November 2, 2005 – Here is the latest news from IMBA:

1. IMBA National News

* MEET THE 2005 TAKE A KID MOUNTAIN BIKING DAY WINNERS Congratulations to all the clubs who organized events for Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day! Nationwide, over 70 clubs organized events for thousands of young riders. Look for a special photo gallery to appear in the next issue of IMBA Trail News.

Three of the events earn special prizes:

California’s Redding Mountain Biking Club will receive three junior-sized
mountain bikes from Schwinn. The Redding event drew 62 kids and 55 adults
for a 5-mile ride on the Sacramento Trail. Local bike shops donated prizes
and the club handed out temporary tattoos with RMBC logo. Read more here:
http://www.reddingmountainbiking.com/takeakidmountainbiking2005.html

Trips for Kids Detroit organized a fun ride for kids at the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency’s IMPACT Center. They will receive a $100 certificate for the IMBA online store. Visit them here:
www.tripsforkidsdetroit.org

The event organized by Mexico’s Xinte Mountain Bike Club also earns a $100
certificate. The Xinte ride was featured in Reforma, one of the nation’s
leading newspapers. Photos from Xinte’s event can be viewed here:
http://www.xinte.com/galerias/gallerytakmbd2005.html


* TRAIL SOLUTIONS FIGHTS TRYPTOPHAN, TRAVELS TO OZ Neither turkey comas nor winter weather will slow the remarkable progress that IMBA’s fee-based Trail Solutions program is enjoying this fall. Construction on a mountain bike-specific trail system in NorCal’s King Range is in full swing. Other projects this season include work in the Sumter National Forest in South Carolina, at Wakefield County Park and Rosaryville State Park in Washington, DC Metro area, and an upcoming IMBA-built freeride park in Florida. Learn more about Trail Solutions here: http://www.imba.com/trailsolutions/index.html

Trail Solutions’ Joey Klein has clicked his red boots and returned to
Australia (for the third time) to help Mountain Bike Australia, Tony Scott
and the lads push for more and better riding in Oz. The Klein Down Under
Tour will be a seven-week, six-state affair:

-October 21 – 23, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, NSW
-October 25 – 30, Perth, WA
-November 1 – 6, Adelaide, South Australia
-November 8 – 13, Melbourne and Beechworth, Victoria
-November 15 – 20, Launceston and Hobart, Tasmania
-November 22 – 27, Thredbo, NSW
-November 29 – December 4, Brisbane, Queensland

* 29 STATES NEED LEADERS TO HARVEST RTP DOLLARS
In case you missed the big news, the 109th Congress has dedicated $370
million to the Recreational Trails Program (RTP). The RTP legislation
mandates that each state “shall establish a state recreational trail
advisory committee that represents both motorized and non-motorized
recreational trail users, which shall meet not less often than once per
fiscal year.” Find out if you live in one of the 29 states that need an RTP
leader here:
http://www.imba.com/resources/grants/rtp_mtb_rep.html

Everything you need to know about harvesting RTP money can be found online
on IMBA’s RTP Toolkit pages:
http://www.imba.com/resources/grants/rtp_campaign.html
* BIKE PATROL CONFERENCE A HIT National Mountain Bike Patrollers from across the southeast gathered for the NMBP Regional Instructor Training Conference on Oct. 8-9 at Gainesville College, in Georgia. SORBA (Southern Off-Road Bicycling Association) hosted the event, which brought patrol leaders together for a weekend of seminars, speakers, networking and riding. Twenty people were certified as National Mountain Bike Patrol Instructors and Daniel Elzey of SORBA was appointed as the Southeast Regional NMBP Representative. View a slideshow here: http://www.imba.com/nmbp/news_archive/10_05_success.html


* REMEMBER TO THANK LAND MANAGERS
Please join IMBA’s fall campaign to thank land managers. IMBA has made it
easy to get involved by creating free Thank You post cards. Order them here:
http://www.imba.com/news/news_releases/10_05/10_12_thanks.html

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2. REGIONAL REPORTS * ACTION ALERT: HELP PRESERVE BIKE ACCESS IN WV West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest will accept public comments on a proposed Forest Plan and draft Environmental Impact Statement until Nov. 14. Please write in support of an amended Alternative #2, which would designate Roaring Plains and Cranberry Expansion as non-motorized backcountry recreation managed for multi-use, including bicycles. As many as 118 miles of trails and 25 miles of gated forest roads, including the Spruce Knob/Seneca Creek backcountry, could be lost if the planners rely primarily on federal Wilderness guidelines to manage the Monongahela. Learn more here: http://www.imba.com/news/action_alerts/10_05/10_26_monongahela_nf.html

* SAN DIEGO REGAINS A LOST TRAIL San Diego has regained Kelly’s Ditch Trail, a connector between William Heise County Park (near the community of Julian) and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. For bikes, the alternative has been a long and dangerous ride on a shoulder-less two-lane road. “Letters from trail users, combined with a change in park staff, helped resolve the issue,” says Daniel Greenstadt, IMBA’s southern California rep. http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/parks/
* JERSEY ACTION RIDERS OPEN NEW TRAIL IN PINELANDS
The Jersey Action Riders work in Wharton State Forest inspired a recent
story in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
http://www.imba.com/news/mtb_news_wire/10_08_05_pines.html

* SEATTLE SKILLS PARK OPENS
Colonnade Bike Park, located under the deck of Interstate 5 in Seattle, is
open for riding, thanks to the Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club. The skills
park includes two acres of trails ladden with technical features such as
switchbacks, log rides, rock gardens, skinnies, wall-rides and small jumps.
Read more here:
http://www.imba.com/news/mtb_news_wire/10_14_05_seattle_i5_trail.html

* SCOTTISH MOUNTAIN BIKING GROWING “EXPONENTIALLY” “Major changes are on the way at Glentress, the UK’s No. 1 mountain biking centre,” according to Richard Moore, a columnist with Scotland’s Sunday Herald newspaper. The article continues, “The sport has grown exponentially in the last few years, and Glentress has been at the heart of that …” Read more here: http://www.sundayherald.com/52539Learn more about Glentress and Scotland’s
innovative “7 Stanes” mountain biking center’s :
http://www.7stanes.gov.uk