MMBA Survey…

The MMBA needs your feedback.  Please take a few minutes to participate in a survey about the direction and goals of the MMBA.  NOTE: This is the same survey as the one posted on the MMBA homepage.

http://www.mmba.org/survey

Thanks so much for all your support!

Trail Report

Jim  says that Midland City Forest is rideable, with the exception of the North end of Dismal Swamp.  Our previous work on the Gnu Loop has paid off.  It handles the Spring wetness very well now.  The Boy Scout bridge’s deck is above the water level and also rideable.

Please send current trail reports from any MMBA Northeast Chapter riding areas to: thadhallberg@gmail.com  …I will try to post them ASAP!

500 Yard Trail Reroute @ MCF

We had a terrific turnout for the first work party of the year powered by Catrina LaRose’s cookies and mud season fever. The much appreciated volunteers in no particular order were:

Jeff and Matthew Zawisza
Bart Heil
Jill Haver-Crissman
Steve Hoffman
Josh Augustine
Gary Putt
Chris Eicher
John Deere

We finished an approximately 500 yd long reroute in the south part of the dismal swamp and broke up the covered the old trail. We should have a lot less problem with water on the new route, though there are still some soft spots that we’ll eventually have to come back too. Anyone who doubts the value of these efforts should ride the north end of the north bound Gnu loop where we worked last spring. It’s completely rideable even during this mud season.

Remember to record your hours — and cookie baking counts!

Thanks again!

Jim Crissman
Midland City Forest Mtn Bike Trail Coordinator

MCF Work Party TODAY!

We had the date wrong in the previous post (now revised).  To clarify…the work party is Sunday March 22nd @ 1pm.  Check previous post for further details.  Jim estimates 2+ hours of work.

Work Party @ MCF

This spring’s main project at the MCF will be to armor and reroute as necessary to fix the mud problems in the part of the South Loop we affectionately call the dismal swamp. We’ll work on a rerouted section of the South Loop this Sunday, March 22, at 1:00 PM. Meet in the SOUTH LOT OFF EASTMAN ROAD — that’s the driveway across from the paint store. Bring eye protection, work gloves, a water bottle, and the sort of sturdy footwear that would make your mother proud. Also please bring a leaf rake and/or a pick if you have one. The latter is to break up the old compacted surface of the trail segment that will be closed and made to look like we were never there. If you arrive late, walk the Gnu loop connector west to its intersection with the South Loop. The reroute starts just west of that intersection. Or, just walk about 300 yds WNW from the parking area and follow your nose toward the smell of sweat.

There will probably be one more work party focused on the South Loop mud, after which our attentions will turn to Matt Zawisza’s Eagle Scout project which is construction of a skills park and pump track in the clearing near the south toboggan tower. Be sure to keep track of your hours for valuable volunteer awards from the MMBA — you’ll need 10 for the year to get one.

Oh, and does anybody want to volunteer to make cookies for the work party? The hours count!

See you out there!

Jim Crissman
Midland City Forest Mtn Bike Trail Coordinator

UPDATE:  Yes, this date has been revised.  We had April, but meant March.  Hope that you can help on such short notice.

MMBA Rule of Thumb…

 

Sippy Hole Alert

The recent warm weather may have melted the snow, but the sub-surface layers of soil are still partially frozen. Trails are critically sensitive to erosion damage at this time.

 

Please ride on pavement or gravel roads for a few more weeks, until the trails have properly thawed and dried out. A good rule of thumb is that when the earthworms begin to emerge, the ground is suitably thawed for trail activities (usually by mid-April).

Help us keep trails open to mountain biking by riding in an environmentally sound manner.

Follow this link to the MMBA notification.

Iceman Goeth via Snail Mail

12:00 PM Wednesday March 4, 2009

Okay, here’s the new plan! If you click on the “Register Now” star, you will find a pdf of the 2009 Iceman entry form. Print that and fill it out. Then throw it back in the mail to the address on the form by this Saturday, March 7th, and we’ll take it from there. The key is that ALL entries postmarked by Saturday March 7th will be accepted.

We are close to being able to post a list of the riders who were able to register on Monday evening. SBO has been working around the clock (literally) to clean up the data and to correct duplicate credit card charges and that process is almost completed.

Sincerely,

Steve Brown

2009 Banff Mountain Film Festival

 

Clearance at the Gap

It is time once again for the Chippewa Nature Center to host the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. The films will be shown on Saturday, April 4th at 7 p.m. in the Bullock Creek high school auditorium. There will be at least one bike film, Crux, and many other films that will be of interest to outdoor minded folks from the ski and bike community. Tickets are on sale now at the Nature Center, go to www.chippewanaturecenter.org for details and previews.

 

Crux teaser link.

Hey Ladies…

 

WW @ Ray's

Traffic on the Northeast Chapter website has increased lately thanks to the Iceman Cometh and Goeth controversy.  I don’t have any news to report on that topic yet, but I am feeling the need to provide some new content.  I figure that you can’t go wrong with women tearing it up at Ray’s Indoor MTB Park!

Read more about the Women’s Weekend at Ray’s on the Dirt Rag Blog.  Also, check out the female freeriders at the FreerideFoundation blog.  Were any of our ladies at the Ray’s event?  Get that on your calendar for next year!

…and another Iceman update…

8:50 PM Monday March 2, 2009

Registration for tonight is now suspended. The old SBO site crashed after being online for only 2 minutes. It is a site that is capable of handling 900 entries in 15 minutes so there has to be more than meets the eye going on here.

I am at a loss for words to describe my frustration for all of you who have spent hours trying to register for Iceman. I will be sending out the new plan for registration as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Steve Brown

http://www.iceman.com/

https://new.sportsbaseonline.com/