News
IMBA World Summit - What's this all about?
Augusta GA is where the great minds of mountain bike advocacy are gathered for the 2010 edition of the IMBA World Summit.
I'm at the International Mountain Bike World summit in Augusta, GA for the next 3 days. This event is a lot of things to a lot of stakeholders. Just in case you don't know what IMBA is I'll start there. IMBA is an advocacy group for the sport of mountain biking. This is their mission statement: IMBA creates, enhances and protects great trail experiences for mountain bikers worldwide. It's pretty simple:without trails there is no mountain biking. IMBA's goal is to make sure we have a place to ride. If you don't think your access to your favorite trail may be threatened, then look this over: http://www.imba.com/news/action_alerts/index.html
So this summit is about bringing all the various stakeholder together to get them all on the same page for the coming year. There are local chapter clubs: SORBA, JORBA, CORBA, etc; land managers (National FOrests, state parks, private land owners), professional trail builders, cycling industry leaders (SRAM, Cane Creek, Trek, Topeak, Ergon and many more), mountain bike media (Dirt Rag, Bike, Mountain Bike Action), IMBA employees (obviously) and lots of people who cross over many of these titles.
Over the three days there is a lot of sharing of ideas at both the macro level in the many presentations and at the micro level through the seemly endless networking taking place here. I've already shook hands with people holding all of the titles listed about.
What am I doing here? I'm here first as a mountain biker. I want to protect the trails in my back yard (and your trails too, so I can go ride them as well) and help gain access to more trails in North Georgia. I'm here as a race director who recognizes that I do not have an event if I do not have trails. I'm also here as a representative for Topeak to learn about how we can further the efforts of IMBA. Not because it's going to make some numbers in a spreadsheet look good, but because it's the right thing to do. I love this sport and the lifestyle it provides me. I want to protect it and share it with others.
Stay tuned for lots of pictures and posts about the Summit over the next few days.
About this Article:
- Date:
- May 07, 2010
- Author:
- Topeak Team
Opening ceremonies at the IMBA World Summit.
Dave Wiens caught off guard with phone in hand.
A DirtRag grabs a brew
Mike Palmeri of Cartecay Bike Shop & the Ellijay Mountain Bike Association
I spied this well used Survival Box on Mike Palmeri's bike.
