Wood River Bicycle Coalition seeks public comment on grant proposal to be submitted to the State of Idaho Parks and Recreation Department

The Wood River Bicycle Coalition is seeking public comment on a proposed project for which we are seeking grant support from the State of Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR). Each year the State of Idaho provides trail project funding opportunities through a grant application process. These State funds are raised through the sale of a variety of boating, recreation, and off-road vehicle stickers. Agencies applying for IDPR grants are required to provide matching funds or in-kind contributions. The Wood River Bicycle Coalition would appreciate your comments or feedback on the grant proposal listed below. To be most helpful, comments should be submitted by January 23, 2012.

The Wood River Bicycle Coalition seeks Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant support for the purchase of specialized single track construction equipment (an ST240 from Single Track LLC http://singletracktools.com) including an enclosed trailer.  This equipment will be available for use on both motorized and non-motorized trails throughout south central Idaho. WRBC is launching a Trail Development Partnership Program (TDPP) to execute on this plan, and this equipment will be managed under this new partnership program so that it will be used by other agencies and organizations committed to the development, maintenance, and restoration of single track trails in the south central Idaho region.

CONTACT: Submit comments to Greg Martin at 208-720-3442, via e-mail at wrbikecoalition@gmail.com, or by mail to Wood River Bicycle Coalition, 1050 Fox Acres Rd. #107, Hailey, ID, 83333.

It’s official. We’re an IMBA Chapter!

Click to Join!!!

 

From the Inside Out

We’d like to thank everyone who came out last night to see From the Inside Out at the Liberty Theater!  That was a great turn out!  We signed up nearly 20 new members & raised over $2K for a couple of local trail initiatives.

Huge thanks to Lars, Adrian, Janelle, Mia, Rebecca, Karoline, Cameron, & Eric for pulling it all together.  Also, thanks to the following businesses for generating yet another ‘swag-o-rama’ of raffle prizes:

Scott Sports
Club Ride Apparel
Sidi USA
Hydrapak
McClain’s Pizza
Smith Optics
Wrap City
CK’s Real Food
Wise Guy
Sturtevants – Hailey
Sturto’s – Ketchum
Elephant’s Perch
BCRD
Specialized
Big Belly Deli
Sun Summit South
Powerhouse
Adventure Medical Kits

From the Inside Out

Join us at the Liberty Theater in Hailey on Saturday, November 12, for a showing of From the Inside Out, presented by Scott USA.  Doors open at 6 pm, show starts @ 7:30.  The Powerhouse crew will be there with delectable beverage options.  There will be a raffle (tix $5) with some great prizes.  WRBC memberships will be available.  Last but not least, this is a fundraiser for the WRBC and for the BCRD’s Galena Summer Trails plan.  Any way you slice it, this money is going back into your trail system!

 

Ketchum Comprehensive Plan Kickoff – Tonight!

Ketchum will begin the process of rewriting it’s Comprehensive Plan tonight.  The meeting will be an open forum and will be held at the River Run Lodge from 6-8 p.m.  Snacks will be provided and there will be a no-host bar.

If you care about recreation and would like to see Ketchum develop further recreational facilities in the future, this is your chance to participate!

Trail Updates 10/21/11

We wanted to repeat what we pointed out earlier this week and relay some information from the Ketchum Ranger District on current trail conditions.  Unless you’ve been out of town for a few weeks or just living under a rock, you are aware that our area has received a significant amount of rain from several storms over the last 14 days.  During the fall season with our cool daytime temps, freezing nighttime temps, and lower trajectory of the sun through the sky; the resulting wet conditions are not quick to go away, if they do at all.

As a result of this weather pattern, we now have some extremely fragile conditions on many of our local trails.  Trails that seem especially susceptible to damage right now are in the Greenhorn drainage and many of our “lunch ride” trails including Fox Creek, Chocolate Gulch, and Citizens Trail.  We’ve changed these trails to “partially open” on the BCRD Trailink website in an effort to highlight the areas where we’ve received reports of the worst conditions.  This does not mean that all other trails are in great shape and acceptable to use right now.  In fact, most shaded northern aspects are probably too muddy and should be avoided at this time.

A few trails that seem to be draining better and holding up relatively well right now include Lane’s/Sunnyside, River Run, lower Warm Springs, Carbonate, and all of the Croy Creek trails (with the exception possibly of the highest northern part of Bull Dog Trail).

The bottom line right now is to think about where you want to go, be aware of when it last rained, and be ready to turn around.  It’s easy to adopt the “oh, it’s just me” attitude and press on through when you reach muddy sections of trail.  By doing that, you are helping to ensure that our trails are in worse condition in the future and that our trail crews will be forced to reroute more of your favorite sections of trail instead of being out there building great new trails for us to enjoy.

Please choose where you recreate responsibly and have a great weekend!

Also, don’t forget that we’ll be having a trail work session Saturday 12-4 on the Forbidden Fruit Trail.  If you like this trail, please come out and help us give it some TLC.  Meet at the Adams Gulch Trailhead and be ready to go by 12 noon.

Octoberfest – It’s On!

Road & Dirt released the official announcement and flyer today.  New venue, even greater event!  Come out and get your ‘cross on.  Or, just come out and enjoy one of the many fine seasonal beers that will be flowing!

Forbidden Fruit Volunteer Trail Work Day

When:  Saturday, October 22, 12 – 4 pm

Where:  Meet at the Adams Gulch Trailhead, ready to go at 12 noon.  We’ll work until @ 4 pm.

What:  Work will be on the Forbidden Fruit Trail.  Our main focus will be to establish outslope in numerous areas to facilitate drainage.  We’ll also try to do some raking and scree removal as time permits.

Be sure to wear “closed toe” shoes, gloves, and bring water.  Please leave Fido at home!  Tools will be provided and we’ll be shuttling tools and equipment out to the trail with the Rokon.  So, if you would like to ride your mountain bike, feel free.  We can shuttle your “work” shoes out to the trail for you!

If possible, please shoot us an email (wrbikecoalition@gmail.com) to let us know you’re coming so that we can be sure to have enough tools on hand.

IMBA Trail Care Crew Visit

We’d like to thank everyone who came out to take part in the IMBA Trail Care Crew visit this past weekend with Steve and Morgan Lomelle.  They rolled into town a couple of days early and got to sample some of our local trails before getting down to business on Thursday with the Better Living Through Trails Seminar.  This seminar focused on the economic and health benefits to a community that a good trail system can provide.  It was interesting to hear that mountain biking tourism generates $4.2 billion in revenue for the intermountain west of the U.S.  The discussion illustrated the strengths that we currently have with our trail system, as well as ways that we could improve our efforts in making it better.

On Friday morning, Steve and Morgan held a Land Manager Training seminar at the Community Campus in Hailey.  Nearly 20 land managers from throughout southern Idaho with the BLM, USFS, SNRA, and SVCO were in attendance to learn more about improving our trail system and share ideas.

Morgan sharing great information at the Trail Building Clinic

Saturday morning at Galena Lodge nearly 20 participants attended the Trail Building Clinic at Galena Lodge.  After the morning classroom session, we headed out to the Psycho Trail and were able to nearly complete construction of a 1,400 ft. reroute on a badly degraded and unsustainable section of the trail.  Having the field session immediately after the classroom portion of the clinic was a great way to reinforce the information.  It was also a great maiden voyage for our new Rokon trail bike.  We’re absolutely ecstatic to have this new piece of equipment and look forward to many years of using it to improve our efficiency in working on trail projects around the valley.

WRBC Rokon ready for it's debut

Thanks again to everyone who came out for these events.  We’d especially like to thank the individuals who helped make this weekend happen (you know who you are!).  Last, but certainly not least, we’d like to thank the following businesses and organizations for their support:

• Blaine County Recreation District
• IMBA Trail Care Crew
• IMBA Trail Solutions
• Ketchum Ranger District
• Galena Lodge
• Lizzy’s Coffee
• Perry’s Restaurant

Beautiful 1,400' reroute on lower Psycho Trail

IMBA Trail Care Crew & Feastival STXC

Trail work clinic tomorrow at Galena Lodge 9-5.  Pre-register on the IMBA site or just shoot us an email (wrbikecoalition@gmail.com) and let us know you’re coming.  Please wear long pants, closed toes shoes, leave Fido at home, bring plenty of water and sunscreen, and a rain jacket!

If you’re not into doing some trail work, but instead need a ‘fix’ of short track racing, head on up to the Feastival and get your fill: