TKMBD 2009?

 

TKMBD 2009

 

 

 

 

 

IMBA is sponsoring it’s sixth annual Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009.  A day to introduce kids ages 6 – 16 to the sport of mountain biking, to experience local trails and to have some good ol’ fun in the dirt. Your MMBA Northeast chapter would like to participate and host a local event.  Save the date.  We are trying to get organized and make this happen.  

If you are interested in volunteering or have some suggestions, please contact thadhallberg[at]gmail[dot]com.

More on this soon!

Mountain Bike Skills Park (Teaser)

 

Mountain Bike Skills Park Concept

We are very close to kicking off the latest addition to the Northeast Chapter mountain bike offerings, a Skills Park at Midland City Forest.  The park will include beginner and intermediate level mountain bike features designed to improve your balance and bike handling skills.  It will be located behind the rear toboggan tower, in an unused, rectangular shaped, grassy clearing. Features will include: dirt jumps, drops, skinnies, log rides/piles, teeter-totters, rocks and a Lee McCormack designed pump track.  This will be the only publicly accessible mountain bike skills park in the Northeast Chapter region (that I know of).  Volunteers will be needed to efficiently build this park, so that we can start riding it as soon as possible.  A portion of this project will be completed thanks to the leadership of area Boy Scout, Matthew Zawisza, earning him an Eagle merit.

Materials for this project will mostly consist of recycled lumber, re-ground concrete, donated scrap rough sawn cedar and other donated items.  If you have or know of other (free) materials that could be used in the build, please contact thadhallberg[at]gmail[dot]com.  Galvanized fasteners and bagged concrete will be needed, as well.

The skills park design has gone through a few rounds of revisions.  Ideas for the current design are based on features seen while researching similar parks.  Some details could change slightly during the construction phase.  If you have some expertise in designing or constructing bike skills features, please volunteer some time, to help us get this right!  Work days will be announced soon.

IMBA calls Skills Parks the “gateway” feature at mountain bike areas.  It helps to introduce younger riders to the sport.  They hone their skills on the jumps and skinnies, then venture out into the nearby trail systems.  I think that the Skills Park will be a great addition to our mountain biking lineup (for all ages).  MMBA Northeast Chapter will be responsible for its maintenance and upkeep.  Please help us in this effort!  Pick up your trash, report damaged features, report or thwart any malicious destruction, ride smart, wear a helmet and other necessary gear, be aware of other riders, etc.  We are fortunate to have the City of Midland’s approval for this project.  Let’s keep the door open for future opportunities.  Thanks!

Feel free to leave any comments below.

IMBA Trail Care Crew in Lansing

IMBA is coming to Lansing, MI, May 23-24, and you’re invited to join in the special events. Kelly and Collins Bishop of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew are teaming up with the Michigan Mountain Biking Association Mid-State Chapter for a weekend dedicated to improving local trails and having fun.

The visit features a trailbuilding school and a group ride. This is your opportunity to rub shoulders with the IMBA Crew while learning all about trailbuilding. Check out the details below and come join in the fun.

Schedule:

Saturday

9:00 – Noon: Trailbuilding School classroom session at Delta Township Offices

1:00 – 4:00 PM: Trailbuilding School field session

Sunday

10:00 – Noon: Trail work

1:00 PM: Group ride

For additional information and to RSVP, please contact Chris Mensing (cmensing76@yahoo.com)

More MMBA Expo pics

 

Ryan Schutz (IMBA) and Marne Smiley (MMBA)

More pics from the MMBA Expo can be found on our MMBA Northeast Chapter Flickr Group.  Anyone may upload pics to this group, if they are relevant to mountain biking.  I did notice that you must change the Safety Level of any image that is submitted to our group to Safe, otherwise, it will not accept it.  Check it out and feel free to contribute your pics.

MMBA Annual Meeting and Expo

Jim was intrigued by this Kevlar beauty!

Sunday morning, a bunch of us dirtlovers boarded the minivan to Lansing for the 2009 MMBA Annual Meeting and Expo.  We arrived around 10am ready to transition our thoughts back over to mountain biking.  The expo consisted of 50 or so booths…bike shops, organizations, MMBA chapters (not Northeast), private sellers, and more.  In the far corner of the large room was a presentation screen and stage.  Throughout the day a variety of presenters spoke to a relatively small gathering of mtb enthusiasts.  I tuned into a rep from Village Bike Shop, that described in detail the proper way to fit a bike.  Ryan Schutz (IMBA) was there (with his radio DJ voice) and coincidently, presented the “gateway” concept.  The gateway is a mountain biking destination that offers a trail system, as well as a pump track and a skills area.  We listened as Ryan showed slides from recent pump track builds, including the Lee McCormack design that we are considering for Midland City Forest.  We hammered him after with questions and learned a lot.  It may be possible to get some IMBA help with our pump track build.  Jim Crissman represented our NE Chapter, for the volunteer awards ceremony.  We have a small group of dedicated volunteers (I’m not complaining), but I learned how small our chapter really is.  Prizes were awarded to those with 10+ hours and volunteer of the year…congrats to our Jeff Adamcik.

MetroSouth Chapter tool trailer

Now I can see how the Northeast Chapter is controversial…we are barely on the map in comparison.  We did, however, have a larger representation than the Northern Chapter.  There were two enclosed trailers proudly displayed by other chapters.  The trailers had sponsorship logos on the outside, tools carefully mounted on the inside and a gas grill.  No tapped keg that I could see.  Other chapters were promoting their trails at booths and selling t-shirts, jerseys and even beer mugs!  It would be great if the Northeast Chapter could generate a few ideas to increase our membership in 2009.

Well spoken Jim Crissman represents!

There were some deals to be had 50-60% off on good stuff…especially if you wear x-large or small sizes or ride odd sized bikes.  We all managed to support the economy, buying gear, food, and Bell’s draft beer.  Gary Putt demonstrated his best power shopping skills, disappointingly resulting in minimal finds.  Jim hit the jackpot at the silent auction.  He won so many auction items that he had to write them on his hand, to be able to remember them all.  Watch out for the DirtPoet himself, on course at the Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival race…one of many auction items won.  We arrived back in Midland in time for dinner with mountain biking on the brain…it won’t be long now before we’re back on the trail!