Austin
January 29th, 2007, 11:10 AM
Freeride help in Maryland
MORE is in the planning stages of proposing Freeride or Skills Park areas to our land managers that include jumps and other technical features. No legal opportunities exist for this now. There are a few places that have popped up, and unfortunately, managers and other people look to blame all mountain bikers.
Park managers are starting to see that Freeriding and other technical riding are gaining interest and acceptance in many places across the country. They recognize that unless they offer opportunities for this type of riding, more unofficial “Lewis & Clark” and “495” areas will crop up.
Our best chances for getting and keeping Freeride features is to get them approved in the first place. Although this has never been done in Maryland yet, we are attempting it now. Part of our ability to get and keep access to trails relies on our credibility to support responsible riding and sustainable trails, and always get approval before we build anything. Now that IMBA is taking the lead in advocating and building quality Freeride parks, we have the recognized leader in mountain biking to back us up. Right now we are looking at an area at Patapsco for first proposal.
Last winter IMBA built a significant Freeride park in Florida at Santos Trails. Check it out:
http://www.omba.org/Freeride/index.htm
If you are interested in helping us with Freeride issues we need help in two ways. First, if you know someone or if you yourself have some experience building and riding technical features and jumps—even if unofficially and it works—please contact us. Second, we need someone who would like to interact with park managers and advise them on the coming Freeride wave. Most likely we will need more than one person focusing on either issue.
If you want to help, reply with info about how you think you can help at:
md-advocacy@more-mtb.org
Thanks,
Austin Steo
Maryland Advocacy Director
MORE is in the planning stages of proposing Freeride or Skills Park areas to our land managers that include jumps and other technical features. No legal opportunities exist for this now. There are a few places that have popped up, and unfortunately, managers and other people look to blame all mountain bikers.
Park managers are starting to see that Freeriding and other technical riding are gaining interest and acceptance in many places across the country. They recognize that unless they offer opportunities for this type of riding, more unofficial “Lewis & Clark” and “495” areas will crop up.
Our best chances for getting and keeping Freeride features is to get them approved in the first place. Although this has never been done in Maryland yet, we are attempting it now. Part of our ability to get and keep access to trails relies on our credibility to support responsible riding and sustainable trails, and always get approval before we build anything. Now that IMBA is taking the lead in advocating and building quality Freeride parks, we have the recognized leader in mountain biking to back us up. Right now we are looking at an area at Patapsco for first proposal.
Last winter IMBA built a significant Freeride park in Florida at Santos Trails. Check it out:
http://www.omba.org/Freeride/index.htm
If you are interested in helping us with Freeride issues we need help in two ways. First, if you know someone or if you yourself have some experience building and riding technical features and jumps—even if unofficially and it works—please contact us. Second, we need someone who would like to interact with park managers and advise them on the coming Freeride wave. Most likely we will need more than one person focusing on either issue.
If you want to help, reply with info about how you think you can help at:
md-advocacy@more-mtb.org
Thanks,
Austin Steo
Maryland Advocacy Director