Trail Flow is a roundup of all the mountain bike trail related news of the week including new trail builds, advocacy, and planning. Do you have trail news? Email [email protected] for possible inclusion.
New advocacy group forms in Colorado Springs, giving the town two
A new MTB advocacy group has formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado called the Colorado Springs Mountain Bike Association (COSMBA). The group will share space with longstanding Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates. COSMBA says it differs from other groups and that the mountain bike community “needs to take our involvement to the next level,” believing Colorado Springs has the potential to be a world class trail destination. The group is unaffiliated with IMBA and has been focusing efforts to bring a bike-only trail to the Austin Bluffs Open Space.
Biking on Long-Distance Trails Act reintroduced to Congress with America’s Outdoor Recreation Act
The Biking on Long-Distance Trails Act is back in Congress, trying to go the full distance this time. The bill supports the creation of long-distance bike trails and identifies at least 10 long-distance trails and 10 opportunities to develop or complete long-distance trails. In the last session, the BOLT Act passed the House and moved through Senate committees. IMBA said in a release they will keep working with lawmakers to develop the package this year.
Pine Mountain Resort renovations closer to reality in Michigan
A $25 million renovation plan at the Pine Mountain Resort, located in Michigan on the Wisconsin state line, has been approved. It would add 35 cabins for guests, new mountain bike trails and other opportunities. New ownership took over the resort last fall.
University of Southern Indiana moves to second phase of trails
Grants and matching grants appear to be in place for a second phase of trails for the University of Southern Indiana (USI) campus. The project is moving quickly, as we wrote last month that USI was only reviewing a potential second phase. The project will add three miles of trail, a trailhead kiosk, and signage. It will be a beginner-level trail.
New trail opens at Turkey Mountain, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma has a brand new downhill flow trail open for riding. The Boomtown trail is a half mile long, with 200 feet of drop, aimed at intermediate and expert riders.
Silverton Singletrack Society attains $250k grant
The Silverton Singletrack Society in Silverton, Colorado was awarded a Non-Motorized Trails Grant from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, according to the Durango Herald. The organization will start on phase one of a new trail system, with an estimated total cost of $900,000. The project will include close to 30 miles of trail and cost an estimated $2.6 million.
Albuquerque Mountain Bike Association receives $99,000 trail grant
The Albuquerque Mountain Bike Association recently received a $99,000 grant from the Outdoor Recreation Division of the New Mexcio Economic Development Department. The funds will be used to improve existing trails located on US Forest Service managed land along the east side of the Sandia Crest.
Northern Indiana MTB group leaves IMBA Chapter program
On Tuesday the Northern Indiana Mountain Bike Assocation (NIMBA) announced it’s striking out on its own as a non-profit. The group posted on Facebook, “As the Northern Indiana Mountain Bike Association, our priority is to impact our community of passionate mountain bikers and trail users here in Michiana. With that in mind, and with the input of our community, we felt that moving off of IMBA’s Chapter program was in our best interest.”
The BOLT legislation would accomplish almost nothing and take years to do it. The Forest Service opposes it on the ground that it is unnecessary; the agency already has the authority to do everything (which ain’t much) that BOLT calls for. The agency is correct.
What would accomplish something is to restore some degree of mountain biking in the national parks, in Wilderness, and on National Scenic Trails like the PCT. The mountain biking establishment opposes almost all of this.
One victory has been won: gaining mountain bike access to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail on the east side of Salt Lake County, Utah. That happened because the mountain biking community was united, unlike with Wilderness and the PCT, where the mountain biking establishment loves the bicycle bans and it’s left to scrappy out-groups to try to do something about them.
Woop Woop! Oklahoma Representing!
https://www.fox23.com/news/river-parks-authority-opens-new-mountain-bike-trail-at-turkey-mountain/article_01af1058-cdac-11ed-816f-8b0097e9d32d.html
Are there any strong advocacy groups which support mtb on the trails such as Pacific crest trail, as well as ebikes on federal public lands? If so, I will join them.
They are pretty much done
I’m very okay with this bill as long as it doesn’t intrude on Wilderness Areas or on a National Scenic Trail that is designated for hiking. imtmbke thinks that mountain bikes can still be instated into Wilderness Areas and on the PCT. That ship has already sailed. Basically, if you couldn’t get that passed between 2016 and 2018 when the White House and Congress were totally controlled by the Republicans, you’re never going to get it passed. Wacko Right Wing Senator Mike Lee hasn’t even introduced the bill in this session of Congress.
And the reason why the bill never got passed is because the Sustainable Trails Coalition totally lied. They claimed that bicycles are not “mechanical transport” and that only motorized vehicles are “mechanical transport.” Well, if the writers of the Wilderness Act wanted it that way they could have written “no other form of motorized transport” instead of “no other form of mechanical transport.”
Besides in the hearings for the Wilderness Act, members of Congress were concerned about items like horse drawn spring wagons going into Wilderness Areas. What is a horse drawn spring wagon: a metal frame attached to some wheels. What is a bicycle: a metal frame attached to some wheels.
And imtnbke, the Sustainable Trails Coalition was totally against the way the Bonnieville Shoreline Trail traded pieces of Wilderness Areas. STC wants bicycles totally in Wilderness Areas. What happened with the BST is they took small chunks of the Wilderness and exchanged it with other areas so they could make the trail go through.
This technique is work very well and is supported by IMBA.
IMBA has been trying to adjust the boundaries of new Wilderness Area so that it is the most beneficial to Mountain Biking. This technique worked great with the Boulder – White Cloud Wilderness Bill that became law. IMBA managed to lop off 22000 acres from the Bill so the 4th of July Trail could be totally out of the Wilderness. Plus they made it so the Big Bowery Loop was out of the Wilderness but has Wilderness all around it.
And I’ve said all along that mountain bikers should concentrate on making their own long distance trail instead of trying to take over hiking trails like the PCT and others. Imtnbike is right on one thing, mountain bikers have always had the power to make long distance mountain biking trails. Just look at what they are doing in Oregon with the Oregon Timber Trail.
I am hoping the BOLT bill passes and we can finally stop hearing certain mountain bikers complain they are not on the PCT or in Wilderness Areas. They should have done this all along instead of wasting $150,000 on lobbying Congress for the Bikes in the Wilderness Bill. $150,000 could have built many miles of mountain biking trails, but instead it was flushed down the toilet supporting an ill-conceived concept.