Interesting read. I wasn't gonna wade in until I saw which way the wind was blowing.
Does this mean I'm growing up?
Anyway, it seems to me that IMBA is an association. Therefore, if there's a problem with them and you're not a member, you'll just have to suck salty balls. It's easy to make IMBA more responsible and reflective of our regional differences: step up.
The thing is, we need representation on the prov. and fed. level. Our local clubs are totally killing it as far as taking care of the trails in their respective regions. Totally positive, totally on path forward. However, with a Prov. Trails Strategy in the works, it's not doing us a lot of good to be fractured like this. Divide and conquer. One thing you can count on from IMBA: they will promote our message if we tell them what it is.
So they did some crap work. Yeah, I'll agree to that. I also felt that when they first showed up they were in general pretty arrogant. Coming from SoCal and trying to tell us what to build? Get bent, buddy. However, they're adopting a more progressive stance, and the trail clinics are a way of making that happen.
But if the LOCAL builders don't want to be a part of it, then the IMBA days will continue to suck. I mean, if the event is run by someone who has no local knowledge, what do you think is going to happen?
What IMBA is really good at is getting permission to do stuff. I think that's a pretty big thing in the new reality that is public recreation.
Imagine this….
Say you've got a trail that was informally built and has developed spontaneously over the years. It was built by some stoner dads trying to get outtta the house on weekends in the 90's or something, it doesn't really matter. Except that it was never well planned out, and missed tons of cool terrain features, and in no way can handle the present load of traffic on it. Bring on IMBA, and suddenly you've got the opportunity to re-route and enhance the trail to take advantage of those missed opportunities. Under the scope of terrain and resource management, many scenarios become possible and positive.
Oh, and I disagree with IPfreely on the bashing. It's totally legit bashing and serves to illustrate the situation. The term "sustainable" is fraught with peril. All our trails are sustainable with enough resources. 10[HTML_REMOVED]#37; is a joke. Erode this……
37 YEARS ON THE BIKE :: 1981-2018