IMBA prominent at 24 Hours of Canaan, Pennsylvania Epic and Seven Springs NCS race

IMBA Trail News
Volume 12, Number 3
August 1999

IMBA's Jon Alegranti connected with mid-Atlantic mountain bikers in early June at IMBA's second Epic Ride and at popular races in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He also met with officials of the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, D.C.

Jon, our National Mountain Bike Patrol Coordinator, worked for three days at one of the biggest mountain biking events anywhere, the 24 Hours of Canaan (WV). This event has become a true classic, drawing close to 2,000 racers in teams. The racers bring along at least as many "support crew personnel" code for friends, family and significant others who handle all the important support crew functions, like cooking the pasta, cleaning and tuning bikes, and drinking beer.

IMBA shared a booth with our local affiliated club West Virginia Mountain Bike Association (WVMBA, pronounced "Wa-Voom-Ba"). We also enjoyed the company of Ohio IMBA-State Representative James Buratti, and Scott Scudamore, the new Executive Director of Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts. IMBA and WVMBA sold a couple thousand raffle tickets for great prizes including a Specialized M4 mountain bike. Most of the money went to benefit WVMBA's trail access work. IMBA put its $250 share toward nationwide efforts. The booth was host to much good dialogue about mountain biking and trail access.

After a solo "just for fun" lap around the Canaan course Sunday afternoon, it was on to a DC meeting with high-level U.S. Forest Service officials. Topics of discussion included the IMBA-Forest Service relationship, the dollar-value placed on one hour of volunteer trail work by USFS ($10 for typical trail-work), the status of the agency's roads-to-trails initiative, and of course the highly contentious, ongoing User Fee Demonstration Program.

After a stop in State College, Pennsylvania, to ride with local mountain bikers and friends at the IMBA Epic in Rothrock State Forest, Jon traveled to Seven Springs, PA, for an always-popular stop on the NORBA National Championship Series. Up went the IMBA booth for another three days of talking with mountain bikers about everything from favorite trails to favorite bike parts, from newly constructed trails to trails in jeopardy of closure. Jon talked with old friends like Sarah Frost, a mountain bike mover and shaker from the Jersey Off-Road Biking Association (Sarah introduced the Paydirt program to New Jersey's state mountain bike race series). Some people didn't know what IMBA was or what we do, but identified with the cause when we mentioned trail access, trail closures and opportunities to ride your mountain bike on trails near your home.

It was great to see so many IMBA members and talk with them face to face. And for those we haven't yet met, we look forward to seeing you soon at a mountain bike event, conference, or better yet on the trail.