Go Clipless

Are you a fat cyclist?

It's official. You no longer have to be overweight to be a fat cyclist. In fact, starting today there's a whole new meaning to acknowledging that you are a fat cyclist.

Let me fill you in on the back story. In April, Elden Nelson, author of the popular Fat Cyclist blog, learned that his wife Susan was stricken with a serious form of cancer. Of course, Fatty's (as he calls himself) fans, being cyclists and all, rallied to his side in support with well-wishes delivered through comments on his blog as well as cards.

Not only that, but Twin Six, the hippest jersey maker in the industry, rolled out a limited edition Team Fatty jersey and companion gear in support of Elden and his wife, but also to fight cancer in general. All of the proceeds of Team Fatty gear will be split between covering Susan's medical expenses and recovery trip (she wants to visit Italy once she is well enough) and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (and if you've ever had doubts about the good an organization like this can have, read this account from Elden). Now how's that for cool?

So everybody say it with me out loud:

I want to help help a fellow bike blogger - I am a fat cyclist.

I want to save a life - I am a fat cyclist.

I want to cure cancer - I am a fat cyclist.

I am proud to be a fat cyclist.

Now...get yourself a jersey (they are for both men and women) and wear it to your next race or club ride, and do it with pride, you hear! Thank you.

Amazing before and after trail building pictures

The IMBA Trail Care Crew is at it again, building some crazy sustainable trail out of nothing. Check out the before and after shots and prepare to be amazed.

IMBA's got a blog

Yup. Just noticed it when I went to renew my membership. (Suddenly had a nagging feeling after I wrote this post).

Looks like it's just getting started...so go on over and give it some love. Lots of stuff from the Trail Care Crew.

It's called On the Trail with IMBA.

Have you paid your trail maintenance dues yet this season?

No I'm not just talking about paying your membership dues to IMBA and your local IMBA affiliate (e.g. MORE). You all do that, right? ;-) I'm talking about getting out there and volunteering for an actual honest-to-goodness trail maintenance day.

Ok...I'm no saint here. Truth be told, yesterday was the first time I ever did a trail maintenance day...and I've been riding for years.

So what got me out there yesterday? Guilt. I tell you what, it's a powerful motivator.

What's up with this year's IMBA Report Card?

Let me start by saying that IMBA kicks ass! The organization has worked tirelessly to grow mountain biking and help it gain the level of respect it now enjoys above many other trail user groups. This has been particularly true the last couple of years since Mike Van Abel took over as executive director. During this time he has refocused the mission of IMBA, repositioned the organization with professional branding, and has embraced freeriding and developed whole new programs to help this aspect of the sport.

I've always been impressed at the tools the organization has provided to regional mountain bike associations to help them advance the cause. Which brings me to the annual IMBA Report Card. One of the mainstays of the regional advocacy tool set, the IMBA Report Card provided a grade - as judged by riders - to the state of mountain biking in every state or province in North America. IMBA suggested that regional organizations use this grade to help advocate with local officials. If your grade was good you could reinforce the great work that had been done over the past year. If your grade was bad, you could more easily build a case for a disaffected constituent group. (Read my post on this year's report card survey for more on this).

This year, however, IMBA, somewhat inexplicably, decided not to provide the full report card for each of the regions. Instead it chose to highlight the best and worst locations based on their grades, saying only that:

In 2006, IMBA has stepped away from assigning each state, province and nation individual grades. Instead, we're hoping to focus attention where it's most needed: the top of the class, and the problem students who will need extra attention to succeed in 2007.

What about every area in between? Don't we at least deserve to know the grade?

The real question is why would IMBA suddenly change course this way after eight years of producing the report card? Speculating for a minute; my guess is that either there were too few votes for the poll to be meaningful, or the results were so wildly different region to region based on prior years that it would call the polling methodology into question.

Is it just me, or do others find this a bit odd?

A day in the life of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew

Is this a dream job or what? Drive to mountain bike destinations all over North America, ride epic trails, and work with some of the most dedicated trail advocates to build more and better singletrack. Oh yeah, and you get to do it with your spouse.

It's worth checking out the work of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew. Here are some more vids taken by the Crew.

Support IMBA! (Thanks to my man Rockhead for passing this along).

Trail advocacy yields big dividends for the perception of mountain bikers

On yesterday's Weekend Edition, National Public Radio (NPR) did a piece on the changing perceptions of mountain bikers. The story acknowledges that at one point mountain bikers were seen by most trail users as analogous to motor bike riders, but now are more closely aligned with hikers and kayakers. This is in large part due to the shift in tactics regarding advocacy led by IMBA.

Through collaboration and partnership with other non-motorized trail user groups, IMBA has transformed the view that mountain bikers are a menace to mountain bikers as advocates. The NPR piece also alludes to the mounting and overwhelming body of evidence that the impact of mountain biking on dirt trails is less than that of all other trail user groups.

The NPR story ends with a quote from Pete Webber of IMBA, "be nice to the people that you meet on the trail." It's as simple as that. I always follow the advice of my grandmother who always says that it never hurts to say "hello" to someone. I'll add two more things to the list when it comes to trail diplomacy. Always say hi, offer assistance when it's needed, and thank those that yield to you.

The NPR story is less than five minutes in length and is well worth a listen.

(Via Squirell Girl on the MORE forums)

Life in the fast lane

  Life in the fast lane 
  Originally uploaded by mike1727.

Here's a great one from the Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign.

Just a glance at their blog shows quite an active bike advocacy group.

This is a poster to promote the "Love Your Bike" campaign, which was kicked off by a critical mass style bike commute.

MTB in NYC

I was thumbing through the recent issue (#118) of Dirt Rag and stumbled on a short article about trails being built in NYC. It got me curious about the cycling scene in the big apple so I did a little poking around.

Imagine being a mountain biker in New York City. Every-time you would want to ride you would have to hoof it to Jersey (limited options) or Long Island to find some singletrack. Minimum one hour drive. This means mountain biking for New Yorkers is pretty much relegated to a weekend activity.

But not for long. The Concerned Long Island Mountain Bikers (CLIMB) has helped some active city riders to form a new club of New York City Mountain Bikers called NYCMTB. The goal - one trail in each of New York's five boroughs. The organizations are already off to a nice start with one trail in upper Manhattan (Highbridge Park) and one in Queens (Cunningham Park). Apparently there is also some sweet unsanctioned trail at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. If NYCMTB can bring this trail under its wings they would have three of the five covered.

Beyond the obvious physical barriers to mountain biking in NYC, the city government seems to be increasingly antagonistic toward cyclists. Over the last few weeks I have been reading articles (I wish I could find them now) about the many tickets and fines levied against cyclists for things such as the lack of reflectors, riding outside the boundaries of the bike lane (scroll way down on page), and locking bikes on poles, lampposts, etc. The feeling is that Mayor Bloomberg is cracking down on cyclists due to the many Critical Mass rides that occur.

As one who grew up in NJ just west of the city, I have always thought of NY as the city with the best of everything. Never even gave it a second thought. Today I live just west of another great American city, Washington D.C., but I have often struggled to find things unique to the city that can't be found in NY (aside from the politics and monuments). While this region is not without its cycling struggles, it has a very diverse cycling culture and more singletrack within an hours drive then most cities out there.

National advocacy efforts are finding success

There are two new bills in the U.S. Congress that, if passed and signed into law, will have a direct and beneficial impact on cycling in general (with specific measures aimed at mountain biking).

The first known informally as the "New Transportation Bill" or by it's formal name the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act-Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU (pronounced safety-loo)) will increase funding for programs benefiting cycling by more than $2 billion through 2009.