Sunday, October 14, 2007

IMBA Trail Crew Visit

IMBA's only Ohio visit is coming up this November 8th - 11th 2007. Hueston Woods State Park will host the IMBA Trail Crew weekend and we need your help to make it successful.
The Trail School will have representatives from CORA, MVMBA, American Discovery Trail, Buckeye Trail Association, Ohio Horsemen's Council, Ohio Trails Partnership, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Oxford Audubon Society, Miami University Depts. of Geology, Engineering, and Botany.

We will also be unveiling the new Dr. Paul Daniel Trail Volunteer Cabin located at the trail head, as well as a self-guided bike tour map and a newly routed advanced "Hell and Back" 7 mile loop.

If you are willing to be part of an ad hoc committee for this event, contact the man, the myth the legend who brought us this fine event : bob@bikerbob.com
And certainly get out and go ride Hueston Woods!

To get you ready for this great event here is a few more excellent links and key information:




Gary Fisher Bicycles are the official bike supplier of the of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Crew, providing cutting edge bikes to keep IMBA's field teams rolling. The company also supports IMBA financially as an Above-and Beyond Corporate Member

LOCAL TRAIL MAPS

There are two links on the Cincinnati Off Road Alliance home page at www.mtbohio.com/cora that help you find all the local trails and maps.

Map of Local Trails – takes you to a Google map with pinpoints for each of the trails in the area. Click the pin point and it will give you the name of the trail and the approximate location.

Local Trails – lists the trails in the area. Click “read more” or the park name and it will take you to a profile of the trail. Click “trail map” in this profile and a downloadable map will appear.

TRAIL SOLUTIONS BOOK

Trail Solutions: IMBA's Guide to Building Sweet Single-track
https://secure2.convio.net/imba/site/Ecommerce/1824089260?JServSessionIdr009=3prkc3r0k2.app6b&VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=1101&store_id=1121


In my opinion, this is the best trail building book I’ve found. Easy to read, broken down into logical segments, simple illustrations, and great pictures. Well worth the money if you want to get into trail building or just want to learn why trails are built the way they are.

TRAIL DVD

The federal government has free trail literature including DVDs, manuals, and publications.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rectrails/trailpub.htm
The DVD is modeled after the IMBA Trail Solutions book. It’s 40 minutes long and covers the most important aspects of trail building. The web site also has trail construction note books and wetland trail design books.

TRAIL SCHOOL

We are heading into the best time of the year for trail scouting and building. What better time to attend a Trail Building School put on by IMBA’s traveling Trail Care Crew? These folks travel all over the country providing education on proper trail building. They will be at Hueston Woods November 8-11. You can attend as much or as little as you wish. These are usually free but they ask that you pre-register just so they know how many to expect. Usually, there is a classroom session on Saturday morning with trail building in the afternoon. Contact Bob Feldman a.k.a. “Biker Bob” for more information. (email listed above)

IMBA
The International Mountain Bike Association has a wealth of resources at www.imba.com. Some of the major ones include:

TRAILBUILDING AND MAINTENANCE
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/index.html Several helpful articles.


TRAIL TOOL GUIDE
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/tool_guide.html Places to order tools and other resources.

A schedule of events will be posted soon.
Links and Information provide by myself, Bob and a key CORA member, aka - Ohioburg.

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