International Mountain Bicycling Association

2024 has been a very good year for trails and mountain biking, thanks to your care and support. Never content with the status quo, IMBA is building up trail development services, supporting the 200+ membership orgs nationwide that are so important to great local riding, and creating new programs that’ll accelerate more trails. Community leaders are counting on us, and we’re counting on you. Lead with us! New resources and programs in 2025 for trail champions will help them overcome challenges with access and project funding. Together we can help communities break through and reach the next level of progress for their trail aspirations: https://lnkd.in/gnVpf6jc

As we approach the end of 2024, we’re reflecting on where the year has taken us as an organization. Through the miles that IMBA Trail Solutions has planned & designed this year, many more communities will enjoy professionally built trails close to where they live. Here are a few noteworthy numbers: 📐Our planning & design team worked on 65 active projects in 27 different states. 📐 A variety of trail experiences were planned for: 19 of their projects had a NICA component, 21 had a bike park component. 📐 Elkins Concept Plan in West Virginia had the most miles planned at 100-115. 📐 Projects in Ely, NV, Mono Pond, CT, Williamstown, MA, Bethel, ME, Elkins, WV, Rib Mountain, WI, and Cedar City, UT all ended up with over 10 miles of flagged trails. 📐 We created three comprehensive signage plans for Ely, NV, Snowshoe WV, and the Mountaineer Trail Network in WV. 📐 Altogether, our planning team planned 410-625 miles of trail and field designed 147 miles of trail during 2024! (whew, that’s a lot of hiking)

EXPLORE passed in the Senate last Thursday and is headed to the President’s desk; but how did it get there? Dive into this rundown and learn how the BOLT (Biking on Long Distance Trails) Act (which was a part of this historic legislation) can benefit your neck of the woods: https://lnkd.in/g7T8_htm 

Our IMBA Trail Solutions build teams have kicked serious butt in 2024. 🥳 They are wrapping up their final projects of the year today and it seemed like the perfect time to break down the big numbers they've put out this year across the country. ⚒️ New trails in 11 different communities in 8 states. ⚒️ Of the trails built, 78% were considered 🟦  or “more difficult”, 19% were considered 🟢 or “easy,” and 3% of what was built was considered ◆ or “very difficult.” ⚒️ This year, 79% of builds were cross-country style, 18% were gravity/jump style trail, and 3% were chip seal/all-weather. ⚒️ All together, our build teams crafted 36.9 miles of new trail! Show them some love 👇

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🗞️ The Senate has passed the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act! "This action shows Congress understands the physical, mental, and economic importance of outdoor recreation on our public lands. The mountain bike community is specifically excited about the Biking on Long Distance Trails (BOLT) Act that has been included in the bill's text. The BOLT Act will identify at least 10 existing long-distance bike trails and identify at least 10 areas where there is an opportunity to develop or complete such trails. The bill will also direct the Department of Interior to publish and distribute maps, install signage, and distribute promotional materials. We now look forward to the President’s signature making the EXPLORE Act law!" - Todd Keller, Director of Government Affairs, International Mountain Bicycling Association

Some of our IMBA Trail Solutions team members share their favorite and weirdest animal encounters while on the job. Got a question for a trail builder? Comment below 👇 Fill out this form: https://lnkd.in/dNYnTQMt

AMBC’s Fall Fest bike raffle raised $59,812 for Hurricane Helene storm relief! Every November, the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club (AMBC) hosts the best bike raffle in the Southeast. Every year, it raises a good chunk of money to support Knoxville’s trail systems, and someone wins a (really) rad bike. This year was different. In the wake of the massive and devastating Hurricane Helene, AMBC redirected 100% of its bike raffle proceeds, the results were impressive – $59,812 – to storm relief efforts across multiple affected SOUTHERN OFF-ROAD BICYCLE ASSOCIATION (SORBA) regions. Read more about the event and the organizations the raffle supported: https://lnkd.in/eQRT39yi

Another all-levels arrow in the quiver for Appalachian recreation is coming to West Virginia. West Virginia University’s Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative (Smith OEDC) has been at the forefront and directly supporting many of these efforts. For this upcoming project just outside the small town of Elkins, the Smith OEDC teamed up with local org Elkins Area Shared Trails and the Monongahela National Forest to apply for IMBA’s Trail Accelerator Grant for this ambitious concept plan for the area. The grant was awarded and site planning/field design were completed this year! A 100-mile concept plan is slated for the region and 15 miles of trails have been flagged by IMBA Trail Solutions. Learn about the types of trails planned for the area: https://lnkd.in/e8sf48sF

Routt County Riders and supporters like you are moving the needle near Steamboat Springs, CO! You might remember in late November when IMBA wrote an action alert encouraging folks who live in and visit Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to share their support for the Mad Rabbit Trails Project. On December 3rd, 2024, the Steamboat Springs City Council approved $1.8 million for those trails with a 5-2 vote! Read more about this success and what it took to get here: https://lnkd.in/gzSZhEEK

Trail Friendly Communities are great places to live and to visit and where a variety of trail experiences can be found at a reasonable distance from the community’s center. They’re also places where officials, trail organizations, residents, and businesses all recognize the importance of trail-based recreation and play a role in developing and maintaining those amenities. Before IMBA launched the Trail Friendly Community self-assessment in October 2024, we asked a handful of IMBA Local Member Organizations and trail champions from various communities to review the self-assessment. One of those communities was Lawrence, Kansas. IMBA sat down with Sarah Hill-Nelson, a trail champion in this community, to discuss the Trail Friendly Community self-assessment and how she’d like to use it to further trails and collaborations in Lawrence: https://lnkd.in/gS-Mk-49