Reimagining Trails at the 2021 IMBA Trail Labs jali.fernando@… Tue, 10/26/2021 - 12:12 Trails Programs and Education Mountain bikers, planners, municipal government officials, and bike advocates gathered in the Mountain Biking Capital of the World to reimagine what trails could be like in their local communities. Participants from 15 states and Mexico met at the IMBA Trail Labs from October 18 to 21 in Bentonville, Arkansas to learn about planning, building, and promoting mountain bike trails. Trail Labs offered classroom-style sessions where experts shared their knowledge on trail building ..read more

Measuring impact in Moab and beyond Eleanor Blick Fri, 10/08/2021 - 14:39 Trails Government Relations IMBA and our partners at Outdoor Alliance are studying the economic impact of human-powered recreation on the Manti La Sal National Forest in Utah. If you’ve visited, please help us out by taking this survey. Quantifying this impact will help us advocate for mountain biking and make a case for protecting and encouraging outdoor recreation opportunities in the upcoming forest plan revision. Covering more than 1.2 million acres of public land in the central and so ..read more

Save Salida’s Solstice Trail Eleanor Blick Tue, 08/10/2021 - 11:46 Access Government Relations The Solstice mountain bike trail in Salida, Colorado, needs your help. A proposed mining expansion on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land would overlap with the Solstice trail, requiring the trail to either be moved, or abut an open pit mine. If you’ve visited Salida, there’s a good chance you’ve ridden the Solstice trail back to town or to your campsite after a great day riding the rainbow trails on Methodist Mountain south of Salida. Imagine whipping through piñons, enjoying sweeping valley view ..read more

How Mountain Bike Trails Came to Cedar City sunny.larson Wed, 04/14/2021 - 05:43 Community Unless you live in Moab, Squamish, or Finale Ligure, you likely take a little or a long drive to reach your favorite mountain bike trails, and on the way home, say to yourself, “How can I get some trails like that close by?” Mac Urie asked himself the same thing. He lives close to some world-class mountain biking in Southern Utah--Gooseberry Mesa; Guacamole Mesa; Hurricane Rim; St. George; Virgin, where the Red Bull Rampage takes place--but all those trails are at least 20 minutes away from his home in ..read more

More Trails and Counting in 2020 Eleanor Blick Mon, 03/22/2021 - 09:30 Community Executive As we look to a brighter future, let's reflect on a year when seasoned mountain bikers and an influx of new riders sought ways to recreate safely outdoors, connect during a time of social distancing, and find joy and strength through mountain biking. In 2020, mountain bike trails were more crowded and bikes were flying out of bike shops across the country. We heard from land managers over and over who saw between 100% and 500% increases in trail use compared to 2019. To accommodate this significant upt ..read more

Thank you, Rich Edwards! Eleanor Blick Mon, 03/08/2021 - 12:00 Community Trail Solutions After 21 years at IMBA, Richard Edwards, IMBA Trail Solutions (TS) Director of Community Engagement and Education, has accepted an exciting opportunity at West Virginia University as the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Coordinator for the Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative (OEDC). It is a fitting move for Rich, a legendary trail builder and walking trail encyclopedia, to take that knowledge to an academic setting and shape programming that will influence trails for generatio ..read more

Riding through Change Eleanor Blick Wed, 01/20/2021 - 12:26 Trails Government Relations With today's major shift in Washington D.C., IMBA continues our work to create, enhance, and protect great places to ride mountain bikes through our commitment to partnerships, bipartisanship, and civility. Our efforts include policy outcomes with agency officials, legislative victories with elected officials, and advocacy engagement with mountain bikers across the country.   In this work, we're fortunate as mountain bikers that trails bring us together. Trails rely on partnerships deeply rooted in a ..read more

Action Alert: New Forest Service eMTB Rules Eleanor Blick Thu, 10/22/2020 - 11:37 Access Government Relations The U.S. Forest Service released proposed revised directives on eMTB management on September 24th. The release coincided with a public comment period which is open through Monday, October 26th. The Forest Service needs to hear from mountain bikers and eMTB riders alike: these proposed directives could have problematic unintended consequences for trails.   Positives of the proposed directives: Requires a local public process before allowing any eMTB access, through NEPA and Trav ..read more

Final Bureau of Land Management eMTB Rule Released Eleanor Blick Tue, 10/20/2020 - 11:25 Access Government Relations On Friday October 2, 2020, federal land agencies under the Department of the Interior (DOI) released their final rule regarding electric bicycles (e-bikes) and electric mountain bikes (eMTBs). The International Mountain Bicycle Association (IMBA) is encouraged that BLM and other DOI agencies have adopted key IMBA principles and recommendations to set in motion a process that will authorize local decision makers to determine whether or not e-bikes, including eMTBs, will be perm ..read more

California Advocacy Workshop Series Eleanor Blick Mon, 10/19/2020 - 10:24 Access Government Relations Programs and Education The California mountain bike community will virtually gather in November for two advocacy training workshops to discuss the best approaches and strategies for policies that impact mountain biking. Additionally we will explore how these strategies can be applied to current issues and active legislation. There will be a 30 minute Q&A at the end of each session. The focus of the first session will include a brief overview of the legislative process, defining the too ..read more