Crews add Singletrack to America's Breadbasket
Over 100 miles of new trail throughout the Midwest
 Through amber waves of grain... |
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 Marty Weigel at Wisconsin Outdoors talking about mountain biking opportunities and the upcoming Trailbuilding School. |
 The Rock Cut Crew prepares to head into the field for a full day of full-bench cut trail construction. |
 After a Trailbuilding School at Hueston Woods State Park, just outside of Cincinatti, CORA organized a group ride a nearby Caesar Creek State Park to check out the new stretch of singletrack built by the Ohio Trails Partnership. |
 The Hoosier Mountain Biking Association impressed the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care crew with a huge turnout and a massive project accomplished: 350 feet on an 80% sideslope (read bench cut of 4+ feet) and this cool bridge between the trees. |
The Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews spent some quality time in the Midwest this summer with stops in Jefferson City, Missouri, Superior and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockford, Illinois, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana. The good news is that groups are getting organized all over the region and probably building more trail each year than in any other section of the country. Some examples of new trails near you:
Jefferson City, MO: Binder Lake singletrack in the State Capitol's largest county park has reached ten miles with 5-10 more to come in future trail construction; regional land manager training organized by Mark Hohengasser brought together managers from local, state, and federal agencies, making connections that will bring even more singletrack to Missouri.
Superior, WI/Duluth, MN/Chequamegon, WI: Five mile section of classic North Country trail was completed in Superior Municipal Forest and Duluth's first legal singletrack in Hartley park; 25 miles of Chequemegon singletrack on the Ojibway and Rock Creek Trails is near completion. The Cyclists of the Gitchee Gumee and other affiliated WORBA clubs in the North country are making strides finally seeing the construction of singletrack that minimizes the problems of using winter trails for summer use.
Milwaukee, WI/Madison, WI: Additional mileage and trail improvements to the trail at Crystal Ridge Ski Area and almost 5 new miles of what is likely to be Wisconsin's most technical riding at Blue Mound State Park near Madison. IMBA provided more land management training at the Kettle Moraine State Forest - hopefully that will initiate a number of re-routes to keep the trail open more often.
Rockford, IL: The first legal and approved singletrack ever created in Rock Cut State Park with plans to turn the Park's 5 miles of fall-line singletrack into 15 of prime, sustainable trails. This huge success story in Illinois required years of diligence on the part of the Rock Cut Trail Crew, the Illinois DNR, and land manager Dan Riggs.
Cincinnati, OH: New 5 mile singletrack in Harbin Park, 4 miles ready for construction in Rentschler Park, a 1.5 mile full bench construction in Caesar Creek State Park, and improvements in Heuston Woods State Park that will be the new standard for trails at these locales. The Cincinnati Off Road Alliance (CORA) is working hard towards the development of plans to open Hamilton County and Cincinnati City Parks to legal singletrack opportunities.
Columbus, OH: One of the nation's best success stories, Alum Creek State Park, once near closed because of severe erosion and trail pollution, has been completely restored by Central Ohio Mountain Bicycling Organization (COMBO) authorization from Ohio DNR has been received for the construction of an additional 10 miles in the park.
Indianapolis, IN: 5 miles of amazingly dry floodplain trail at Town Run State Park, 5 miles completed of the potentially 10 mile lake loop trail at Westwood Park in New Castle, and opportunities opening up through connections made at the Mid America Trails and Greenways Conference. The Hoosier Mountain Bicycling Association is working every angle to increase the capacity for mountain bicyclists, make new partners, and open more trails in the state with the lowest IMBA report card grade this year. We have no doubt that the leadership of the Hoosier Mountain Bicycling Association will turn things around in Indiana.
All told that is over 100 miles of fresh new track, and that's only in areas where the IMBA Subarus stopped along the way. Get involved with these clubs if you are not already, and congratulations to all who are making these opportunities possible for all those who use the trails. You've done great work!
