{"id":37585,"date":"2018-08-21T07:41:37","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T14:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=37585"},"modified":"2020-05-22T12:58:13","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T19:58:13","slug":"thirty-years-of-trails-and-counting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/thirty-years-of-trails-and-counting","title":{"rendered":"Thirty Years of Trails and Counting"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a new trail in a spot I like to ride that winds up switchbacks through tall Jeffrey pines to a lookout. It replaces a steep, eroded elevator shaft that was a nemesis to all mountain bikers and hikers. Now, on the new trail, the dirt is fresh and smooth. The berms are perfectly elevated and balanced. The rock gardens are clean and passable with a quick sprint. A signpost marks the entrance to the new, multiuse trail with a list of 50-plus names.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you bump into any of the above volunteers, consider buying them a beverage,\u201d the signpost says.<\/p>\n

This trail, like every trail, is something special. It\u2019s a vision completed, the culmination of hundreds of hours logged by volunteers with shovels in hand and topographic maps on the table.<\/p>\n

It also required collaboration between mountain bikers and the stewards of public land, in this case, the local mountain bike group\u00a0and the U.S. Forest Service.<\/p>\n

Mountain bikers built this trail, but it\u2019s not exclusively a mountain bike trail, per se. It\u2019s also for runners and hikers. The best part: This trail is free for everyone to use as they please.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery trail has a backstory. Somebody had the vision and found the money and got the permission and talked the land manager into it and built the political will,\u201d said Ashley Korenblat, a resident of Moab, Utah, who has spent her adult life working in mountain biking, public lands and trail advocacy. In the 1990s, when she was the president of a bicycle manufacturing company in Massachusetts, Korenblat became the chair of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA)\u2014a nationwide nonprofit<\/a> that has played a fundamental role in the backstory behind more than a thousand trails across the United States.<\/p>\n

This year, IMBA is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Mountain biking looks a lot different in 2018 than it did in 1988. For one, there are more trails to ride on, and IMBA deserves a lot of that credit. Just last year,<\/a> IMBA\u2019s Trail Solutions team helped with\u00a0education, planning, design and trail building for\u00a035 projects located in 18 \u00a0states and in Mexico, totaling nearly 800 miles of trails.<\/p>\n

IMBA has 30 years of trail-building experience, \u201cfrom concept to construction,\u201d said David Wiens, IMBA\u2019s executive director. The group is hardly finished with its work.\u00a0\u201cIMBA is focused on creating more great trails for people to ride across the country, more great trails closer to where people live,\u201d Wiens said. \u201cWe can be a catalyst for trail development. We can jump-start trail projects and show people the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A group of volunteers builds a new trail in the early ’90s. (Photo Credit: IMBA)<\/p><\/div>\n

IMBA was born out of a need for access. The group started in 1988 in California, when five local mountain bike groups from across the state sat down at one table. Mountain biking was fast growing from a fringe sport of the misfits to a popular sport of the mainstream, especially as gear became lighter and more available. A broader group was needed to speak on behalf of the mountain bike community at large and represent the constituency before land management groups. That first year, their conversations began with the California State Parks, which was considering banning mountain bikes on some of the state\u2019s most popular trails.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn every place we have access, it was because we proved we were valuable,\u201d said Korenblat, who joined the organization\u2019s board two years later, in 1990. \u201cWe helped with maintenance, and we helped build trails. We painted picnic tables and we bought signs and raised money and we basically went to the land managers and said, \u2018What can we do to help?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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The founding meeting of IMBA in 1988 in California. (Photo Credit: IMBA)<\/p><\/div>\n

Soon after IMBA was founded, it published a manifesto\u2014Six Rules of the Trail<\/a>\u2014to educate mountain bikers on etiquette and how to be good stewards of the sport. The rules told mountain bikers to respect trail and road closures, to leave no trace, to ride in control and yield to others, to never scare animals\u2014especially horses\u2014and to plan and be prepared for the ride ahead. It seems like common sense now, but in 1988, land managers throughout the United States and abroad started posting this code of ethics at trailhead signs and in trail brochures. Over the next two years, IMBA distributed its six rules of the trail to more than 1 million people.<\/p>\n

Those early, formative years also set the tone for key relationships that IMBA upholds today, like the ones it shares with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. In 2000, Korenblat met with President Bill Clinton to discuss mountain bike-friendly rules in national monuments. \u201cThere had to be a conversation with the government at every level,\u201d she said. More recently, in 2016, IMBA helped pass the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act, which addresses the trail maintenance backlog in national forests and makes it easier for volunteers to help fill the gap<\/a>. Last year, when the Department of the Interior announced a review of millions of acres of national monuments, IMBA also rallied mountain bikers and sent in 5,000 letters for public comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

IMBA also started building relationships with other user groups\u2014like hikers and environmentalists\u2014in the outdoor industry. In 1993, REI became a big supporter and advocate of the \u00a0IMBA, establishing a relationship that continues today. The following year, Korenblat recalls that REI hosted a conference between IMBA and the Sierra Club. At the meeting, the two groups reached a landmark agreement that recognized mountain bikers as a legitimate form of recreation and trail use.<\/p>\n

\u201cREI\u2019s philanthropy is really focused on supporting organizations that increase access or infrastructure for outdoor recreation,\u201d says Taldi Walter, REI\u2019s community and government affairs manager. Walter has also been a board member for IMBA for the last three years. \u201cIMBA really hits that sweet spot because they are creating the on-the-ground outdoor infrastructure, like trails, and making mountain biking more accessible for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

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IMBA believes in trails for all\u2014bikers, hikers and equestrians. (Photo Credit: IMBA)<\/p><\/div>\n

This fall, IMBA is throwing a party to celebrate its 30th anniversary<\/a>. Joining forces with Outerbike (a bike demo for the public), they\u2019re going to Bentonville, Arkansas, where an explosion of trails has rejuvenated the economy. The town embraces bicycle riding and represents a future that IMBA continues to strive for. Also, the mountain bike trails in Bentonville are pretty fun to ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cMountain biking, that experience, is about the trail,\u201d Wiens said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about the destination, the waterfall or bagging that peak, we\u2019re out there for the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you want to give back to the mountain biking community? There are many ways to get involved locally.<\/strong><\/h4>\n