On the Trail with IMBA

Jason and I just spent a few days exploring Zion National Park, camping and checking out some trails we’d never want to ride on a bike.

This is a section of the Angel’s Landing trail in Zion. Hundreds of vertical feet fall from both sides of this rock fin. The chains guide you for a half mile of steep technical rock to an amazing view off the point.  If you visit Zion you’ve got to check this trail out.

After leaving Zion we were itching to ride so we headed up towards Bryce Canyon to check out the Thunder Mountain Trail we had heard so much about. It was rad.

The wind was working hard to blow us off Thunder Mountain but thanks to Kenda we stuck to the trail.

The trail was very diverse with plenty of climbing (we were at 8200′ so it didn’t take much!) and ripping fast descents.

This section reminded us of Angel’s Landing without the chains but with the added challenge of leaning into the 40mph gusts.

After many days of play I was a little beat. Not a bad place for a nap. Check out that view! If you’re ever near Bryce Canyon with your bike this is the closest to riding in the Canyon you’ll get. The trail is a lot of fun and easy to navigate. Be sure to bring a camera!

Just wanted to share some photos of Hurricane Rim Trail that I shot last night. If you know who these guys are, let me know! They came rolling by while we were checking out this cool prickly pear. A beautiful view to end a great day of riding at Little Creek Mesa!

Everything in the dessert is blowing up with color right now. It’s hard to stay on the trail when bright cacti blooms catch your eye around every corner.

Off to see more dessert trails at Gooseberry Mesa today… 

Happy riding!

-Anna

This past winter the folks at Lory State Park in Colorado offered anyone interested to come together for a casual meeting regarding the 1 year old mountain bike skills/jump park. We all gave our comments on how we felt the park could improve and decided on a short term and long term goal for the bike park. Not too long after this pow wow there was a large amount of dirt donated (thanks Airn!), transport of the dirt was organized, and the first build day was set for April 5th.

The weather worked out perfectly for what turned into a weekend of jump building. Henry Horrocks hooked up a skid steer for the weekend and Cameron from the State Park put in a full day with the tractor. The focus of this build day was to raise and move the starting hill back for the expert line as well as totally reconstruct the expert line.

Over 20 people worked on the expert line and roll-in volunteering their entire weekend to the bike park’s improvement. Carson Henrion and Henry Horrocks made sure to utilize the skid steer by constantly moving the dirt while Jimmy Donahugh kept the diggers on task. Jimmy shaped lips and landings and spaced them appropriately so riders will get the air time desired. The row of four expert tabletop style jumps was transformed into a solid, and symmetrical jump line that should be enjoyable and safe for the intermediate to expert level dirt jumper.

If you live in Northern Colorado then mark your Calendars for May 31st. Lory State Park will be holding a Spring Festival which will offer tons of activities from guided cross country rides to pump track contests and more! Go to http://parks.state.co.us/Parks/lory for park directions and contact information. If you’re interested in the next build day at the bike park contact Denise Kostiv at denise.kostiv@state.co.us or Carson Henrion at carson.henrion@gmail.com.

Thanks again to everyone who came out this weekend for your hard work and support!!

- Tammy Donahugh (currently Robo-Arm girl)

With what other vehicle could you do this:

Chris delivers a surplussed mountain bike frame to UPS

then this:

on the same short ride to town?

Okay, it helps that the ride was all downhill and that the bike park (built with a lot of volunteer muscle, donated materials, and a Kona Freeride Grant) is a mere 2 blocks from the ship-shop.
What could make the spring spin thru town complete? Mike’s ice cream just opened for the season!

After our conference presentations in the Sunshine Coast, Mike Van Abel and I went down to Brisbane to see an old friend, Mt. Coot-tha Forest.

My first visit was in 2003 and at that time mountain biking was forbidden on any of the single-track trails. Having several IMBA visits, including reroutes, trail building workshops, the tenacity of Gillian Duncan (president of Mountain Bike Australia MTBA and the Gap Creek Trails Alliance), the dedication of Chris “Oppy” Maierhofer (Brisbane City Council trail care coordinator) and a long list of volunteers….

Mt. Coot-tha has become a model for single-track excellence.

There is wonderful progression, with trails for most levels of XC riders, riding here is just pure pleasure.

Mike got to witness first-hand how far the IMBA model of trail stewardship extends…

next stop…Adelaide, South Australia.

Special thanks to Gillian Duncan and Tony Scott of Mountain Bike Australia for fascillating this year’s IMBA visit, for more on the goings on around Australia go to http://www.mtba.asn.au/ check out this site even if you don’t live down unda’!

Also thanking Gillian Duncan for setting up these great rides, the well planned trail work session at Tewantin Forest and getting me out for a much needed surf! Regarding the great single track at Mt. Coot-tha, go to http://www.gcta.asn.au/

Thanks again,
Joey.