On the Trail with IMBA

I had a chance to catch up with old friends in Adelaide including Nick, Gary and Brenton, the team who founded Trail Solutions Australia. The guys have disbanded but are still creating quality trails all over the region on their own.

We held a tour/trails workshop of the work they’ve done at Eagle Mountain Bike Park in the hills above Adelaide.

We also toured Cudlee Creek and Belair National Park. We ran into Troy Rarrick; character extraordinaire and owner of “Over the Edge Sports”, he is setting up a satellite store in the Flinders Ranges (the riding there must be good!).

Nick set me up to lead several trailbuilding and managing mountain bike sessions. We had dozens of landmanagers from all over the region at the city, state and national levels including officials from the Department of Environment and Planning SA (similar to National Parks in the US).

Nick Bowman deserves special thanks for keeping me on track and setting up this powerful visit, he describes it best….

“During the most recent three-day workshop, I think we saw approximately 500 slides to show everything land managers and trail planners need to know. We saw the good, the bad and the ugly, but predominantly images of successful shared use trails, mountain bike trails and trail networks from around the world. The message is clear; engagement with the MTB community and the incorporation of mountain biking into urban and rural trail networks is positive step for society, the economy and the environment.”

“Every time Joey has been here, he has worked his butt off to individually prepare each and every power point presentation to include local examples and highly relevant content for the local issues. He basically bombards the workshop participants with near countless photos of great trails, awesome stunts, keen volunteers and smiling people.”

Joey and the emus at the Cudlee Creek Trail Network

“Joey’s experience seems to be limitless. From riding with the President to working with street kids, the outcomes are the same. Big smiles and better lifestyles, in my mind, for every problem, there is a solution and the people that have attended these sessions leave knowing a lot more about MTB and how it can work safely and sustainably in their local area. The significance of this cannot be understated; the tide is turning!”

Thanks for that Nic, my next stop is the Australian Capital Territory…
See ya then,
Joey.

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!