Your Trail’s Future May Depend On IMBA's New Leader

Mar 6, 2017 at 11:48
by Vernon Felton  

Dave Wiens by Angel King RTI Sports
WILL THIS MAN
REVIVE IMBA?
BY VERNON FELTON
Photo by Angel King / RTI Sports

Let’s be blunt—2016 was not a banner year for the International Mountain Bicycling Association (or IMBA). Mountain biking’s pre-eminent trail-access organization lost its 19-year sponsor, Subaru. In the wake of that announcement, IMBA laid-off several staff members and were forced to mothball the very popular and successful Trail Care Crew program. What’s more, the trail advocacy organization continued to take its lumps over its refusal to advocate for mountain biking in Wilderness areas.

It’s impossible to say whether all of this played into Mike Van Abel’s decision to resign after 12 years of leading IMBA. This much is clear, however: While IMBA never stopped doing important work on behalf of all mountain bikers, the organization now faces some hard questions.

For the first time in decades, even longtime members are asking:
Does IMBA deserve our support?
Has IMBA outlived its usefulness?
And, most importantly,
Can this organization turn its own ship around?
The answer may rest with Dave Wiens, the man IMBA recently named its new Executive Director.

Unlike some of IMBA’s past leaders, Dave Wiens is not a polished figurehead with years of experience running major non-profits. Wiens is, first and foremost, a rider and trail builder—that makes him an interesting choice to lead an organization that has been characterized as being too detached from the day-to-day realities of digging in the dirt and advocating for trails on the local level.

Wiens, however, might be just the leader this organization needs.

In addition to carving a long and impressive racing career that includes World Cup wins and six dominating victories in the Leadville 100, Wiens is the founder and Executive Director of Gunnison Trails, a grassroots, trail-access organization in Gunnison, Colorado.

In short, Dave Wiens, a Mountain Bike Hall of Famer with dirt under his fingernails, isn’t your typical suit-and-tie executive and that might be a good thing. But can he actually change things at IMBA? And what would he change? And why is he willing to take the hot seat at this difficult point in IMBA’s history?

To his credit, Wiens answered all these questions (and more) during this interview.


If I were to sum up a lot of people's reaction to your taking the lead at IMBA, it’d go something like this: “It’s cool that Wiens is leading IMBA…but why the hell is he doing it?”

You’ll never please everyone in a job like this. On top of that, the challenges of keeping IMBA relevant and successful have to be immense. So, why are you taking on the mantle?


IMBA has been there for mountain bikers from nearly the beginning, trying to give us mountain bikers more trails to ride. So for me, taking this job was…well, I don’t want to say it was a “no brainer”, because it really was a big decision—it’s a big job with a lot of responsibility—but it felt necessary. For a lot of us, mountain biking isn’t just a sport—it’s a part of our lives. It’s who we are. If you take mountain biking away from us, it’s like you're tearing our hearts out.
Dave Wiens by Angel King RTI Sports
Photo by Angel King / RTI Sports

Knowing, as I’m sure you do, that many riders feel that IMBA could be a better organization, what made you willing to take the lead at this point? A lot of people would shy away from it.


Well, for a couple reasons. IMBA has been going through a transition lately. That’s true. Losing Subaru as a sponsor was a big deal. It’s in a tough spot right now. But look, mountain biking has been very good to me. I met my wife through mountain biking. Heck, everything good in my life has resulted from or somehow been connected to mountain biking. So it’d be hard for me to see an organization in need—an organization that has had such a positive impact on mountain biking—and not try to help. I can’t do that.

It’s going to be a challenge.


Yeah, it’s not going to be the easiest road. And I fully didn’t sleep a couple nights knowing that some people would probably say, ‘Oh, Wiens, he’s not a real mountain biker because we don’t agree on this issue or that issue.’

I’m not really a controversial guy. I’m not that outspoken. And now I’m going to step out of that comfort zone and it probably won’t be the most pleasant thing to have criticism aimed at me, but I know it’s going to happen and I believe I’m going to do the best thing I can for the sport.

It’s not as if I’m going to be some autocratic leader who’ll be making all these decisions in a bubble about mountain biking. I have an amazing staff and board of directors around me and I’ve got an amazing support network of mountain bikers. I think there are good ideas everywhere and I want to hear them.

Look, I know I’m not the guy with all the answers. I don’t even know if that person actually exists. I mean, IMBA could find a person who knows the non-profit world inside and out, but then perhaps they’re not a mountain biker. So I think I come to this job fairly qualified and I’m going to come in and put my head down and work and get better. We might make mistakes along the way, but we are also going to keep going because we’re trying to help make mountain biking as good as it can be and we’ll try and give as many mountain bikers as we can a voice so that this sport can continue to progress.

Dave Wiens by Andy Eyring RTI Sports
Photo by Andy Eyring / RTI Sports

How many members does IMBA currently have?


Around thirty thousand dues-paying members. There are shops and clubs and chapters... we have just over 700 corporate partners right now. But really, you’re still talking about 30,000 individual mountain bikers.

How do those membership numbers compare to IMBA enrollment numbers of the past? Is it level (constant), higher, lower?


Membership has been at that level for quite a while. There are fluctuations from time to time, but it’s been pretty constant for a while now.

And how many employees are there at IMBA?


There are 42. We’re split about half and half between Trail Solutions (Ed. IMBA’s trail-building operation) and everybody else—the Boulder staff and the regional programs.

How international, actually, is IMBA? The word “International” is in the title, but the sense I get is often that the bulk of the organization’s work is centered in the United States….but that may be simply my perception as an American.


Today, IMBA is not very international. There are three licensing agreements that we have today with IMBA Canada, IMBA Argentina and IMBA Europe. Our Trail Solutions also does international trail work projects. But today and moving forward, we are very much focused on the USA because we have to be.


Rocky Mtn legend Dave Wiens rides out of the darkness during the Vail Outlier Offroad XC race.
Wiens racing in the Vail Outlier Offroad XC race, 2015. Photo by Eddie Clark

What are IMBA’s strengths?

The IMBA brand, while not universally popular, is fairly strong with land managers and folks in agencies who often actually refer to a top-level trail as being built to “IMBA standards”. In short, we’ve created a huge bank of knowledge about how to create trail systems that work—about trail construction and design techniques as well as the bigger-picture planning process.

Then the other strength we are always going to have is that no one else is trying to speak specifically to improving mountain biking access and government relations on a local, regional and national level.

What are IMBA’s weaknesses?


Well, the one that jumps right out at me is just that our average member is 45 years old and male. It’s certainly a demographic profile that we’d like to diversify. We’d like to see younger riders, more women and more kids. We need to start speaking to and resonating with a wider variety of riders, so that we’re representing a wider range of riders and even viewpoints. We’d like to reach more mountain bikers and particularly more with younger riders.

IMBA has always attempted to bring different types of riders together. I guarantee you, there’s never been a time when that wasn’t IMBA’s goal, but in the past IMBA’s been hyperfocused, with their head down, on their mission and maybe hasn’t told that story or shown the world what it has accomplished as well as it could have.

We need to be more relevant to younger riders and progressive riders. It’s not that we’ve ignored that in the past, we have plenty of those kinds of riders on our own staff, but, moving forward, we have to do a better job of extending that.

bigquotesOne thing that we need...is to get mountain bikers to identify, first and foremost, as mountain bikers instead of just pigeonholing themselves or one another as an XC racer or freerider or whatever. We're all riders and if we remember that common point, we can achieve so much more together.Dave Wiens, IMBA Executive Director

IMBA is criticized at times for two things:
Criticism #1: IMBA is detached, out there in Boulder.

Criticism #2: IMBA, some argue, actively promotes the sanitation—the dumbing down—of trails.

How do you respond to those kinds of criticisms?



I’m just going to say that some of that impression of being detached is legitimate. No matter where IMBA is located, they are going to have a little bit of that effect from that geography. But we also have a lot of staff members in different parts of the country, so we do get a sense of what’s happening outside the Boulder Bubble.

I know IMBA gets criticized for sanitizing trails. Some it may be deserved and some of it isn’t. Speaking from personal experience now, at Gunnison Trails we’ve been accused of sanitizing trails too because we’ll have a trail that has eroded badly and we’ll fill it back up with dirt and add some waterbars or other water-diversion on it and suddenly a trail that was kind of hard to ride becomes easier. And you’ll see people on the forums saying, ‘Hey, man. I like those old-school, gnarly, steep and tough trails!’

Part of me gets it. You and I and a lot of your readers out there cut our teeth on trails like that. But we also know that those trails aren’t sustainable. A small rut becomes a big rut and pretty soon no one is riding that trail anymore or it gets closed completely. So part of it is that.

And then other part of it is that any time you are in a position of telling people, ‘Hey guys, this is how a trail should be built.’ You’re going to get slapped with that trail sanitizer label.

Really, a lot of this also comes down to having involvement in your local club from a wide range of different types of riders. If you feel like your trails are being sanitized, get involved. Get your friends involved. If you get involved in your local club, you can have some say in what your local trails will be like. If you learn to work with local land managers, you can truly have an impact. You can widen the spectrum of trails in your area. But it does take being involved and doing the work. Criticizing from the sidelines? It’s an easy thing to do, but it doesn’t change anything. So, while I understand why people sometimes have that complaint, I don’t buy it entirely.

Tennessee Opens The Devil s Racetrack
While IMBA is often saddled with the label of "trail sanitizer", the organization has built plenty of progressive parks and trails, including Devil's Racetrack in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Why do you think IMBA has struggled for so long with the reputation as the fun police—the organization bent on making trails boring?


As discerning riders, we’re really quick to judge the trails we ride. The skill level of the average mountain biker is so high these days and we’re looking for top-shelf trails every time. And that’s generally a good thing because it pushes the envelope for everybody. It raises the bar. I’m all for that.

But we still have to recognize that we have to build trails for everybody. There’s a spectrum of riders out there and we need a variety of trails that address that range of rider styles and abilities. There’s no single style of trail that’s going to do it for everyone. We can’t just build cross-country trails or, on the other hand, super-gnar trails. IMBA sometimes puts some fairly vanilla trails on the ground, sure, but sometimes those vanilla trails are actually called for. And we also put some very progressive, technical trails in because they’re also called for. I think the Devil's Race Track that our Trail Solutions team created is a good example of that.

There’s a full spectrum of riders out there and IMBA needs to be relevant to all of them. The caveat to that is that IMBA is also always going to speak to the need to ride your bike responsibly. I know that message has earned IMBA a reputation as “the trail cops”. Any time you talk about responsibility, a certain amount of people are always going to say, ‘Don’t tell me about being responsible!’ but in the mountain biking world, being responsible does not have to mean being boring. It just means being sensible about where and how you ride. How you ride on a one-way downhill trail, for example, is going to be different than how you ride on a busy, two-way trail with blind spots on a Saturday afternoon. Are you riding in a bike park? You can do things in a bike park that you can’t do in most state parks. Being responsible simply means knowing the difference between those kinds of situations and riding accordingly.

At the end of the day, we have to talk about being responsible because when you are a mountain biker, you never represent just yourself. You represent all of us. People judge other mountain bikers, for example, by what they experience when they meet me on the trail. Whether or not we want to represent one another isn’t the question. We just do. That’s just a fact. So, we have to talk about riding responsibly because each one of us can help or hurt the next rider’s ability to ride his or her local trails. But, again, riding responsibly doesn’t mean not having fun. It means being sensible.

photo
Dave Wiens leading Lance Armstrong in the Leadville 100...one of Wiens' six Leadville victories. Photo by Snagglepuss

How do you see IMBA evolving in the future?


I guess I’d sum it up as simplifying IMBA and what it does in terms of advocacy, policy and government relations.

You know, to me, it feels like IMBA has kind of gone off in a lot of different directions. We have a lot of programs and they are all worthy ones, but I feel like we are now at a point where we have to reel it in and focus on a few of those really big, critical pieces that we know we can do.
A lot of chapters are doing a very good job locally, but there’s still a critical need for mountain biking representation on a national level. That’s a world we are already in and it’s vital to mountain biking that someone is doing that, especially at the national level.

If you could focus on a few things and succeed in making them happen, what would they be?


Getting more trails on the ground is still IMBA’s top priority and while we riders often talk about great places to ride like Crested Butte or Moab, we can’t forget that the biggest need is making sure that you have a place to ride close to where we live. Most of us don’t get to go to Whistler all the time, but if we can create amazing trails that we can pedal to, or are just a short drive away from our jobs or homes, that’s a great, and necessary, thing.

Improving access to the sport for kids is also key. If you are my age or close to it, you probably remember your parents sending you out of the house and onto your bike to just…explore. That doesn’t happen as much anymore, for a lot of reasons. But that means that a lot of kids might never grow up to become riders. We need more and better trails near our communities. We need more programs like NICA. So many towns I go to have a skate park somewhere. I’d like to see every town have a bike park and a trail system. Getting kids started young, getting them carving turns in dirt…those are good things and IMBA wants to be a part of that.

One thing that we need, in order to push things forward as a sport, is to get mountain bikers to identify—first and foremost—as mountain bikers instead of just pigeonholing themselves or one another as an XC racer or freerider or whatever. We’re all riders and if we remember that common point, we can achieve so much more together.

Dave Wiens

IMBA came at along at a time when the mountain biking world desperately needed a central organization that could speak for riders and serve as a clearinghouse for information and advice. But there are now several very strong regional organizations such as Evergreen in Washington State, COPMOBA in Colorado, NEMBA and SORBA back east, to name just a few. These regional groups do strong work in their own right.

Given that this is the case, some riders question whether we still need a large umbrella organization such as IMBA… Do we? Does the world still need IMBA the way it did, back when the organization was conceived?


Yeah, I think IMBA is still needed. Evergreen’s a great organization, for instance, but as powerful as it is, I don’t know if they are going to go to Washington DC to go to task for mountain bikers. I do believe we need that strong national voice politically. And then you also need that educational resource nationally. And that’s something I’d really like to see us develop more—both in print and online. That’s a huge opportunity for IMBA, to be a knowledge base for all organizations.

If a local or regional organization has it going on, that’s great. We’re here, however, to help out when they need it. If there’s a project that we can come in and help with at some point, we’d like to. We want to be at their service if a certain political issue or land management issue comes up that we’re experienced with. There are a lot of ways we can still help local trail access groups and we’re committed to that.

What we need to be focused on is being relevant and important to mountain biking nationally and I do believe there are still plenty of opportunities for IMBA to do that. Until we can cover this country with great mountain biking opportunities, from sea to sea, we’re not done.

Author Info:
vernonfelton avatar

Member since Apr 11, 2014
202 articles

294 Comments
  • 217 11
 "you have to build trails for everybody"

that's the main reason I'm not a member of IMBA anymore, after being one for 20 years. Every time I've heard anyone from IMBA say that, it really meant "we're building another beginner trail." except they call them flow trails now.

It's true that beginner, I mean flow, trails are an easier sell to LMs on public lands, I've seen it first hand how nervous they get when you want to build a trail near a rocky area or leave a log down. But honestly 100% of the new trail on the ground in my area has been totally non-technical, and it's not because people weren't involved. Hell, the people that want the types of trails we're building don't advocate or build trail, they just ride what we build (and dumb down anything technical we manage to sneak in).

Whenever IMBA gets involved, they take a 'any trail is better than no trail' approach, decide that what we really wanted isn't worth the fight and build a begin--I mean flow trail. And put an IMBA sign at the trailhead even though we did 95% of the work.

Dave, I really do wish you the best, but be aware you're starting with a org that's 100% irrelevant to actual mountain biking. He keeps saying we need a national-level org; why? When that org refuses to even try on the one national-level issue that matters. Worse yet, issues press releases bashing STC for doing what IMBA refuses to.
  • 39 1
 Nailed it.
  • 34 1
 Spot on man. They don't fight for trails and access locally in their back yard here in Boulder where they are notorious for restricting bikes in open spaces. So how could we ever expect them to be a legitimate, successful organization on a national level?
  • 23 2
 totally agree. I hope Dave sees the importance of scrapping the "No rider left behind" mentality. If I was as good as Andreu then Id be as good as Andreu.. I dont mind (and didnt 20 years ago) having trails that are too advanced for me. Thats what its all about. One day it wont be too advanced for me.
The local IMBA chapter here sees it this way, and thats why I cant support them. We roll our own
  • 14 2
 IMBA please also stop taking rough trails and put new features or little lines in with rollers or just crap that belongs to a "flow trail." You did that to one of my local trails after a fast section and damn near got people killed.
  • 24 3
 It's a shame when you see trails re-routed away from rock gardens and other techy features. I'm glad IMBA isn't in my area.
  • 26 4
 I don't know where y'all live but in colorado imba (via comba) has built some rad trail. Blackjack/Raspberry Ridge is gnar. Little Scraggy is a fantastic trail with great variety. Get involved in trail building and local trail advocacy so you have some say in what trails look like.
  • 14 10
 Yeah and for gods sake there are way to many xc trails. It would be awesome to see you guys build a bike park or some very tech dh trails. Oh wait IMBA seems to be made up of xc riders
  • 3 1
 @SnowshoeRider4Life: The way they routed the trail was okay. It cut out a climb and it was appreciated. But putting rollers in when youre already screaming speed into this section is such a dumb idea. Glad some locals made some side lines...
  • 1 4
 @SnowshoeRider4Life: certain areas/trails do require that tho. Many trails were built as fall line and get wider, wider, wider...riders keep goin to edges cuz ruts to bad. Trick is to add back some gnar(areas like laguna means importing non native rock).
  • 11 3
 @thedriftisreal: to their credit, full tech dh trails are by their very nature not sustainable. There needs to be proper funding to maintain downhill trails (or a core user group to commit the time). I think this is why most proper freeride trails are found at bikeparks that charge for entry.
  • 10 4
 I would never let IMBA get involved with my local trails. That would be like turning a tiger loose in a daycare center.
  • 24 11
 @SnowshoeRider4Life: Let me introduce you to your local tail club. www.pocahontastrails.com
You should get to know. They are affiliated with IMBA and they make great technical trail.

For all of the internet heroes out there, there is one organization working on a national level for mountain bike trail access.

IMBA is never going to please everyone, but there are 2 separate issues here:
1. Trail and Land Access.
I'm curious where do the anti IMBA bikers send their money to help tail access in this country? STC? OK if you only care about wilderness access.

2. Trail building. Pink Bikers favorite area to gripe about in-between A-Line sessions. No offense but if there was a shortage of gnar everywhere the lines for the Garbo zone would be the same as the lower mountain. Hint, they aint. Hell, Snowshoe's most popular trail is probably Skyline, a flow tail. Does the addition of Skyline ruin the bike park, no. There is still plenty of technical trial, and Skyline opens up riding the park to a lot of people that may not otherwise try.
  • 26 0
 Did I miss where they addressed the wilderness area access? That's a huge deal IMO. If IMBA wants to actually benefit MTN bikers thru politics, then that's an obvious thing to address.
  • 11 1
 @adrennan: See the Colorado bubble questions above. The rest of the country is nothing like where you live.

I'm all about the pulaski=vote system; if there was a workable system where people weren't even allowed on the trail without putting some work in, I'd be all for it (no dig, no ride). Fact is building on land you don't own is more complicated than that.

You saying 'get involved in local advocacy' isn't an endorsement of IMBA at all; they don't to local advocacy. My experience with them (in 2+ decades) is they come in, pick low-hanging fruit (which is usually very low-risk projects that locals have started) take credit, then leave. Our big access issues? We couldn't pay them to touch - and it wasn't even wilderness, I think it was just too hard. And Trail Solutions... holy crap don't get me started.

look, it's a complex problem, and I don't really have an answer. I am sure, however, that doubling down on the same crap that got IMBA where it is now isn't going to fix things.
  • 7 2
 I'll be stoked if Dave puts his money where his mouth is regarding National level advocacy. What chapters have seen is quite the opposite with Bruce Alt, their top-dog DC lobbyist, now partly running the chapter program. There are plenty of trail contractors doing high quality, sustainable work out there; we and potential sponsors don't need IMBA's trail solutions to be doing it. Chapters benefit from the IMBA resources, but it's not a deal breaker to not have it. What no one else can do is get the respect of land managers nationwide. Sure, gripe about the dumbing-down of trails, but having IMBA around makes mountain bike use legitimate and protects a lot of existing trails. if IMBA wants to be relevant they have to focus on national level advocacy.
  • 6 2
 Sounds just like SNMBA. Southern Nevada chapter, they are huge advocates against illegal trail building, yet post links to the illegal trails on there website and ride the illegal trails. Rather going and building and maintaining trail they try to get the same illegal trails sanctioned in legally all while bashing the builders and getting the credit while drinking taxfree non-profit beers.
  • 7 0
 @Gttroy: "I'm curious where do the anti IMBA bikers send their money to help tail access in this country?"


locally. East of the Rockies, almost all trail is on state, county, city or local land. Federal/national-level advocacy doesn't often help there (more CO bubble in IMBA's thinking), and the jurisdictions where most of the good trail is, they're too small for IMBA to have a relationship with, so they don't care.
Then there's National Parks, which yeah IMBA made some slight inroads on, but still almost all are off limits, and as far as I know, IMBA not making much/any effort to change that.
  • 6 2
 @Gttroy: I donate my time and extra money to my local trails. Graham swamp trail crew. I definitely don't wantIMBA showing up removing the rocks and roots and gnarl from my trail. Our Land access is granted working with the Parks and Recreation Department at a local level. The fewer amount of chefs in the kitchen the better the final product.
  • 5 2
 @Weens: I acknowledge the colorado bubble elsewhere. I get that. Our local trail groups seem to work rather closely with IMBA/COMBA, which is why I bring up local advocacy. I guess I am optimistic that Dave Wiens can bring IMBA into mountain biking in the 21st century. For now, I am being supportive, but I am clearly not as jaded on the subject.
  • 12 5
 @SnowshoeRider4Life:IMBA prepping Trails for baby strollers and Senior Walkers since day one. Don't forget to remove the rocks and roots.
  • 13 0
 Evergreen and Olympic Dirt Society for the win.
  • 7 2
 @Gttroy: that's not local to me at all really. Still 2 hours away. Those trails are definitely great but they existed well before.

Anti imba, yea I am. I don't send money. I throw rakes, mattocs, shovels, and Saws on my back and go cut in new trail or maintain the existing ones.

Sure there's a place for flow but don't ruin good techy trails with flow. Sure snowshoe has lots of gnar but even they started to sowshoeanitize their own trails at times with berms on trails that never existed before. But snowshoe is different. It's a business. Two opposite ends of the spectrum
  • 10 2
 glad to see people aren't buying into the politispeak hook line and sinker. His answers are a lesson in doublespeak, obfuscating the reality that the approach will remain the same and that it will remain a lowest common denominator approach to making trails. They ruined the local trails, pushed out the immense amount of local diggers (shitting on their work publicly, hiring outside companies to do the work with a bobcat vs by hand, and put in utterly dangerous things like speed bumps and rock berms that fell apart), then complined about the lack of support from the very community pushed into renegade builds......
  • 11 2
 I'd think that's how you would pull a land manager into being hospitable to the MTB scene?

We want something big, trails, even "flow trails" are a massive undertaking. Yet, it's that "flow trail" that gets the common and armature riders to the sport, with places they can enjoy at their skill level. We all start at the bottom of the skill tree when we are new to MTB and/or MTB-DJ.

So the land manager sees a rise in population of their land centered around the recently built MTB "flow trail", all the while parking permits have increased the income of the park. This has made the land manager take notice as the funds are now more prevalent for park maintenance, more so than before the "flow trail" build.

"All big things start small"... Once the land manager has become comfortable with the new "flow trail" and no one has been hurt since its build(6 months to a year), it's now time to ask the land manager if it is okay to build more advanced trails; volunteers only, no cost to the land manager. Work with the LM to make trail head signs for the newer sections with volunteer made signs to help people know the skill level of the trail, produce maps for visitors via paper at the LM office, or via download.

Being part of the Gateway Green Project of Portland, Oregon has been uplifting and informative. It has shown me what it takes to get people involved in a thing they are not familiar with and may have reservations about. I've noticed that once you start chipping away slowly and get a little ground, the process starts to move forward with more speed as LM's become comfortable with the idea of MTB trails on their land.

I helped with several skate parks in Portland. Those processes were also tedious, but they were built.
  • 13 0
 @adrennan: I agree those trails are sweet, but as Weens says, they pick low hanging fruit with low risk. Buff Creek is an already established area with fewer barriers to improvement/digging than others. So they build some admittedly fun trails there and explode them all over their media saying "look at what we did!". But what about hard area issues like Boulder or wilderness areas? I have yet to see them address those tough issues and take them head on like and ADVOCACY group is supposed to. Maybe I am jaded since I live in Boulder and I am stuck looking at open space that has been closed to bikes since the 80's and IMBA is literally across the street praising their work at Buff Creek or Devils Race Track (another already established riding area). Rant done.
  • 5 1
 @adrennan: That doesn't mean IMBA is good, it means your local org is good. Think how much better they might be without IMBA sucking away a huge amount of funds.
  • 6 0
 Trails have been multiplying like crazy in my area which is awesome, but it does seem like they are all machine build flow trails. I fear that single track will be replaced by flow trail.
  • 7 1
 @adrennan: IMBA has built one trail in my area and it's 11 minutes of boredom. Their influence is also ruining other new trails being built by the local group.
  • 4 1
 @Weens: To local orgs that do a good job, and STC.

I like GOATS (which is an IMBA chapter at least for now, I believe they keep 100% of donations vs. the split with IMBA on membeship fees), FOCF and SWIMBA. Evergreen in WA is painfully silent on whether ebikes are motorized or not, so no $ to them until they see the light. On a national level, it's all STC, who has made more progress in a year then IMBA in 30 years. Despite IMBA working against them.
  • 7 2
 @XCMark: how could anyone from Portland support IMBA???
  • 9 1
 Look at what Sustainable Trails Coalition has put forth....
Wilderness Access Bill: www.sustainabletrailscoalition.org/press-releases/2017/congressman-mcclintock-introduces-bicycle-wilderness-travel-bill

Something tangible that isn't a flow trails and uses existing infrastructure!
  • 9 0
 @bstill30: Evergreen is doing great work. I'm up here in in Bellingham, and WMBC is freaking amazing. North of the border, the local groups in BC are killing it as well. To me, IMBA has two niches - the national lobbying piece (hugely important, and messy - the whole wilderness/STC thing is just one tiny aspect of that), and the chapter support piece. Up here, nobody needs to tell WMBC how to build a trail (our trails are amazing, and the volunteer turnout is stunning), how to work with local land managers (they are getting even the public land managers on board, and privately owned timberland at Galbraith is a freaking MTB miracle), how to organize events, how to get youth into the sport, how to create massive goodwill in the local community, and so forth. Same thing for Evergreen, etc.

But IMBA could be the clearing house - so if you're in an area that has potentially good riding, and you're trying to make the move from renegade trails that constantly get shut down to a legit local trails association, IMBA would be where you go to find out how all these other trails associations have done it. An organization that provides you with a blue print on how to approach land owners, how to organize trail building (not just now to put trail days together, but how to train your people to then train the volunteers, and how to build sustainable trails), how to get insurance coverage for your events, how to work with local schools to get youth programs going (both for riding and volunteering).
  • 10 1
 People have forgotten what 'personal responsibility' is. In Vancouver, many of our trails have been dumbed down as well. If a trail is hard, let those individuals decide in their own minds if they wish to pedal down it. Free will, personal responsibility and risk. It's called life. Mark the trails with black or double black, but let them play out. The TT circuit in Isle of Mann is a motorcycle race that loses about 2.2 riders (and fans) per year, on average. Great, it's life. It's also the most wonderful, insane, dangerous sport in the world. But to those who wish to engage in that sport (just as an example), let them. Let people live and let live. We need to end the era of lawyers, judges and politically correct people who wish to control others lives. If you don't like a risky trail, don't go. We need to keep riding and life an adventure - and this means risk - and this means people die or get injured sometimes. It also means that people live with thrill and passion too. Lock and load, go do it Dave!
  • 4 1
 @ACree: Think how much better local orgs all over the country could be (and how many more of them might make it from the four-guys-talking-over-beer-after-digging-or-riding stage to the full-on-grassroots-community-building-rad-trails stage) if there's an organization that you can turn to that works with tons of successful local chapters and can give you the three ring binder on how to do all that organizational stuff, and provides you with access to grants, insurance, and instant credibility with land managers?
  • 3 8
flag preach (Mar 7, 2017 at 12:18) (Below Threshold)
 I just came to post about the lame belt buckle
  • 9 1
 @preach: www.fatcyclist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/IMG_3308_2.jpg

Lame is posting about that buckle, considering how well he's done at that event consecutively.....
  • 2 1
 @atrokz: humor sir, humor.
  • 3 0
 @properp: Did you mean more like turning a baby loose in a tiger cage?
  • 7 4
 @unrooted: I support all communities that are about trail building for more than just MTB.

Maybe for some IMBA has been a little slow or less aggressive, but as I stated before, we have to chip at our work slowly in order to provide the bigger picture to a larger community not involved in MTB.

IMBA has been really good around the nation at building MTB centers that were never present in the state. Then with enough time and respect to and from various LM's other communities step in and ask for more advanced tails.

So I support IMBA because it has got projects started in states were there were no legal MTB centers.

As far as Portland and IMBA. IMBA can only do so much with the far left Liberals of Portland. IMBA tried hard and spent a lot of money here to influence the larger Portland community to accept MTB in various places. However, the rich people of these areas, and their monies influence got the city of Portland to drag feet on all propsls from IMBA and like communities. So I don't blame IMBA for Portlands MTB mess. I blame the locals and the lack of participation from other Portland MTB enthusiast.

I've been to many of the meetings to get MTB recognized here. And what I keep noticing is that people with money who don't support MTB have networks they influence that battle our projects with more resources than we have. So at a point it's wasteful to spend on things the elitist of the city can overspend against to stall or completely shut down.
  • 1 1
 @preach: well then!
  • 4 0
 Man, hit the nail on the head. I'm not sure if IMBA was involved with Wasatch over Wasatch, but that was one of the most hyped trails that turned out to be a real turd. Now bikers can't go and try and build a real trail in that area of Midway, because 'bikers already have a trail'
  • 2 0
 @g-42: Yeah, if that org existed. Instead, there's a national org that not only shirks from national issues but works against the group that IS taking it on, while siphoning funds and credit from the work local groups do.
  • 7 1
 "you have to build trails for everybody"

that's the main reason I'm not a member of IMBA anymore, after being one for 20 years. Every time I've heard anyone from IMBA say that, it really meant "we're building another beginner trail." except they call them flow trails now.

It's true that beginner, I mean flow, trails are an easier sell to LMs on public lands, I've seen it first hand how nervous they get when you want to build a trail near a rocky area or leave a log down. But honestly 100% of the new trail on the ground in my area has been totally non-technical, and it's not because people weren't involved. Hell, the people that want the types of trails we're building don't advocate or build trail, they just ride what we build (and dumb down anything technical we manage to sneak in).

Whenever IMBA gets involved, they take a 'any trail is better than no trail' approach, decide that what we really wanted isn't worth the fight and build a begin--I mean flow trail. And put an IMBA sign at the trailhead even though we did 95% of the work.

Dave, I really do wish you the best, but be aware you're starting with a org that's 100% irrelevant to actual mountain biking. He keeps saying we need a national-level org; why? When that org refuses to even try on the one national-level issue that matters. Worse yet, issues press releases bashing STC for doing what IMBA refuses to."

^amen.
  • 7 2
 @kabaroo : yep, here in the twin cities we have a lot of mileage and different trails. It's all the same though, it's like a big IMBA stamp. Even using the stacked loop template is a joke, really no difference between intermediate and expert loops. A nice step down was recently built at one of my local trails, at the end of the expert loop. Even has a huge ride around, and still it caused an uproar of bitching from the Spandex crew saying the trail is ruined, this isn't bmx, go to a bike park... Tired of it, want to get involved, but not sure it's worth my time to go argue with a bunch of crybabies afraid to push their comfort levels a bit. We may all be mountain bikers but we are not the same. Oh, and screw your strava time.
  • 4 1
 @Quantumhigh: So theyre doing the legwork getting trail sanctions and youre doing what?
  • 3 1
 @g-42: IMBA, to some got too big for its britches, and with that, a certain loss of connection with a target rider group(s) created alienation. When I fist got back into MTB, I thought they were fantastic. Having that immense of a voice and experience on our side was amazing. Somewhere along the way, I personally began to lose faith. I might catch lip for this, but I started viewing them as the REI of bike advocates. In other words, they left out us gravity and technical trail riders. While I applaud what they have done to pave the way, it's obvious a change has been in need for some time. No disrespect intended, just personal views on things.
  • 2 0
 You have to remember one important fact: You can only do so much with the chunk of land that you're given... If somebody offers their land for use as a trail you have that land to use and that's it... if it's flat it's flat, you can't build a gnarly downhill kamikazi run if it's not possible... You can only do what you can with what you have!
  • 4 0
 @bstill30: Don't forget about WMBC and FOCF as well. Everybody's doing their part in WA.
  • 1 2
 @thedriftisreal: hence the average age of 45. The old school guys don't understand the concept of flow and dh trails
  • 1 1
 @kamsbry: Exactly! I love the direction trail building in WA is taking. So many enthusiastic advocates and volunteers willing to donate time and wisdom. I love that land the BLM and other agencies are willing to sit at the table and discuss ways to improve our lives through building trails. Let's keep the momentum going!!
  • 2 0
 @bstill30: I do wish Oregon was more enthusiastic, or just more enthusiastic people in a closer area. Much of Oregon between Eugene(Black Rock) and Portland is sparse, as where Washington has far more people packed into it between Olympia and Everett. I would think that it would be easy for the larger group of Washington community MTB riders to get concessions in their state, where we are hard pressed in Oregon as we are all spread out and many riders don't go to local chapter meetings. Things do get done here though, they are just not close to the city like lots of people would like.

We have the countries second largest inner-city park. It is 60 square miles. Out of 24 miles of trails-not counting fire roads-there is .8 miles of single track. Which IMBA asked the city about adding more, but "the city" will deny any extensive use of bicycles off the fire roads. They have been doing so since they kick bikes off the two main trails over a decade ago.
  • 3 0
 @XCMark: I can't speak directly for Oregon, but as an outsider looking in, trail growth in the private sector seems strong. Portland aside, there seems to be an awakening with city officials in rural areas that recognize the potential benefits of having well built, varied and sustainable trails. I'm no diplomat, and won't even pretend to know the nuances of what happenes behind the scenes in order to facilitate approval for trail building, but I do know that there are a lot of skilled, dedicated trail builders out there willing to hash this out. Hell, there are unskilled builders that want to learn. Us Washatonians love riding your trails, and you are always welcome up here. Let's ride!
  • 1 0
 double
  • 2 1
 In 12 months everyone will hate this guy.
  • 1 0
 @TenBeers: exactly! Thank you for the correction.
  • 2 0
 @rockin-itis: the quickest way to increase your hater fan group accept a position as president.
  • 2 0
 @kamsbry: And STAY in Yakima, and the Evergreen chapters across the state, in addition to the Seattle area org.
  • 2 0
 @XCMark: Be careful what you wish for - Seattle does have more close to the city riding than portland. A lot more I'd say. OR has more multi use backcountry trail that is open to bikes. Seems like most of it outside of Wilderness is open to bikes. In WA, that is most definitely not the case. I-90, Hwy 2, and Hwy 20, our 3 passes from Seattle north, have virtually no trails open to bikes on Fed lands. Generally the lower population of OR leads to fewer trail conflicts and more trail open to bikes. Other than forest park, where poaching should be a daily demonstration of civil disobedience. I guess IMBA is fine with that because its similar to Boulder.
  • 1 1
 Dave/Gunnison Trails have done an alright job addressing different riders. They got a dirt jump park and free ride trail built at the base of Hartmans. The key was to get land that was owned by the City not the feds. If the City/County is cool, its easier to build gnarlier trails. Unfortunately in Durango, the city is more conservative and restrictive than the Feds! But yeah, over all, IMBA is a joke.
  • 3 3
 Holy shit if everyone here bitching just joined their local chapter, we'd solve the issue. Sometimes IMBA builds rad stuff (as @adrennan mentioned), and I know some rad people who have worked for IMBA and don't want to see every trail system paved with beginner/"flow" trails. To everyone explaining the importance of local organizations and pointing out IMBA's lack of support for some of them, I am totally with you there too. IMBA has certainly been guilty of some faux pas in the past, but having a national organization is definitely beneficial, lest we get our access legislated away.
  • 4 1
 THIS!!!! I joined Pinkbike just to thumb your comment up. I'm a female rider who just let her IMBA membership lapse because IMBA in my opinion is NOT the friend of mountain bikers. They are the McDONALDS / common core of trail building and I'm fed up. I tried to get involved to stop the changes and it made no difference. Whats worse, not only is most new trail being built FLOW, they're also systematically going in and getting rid of old trail, changing it (calling it not well designed) and turning it into FLOW too. I can honestly say that I consider IMBA to be an enemy of mountain biking and when I hear their name or involvement in the same sentence as my local trails, it scares me.
  • 1 1
 @wanabetrials: Same thing in my community.
  • 1 1
 @Gttroy: you do realize tail and trail are 2 different words?
  • 88 12
 As much as I hate seeing politics on pinkbike, given the current political landscape in the US with congressmen getting behind selling off public lands, the outdoors community as a whole needs to get behind vocal organizations like IMBA who will be our voice in Washington to save these lands. If there aren't public lands left, trail advocacy won't even matter. Not everyone can donate to IMBA or similar organizations, but there is plenty to do to be a voice for public lands.
  • 20 9
 Agreed...and please take note of which administrations and parties are empowering and encouraging the EPA to commit what we consider to be violations of public land rights, personal property rights, etc. I'm not going to tell you which, but hope you do actual research into these things that will affect future generations instead of just taking your bought and paid for national news networks word for it.
  • 9 1
 Couldn't agree more. Politicians and corporations have shown they have no problem selling out our land and environment.
  • 5 2
 @Warburrito: that was oddly cryptic.... elaborate
  • 13 1
 I agree completely. My career is dependent on recreational access and many of my peers have crafted a happy and fun career building trails and contributing to youth development through the outdoors. Mountain biking is a key part of recreation and conservation, and our community has way too much fun and positive impact to see public lands disappear without a fight. IMBA is a good thing, local riding groups are important, and love for the outdoors is our common ground.
  • 28 4
 @adrennan: no thank you. I just want people to know that their votes count on this fight too, but voting without doing your own research on topics that matter to you is silly. If a topic matters to YOU do your research, then vote to help your cause. Don't rely on others to tell you what you should verify yourself. The future is at stake and not knowing any better is not an excuse for ignorance in these times. I'm not advocating for either side but for what individual citizens believe. If the citizens' beliefs were truly represented in our government I think we all can admit that things would look a lot different.

Now bring on the negative props...
  • 10 21
flag chasejj (Mar 7, 2017 at 7:28) (Below Threshold)
 @Warburrito: You are completely on point here. THE FACT is this current Administration is in the unprecedented position to open up far more area for trails and access to MTB's than ever before. They are in complete rejection of the current land use policies that were aligned in lock step with anti access groups such as Sierra Club.
Any sale of lands will be for areas typically not in heavy demand for recreational access.
I haven't been this thrilled by Fed Policy makers .....ever.
  • 18 5
 @chasejj: You say you are using FACTS to support your claim this current administration will only "sell" lands in areas typically not in heavy demand for recreational access and that they are in the position to open up far more area for trails and access. . Where are your FACTS? Explain to me and the rest of Pinkbike how the appointment of Ryan Zinke and Scott Pruitt are going to advocate for mtb? Because I see the opposite of your conclusion. I want to see your FACTS. Scott Pruit is a scumbag who openly advocates for the elimination of the EPA, and Ryan Zinke's own voting record is completely counter to your opinion. Show us some FACTS.
  • 8 25
flag owlie (Mar 7, 2017 at 8:15) (Below Threshold)
 @chasejj: Conservation is to conservative and Progressive is to progress.
Trump and co actually probably will do a lot for MTB. But will probably do the same for OHV. pick your poison. I personally dont mind some OHV access if it means more trails and access for MTB
  • 8 32
flag owlie (Mar 7, 2017 at 8:17) (Below Threshold)
 @deadtime: EPA does need to go away. Search for the Gold King Mine Spill that happened in my area. EPA dumped millions of gallons of shit into our waters, then declared they cant be sued for it. Over reaching government agency right there.
  • 10 33
flag jrocksdh (Mar 7, 2017 at 8:37) (Below Threshold)
 @adrennan: the unelected epa(deep statist) environmental nazis on left wont let landowners build in usa if theres a puddle or hummingbird nest nearby.
  • 5 2
 @Warburrito: Here's a better question. Where did you do your own research?
  • 34 2
 @owlie: Please keep believing that the net effect of the EPA on the nation is a negative one because of the Gold King Spill. In doing so, you can continue to bury your head about the dozens of superfund sites, hundreds of large-scale industrial clean ups, and overall positive impact the agency has had on the health and safety of our country's air and water. Do you honestly believe that we would be better off had the federal government not passed legislation in the 1970's protecting the environment and the legal mechanisms (EPA and DOJ enforcement) to ensure it was followed?
  • 8 14
flag Warburrito (Mar 7, 2017 at 9:07) (Below Threshold)
 @big3D: while the intention may have been noble 40 years ago many including myself would argue that it has become too politicized and empowered. Are their motivations really focused on the environment and our citizens or could it at the highest levels serve other masters? Should they be allowed to circumvent Congress and elected lawmakers by single-handedly issueing "regulations". Our founders believed in checks and balances and separation of powers. Does the EPA fit into that model? No. They operate without oversight, checks, balances, or separation of powers. Any agency operating in that capacity should receive the utmost scrutiny...not a passing glance and nod of approval.
  • 15 2
 @Warburrito: EPA's director is appointed by the executive branch. The direction that their enforcement takes is dictated by that director. The passing of regulations pursuant to authorizing statute is not only a constitutional practice but is specifically how the drafters, in the legislative branch, granted power to the administrative agency to enforce it's law. New regulations must be published with a time-period for comment and may be challenged in courts of law. So, in sum, the idea that there is "no oversight, checks, balance, or separation of powers" when it comes to EPA is precisely the opposite of true.
  • 26 1
 @chasejj: Yeah, good luck riding trails anywhere that just got leased for coal mines & gas drilling. Any land that gets transferred to the states will end up getting sold to the highest bidder, and I doubt that will be you...
  • 8 1
 @railin: exactly my concern.
  • 4 10
flag Warburrito (Mar 7, 2017 at 9:54) (Below Threshold)
  • 10 13
 @deadtime: No, Scott Pruitt is advocating rule of law. Rule. Of. Law. He's not advocating getting rid of all environmental regulations, just idiotic ones. Many farmers, ranchers, miners and all sorts of other people on our land, have been screwed financially by stupid regs. I'm ALL for protecting the land, and making wise choices that affect us all, but the fact is…Pruitt is looking to get people back to work, while also making smart choices for our land. Natty gas, farming, nuclear, oil drilling are all part of our lives, until we can all live the un-evil life by being 100% wind/solar. But we are years away. We must not be hypocrites. Even if we bike to work, or shop at whole foods and eat organic, we must remember that all food arrived to some type of grocery shelf by truck, train or ship. We can only 'walk' or 'bike ride' because of the energy we get from food, and that food arrived to your local store (or farmers market) because of gasoline or diesel, and so we must work with our lands responsibly and appropriately. Life is a balance, and I believe Pruitt will seek that balance. Life is about being both firm and cautious at the same time.
  • 7 12
flag chasejj (Mar 7, 2017 at 12:33) (Below Threshold)
 @ryanm189: You are obviously a Nazi(sarc).

I have dealt with the EPA and CARB/ BAAQMD over the years for business reasons. A bigger bunch of bitter freaks and geeks cannot be found. They all have a god complex that they assume gives them license to save you from yourself. They expand their "rules" endlessly in order to insure their employment and expanded role in YOUR life. Not for any real need or reason . but for their own self serving interests. Scott Pruitt will cut them back to do just what is needed. Their is a real line between needed regulation and destruction of freedom and capital. I estimate the line is about 50% of the role they currently operate in.
  • 5 6
 @Warburrito: It's a good thing Rand Paul is a judge with the ability to make the determination of whether the constitution was violated...oh that's right, he's a nutjob legislator who cites two cases where the courts actually agreed with the EPA. Great example!
  • 5 5
 @big3D: Schumer, pelosi(add all Californians here), harry reid, clintons, ...lol.
  • 6 3
 @ryanm189: Pruitt literally got his paychecks from big oil. I cant wrap my head around how some people can rationalize this crap.
  • 3 2
 @schofell84: Not even partially true. But go back to watching Maddow and get some more info.
I love it though vs the other guy who got his checks from Sierra Club. See how that works?
  • 4 0
 @schofell84: How do you rationalize that the EPA overstepped its bounds on countless occasions - completely ignoring the law, and the citizens that live under that law? Understand (please!) that I am all for the land, and responsible environmental action, but we must be responsible (and not hypocrites) as well balance working from the land (jobs, resources) and being environmentally sensitive. Just as an example, the EPA passed 'law' that even a puddle on a farmers ranch was deemed a navigable body of water, and therefore somebody on their own land could be restricted to how they manage their own property. Now a puddle on your land is a 'shipping lane' thanks to the EPA. They completely ignored the law and were smart a$$es. A puddle! Rule of law must be maintained so companies, people know how to behave. There were many mining and drilling companies FULLY complying with law and regulations, only to have the EPA break that law because of enviro groups and Leonardo Di Caprio protesting. In Alaska, 15,000 jobs evaporated because hippie groups and the EPA totally overstepped their authority and (broke the law) to cancel America's largest copper mine. Copper is the biggest ingredient for electric cars! Not lithium. But most people don't know this! If you want save the world with electric cars, you need copper. Anyways, the EPA went 'hippie nuts' and just banned a mine for no good reason, and killed many jobs and tax revenue. Not good! You cannot do that in a civilized nation expect things to run smoothly. We must balance our mining and energy requirements (and jobs), with environmental stewardship and protection. The fact that you are reading this right now means you are on a computer = electricity. This means you are using at least 60% coal, nuclear energy right now, and the rest mostly natty gas. This is our 'base load' energy supply. We need these products now! And our miners and drillers need jobs, UNTIL solar and wind can take over, which is a long way away and requires much more capital. Pruitt did not 'literally' get his paychecks from oil. No doubt, he ran close to them, but that's because he is a 'realist' and wants to get them back in business, and get Americans back to work! That's how you fund healthcare, and everything else in society. You can't keep borrowing money from China - they are already dumping treasuries, and buying copper, oil and real estate worldwide, as a means to get 'off' U.S. dollars.
  • 3 0
 @ryanm189: Actually, I am reading this on a computer located on a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. 100% nuclear powered. No coal here.
  • 6 1
 @Shinobi13: I work in power plants and manufacuring facilities for a living and this nutjobs want to lecture me on power generation and manufacturing jobs. Its comical. I've gotten more work building renewable energy sources or EPA mandated clean ups/environmental controls (scrubbers, baggers, filters, etc) than dirty energy has ever gotten me.

Carry on with the rhetoric guy! your kids will be proud when they cant breathe or drink the water!
  • 2 1
 @schofell84: Dude, relax. It's about balance. We can carry on with polite discourse, no need to ramp up. I'm sure you've had many good jobs in renewables, and that's awesome. And I'm sure there have been plenty of clean up projects for you too. There are also, many, many jobs that have been done constructively, which have allowed for two things: 1). Americans to keep their lights and heat on, and 2). jobs. Base load is majority coal and nuclear, with the rest being natty gas. The EPA were the 'nut jobs' acting completely outside the law, abusing their power, and being hypocrites. And people speaking in absolutes like, "all the water and air will be polluted," is irresponsible, inaccurate and immature in my mind. That said, I invest in energy, and my biggest investment is in green at the moment. Balance. Rule of law is also important. My kids will be proud of me one day. I tell it like it is (hopefully) and also listen to others (like you), who have good things to say about the fact you are getting the majority of your employment from renewables at the moment. All good. I seek the balance from all sides of the conversation responsibly, otherwise I become a hypocrite.
  • 2 3
 @ryanm189: I'm here to tell you deregulation will not create jobs and will 100% endanger your health.
  • 2 3
 @schofell84: And you'd be wrong again.
  • 3 1
 @chasejj: @schofell84 you two sound like you are having a productive argument
  • 3 1
 @schofell84: Again, speaking in absolutes. He is not deregulating 'everything.' Nor is he endangering your health '100 %' The goal is to deregulate idiotic and highly hypocritical regulations that were imposed ILLEGALLY, by the EPA. Read that again: illegal. Against the Rule. Of. Law. The EPA acted like a self-righteous and entitled group of kids, no offense. Many companies were operating ethically, and responsibly, but the EPA went "Leonardo Di Caprio/George Clooney" nuts, and decided they could impose regs at will. Actors, activists, musicians and other 'famous' people, who know nothing about mining/drilling (and without any expertise in engineering), decided they were 'experts' in anything to do with the environment, and this led to absurd regulations. I am merely supporting the fact that the EPA will now act in a respectable, responsible (to all parties) manner, and ensure safe/reliable sources of resources and energy we have at our disposal now. Yes, you and your family need the electricity now, from a reliable 'base load' source, before enough wind turbines and solar can take over. Even if we wanted to go 100% hippie, it ain't happening at the rate people want. We might have to suck it up for awhile, and do the best job possible, with what we have now, while also investing in renewable. If all we have is people from the 'left' screaming absolutes, we get misinformation, and yes…risk being a hypocrite.
  • 3 2
 @ryanm189: you read Breitbart, I work in the field on the equipment.

Good talk.
  • 4 2
 @schofell84: Yeah. So what. He has a large constituency of oil businesses in his state. It is important for his constituency to asisit that industry.
I have nothing against oil. I have several motos and 3 cars. Nothing wrong with it. In case you forgot in the last 8 years, the world runs on oil not wind or solar or liberal tears.
  • 1 3
 @chasejj: Apparently you cant comprehend that money and politics shouldnt mix.
  • 3 0
 @schofell84: and your shining example of this is? (please say the Clintons!) BTW I think we ALL agree, but there is huge money behind ALL sides and calling out only one is silly. I would LOVE to eliminate lobbyist money and any other form of manipulation on all sides. Elected officials should be loyal to their constituents and their country, not other parties lurking in the shadows. Maybe a Convention of States could help, but I'm sure that threatens the poor national govts ongoing power grab.
  • 1 2
 @Warburrito: ohhhh I dunno the people that sue a department probably shouldn't be the ones running it. Might be biased. Just an opinion. f*ck me though right? Who would expect leadership to be unbiased and not funded by the companies it's supposed to protect you from.
  • 2 0
 @schofell84: so evil corporations are the enemy that we need our federal government to PROTECT us from? I think we need protection from our own government and foreign entities intent on our demise. I think that's where we are fundamentally opposed. And yes, sometimes those who OPPOSE something would be the best at correcting those issues...sometimes.

We also likely have a difference of opinion about what role the federal govt should play and what should be up to the States.
  • 1 2
 @Warburrito: difference being I work as a contractor for those companies all the time and have seen first hand what they're capable of in the name of making a dollar.

Cool opinion though dude.
  • 3 0
 @schofell84: Oil companies should not have free reign - AGREED. In order to control them should the EPA and fed govt have free reign? - absolutely not! We give up our freedom when we have mandated health insurance that 'protects us'. We give up our freedom when income is regulated to 'protect us' from income inequality. We give up our freedom when trails need to be dummed down to 'protect us' from OURSELVES. We give up our freedom when companies can't employ over 49 people to 'protect us' from greedy corporations unwilling to provide health care. We give up our freedom when the EPA kicks bikers, hikers, ranchers, loggers, builders, and even oil companies off any piece of land they want without a valid reason or any oversight. If the situation calls for it they can even issue new regs or update existing regs to make sure what they want they get. In 2016 alone the EPA issued 81,640 new pages of regulations. I want American freedom back and REASONABLE regulations when necessary. The govt can 'protect us' from everything including ourselves but we won't be FREE anymore.
  • 4 0
 @schofell84: And you work in the field, because guys like me raise the capital to do so. Then, you get a job. Even on a $10-$20 million raise (for exploratory mining/drilling), we employ thousands of people. When the raises get north of $100 million, even more are able to 'work in the field.' We hire drillers, helicopter pilots, engineers, geologists, surveyors, who in turn then hire all of their various assistants and hands. We hire people to build camps, take them down. We hire chefs and all manner of other contractors. When we (all) travel, we book out hotels, cars,…eat in restaurants etc. The airlines, big and small…also make a fortune off of us. Those guys too, 'work in the field,' an I'm very glad they have jobs. I just wish they had an appreciation for macro economics.The wealth enjoyed by literally thousands of people can be done responsibly without your insults! Very good talk, I'm glad to share some knowledge with you. Remember the word balance. And every time you go to the grocery store this year I want you to think of the trucks, trains and ships that brought you your product. You are killing the world, 100%! And your kids will thank you, correct? Balance son, balance. And I hope you don't ride with suspension. The oil! The oil! Evil, evil.
  • 1 3
 @ryanm189: eat my ass. Your job exists because I create a demand. Shove that holier than thou attitude as far as it will go.
  • 3 1
 @schofell84: The EPA deserved (read that again, 'deserved') to be sued. They overstepped their constitutional grounds, and broke the law on countless events. Rule. Of. Law. It must be respected. As one fellow wrote, 86,000 other regs were introduced in 2016 alone. One reg concluded that 'puddles' on a ranchers land was on all technical grounds, a navigable body of water. Yes, seriously! So a puddle on this mans land, meant he wasn't able to make a pond to service the cattle on his OWN land. The EPA began to be influenced by left wing groups, and they overstepped common sense, the law, and environmental stewardship. Note, I am all for the land and responsible treatment of the land, but we must remember (and not be hypocrites) that human beings use resources! Take e-bikes (haha, had throw that in), and electric cars - these are a miners best friend! There is nothing environmental about electric cars! The batteries are made of lithium (mining), nickel (mining), and mostly copper (again, mining) actually. Huge mining deposits must be found and excavated to get those minerals out of the ground. This takes incredible amounts of diesel, natural gas for both exploration and development, and then transport of the product. Now that we have an "e-car" we think we can sleep well and be kind angels. I'm all for e-cars, but people must educate themselves and remember balance in society. The EPA will now, hopefully, do two things: 1). get people back to work, 2). do so in a balanced, respectable manner (that doesn't scream hollywood, Cal Berkeley hypocrite).
  • 3 0
 @schofell84: Fair enough. There's no place in society for greedy corporations making money at any cost. It's disgusting and very sad. Hopefully the EPA doesn't screw up their opportunity to get people back to work, while balancing environmental stewardship and risk. There will always be risk. Even pipelines have risk (but they are much safer than trucking or moving oil by train).
  • 1 2
 @ryanm189: thanks for the lecture on where stuff is produced. I'm pretty aware as I PHYSICALLY BUILD THE PLANTS YOU DESCRIBE. Your rhetoric is awful. I am the guy getting jobs from both ends of the spectrum -dirty energy and clean and I am telling you that you are wrong. People in government don't magically create these regulations, they come from some scumbag trying to make a dollar at your health's expense. Equipment to clean emissions CREATES JOBS. Regulations on mining creates jobs in oversight and other energy sources. The demand doesn't vanish, it shifts to other sources.
  • 4 0
 @schofell84: We both create demand. And we both share this planet. And we both share the trails. And we both ride mountain bikes. Don''t make me come out there and teach you how to bunny hop!
  • 1 0
 @schofell84: Coming from the guy who "gets a job" from both clean and dirty energy. You are entitled to your opinion.
  • 1 2
 @ryanm189: it's not an opinion, I am the guy living it. Do you participate in state labor boards? Thought so. Do you analyze studies to figure how many people projects will employ and calculate pensions for your retirees? Thought so.
  • 2 2
 @schofell84: all that work being done and numbers crunched and who hasn't issued the LAWFULLY REQUIRED report containing "continuous evaluation of potential loss or shifts of employment" required by section 321(a) of the Clean Air Act since Obama took office? Oh yeah...the EPA. You're doing your job...why aren't they? I think there's a reason they're UNLAWFULLY hiding that information.
  • 1 1
 Tin foil hats are in style now anyways.
  • 4 0
 @schofell84: No doubt a Union guy as well.
  • 5 1
 @Warburrito: True dat! Freedom and responsibility (free will) go hand in hand. The kids at Berkely and Yale can't handle this. Neither can George Clooney, apparently. The awakening is happening…slowly.
  • 1 3
 You guys using rhetoric telling the guy who does it for a living is comical. It might be just as funny listening to me try to talk some sense into you though ... oh well! Freedom!
  • 1 2
 The demand for electricity does not go away, just coal mines and plants. Renewables at this point create WAY more jobs than fossil and coal. Hell, China is kicking our ass in the renewable technology race.

Heres one from a right leaning rag for ya.

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-25/clean-energy-jobs-surpass-oil-drilling-for-first-time-in-u-s

But yeah dude, lets double down on antiquated technology. Sounds like a great business investment.
  • 3 1
 @schofell84: Jobs might exist, but there's an enormous hole in your logic. WHO is providing oil and coal jobs? COMPANIES. Govt subsidized? NO, the govt tries their best to shut them down. Now...WHO is providing clean energy jobs? Govt and private companies. Govt subsidized? EVERY SINGLE ONE! -and to the teeth! Those jobs are created on the taxpayers' dime. Your neighbors' hard work in the private sector (like oil companies) DIRECTLY pays the taxes that ALLOW govt subsidized jobs, companies, and projects to even exist and for you to feed your family. Govt money doesn't exist without private sector taxpayers and I honestly can't fathom how people can ignore basic economics and take for granted those who ultimately create wealth...citizens...taxpayers! Not those companies and individuals living off of other people's TAXES on their earnings.

Just to take it one step further and drive this home...every single government dollar spent on clean energy is one LESS dollar spent on welfare, schools, roads, military, law enforcement, fire departments, and any other public service.
  • 2 1
 @ryanm189: Yes it is! And thanks for the affirmation.
  • 1 0
 @Warburrito: I dunno what planet you are on but saying coal and oil arent subsidized is hysterical. thanks for the humor.
  • 2 2
 @schofell84: Explain how you think they are subsidized but tax exemptions for exploration and R&D and business expenses don't count.
  • 1 1
 @chasejj: we've been subsidizing oil and coal for almost a century, but yeah, let's get bent about subsidizing renewables! Makes sense!

www.taxpayer.net/library/article/coal-a-long-history-of-subsidies
  • 54 1
 I want IMBA to do well because public involvement means more trail work and more influence politically. We need it.

That said, I stopped my IMBA membership last year and shifted that money to my regional organization when IMBA began lobbying for electric mopeds on bicycle trails. They need to remember their mission and not support every goal of their corporate donors. We already have a group that favors big donors over the mass of participants; it's called Congress.
  • 7 1
 ALL Land Use battles are LOCAL. It takes user involvement and lots of it to battle restrictive land use managers and policies. IMBA will not make a shred of difference in a battle such as MarinCo. But could when talking with BLM and USFS. Donating to IMBA and sitting back on the Pinkbike forum isn't going to matter.
  • 10 33
flag konarider112 (Mar 7, 2017 at 7:43) (Below Threshold)
 Have you ever even ridden an e-bike? They are super fun!
  • 6 1
 Huge for wein, he'll have to tackle the E bike dilema and differentiate it as not MTB.
  • 14 4
 @konarider112: Have you ever taken a baseball bat to a car window? It's super fun! Do you see the problem with your logic?
  • 4 10
flag konarider112 (Mar 7, 2017 at 10:32) (Below Threshold)
 @spankthewan: no. Clearly you've never ridden an e-bike.
  • 6 1
 @konarider112: Fun is not a argument, it's a feeling. Stop being sensitive and get a MX rig. A motor is a motor.
  • 2 3
 @konarider112: You ride a Kona, not sure your definition of fun is reliable
  • 6 1
 The devil rides an ebike. This is just the tip of the e-iceberg that is going to sink the SS Trail Access.
  • 5 4
 @jrocksdh: Agreed, but we must remember that ALL DH, Bike Parks, and shuttle runs are "e-bikes" of some sort. If you ride A-line in Whistler, or the Mammoth Kamikaze, you likely took a chair or gondola up 3000 ft. Those chairs are powered by electricity. And, that electricity came from coal, nuclear (60+% for the U.S.) or natty gas. Now, even those 'hardcores' that "earn their turns" must realize that they are 'e-bike' to some degree as well. If you ride up a hill using your "own" power, it means you ate food. Your food arrived to your fridge because you went to a local grocery store and bought that food. And, all that food arrived to your local shop by truck, train, or ship - meaning, diesel, gas, oil or some electric. We are all on the power wagon, one way or another. Rest in peace friends, we're all hypocrites. Wink
  • 7 0
 @ryanm189: All lift-assist mtb activities you list are on private property which do not have the same legal limitations as state, federal, BLM, public (typically where any advocacy trail group works)...e-moto bikes threaten access for cyclist not on private property but everywhere else....
  • 3 0
 @nicolai12: Ok, fair enough. Appreciate you pointing that out!
  • 4 0
 @nicolai12:@nicolai12: I got news for you. Most ski areas I am aware of are on USFS land and operate under long term lease agreements. So they are very much obligated to the agencies you mention.
Heavenly Valley in South Tahoe is opening a MTB park this year.......they have been working on the trail approvals for many years and would have opened last year but didn't have all the approvals done.
  • 2 1
 @chasejj: Interesting and highly dependent upon what resort your talking about - the lease is a psuedo private standing but doesn't limit trail building activities right? What I was getting at was private liability and private responsibility for damages. That is something you do not have when IMBA or another group builds a trail on a piece of public land.
  • 2 0
 @nicolai12: It very much obligates the lessee's(ski areas) to seek approval from all the interested parties to comply with Fed and State Law for trail building specifically as it requires grading permits to move dirt and redirect water flow downhill.
  • 1 0
 @Babesquatch: Kona makes great bikes.
  • 1 0
 @nicolai12: 95% of ski areas/bike parks in Colorado are on USFS and are highly regulated and limited by the government. Most areas can not get much built because of this. A lease or a permit to operate is not ownership.
  • 1 5
flag slayerdegnar (Mar 8, 2017 at 8:46) (Below Threshold)
 @nicolai12:
A dirt bike weighs 250lbs, can be heard from miles away, can reach speeds of 100 mph. An e mtn bike weighs 50 lbs, doesn't make noise/ or emissions, tops out at 20 mph. Most people can't tell the difference when riding by. Not one trail has been shut down due to e bikes. NOT ONE!

But yeah, lets believe these alternative facts, that e bikes are the same as dirt bikes and will cause closures for mtn bike trails...Thats some Trump level bullshit right there!
  • 1 0
 @konarider112: so do it in mx areas.
  • 2 0
 @ryanm189: not sure why debating my point based on enviro reasons? The issue is not use of energy, the issue is defining ebiking apart from mountain biking, and use em where motorized vehicles are allowed.
  • 2 0
 @slayerdegnar: you made some points against ebikes...quiet, fast, and heavy. Batteries will only get faster-upgrades.
E bikes are not same as dirt bikes but because they have power to the drivetrain they are in morortized class. Huge for lawsuits.
I think theyre cool where they belong. Amd i dont want to read about them on mtb sites.
Product reviews etc
  • 24 1
 So who avoided the ebike topic? Vernon or Dave?

IMBA's position on ebikes has been less than transparent and frankly the topic is front and center for many to determine if they still support the organization.

Wishing Dave all the best in his new role at IMBA as he has a mountain to climb (pun intended).
  • 7 21
flag chasejj (Mar 7, 2017 at 7:51) (Below Threshold)
 ebikes, DH bikes,XC Bikes AM Bikes are all bikes and in a greater definition LAND USERS. All MTBers and Moto, 4x4 , hikers, Equestrians. We are ALL users with the same basic needs for access and experiences on what is PUBLIC land.
Trying to not get political here , but the fact is the large base of Federal and State employees are all left/liberal leaning on policy. When you combine that with a left/liberal leaning admin at the federal level. You see wholesale destruction of access to public lands as they are hostile to entire voting blocks of people that live and survive off public lands. The ranchers,farmers, timber, resource extraction corporations, and lumped in are recreational users with them. The left's answer to all of it is create draconian labyrinth's of rules and protocols designed to keep the users out with a end game desire to drive them from these areas to enact more control over them. They will only throw out a bone to the approved Enviro groups desires occasionally to keep them voting and hoping. But it is all just a game to them. The people that decide if you get to ride trail in a particular area could give a shit about you, the sport and will NEVER step foot on any of the land in jeopardy.
Sounds a bit tin foil hat level. But it is obvious when you work on Land Use for 30 years.
  • 26 1
 Hey, @TheFunkyMonkey. I didn't avoid the e-bike topic, I decided to focus on the big picture questions of where IMBA was going, why Dave Wiens took the job, how he thinks IMBA could be better, etc. There'll be more E-bike stories (in relation to the question of trail access) in the future. Count on it. This time around, I wanted to tackle the global view of IMBA.
  • 10 1
 @chasejj: between the @vernonfelton shots and your comments I've been thinking...why doesn't pinkbike cover more of this? How many riders would it reach and how many more supporters might show up at public hearings of they knew it was coming up in their area? I'm not aware of half of what @chasejj is talking out but I'd like to be. We have a pretty decent collection of riders here...some with age and wisdom, some with money to spare, some with strong shoulders for heavy lifting...and nearly all of us recognize the importance of nature and freedom as mountain bikers. We all love making fun of a review of some new sizing standard but maybe it's time to make this pinkbike community a bit more relevant. Or create a new section for these types of articles/discussions?

....Thoughts?
  • 6 0
 @vernonfelton: Thanks for replying - much appreciated. It seemed like a glaring omission since ebikes are a hot (nuclear?) topic these days especially in the context of IMBA. Look forward to the follow-on stories. Keep up the good work!
  • 3 4
 @chasejj: wrong, e bikes are not in mtb class. They are in moto class.
Similiar but seperate. Diff websites, mags, events, and in many cases-riding areas.
  • 6 3
 @vernonfelton: just very sad IMBA does not understand the difference between a mountain bike trail and a recreational bike path. Please remember everyone IMBA wants you to remove rocks and roots and dangerous items from the trail. You might as well just load up your road bike to take it to an IMBA trail.
  • 6 2
 @Warburrito: @Warburrito: Part of the issue is the publications and VF himself all are basically mouthpieces for the same failing worldview that has been corrupting the system for the last 50 years or so. But they still confuse the basic ideas of capitalism and liberty with the twisted memes of the MSM that feeds them.
Oh well. I have nothing but hope they will eventually see the light as I did. But it took me till I was in my 30's and married with kids and bad Moto habit that lead me to being active in Land use issues. Once you dive into that arena you will see the LIGHT. Most of these readers on here are young kids who are polluted with the MSM/Academia message
  • 4 2
 @jrocksdh: Your insistence on these definitions are the root cause of the Land Use problem. It is not these things. It is a Liberal beaurocracy aligned against all their interests. Get involved and it is obvious.
  • 4 3
 @Warburrito:Agreed. But the negative props so freely distributed over the ghastly violation of the snowflakes worldview, insure alternative thoughts are not seen.
  • 7 1
 @chasejj: e-bikes are underperforming motorbikes. They are not bicycles. I would put an e-bike in the same category as a moped.
  • 3 5
 @properp: But your land manager and I don't really care. The problem is you are hell bent on parsing out user groups for your own self identity politics. The decision makers don't give a shit.
  • 2 2
 @vernonfelton: save the ebike stories for ebike websites.
  • 4 0
 e-bikes are only for the guys in tour de france.
  • 27 2
 "A small rut will become a big rut and nobody will ride their MOUNTAIN bike on it anymore unless we fill all small ruts in with dirt"
IMBA- 2017
  • 14 0
 I've never understood this "erosion is the devil" business. Here in Albuquerque, the foothills trails are literally built on a massive sideslope of decomposed granite that has washed down off the Sandias over the millennia. But as soon as a trail gets a 20-foot section of erosion, it's closed and a re-route is built. Like, ummm, you're focused on this tiny little rut when you're literally in the shadow of a 4,000-foot mountain???
  • 7 2
 Lycra doesn't lie.
  • 3 1
 @skelldify: u should see some of the ruts in laguna beach that turned into 8ft crevasses this winter. Each year the dozer pulls more dirt from side to fill rather than install water diversion. Now there are freeway sized fireroads. Dumb dumb dumb
  • 6 0
 Once you insert the concept of limiting trails and access, you eventually end up with this "problem". Build a trail sometime and experience the problem of sustaining trail integrity. it begins and ends with drainage/erosion management. Once a trail is fully rutted out it goes on the problem list. With the land managers this is a problem that needs to "managed". That management is filling ruts, waterbars and other manmade attempts and drainage control.
If you are lucky enough to live somewhere where you have unlimited access to wild and unmanaged trail systems, you are very lucky.
  • 1 4
 @jrocksdh: Then get with the rangers/land managers and go to work. STOP WHINING
  • 2 0
 @chasejj: lol. Theres about 5 diff entities involved. Fire, park, fish n game...back to the topic of wayer diversion. Took 15 years to get a legal trail built.
  • 3 1
 @jrocksdh: all the more reason to support political movements to minimize the state. All those entities you mention are "The State".
  • 2 1
 @chasejj: i agree. Im talkn california tho, where folks live big govt.
  • 3 1
 @jrocksdh: I live in Norcal which has the highest concentration of liberal a*sholes in the history of a*sholes. I deal with it all day long.
  • 1 1
 @jrocksdh:
Not ALL Kalifornians!
Some of us have been here since WAY before the hand-holders took control
Furthermore, some areas here have trail systems built and maintained by local government;
REAL TRAILS:
youtu.be/bqxsjAwov9M
  • 1 0
 @YoKev: plz tell me u didnt post link of urself
But yes, s.oaks is awesome/rangers very cool there. Used to be good hunting out there
  • 1 0
 @jrocksdh:
@jrocksdh:
f*ck dude, I'd KILL to be that good
Dude's name is Mike, and he works at a local Specialized dealer.
Plus, I don't know if you watched it or not, but they used some seriously professional equipment
Anyway, reason I provided the link was so you could see a trail system that provides excellent riding for even the most skillful riders, and most importantly, was built and is maintained by -a- local government.
Heck, a couple years ago erosion(lack of rain + plenty of wind) was seriously threatening a double-black-diamond section of trail(there's an 'intermediate' level bailout trail that goes around this section). It was a section located at the bottom of a 12-15ft rocky drop-chute, and was down to about only 12-18" wide at that point(wall on left/drop 'O death on right)
I emailed the ranger in charge, and literally he had a crew building a retaining wall to shore up the section in danger the fricken FOLLOWING WEEK!
  • 25 3
 Wiens will make IMBA great again
  • 8 6
 i did see that belt buckle pic an think "trump pose"
  • 16 0
 The main problem with IMBA is that they are focused on being a non-profit first and mountain bike advocacy business second. Their model was to follow other like the Sierra Club. Main difference is that the Sierra Club is built on casual hikers or people that might have some small interest in the outdoors. Mountain biking as a sport attracts a much more active and involved group of individuals. How many "casual" mountain bikers do you know? Most people that get involved in the sport get consumed by it. We spend a large portion of our disposable, or even not so disposable income to participate. Most people I know will take at least 1 major trip every year or two, travelling hundreds of miles to ride different trails. The Sierra Club membership is the exact opposite. They go to REI and buy some hiking boots that get used once a year. They rarely travel more than a few miles from the roads the arrived on. They are rarely looking that clock at work counting down the minutes until they can sprint out the door for 45 minutes of riding before the sun goes down. Because of this IMBA has to focus from the top down putting the hardcore riders first and casual riders second. Many housing developments in Socal already build beginner trails as part of their plans to cater to that Sierra Club casual hiker and those also serve the casual mountain bikers. What we need is more advocacy to drive more challenging trails closer to population centers and longer trails that get us farther away from the places we live.

I know they have done studies on how many mountain bikes are sold each year which includes everything with 26" wheels, but that is not their constituency. STC gets this and IMBA does not. There is a major movement right now for most of the IMBA affiliated groups in California to pull their support which will instantly kill IMBA. If they don't make a major directional change within the next 90 days it is going to die. I do not say this lightly because their organization is needed to give us a unified voice nationally and it would be a sad day for all of us.
  • 11 0
 You also realize-I hope that Sierra Club members HATE YOU. Not dislike. But really hate you and what you represent. A major uproar occurs internally whenever they soften their anti MTB stance.
  • 2 0
 @chasejj: Completely agree
  • 2 0
 Salespunk, that was awesome! Spot on!
  • 15 0
 The IMBA should have two top priorities in my book:

1: Lobby in Washington for all types of trail access for MTB's throughout the USA.

2: Support the small local trail organizations that are actually doing the work and risking their necks by securing Insurance policies that are better options than what is currently on the market.

When IMBA's group insurance policy for the many clubs and orgs that utilized it was dropped, our small organization searched for five years to find coverage. We received no help whatsoever from IMBA. When we reached out for help, IMBA wanted us to become a chapter club and pay them 60% of our membership dues before they would give us access to their great wealth of information. Thankfully, the gods of mountain biking came through for us and we found an inside guy (a mountain biker) at a commercial insurance outfit here in the northwest.

Insurance for small clubs continues to be a huge hurdle in the fight to keep local sanctioned trails, and the topic needs more attention.
  • 5 0
 The proposed Chapter 2.0 might be the answer to the problems...requiring chapters to participate in IMBA's group insurance plan leaving chapters still on their own to secure separate coverage for non-members at trail building an other events, coverage for owned trail building equipment such as excavators etc. Their split of membership dues remains and don't forget, the plan to raise the annual dues, and we loose any local "resource" support from IMBA(not sure what that ever was). I can't argue that IMBA initially bought us legitimacy when we started working with local land managers but they've been non-existent/absent in any our operations, advocacy and community work for quite a while. We are a small chapter but have had notable success with much planned in the future and we are now in the position to consider what, if any, value IMBA brings and we're not the only chapter in our region discussing the same.
  • 4 1
 We've ran into this as well. IMBA represents little to no value to our club.
  • 14 0
 Some properly tough questions here, good interview... **BUT** the one question I was curious about didn't get asked.

"I don’t know if they are going to go to Washington DC to go to task for mountain bikers"

So what's Wiens' stance on wilderness and STC going to be??
  • 14 0
 If IMBA is in financial trouble, they need to leave Boulder. It is ridiculously expensive. It's also not a very good place to mountain bike. Other than the Valmont Bike Park, good trails must be driven to and are very crowded. We used to ride the Mesa trail back in the 80's, but almost all local trail access has long since been lost to bikers.
  • 7 0
 That's exactly why I quit giving them money, I didn't want to pay for someone to be able to afford Boulder, especially since they haven't done much for mountain biking in the last 20 years.
  • 3 0
 I was shocked, man. I grew up in the Boulder area but never really rode mtb much. Rented a bike a couple years ago when I was home and hit up some local-ish trails with my buddy. It was PACKED. I probably had to hop off the trail like 20+ times to let people by. It's kinda nuts with how many trails there are around there how few of them are bikeable.
  • 14 1
 I forgot the IMBA even existed. I can only think of 2 trails I ride that at some point the IMBA probably fought to keep open to mountain biking. I feel like almost every good trail in so Cal is of the "quasi-legal" status -- trails that really only exist because not enough yuppies have complained to get them shut down yet. And when they do get shut down I never hear of the IMBA stepping in to fight for access. I could be totally wrong, but the IMBA just never seems to even get mentioned any more.
  • 5 2
 they have been behind some amazing efforts as of late here in colorado (including some serious gnar). But this echoes what was said in the aticle that IMBA is in its bubble here in colorado to some extent.
  • 4 0
 @adrennan: the problem as I see it is that IMBA is basically invisible in a lot of areas. I would bet a lot of riders in their early 20s don't even know what the IMBA is. If IMBA wants to remain relevant they really need to work on outreach to younger riders -- as mentioned in the article. Mountain bikers somehow need to feel like they need the IMBA like gun owners feel like they need the NRA... Not sure how to make that happen, just my thoughts.
  • 4 2
 @leftCoastBurn: They can make it happen by actually standing up against closing areas and listening to their rider base rather than the political dance they do while advocating for everything their sponsors tell them to. Bands lose fans by ignoring them till years later they disband due to lack of fans, same idea here with the IMBA. Actually stand up for those 30,000 riders and maybe those numbers will go up, not just the lycra crowd either.....
  • 7 2
 @leftCoastBurn: Considering the NRA's model is "get marching orders from gun industry, reformulate message to a "the left is coming for your freedom!!1!" scare message, & then let Wayne Lapiere scream about it on the national stage, when he's not encouraging harassment of mass shooting victims, or calling them liars" Can we please not follow their model?

I mean, that's a big part of the reason why the e-bikes advocacy is so suspect, as it seems to be along the exact same lines.

As both a shooting & cycling enthusiast, I'd like my advocacy to be based on common sense, not profit maximization for the industries who receive my leisure budget.
  • 5 1
 @groghunter: If IMBA defended trails as passionately as the NRA defends gun rights, I would absolutely be an IMBA supporter.
  • 2 5
 @ACree: NRA doesnt give a crap about your rights, they want to sell advertisements and guns.
  • 7 0
 @schofell84: whether you like guns or not, the NRA is by far the most effective citizen-funded advocacy group on earth. That's the point I was making. Their results to $$ ratio blows everything else away.
  • 2 4
 @leftCoastBurn: They aren't citizen funded. the vast majority of their budget comes from gun manufacturers. & I would argue that they don't defend gun rights, but profit margins of the gun industry, at the expense of common sense.

If you're looking to protect gun rights, having your biggest advocate act so crazy about guns that anyone not wrapped up in their message thinks of gun owners as pistol waving lunatics isn't very effective.

You know how some people look at environmentalists as "tree hugging wackos" because of the antics of Green Peace or PETA? Same thing. Their message is lost in their actions.

The NRA does what it does effectively because they whip their base up into such a huge frenzy over literally any regulation about guns, that any politician knows gun regulation is political suicide. & then the NRA gives them a nice big campaign contribution to seal the deal. I think it's important to understand that the NRA is not a gun rights advocate, they're the lobby for the gun industry.
  • 1 2
 @groghunter: I'm a gun owner and my local right wing loony bird gun shop owner says the same thing. The NRA is an arm of the industry, not the people.
  • 1 2
 @schofell84: Nice to hear even people on the right are starting to see reality. It's precisely these examples that make me so leery of IMBA advocating for e-MTB, as it smacks of the same disconnect from reality based on corporate sponsor demands that has made the NRA into what it is now.
  • 3 1
 @groghunter: don't drop labels so easily haha ... I'm far from right. Just like responsibly enjoying guns.
  • 2 1
 @schofell84: I was talking about your "right wing looney bird gun shop owner."
  • 1 0
 @groghunter: he's still nuts. Haha
  • 12 1
 Dear Dave Wiens, Go meet with Evergreen MTB in the PNW, copy everything they do from building trail, to advocacy, to working with land managers, bring it to a national level and you will grow IMBA. Erik
  • 4 1
 Erik, do the work for him, then forward that valuable information. Find Dave's actual (office) address at IMBA, then send by Fedex. Everyone opens a fedex package, rather than the 'mail.' Your fedex might cost $10 to send, and I'm sure some of your pals will buy you some beers or split the cost. There's no way Dave will get to your post. Do the valuable info you suggest, then send by Fedex courier. Boom! You just might save mountain biking. Boom! Wink
  • 3 0
 A number of organizations are contacting Evergreen about their success and model to duplicate in their local area. A lot of it comes down to key people on both sides of the table, timing and remembering advocacy is best served taking the long view.
  • 9 1
 Could be just what IMBA needs. It's easy (and probably shortsighted) to pick a complaint about IMBA and dismiss everything else they do for our access, but I really believe without them we'd be losing more places to ride.
  • 8 2
 Props to you Dave! Hopefully you can get us young riders more interested. A lot imba trail events I have gone to are typically a 45-65 crowd. This is especially uninspiring when they all want to rebench a perfectly fine section rather than building something sweet like a berm or roller where it is actually needed. Basically, we need events for young people.
  • 6 18
flag DigRenno (Mar 7, 2017 at 7:23) (Below Threshold)
 Supported!!!! Around my area, trails are maintained by those in that age range and the trails are LAME!!! This guy looks too much like a roadie!!! If a persons a roadie don't make any trails! Bike the gravel or back roads!!
  • 16 1
 @DigRenno: Wiens - a roadie? Oh, come on. Dude wouldn't even shave his legs when he was racing world cups. And that's before you were born, son!
  • 1 10
flag DigRenno (Mar 7, 2017 at 9:45) (Below Threshold)
 @aaronjb: in what category of world cups makes the difference!!! DH World Cup is okay other then that, Freeride/Slopestyle mtb is all there needs to be!!!!! But it takes different styles of riding for different people!!!!!! Smile
  • 10 0
 @DigRenno: You should head down to Gunnison/Crested Butte and go for a ride with Wiens. I think you might change your mind on how this dude can ride.
  • 7 1
 "today and moving forward, we are very much focused on the USA" Taken mildly out of context, but it's not an encouraging thought that our "International" association chooses to dedicate the majority of it's focus to one country. I understand why it's being done, but it runs the risk of alienating a lot of potential support.
However, when all is said and done, Dave sounds like he has a winning mindset for this, so I withhold final judgement for the time being.
  • 7 0
 Good Heavens...Let's just wish this man luck in his new position. He has an amazing opportunity to do something beneficial, and support him rather than immediate dismissal, due to the past which will not help his fight.
  • 5 1
 Let's just hope he understands the difference between mountain bike trails and a bike path
  • 5 0
 @properp: well considering his background I'll give him the benefit of doubt. I bet he gets it... but I also bet he faces quite a few liability and legal barriers along the way.
  • 1 0
 @sterlingmagnum: anyone who smuggles that many plums is gonna be hard to trust.
  • 1 0
 @obee1: great,,,coffee spit... Well done Jedi warrior.
  • 5 0
 IMBA is a big deal where I live. We need a guy like this that actually gets his hands dirty. Our local IMBA Chapter does A LOT of work to keep our trails open and available to riders, trail runners, and hikers. We have all different types of trails here. It's super diverse and everyone gets their hands dirty. We need more of that. People who are willing to get their hands dirty.
  • 5 0
 I have to say, I used to have a pretty negative opinion of IMBA, but once I traveled around the country a bit and rode some of their trails I started to see them in a different view. They make some fun stuff. that said, it all comes down to e-bikes and wilderness. Mainly e-bikes. If they don't come out against them, I won't give them any money.
  • 7 0
 It's not that they need to be against ebikes. Nor should they be against motorcycles. They should insist that ebikes are motorized vehicles, and thus only allowed on trails open to motorcycles. I think the fundamental objection many, including me, have with ebikes isn't that they are motorized, it's that the sellers and users are insisting that they are not.
  • 1 8
flag ryanm189 (Mar 7, 2017 at 15:53) (Below Threshold)
 Guys, we must remember, that even if we 'pedal' we are also e-bikes to some degree. Think about it. If you pedal, it means you have energy to do so. You got that energy from 'food.' And that food arrived at your local grocery store via truck, train, or ship - meaning any sort of energy such as diesel, natty gas, hybrid or electric. Don't get me wrong, I think e-bikes look Webster dictionary for noob, but so long as they are silent, and don't make a stupid zinging noise, I suppose I got no beef. We are all blowing 'energy' in some sort, all coming from fossil fuel, nuclear, coal or what have you. Our world is coming to an end. Run with your hard tail. I am! Lol. Ps. The biggest e-bike offenders are DH and bike park. Gondolas = electricity = coal, nuclear, natty gas to create that electricity in the first place. It's all over. I'm on my hard tail pedaling and typing at the same time.
  • 4 0
 All the IMBA/NEMBA trails where I live are boring as. Luckily we have a plethora of hiking trails where mountain bikes are permitted. They are way more fun, "natural" and gnarly than the purpose built mtb. trails. Still, best of luck Dave!
  • 4 0
 Even if you feel that IMBA hasn't been the right answer in the past few years, Its hard to not want to say "alright just this once" when it comes to giving this whole thing another chance after reading this Q&A.

great work as usual @vernonfelton
  • 4 0
 I wish Dave the best of luck. While I have plenty of criticism for IMBA and I think pretty much everyone agrees that they could do better, it's to the benefit of all of us if they succeed. These comments are a good indicator of how difficult that will be though - 100 different people with 100 different views, all of whom are certain that they know the path forward. It's easy to criticize from a local vantage point. Shaping that criticism into something constructive that functions on both a local and national level borders on the impossible, but that's what Dave has marked out for him. I, for one, don't know how to make it all work, but I sure hope he can figure it out.
  • 9 1
 IMBA trail crew at work

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL2ouyqgHjY
  • 1 1
 All that's left is to grab your walgoose and "have fun."
  • 7 0
 www.evergreenmtb.org Now these are some trails.
  • 4 1
 What would be nice to see is a bike park built in the East Texas area. Where I live is all XC trails dumbed down to the point a walgoose could do them without much trouble. For a community that wants to do what they see on the bike ads when they buy their bike, it is really disappointing to have the bike and no good local place to ride. I have been working on my own in an area of a local park maintaining the old pump track and trying to dig what trails I can given the space to work. I talk to riders who roll through daily and ask them about what they want to ride and many of them really would love a bike park. They are sold a really expensive bike that are capable of a lot then are left to ride slow beginner trails.

Part of this is that I think the community isn't made up of the generation that you would see up north so all the trails are geared towards the 40+ age range. In doing this I think this pushes the younger generation even further away not offering anything remotely close to what they see on all these videos and pictures.

Even bmx was pushed out of the very nice local skatepark because the city and skaters thought they were too dangerous... A year or so ago the dirt jumpers tried to gather but were basically pushed away because there was no place to build or ride mainly for the same reason as the bmx scene. It would be nice to see some form of gnarly trails put in down here because the community would ride and help build if we had a place.

My main point is that where has any of these organizations been for us down here? When they say they are in touch with the community outside their area they really mean just the few main biking states I feel. I know some of ya'll are going to criticize me and tell me to go to Austin but some of us don't have the ability to drive 6+ hours to drive across Texas to spend a weekend biking. Also, despite it being Texas, there is some pretty great terrain here and could potentially be another great spot to ride given the chance.
  • 3 5
 I'm not quite sure what you're talking about. I'm a 40-plus riderr and always pushing for bigger jumps more narl and wickeder trails. You can take your your rollable IMBA trail and stick it where the sun don't shine get that thing GAPPED out and make it as BIG as possible.
  • 3 1
 @properp: Mainly referring to the community in this area of the state. I'd love to have big jumps, gaps and crazy rough cut trails but every time I bring up something like that I'm turned down due to being "too dangerous" or "too hard". They have been effectively keeping the younger gen away from the gnar faction of mountain biking. Sadly I live in an area where carbon fs Treks and Niners are what people ride. The irony is they play the videos and hang the posters showcasing Brandon Semenuk and Darren Berrecloth riding the bikes they sell yet keep the trails as simple and XC as possible. I just want to ride something fun without being told off by the XC community or the police. (the police station is right by the area I build trails and have had multiple issues with them coming over despite being cleared by the parks and rec work in that area.)
  • 4 0
 @MarkTex: That's exactly what the local Evergreen chapter does in my area. They have events that highlight Rampage and WC downhill, but lose there collective shit if someone builds a jump more than 3'.
  • 2 0
 @Rucker10: It's sad because I sit here at my computer watching riders shred around amazing singletrack and gnarly downhill runs yet am told by the people who control my local trails that it's dangerous so therefore I cannot and should not do it. It puts me in a spot where I now have no area to ride except for the area under the control of those same people.

This sport has its risks and I see no hesitation in them while they cheer on their favorite pro athletes in the WC's and such, so what gives them the right to tell me I can't build and ride the things those athletes do? This is what turns the younger generation away... there is your answer IMBA if you want to even know why younger riders aren't members. Give them the ability to build the trails they want, they aren't fragile little eggs else they wouldn't be riding. I've seen some amazing riding by kids on some pretty gnarly stuff so let them grow up and have fun.
  • 2 0
 @MarkTex: My friends and I just end up traveling to better riding destinations. We also scaled down our expectations as far as what was fun, in regards to local riding. You would be really surprised how much you can huck and thrash yourself on a handful of rough cut jumps and berms on some tiny little hillside. Check out some of the videos Fairclough shares where him and his buddies session a single jump into a berm for hours on end. Honestly that's what more and more of our local riding looks like.
  • 1 0
 @Rucker10: I would love to do that if I was allowed to build someplace with any incline. Since I live in Texas I don't expect really much of anything, but I would love to have even a small hillside to throw up a few jumps and berms to play on. Try riding urban when I can but many places are not friendly to that type of riding either. I think my favorite would be Brett Rheeders track in his This is Home video. Maybe not as big but just a few jumps is all it takes to have a good time. My problem is no one will even let me do that....
  • 1 1
 @properp: I guess you've never heard of the term liability.....
  • 6 1
 "Today, IMBA is not very international. ... But today and moving forward, we are very much focused on the USA because we have to be."

Stopped reading, right there.
  • 4 0
 Here is a good blog post from SDMBA "Will the International Mountain Bicycling Association Lose California?"
sdmba.com/site/will-the-international-mountain-bicycling-association-lose-california
  • 3 0
 IMBA doesn't have the staff, resources or money (aka: "membership") to do what STC is doing at the level they are doing it. They really should focus on helping non-riders become riders, beginner riders to become intermediate and expert riders, and continue to help get new trails and trail networks for all skill sets built. They will never be successful saving 98% of the beloved legacy trails from the Wilderness or HOHA chopping block. But, they sure as hell shouldn't stand in STC's or anyone's way who is trying to retain access or gain new-found access. In fact, they should encourage people to fight those fights, and even throw a little money or minor resources at it since they are members of the same tribe.
  • 8 3
 I'm sorry....but someone wearing spandex and sporting a 12 foot high seatpost is not going to build trails that inspire the youth to mountain bike.
  • 6 1
 Also, IMBA is headquartered in Boulder and I'm pretty sure they helped build Valmont bike park . Instead of building trail sidewalks--why not help build Valmontesque bike parks around the country????
  • 6 1
 I hope IMBA is around for another ten years. That way I will have another organization to join that advocates for me in my 60s besides the VFW......
  • 7 0
 The best trails are still illegal.
  • 8 1
 imba and spandex warriors on 29 errs go hand-in-hand
  • 3 0
 @vernonfelton Vernon, once again a well done piece that generates a large discussion on PB. Your articles tackle relevant and controversial issues. I think Wiens is as good a choice as the IMBA could have made. You didn't ask softball questions. You went right to the issue of IMBA dumbing down trails, and to access issues. Dave's answers were a bit studied but I do think he cares about the issues. More thoughts later. Right now I'm too tired to put a cogent post together
  • 3 1
 Everyone commenting on the dumbing-down of trails are actively missing the point: the IMBA should be focused on advocacy, and it should be thoughtful, progressive trail advocacy, at that.

While it's entirely sad and downright frustrating to see trails built to accommodate low-skill or beginning riders, beautifully technical trails reduced to a smooth, buffed out "flow trail," and to have large, intimidating, and challenge features removed outright, the reality is that focusing on the trails themselves blinds one to the fact that the TRAILS ARE DISAPPEARING.

The success of IMBA moving forward hinges on advocacy for new trails and the maintenance of current land usage. The IMBA has an opportunity, though it will take some time, to reinvent themselves as an entity that doesn't allow mountain bike usage to be decided by hikers, equestrians, and government bigwigs. Hopefully we as riders can identify that without a strong advocacy group, we will have fewer and fewer trails to ride and, thus, complain about.

I sincerely wish the best Dave the best in rebuilding the image and mission of the IMBA.
  • 2 0
 "Then the other strength we are always going to have is that no one else is trying to speak specifically to improving mountain biking access and government relations on a local, regional and national level."

WTF - nobody else on a local or regional level? National maybe... plenty of local groups are doing good work right now without IMBA.
  • 2 0
 I'd like IMBA to survive. I donate to IMBA as well as STC and my local mountain bike group.

The problem I see (I don't know if this is accurate, however) is that IMBA is torn between its corporate masters and the most ardent mountain bikers. The big bike companies are intensively marketing e-bikes and I haven't heard them say they care about losses of trails to wilderness and recommended wilderness. You have to wonder if IMBA's ever-so-cautious positions on both burning issues (actually, opposition to STC) is a coincidence.

My suggestion to IMBA is to make up its mind. It can become a second People for Bikes, i.e., a trade association where advocacy matters only when aligned with bicycle and e-bike industry interests. Or it can take on e-bikes and wilderness in a way most of its supporters seem to want.

That would be a tough call, since people want their paychecks to show up regularly and $35 memberships probably don't cover them, and I wouldn't envy David Wiens and the IMBA board having to tackle it. Difficult times.
  • 2 0
 I was a Chapter board member trail coordinator for several years but got disillusioned over time and quit, never looked back. I do more and get more accomplished on my own working with our local land manager's in much less time then going through all the bureaucrat BS then working with a Chapter.
  • 5 1
 So stoked Dave is taking over. If he can play even a small part in keeping our trails here in Santa Barbara open to bikes, he'll have my support.
  • 1 1
 If IMBA have their way you will have to give way to wheel chairs. It is a shame the way IMBA treated the mountain bikers in Sedona a couple of years ago. IMBA made enemies and lost my support for ever.
  • 3 1
 Spoken as someone that will turn 50 in less than a month, the biggest problem is...

"our average member is 45 years old"

...!

Why? Because most in that age frame are going to see everything through glasses of a particular color. Most are riding XC! A good number don't have a life time screwing around on bikes and don't want to see roots and ruts.

Trail sanitization is the number 1 issue with a lot of peeps. Me included!!!!! But most that want to see this go away are younger and more focused on shovels and just having fun.

Two options here:
1) More young people get involved and crush this noobification of trails mentality.
2) Create a different organization.
  • 3 1
 Young people have less disposable income than your generation.
  • 2 1
 Thanks for the interview Vernon, and Dave. For all the complaining about IMBA I don't see another organization out there on a national level that can offer the support that they do to lobby local and federal governments for access. For that reason alone they will continue to have my support. My local club is an affiliate but I can say there has been concerns due to the changes in regional support after the Subaru sponsorship loss. I hear some local clubs have dropped their IMBA affiliation as a response. Hopefully we can have future articles on how IMBA going to function going forward. Pulling for Dave to have a successful roll in pulling IMBA through this time.
  • 4 1
 IMBA has outlived itself. STC is the future. If they were wise they would urge members to support the STC and just simply disband.
  • 1 1
 If STC is going to be the future, they'd better start expanding their scope. Wilderness is great and important, but it's only one battle. There is a ton of work to do at the local and regional level that our IMBA rep has been involved in from the outset. Work that most of us never hear about, meeting with agencies and getting their ear very early in the environmental process. Until someone else takes up those battles, I will continue to support IMBA. If this pissing match between IMBA, STC, Evergreen etc. is allowed to continue, it divides us, we all lose, and the bastards win. Support trail advocacy. All of it. Dave will do a good job, he's a badass, and I can only hope he's going to point this ship in the right direction.
  • 2 0
 @rollingdip: question is how many more areas will be closed for trail access under IMBA's watch? I know of quite a few already. However no one seems to restrict horses, even though they are the biggest offenders when it comes to trail damage.
  • 1 1
 @eldedo: There would be a heckuva lot more closures without IMBA. I like having STC around; it is not an either/or kind of situation to me. Let them fight the Wilderness act. Support them. They are fighting a battle for us that needs to be fought. If they win, that is awesome. If they lose and disappear, none of our other advocacy efforts are hurt. My honest opinion is that if IMBA went on the record supporting STC's battle, it would damage existing relationships with BLM and USFS, relationships that continue to help us. They are stuck in a no-win situation. They either piss of a portion of their base, or piss off their partners. We need to think strategically.
  • 1 0
 Pro Tip: I have noticed sooo many people in my area (Syracuse NY) and the region on new munlti-thousand dollar bikes. We used to be a niche group. New bikes have really improved the overall experience and numbers are growing fast but we don't seem to be welcome at almost all public parks/lands. We pay the taxes for these places too so if you want my money and support I want you to FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHT TO OUR LANDS! On the trails being "sanitized" issue there is an important point to take home here. People like a good thrill and finding safe and healthy ways to do that is a big part of what mountain biking is for us. Skiing is dangerous and people do really dangerous stuff on the mountains and that's the same behavior/mechanism I would argue. I do not belong to IMBA but I agree we need a national organization. If I see that they will support us as we are and not as what they wish us to be I'll join. Otherwise I go my own way/another way.
  • 3 0
 I can totally imagine enjoying an ebike. But that's a kind of motorcycle. Even in USA, where bikes flow uphill towards money. Make it part of IMBA, I'm out.
  • 2 1
 One thing that is definitely not discussed very often is how they actually promotes the local clubs that are apart of IMBA. Giving people complementary socks and T-shirts doesn't go very far. They take 60% of the membership fee and what does the chapter get in return for that investment? Honestly I have seen that you are really just paying for the name but getting nothing in return for the small chapters.
  • 1 0
 here in Michigan after merging some 5 years ago the first change was to ditch the annual awards-swap-show event & replaced it with nothing.how this promotes the sport has never been addressed in all the notes I sent to IMBA.just like big biz. buy up your competitors & cut staff.if your state region can get buy without don't change.
  • 11 7
 Is he working for IMBA, or just gonna shill that Topeak/Canyon/Ergon jersey all day?
  • 4 2
 And I don't mean that to knock Dave, as I think he'll be a fine dude to lead IMBA, but the jersey in every shot is a bit much.
  • 5 1
 @PHeller:There's not much imagery of Dave out there, so I used what imagery does exist, which tends to be imagery of Dave that was shot as promotional stuff for the team he races on. Thus, he's wearing his sponsor jerseys in those older photos.
  • 1 0
 @vernonfelton: Ah ok. Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.
  • 10 8
 #1 issue on Dave's agenda should be reversing the yielding rule " Bicyclists traveling downhill should yield to ones headed uphill, unless the trail is clearly signed for one-way or downhill-only traffic." That is so 90's.
  • 6 2
 That's really the number one issue? Above e-bikes, and losing access to trails?

Signed-
Someone who enjoys cleaning uphill singletrack just as much as cleaning it downhill...
  • 6 2
 @padrefan1982: yeah i wasn't really seriously, but glad to see you were. Also, did you just sign off with a humblebrag?
  • 2 0
 @tbubier: I didn't think about it until later, but part of that is because its an attitude that sometimes pops up on the trail. (IE: why would you even want to climb?)

And no brag either. I enjoy it because cleaning the uphill stuff happens rarely :-)
  • 1 1
 no downhillers need to yield to climbers, thats just a simple physics. Preventing more trail closures is the only issue.
  • 1 0
 Dave is a true hero when it come to the mountain bike community and advocating for us. He has done wonders in the Gunnison valley of Colorado. Go Dave and thanks for all you do. P.S. you da man
  • 1 1
 I'm part of the demographic they're seeking. I'm female. I am no longer an IMBA member because I fear IMBA and what I feel they're doing to mountain bike trails. It literally makes me sick to my stomach, as they go in and systematically change old school trail into paved paths and dirt rollers. I personally wish they would go under before all the old trail has been destroyed and all new trail is flow and we have a generation of riders who think smooth dirt roads with a few jumps are trails.
  • 5 6
 This dude is a dumbass. He says we need a national advocacy group but the only mtb issue at the federal level is bikes in wilderness and the imba already gave up on that already lol. Literally everything else can be done on a local level the imba is a waste of air.
  • 3 1
 Ah yes, the 'international' association. Who actually only do anything in the USA.
  • 2 0
 Good interview but I also wished for an answer on Wilderness and PCT, CDT access issues.
  • 2 0
 Rethink the wilderness issue and clarify that you believe ebikes belong on motorized trails or no funding from me.
  • 3 0
 Sometimes they build "vanilla" trails, try all the time
  • 5 1
 Let people ride!
  • 4 1
 Shout out to @EvergreenBryan ^ Leading by example!
  • 4 1
 #MAKEMOUNTIANBIKINGGREATAGAIN!
  • 2 0
 My prediction is less public trails more pay to ride. Everything of value is being sold. You want to ride your bike here $50
  • 3 1
 Why is it that Britain seems to have no problems with non IMBA model so called " unsustainable" trails.
  • 2 0
 The problem is politics. They will always have their hands in the cookie jar!
  • 5 4
 If we're gonna have an older guy be in charge of IMBA, I wish it would be Wade.
  • 2 0
 I'm glad he will get your money ????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 4 3
 The trails I ride are anti-IMBA
  • 1 0
 Mind the gap on that last pic :-0
  • 1 0
 Thanks for the great write up! Definitely a step in the right direction!
  • 3 1
 I just like their logo.
  • 1 1
 JEEEZUS! This dude is so proud to wear spandex, he fricken wears it with Jeans!
  • 2 2
 Cash me outside how bout dat
  • 2 2
 IMBA in no represents my needs. I do not support IMBA.
  • 2 1
 Nerds Nerds Nerds
  • 1 1
 I wish ???? Dave the best honestly. f*ck Imba!!!
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