Home Sweet Home

It was great spending a few days in Boulder and getting caught up on the latest news at the home office. Executive director Tim Blumenthal is traveling to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with federal officials on the topic of more multi-use trails in our National Parks. Other exciting news is the upcoming IMBA board meeting in Boulder this month.

In Gunnison we met Gary Sprung, a heavy hitter with IMBA since the early days. He has an advocacy success list a mile long! Gary brought us to Gunnison for a look at the Hartman Rocks Recreation Area. Hartman Rocks is a rugged ridge speckled with granite pinnacles and home of the world famous Rage in the Sage mountain bike race. The backside of the ridge is on BLM property and has over 50 miles of tremendous single track. The front side is on city and county property offering a spectacular skyline, but has many fall-line road cuts.

Gary introduced us to Jo Ellen and Dan from the city of Gunnison, Arden from the BLM and Jim Dirksen of the Gunnison Valley Mountain Bike Association. They are protecting this great place by forming the Hartman Rocks User Group Committee. HRUGC has already changed the face of Hartman Rocks by adding a new parking lot, trailhead Kiosk, picnic area and restrooms.

We spent the day looking at the front side, pointing out the need for a fresh revamping of the trail system. New contour trails climbing the steep slopes would be fun in both directions and would be more sustainable. The ugly fall-line road scars will be closed and more effort focused on multi-use trails. Gary helped us find a small contour reroute that we flagged for Saturdays work project. 30 volunteers from HRUGC, GVMBA, CBMBA, BLM and bike shop employees from Tune Up and Rock and Roll sports completed 500 ft of new trail. The project went great, bringing many people together to start the rejuvenation of this awesome area.

That night we had dinner with Gary and Mike in Crested Butte; where bicycles outnumber cars 2 to 1! Gary has planned many trail events on the wonderful single-track nearby for this August. We also ran into COPMOBA president Chris Muhr who is planning the construction of a new trail in Fruita. They have one day in September to rally as many volunteers together for this exciting new trail near Mac Ridge. We did a slideshow on trail design for Keystone Ski Area employees and assessed some of their trails. We saw a notable increase in riders, both downhillers and novices. With the increase of user numbers its time for some new trails to spread the varying type of riders.

The next day we did an interview for the Montezuma's Revenge 24 hr race and rode till dark on the Colorado Trail with JD; president of the Summit Fat Tire Society. When the White River National Forest came under a new revision plan, SFTS was the first group to step forward with closure concerns. Now there are over 14,000 people from all different user groups whose opinions will be considered.

On Saturday six members from the SFTS helped us build an armored crossing for a creek on the Colorado Trail north of Tiger rd. Today we assessed trails at the Snow Mountain Ranch/YMCA of the Rockies near Winter Park with program director Mark Birdseye. SMR has over 50 miles of trails and are designing more challenging trails for the future. We assessed an area near Blue Ridge discussing mtn biker's desires and how to incorporate sustainability in trail design. This weekend we'll be taking part in the Montezuma's Revenge, see you there!

Thank You,
Joey and Kathy, TCC2

Members from the Summit Fat Tire Society arranging the first rocks
for the armored crossing in a creek on the Colorado Trail.

The finished product; armored crossings are great for equestrians and cyclists
so they can ride through a stream with out impacting the streambed.

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	Home Sweet Home It was great spending a few days in Boulder and getting caught up on the latest news at the home office. Executive director Tim Blumenthal is traveling to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with federal officials on the topic of more multi-use trails in our National Parks. Other exciting news is the upcoming IMBA board meeting in Boulder this month. In Gunnison we met Gary Sprung, a heavy hitter with IMBA since the early days. He has an advocacy success list a mile long! Gary brought us to Gunnison for a look at the Hartman Rocks Recreation Area. Hartman Rocks is a rugged ridge speckled with granite pinnacles and home of the world famous Rage in the Sage mountain bike race. The backside of the ridge is on BLM property and has over 50 miles of tremendous single track. The front side is on city and county property offering a spectacular skyline, but has many fall-line road cuts. Gary introduced us to Jo Ellen and Dan from the city of Gunnison, Arden from the BLM and Jim Dirksen of the Gunnison Valley Mountain Bike Association. They are protecting this great place by forming the Hartman Rocks User Group Committee. HRUGC has already changed the face of Hartman Rocks by adding a new parking lot, trailhead Kiosk, picnic area and restrooms. We spent the day looking at the front side, pointing out the need for a fresh revamping of the trail system. New contour trails climbing the steep slopes would be fun in both directions and would be more sustainable. The ugly fall-line road scars will be closed and more effort focused on multi-use trails. Gary helped us find a small contour reroute that we flagged for Saturdays work project. 30 volunteers from HRUGC, GVMBA, CBMBA, BLM and bike shop employees from Tune Up and Rock and Roll sports completed 500 ft of new trail. The project went great, bringing many people together to start the rejuvenation of this awesome area. That night we had dinner with Gary and Mike in Crested Butte; where bicycles outnumber cars 2 to 1! Gary has planned many trail events on the wonderful single-track nearby for this August. We also ran into COPMOBA president Chris Muhr who is planning the construction of a new trail in Fruita. They have one day in September to rally as many volunteers together for this exciting new trail near Mac Ridge. We did a slideshow on trail design for Keystone Ski Area employees and assessed some of their trails. We saw a notable increase in riders, both downhillers and novices. With the increase of user numbers its time for some new trails to spread the varying type of riders. The next day we did an interview for the Montezuma's Revenge 24 hr race and rode till dark on the Colorado Trail with JD; president of the Summit Fat Tire Society. When the White River National Forest came under a new revision plan, SFTS was the first group to step forward with closure concerns. Now there are over 14,000 people from all different user groups whose opinions will be considered. On Saturday six members from the SFTS helped us build an armored crossing for a creek on the Colorado Trail north of Tiger rd. Today we assessed trails at the Snow Mountain Ranch/YMCA of the Rockies near Winter Park with program director Mark Birdseye. SMR has over 50 miles of trails and are designing more challenging trails for the future. We assessed an area near Blue Ridge discussing mtn biker's desires and how to incorporate sustainability in trail design. This weekend we'll be taking part in the Montezuma's Revenge, see you there! Thank You, Joey and Kathy, TCC2 Members from the Summit Fat Tire Society arranging the first rocks for the armored crossing in a creek on the Colorado Trail. The finished product; armored crossings are great for equestrians and cyclists so they can ride through a stream with out impacting the streambed.


Help \| Site Map \| Copyright