Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day!

30 09 2009
Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

This Saturday, October 3rd, is our first (hopefully annual) Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day at Midland City Forest.  The free event will be an introduction to mountain biking and is open to kids ages 6 – 16 years.  All that is required is a bike (capable of riding in dirt), a helmet and probably some warm clothes.  I hope that the weather will cooperate for us!

More information, including the waiver form, a printable flyer and possible notice of cancellation (due to weather), can be found here… http://mmbane.wordpress.com/special-events/

We welcome all of the young riders, experienced mountain biker chaperones, bike shops, bike mechanics (for simple tune-ups and air filling) and anyone willing to provide a post-ride snack.  Please contact: thadhallberg@gmail.com (or 989.430.6265),  if you are interested.

Don’t worry…we will wrap it up in time for you to watch football.  Join us!

UPDATE: We will be there, no matter the weather conditions.  The Chalet will be open for shelter and we will have some snacks and hot chocolate.  Rain go away!





TKMBD 2009?

21 08 2009

 

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!





Who’s In?

20 06 2009

Lumber, tools and clay…it’s time to play!  We have been salvaging lumber, sourcing dirt and rocks, tweaking the design, prepping the site and now it’s time to kick off the Midland City Forest Skills Park build!  Who’s in?  I will start a thread soon in the Northeast Chapter forum for discussions to take place, help us gauge the volunteer base and post the dates/times of the work parties.

When you have a chance, check out the short documentary about the construction of the Colonnade Bike Park under the I5 highway in Seattle.  Of course, this project is slightly larger than ours  ;)  however, it will inspire you, as we look to kick-off our project.

Colonnade Bike Park in Seattle, WA

Colonnade Bike Park in Seattle, WA

Pump Track Action!

Pump Track Action!

Our skills park will include a Lee McCormack designed pump track.  Pat’s Gradall is delivering 50 yards of dirt (with high clay content), very soon.  Got muscles?…We will need you!  Not sure of what a pump track is?…Check this out…

Stay tuned to the forum for details. Get involved.





Midland City Forest Views

15 06 2009

 

Midland City Forest Mountain Bike Trails

Midland City Forest Mountain Bike Trails

More fun with the Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS, Google Earth and Adobe Illustrator…this time at Midland City Forest.  Someday, I would like to overlay our old MCF map and see what needs to be revised, due to reroutes.  Feel free to download the larger image from our Flickr page, if you’d like.  Can everyone access the Flickr photo sets?  Clicking on either image should provide the link.  Hopefully so.  Enjoy.

 

Midland City Forest Mountain Bike Trails

Midland City Forest Mountain Bike Trails





MMBA Member Incentives!

8 06 2009

Our fearless NE Chapter leader, Troy, has been busy contacting local bike shops and asking for their participation in offering special MMBA discounts. We now have a nice list of shops that offer 15% off all parts and accessories, for registered MMBA members. You must present a valid MMBA member card, at the time of purchase.

This is a great incentive for you to become an MMBA member (or renew your membership)!  Why not do that right now?…click here.

We are looking to grow the list of incentives for becoming MMBA members.  If you are a business owner and want to extend discounts to our members please contact us.  If your favorite local bike shop is not on our list, let us know.

Our membership has increased 184% over the past several months.  Let’s continue that trend and help bring more revenue to the Northeast Chapter.  We are in this to bring you great local riding experiences.  The MMBA is working, at a broader level, to keep our sport alive and keep our favorite riding areas open to bikes.  It’s all good.

Special thanks to the participating local bike shops!…Chicky Cycle and The Stable Outdoor Outfitters (of Saginaw); Bicycle HQ, B-Xtreme Cycle & Sport and Ray’s Bike Shop (of Midland); Jack’s Bicycle Shop (of Bay City).





Mountain Bike Skills Park (Teaser)

28 05 2009

 

Mountain Bike Skills Park Concept

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.








Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.