail access, IMBA California has not only made great progress at home, but provided a useful model for other states and regions. IMBA is developing plans to deploy additional paid staff to regional offices. This represents a promising new direction for mountain bike advocacy that focuses specific staff resources on a local level. New staff are the direct result of support and cooperation between corporate sponsors, local clubs and IMBA.

"Ensuring that everyone has great trails to ride is an essential part of our vision to be the best cycling brand in the world," says Specialized President and Founder Mike Sinyard. "By opening the IMBA California office, we're focusing our efforts in the state that has the greatest number of riders, IMBA members and endangered trails."

IMBA also thanks Camel Bak, FOX and Santa Cruz for making possible the expansion of our California operations to further meet the needs of local riders.

Help | Site Map | Copyright



	2006 Annual Report IMBA Trail News Volume 20, Number 1 Spring 2007 It's Time to Ride By Hill Abell, IMBA President With new opportunities and challenges presenting themselves almost daily, it's always difficult for the staff and board at IMBA to look back at the year past. Nonetheless, it's an important exercise that helps us understand where we're going. This issue of Trail News will highlight many of the successes from 2006, ones that we are honored to share with our fellow advocates and supporters. IMBA has long strived to fulfill the "international" part of our title. In 2006, we confirmed IMBA's global reach with the success of our International Summit, held in Whistler, B.C., in June. With more than 400 delegates in attendance representing 17 different countries, the Whistler Summit addressed a wide range of topics, such as "Building Trails in Urban Ecosystems," "Reaching Out to Women Riders" and "Managing Risk with Trail Design." Everyone at the summit was astonished at the breadth of riding styles offered at that mountain community, and we all came away with fresh ideas on how to make our home areas more bicycle friendly. Building the effectiveness of our network of IMBA-affiliated clubs was a major focus in '06. There would be no IMBA without the staunch support of the hundreds of local and regional mountain bike clubs across the globe. We recognize that the most successful clubs are often the ones with full-time leadership, so we are committed to generating resources so clubs can hire paid staff, or have access to an IMBA staff member based in their region. Thanks to the generous support of Specialized Bicycles we now have a staff member in California who has bolstered our ability to successfully advocate for trail access with land managers and who provides much needed support for our volunteers. We intend to replicate that success in several key regions across the country. A core tenet of IMBA's mission is to create and enhance trails, and we're doing that in a big way with Trails Solutions, our fee-based trailbuilding arm. Building on the success of the Subaru Trail Care Crews, Trail Solutions offers planning, design and construction services, implemented by masters of the craft. From the King Range in Northern California to State Parks in Maryland, Trail Solutions creates must-ride trail experiences, and the demand for these services is growing exponentially. IMBA has another home run in the publishing world with our new book Managing Mountain Biking: IMBA's Guide to Great Riding. Building on the success of Trail Solutions: IMBA's Guide to Sweet Singletrack, the new book offers an essential collection of best practices for planning, designing and managing successful trail networks and bike parks. Please read on to learn more about IMBA's accomplishments last year. We have some really big goals for '07 that we hope will keep you stoked about hitting the trail with us. It's Time to Ride, Hill Abell IMBA Financials By Erik Esborg, Finance Director IMBA continued its steady growth rate in 2006, marking our most successful year ever. With particular thanks to the bourgeoning success of our Trail Solutions program, we took in more than $2.5 million. Support from individuals was the strongest in IMBA's 18-year history. As you can see from the charts on these pages, IMBA is putting those funds to good use, delivering on-the-ground programs that support mountain bikers and mountain bike clubs around the globe. With your help, we're aiming to exceed $3 million in revenues and contributions in 2007. Many thanks for your valued support! 10 Things IMBA Did for You in 2006 1) Heroes. We celebrated five heroic trail advocates through the FOX/IMBA Heroes program: Jay Jones (NJ), James Brown (BC), Mark Flint (AZ), Mike Vitti (NY) and Bill Victor (SC). Turn to page 12 to read about the first inductee of 2007. 2) Summit. The 2006 IMBA Summit/World Mountain Bike Conference (held June 20-23 in Whistler, BC) drew more than 400 attendees from 17 nations. The threeday program featured seminars on mountain bike tourism, trail design and other topics related to the high-growth sport of mountain biking. 3) Science. IMBA compiled research on trail impacts, including a landmark study conducted by Dr. Jeffrey L. Marion of Virginia Tech University. Another study, compiled by Dave White from Arizona State University and Pam Foti from Northern Arizona University, was made available to bike advocates with help from Shimano. 4) Trails. Our field programs - IMBA Trail Solutions and the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews - teamed with land managers and local mountain bike clubs to build or improve hundreds of trail miles around the globe. 5) Kids. Our Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day program continues to improve and expand. In 2006, the day was celebrated in locations as diverse as Yokohama City, Japan; Treviso, Italy; and Chiluca, Mexico. More than 100 groups registered their rides on IMBA's website. Once again, IMBA corporate supporter Schwinn supplied kids bikes to participating groups. 6) Freeride. Kona Bicycles sponsored this year's annual publication about sustainable freeriding. The 16-page, full-color magazine packed with useful articles on topics like "The Emergence of Bike Parks," "Overcoming Objections to Freeriding," and "Great Places to Freeride on Public Land." Visit IMBA's website to view these and other freeride resources online. 7) Grants. We distributed thousands of dollars to IMBA-affiliated clubs through programs like the IMBA/CLIF Bar Trail Preservation grants, Kona/IMBA Freeride grants, and USA Cycling/International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) Trail Tune-Up grants. 8) Volunteers. IMBA and REI launched the Volunteer Stewardship Challenge last year. The objective: boost volunteerism in the mountain biking community - which is already highly commendable - and do a better job recording and sharing those achievements with others. 9) Patrols. The National Mountain Bike Patrol (NMBP) program continues to grow and improve. We now have dozens of patrol units and hundreds of members on the ground, providing valuable volunteer service to land managers. 10) Epics. Epics are why we love mountain biking. We selected three new outstanding routes in 2006, adding to the 37 great rides we've picked since 1999: Comfortably Numb, Whistler, BC; High Country Pathway, Pigeon River State Forest, MI; Santos Trail System, Ocala, FL. Building Capacity for IMBA Affiliates By Mike Van Abel, Executive Director Call it an association, a community or a tribe - IMBA is fundamentally a network of people linked together by common values and goals. In 2007, I hope to see IMBA attain new levels of effectiveness and relevance. Since we can only be as good as our local capacity permits, IMBA will devote sigificant resources to developing our network at the ground level. Capacity refers to an organization's ability to achieve its mission and purpose. It includes components such as volunteer leadership, funding, communications, member programs and business management systems. When a nonprofit group lacks capacity, too much of its resources are used to support management and administration and not enough go into achieving its core goals. Increased capacity is essential for IMBA's clubs and patrol groups. Our ranks are filled with highly motivated volunteer leaders - hardworking folks that have often dedicated themselves to organizing and directing local mountain bike groups for a decade or more. Without better resources, and improved results, many of these volunteers will burn out before their missions are fulfilled. In 2007, IMBA will offer several new tools to increase capacity at the local level. Chief among our goals is facilitating the deployment of more field-based professional staff to serve in distinct geographical regions. The importance of professional staff cannot be overstated. Our own history illustrates this: We hired our first Executive Director, Tim Blumenthal, in 1993. IMBA took off under his leadership, and we have grown every year since. Other mountain bike organizations also serve as models: the Michigan Mountain Bike Association, the New England Mountain Bike Association and the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association -all three boast paid staff - are some of the most effective advocacy groups in our network. Last year in California, with generous assistance from Specialized and other industry leaders, IMBA partnered with NorCAMBA to explore new strategies and a new organizational structure for the Golden State. IMBA California now has a statewide volunteer leadership council whose energies are focused on advocacy and stewardship programs - and desirably less so on governance. The program budget for IMBA California is bolstered by local clubs and affiliates who share a portion of each of their member's annual dues to sustain California-based paid IMBA staff. This model can be expanded to other regions. This year, IMBA will roll out a new club affiliation program tailored to help local startup groups plug in to our business infrastructure and its IRS tax-exempt status. Already two local groups have applied to become chartered IMBA chapters. Several more have expressed interest in following suit. Internationally, IMBA affiliates have similar capacity-building needs and interests. The successful development of IMBA Canada provides a model for IMBA's national-level affiliates. IMBA is putting the final plans in place for how other national organizations can benefit from IMBA affiliation. Groups currently pursuing international affiliation include Spain, Australia, Mexico, the Netherlands, the U.K., Ireland, the Czech Republic, Italy and France. The goal of a viable association is to connect and organize its constituents and resources in order to more efficiently advance its mission. Greater local capacity will yield greater national and international capacity, which is the necessary means to the more desirable end of guiding and growing the sport of mountain biking. Specialized Leads Sponsorship of IMBA California Office In January 2006, IMBA and Specialized, close partners since IMBA's founding in 1988, announced a new "California Campaign" initiative, and the opening of a California IMBA office underwritten by Specialized. Tom Ward, formerly the California State Parks Recreation Manager, staffs the office and has been instrumental in crafting the many successes of the past year. IMBA California has been a resounding success. In just one year, mountain bikers in the Golden State have celebrated dozens of miles of new trail, the adoption of fair trail management policies, and a host of new partnerships with agencies and user groups. Ward's work has helped further unite the mountain bike movement in California. Plans for 2007 and beyond promise to open new trails throughout the state. "Tom's hard work, and the support of Specialized, has made possible a level of advocacy support in California that previously didn't exist. At the end of the day, this means new riding opportunities throughout the state," said IMBA Executive Director Mike Van Abel. IMBA first partnered with Specialized at an industry-wide breakfast meeting held by the company at the 1988 Interbike tradeshow in Anaheim, California. Many credit that breakfast with raising the industry's early awareness of the urgent need for trail advocacy. "Specialized's early financial and operational support jumpstarted our efforts and inspired the entire industry to help us in the battle for trail advocacy," says Van Abel. "By partnering on the new IMBA California office, we're building on that 30-year legacy and creating a model that we're hoping other companies will continue to support in the future." By emphasizing collaboration with other stakeholders, unity within the mountain biking world and a firm approach to shared-use trail access, IMBA California has not only made great progress at home, but provided a useful model for other states and regions. IMBA is developing plans to deploy additional paid staff to regional offices. This represents a promising new direction for mountain bike advocacy that focuses specific staff resources on a local level. New staff are the direct result of support and cooperation between corporate sponsors, local clubs and IMBA. "Ensuring that everyone has great trails to ride is an essential part of our vision to be the best cycling brand in the world," says Specialized President and Founder Mike Sinyard. "By opening the IMBA California office, we're focusing our efforts in the state that has the greatest number of riders, IMBA members and endangered trails." IMBA also thanks Camel Bak, FOX and Santa Cruz for making possible the expansion of our California operations to further meet the needs of local riders.


Help \| Site Map \| Copyright