Want to be informed of progress with Prescott's new MTB club? email us: ravensingletrack@gmail.com
February, 18th - Second meeting of the Steering Committee
The Steering Committee met for the second time on February, 18th for another positive and productive two hour session.
On the agenda for this meeting was a short laundry list of things to nail down to give this new mountain bike club some identity and direction. That involved a lengthy discussion about a name. In the end, the name that stuck might not be the most original ever, but you can't say it doesn't work. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the new mountain bike club for Prescott:
The Prescott Mountain Bike Alliance
Sure, there's more jazzy names out there, but this name has to resonate with land agencies, city council, and other organizations, so the Shreddy Gnar-Gnar Wheelie Popping Club of Mile High Town, probably wouldn't work so great.
The second bit of business was to define the mission of the Prescott Mountain Bike Alliance. Much of this had already been dialed in, it just had yet to be form-fitted into a clever mission statement. A mission statement was eventually defined and we'll have that posted on the web site here, very soon. At the root of it, the mission of the Prescott Mountain Bike Alliance is simply to promote mountain biking, and the lifestyle of mountain biking, by bringing the community and community resources together. Pretty basic, but pretty ambitious all the same.
It was also decided PMBA would become a chapter of the International Mountain Bike Association. This is an important bit of decision making. Any new club has two options for existence. We could have opted to start from scratch, become our own stand-alone entity, file all the legal documents, build all of the tools necessary to manage the club and gone from there. Or, we can opt to be an IMBA chapter. They provide the legal entity. They provide all the necessary communication and organizational tools and in turn, we get to borrow from the strength of the largest mtb advocacy group in the world. That was a pretty basic decision. As it works out, our members will be IMBA members and regional IMBA members will be our members as well. It's really a win-win for everyone. Plus, IMBA came to us offering their immense resources and assistance, so it seemed natural to reciprocate and offer our support to them. As PMBA signs new members, 60% of those proceeds go to IMBA, which sounded fine to us. It's a two-for-one as PMBA members and IMBA members become one.
So, what's next??
The steering committee has largely defined who and what this club will be, and now all it needs are members with the drive and enthusiasm to make the collective wish list become a reality. The next big date on the calendar is March, 24th at 6:30pm. Raven Singletrack, LLC will be hosting our annual Ales for Trails night at the Raven Cafe. This year's beneficiary will be the Prescott Mountain Bike Alliance. Raven Singletrack has been working diligently over the last few weeks to make sure this event draws a massive crowd of local mountain bike enthusiasts. We will have thousands of dollars worth of mountain bike lifestyle merchandise available for purchase on the cheap through a silent auction and raffle. The proceeds from this night's fun will go to PMBA. PMBA will also be on hand to meet up with the riders who will eventually fill it's ranks. This will be the communities first chance to find out more about PMBA and to sign up! So, please mark your calendars - MARCH, 24th. Be there. Show your support for Prescott's newest member of the riding community - The Prescott Mountain Bike Alliance. Come sign up to be on a member or sign onto a committee. Sign up to be a PMBA volunteer. Get your name in the ring to be on the board of directors. Come to just hang out with other fat tire amigos. If you want to see the power of the local community in action (with a beer in hand) come to the Ales for Trails night.
February, 4th - First meeting of the Steering Committee
On February, 4th the first Steering Committee meeting was held to discuss the future of Prescott's mountain bike community. This was a continuation of discussions initiated at the IMBA meeting on January, 23rd.
In attendance: Rob Hehlen, Chris Hosking, Debbie Cotton, Karen Warrick, Robert Coombs, Pat Fraher, Paul Katan, John Shumaker, Greg Ooley, Brooke Weitkunat and Christophe Noel
The meeting started off with the usual introductions and included everyone voicing their individual wishes for the development of Prescott's riding scene. Those wishes mirrored those expressed by evryone in attendance at the IMBA meeting.
Topping the list of wants:
- Improved connectivity within the existing trail system, including better bicycle access to those trails.
- Better signage within the trail system.
- A destination worthy Fall mountain bike event.
- More diversity in the trail system including beginner trails and gravity trails.
- The development of a junior rider program to bring new riders to the sport.
- Better promotion of Prescott's mountain bike scene.
- Improved communication with the City of Prescott and more commitment from them for bike projects.
The list of wishes and wants is focused, not overly ambitious, and by all accounts seems very attainable.
The discussions then went towards identifying which club in town would serve as the conduit with IMBA to get this wish list realized. Raven Singletrack was initially tipped by IMBA as the possible club to lead the charge. Greg Ooley and Christophe Noel, the founders of Raven Singletrack pointed out that Raven Singletrack was never developed with the intention of being a club. So, Raven Singletrack, LLC will in large part decommission many of the existing projects and events on the RS calendar to make room for a new club, one dedicated to mountain biking in Prescott.
This turned the discussions towards the Prescott Cycling Club and how they plan to accommodate this new mountain bike-specific club. Representing PCC, Debbie Cotton and Karen Warrick, quickly reassured everyone that while PCC currently has existing mountain bike events and riders, they see no reason why PCC couldn't co-exist with this new mtb club and really lend to the success of that club. It appears obvious that this new club is needed and both Raven Singletrack and PCC will do everything possible to give it room to grow and energy to thrive.
So - a new club is on the way!
As the meeting wrapped up, a date was set for the next meeting -- February 18th.
Prescott was extremely fortunate to have a team of representatives from the International Mountain Bike Association come to visit on January, 23rd. This gathering was organized thanks to the efforts of our local trail gurus, Rob Hehlen and Chris Hosking in conjunction with Ryan Schutz of IMBA. The purpose of this meeting was to gather local riders, city officials and other interested parties in one room to discuss making Prescott the next big mountain biking hot spot in the West.
The room was pushed to capacity as over 60 attendees settled in to hear how IMBA can help Prescott really get on the map. In attendance were members of the Prescott City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Committee, Parks and Rec, the mayor, and naturally a diverse group of eager mountain bikers from the community. Curiously, all of the riders were positioned closest to the two kegs of beer at the back of the room. Funny how things sort out that way.
The agenda started with what IMBA does as an organization, and how they work to help local communities bring riders, and dollars to towns such as Prescott. It only took a few clicks through their Power Point presentation to see that mountain biking is about more than popping wheelies and skinning elbows; there's big money to be made for local communities. Big money buys lots of beer so naturally everyone was captivated.
This meeting also introduced many people to the coolest new buzz word in mountain biking: RIDE CENTER IMBA has recently created a new formula for what all good mountain biking destinations should be, and they call those spots Ride Centers. In a nutshell, a Ride Center is a community with a diverse variety of connected trails, easily accessed by riders of all levels. At the center of this network of epic trails is a bike friendly community with a multitude of rider resources such as coffee shops, hotels, campgrounds, restaurants, bike shops, bike clubs, bike events, and someone in the crowd mentioned good beer. Again, funny how things work out that way.
The last hour of the meeting centered around what it takes to make Prescott a proper Ride Center. Much of that discussion centered around how IMBA works with local clubs to achieve collective objectives. From there, it was a short hop to pinning down which of the local organizations would spearhead the charge. Prescott currently has two organizations serving the riding community. The Prescott Cycling Club has been the go-to for local riders for over two decades. Raven Singletrack is the new kid on the trail focused primarily on mountain biking, but Raven Singletrack isn't really a club. Raven Singletrack is a rider's resource, a collective of people from all walks of the knobby tire world. This is when things at the meeting got a tiny bit complicated and there seemed to be more vigorous pumping of the keg. Ryan, of IMBA, suggested the club that takes up the charge be dedicated only to mountain biking. PCC is road and mountain biking. Raven Singletrack, while exclusively mountain biking isn't really a club. However, Raven Singletrack began to get voices of support from the crowd. Probably beer related, but we're used to that. After much back and forth, it was decided that Raven Singletrack would be charged with facilitating the creation of this new club. How that comes to fruition is yet to be determined. Most likely, Raven Singletrack will continue to be a rider's resource on a more refined scale, but a new club will be formed borrowing from some of the things Raven Singletrack currently has in place.
As the meeting concluded, a steering committee was formed to see this project on to the next phase. That steering committee of a dozen people will meet in the next couple weeks to plot out the direction of this new club.
There are a couple highlights worth pointing out:
- The city officials in attendance were not just there to smile and placate the bike community. They were actively engaged and offered valuable input. Some of them are riders, too.
- The discussion of diverse trail development including things like terrain parks and gravity trails was not passed over. For those of you wanting more technical trails with a bit more drop to them, your time has come. It will be one of the harder challenges to overcome, and if you want those things you'll have to work for them, but it is finally a possibility.
- IMBA is an extremely successful advocacy group and they're behind Prescott 100%. They won't do this work for us, but they'll see to it we have all the organizational tools needed to get what we want.
- Prescott has an amazing community of riders. We're not all linked together with a common voice yet, but we're on our way there. Prescott needs 100% participation from the riding community to get our very own Ride Center, but should we get it...wow.
To request more info: ravensingletrack@gmail.com
See you on the trail!
AND DON'T FORGET TO SEND IN YOUR IMBA MEMBERSHIPS!!! www.IMBA.com
