IMBA gets behind National Public Lands Day

Volunteers from IMBA-affiliated clubs participated in the IMBA/BOB Trailers Trailwork Challenge on National Public Lands Day, Sept. 24 in the USA. BOB Trailers encouraged IMBA club involvement by donating an IBEX suspension trailer to help celebrate the events.

National Public Lands Day is one of the USA's largest outdoor volunteer efforts. Now in its 12th year, National Public Lands Day has supported more than 900 projects, leading to an estimated $12 million in public improvements. This year's winning club is the Central Iowa Trail Association (CITA). CITA's event at Ashworth Park, in Des Moines, drew over 30 volunteers. The trailwork and bridge building (literal, not metaphorical!) they performed will help preserve a multi-use trail system.

Other highlights include:

• In New Jersey, the Jersey Action Riders teamed with Recreational Equipment, Inc.'s (REI) Marlton store for a volunteer trailbuilding event, resulting in a new purpose-built mountain bike trail at Wharton State Forest.
• Concerned Long Island Mountain Bicyclists (CLIMB) organized three events in the Big Apple, including a clean-up of Cunningham Park (in Queens), the first park in NYC to offer officially designated mountain bike trails.
• In North Carolina, The Brush Mountain Cyclists partnered with the National Park Service for a trailbuilding day. Congresswomen Virginia Fox and National Park Superintendent Paul Carson were on hand for the celebration.
• In California's King Range, work was done on a mountain bike trail designed by Joey Klein, of IMBA .

In addition to sponsoring this annual challenge, BOB offers IMBA clubs discounted trailers and accessories to aid their trailwork efforts.