Carbondale to Shawnee - The Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew Hits Southern Illinois

Carbondale Cycle hosted the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew's "Ride Around the World with IMBA" show.
Loren Easter tests out the tracked version of the Toro Dingo at the land manager presentation.
The hard-working group helped move this log perpendicular to the trail. Proper position of the log is critical to ensure good flow over and around the obstacle.
Two riders test the new log-over. A challenge like this should always include an alternate line for less-experienced riders.

In October, Mark Schmidt and Lora Woolner of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew paid a visit to the Shawnee Mountain Bike Association, whose mission is to gain trail access in Shawnee National Forest. Currently mountain bikers have very little access to trails there, but thanks to the hard work of mountain bike advocates in southern Illinois, we might see some change.

Mark and Lora presented an entertaining slideshow at Carbondale Cycle and led a successful IMBA Trailbuilding School for area land managers. Then the Crew headed to a mountain bike festival in Shawnee National Forest, put on by the Southern Illinois University Cycling Club. The weekend's festivities included a lot of riding, eating, and special presentations by the Crew. Despite wet weather, close to 50 mountain bikers camped out at beautiful Lake Glendale to participate in events like the Huffy toss and log pull. Some even found time to do trailwork!

Since re-routing was not permitted, the Crew came up with other trail projects. A fallen tree blocking the trail provided an opportunity to create an exciting challenge. Instead of cutting the entire log out, volunteers ramped three large logs on each side of the main log to create a "log-over." Making sure to also leave an easier, unobstructed line around the log, they added some challenge to a piece of trail that was relatively straight and uninteresting before.

Learn more about using logs to add challenge here.