Weekend re-cap - The IMBA Trail Care Crew visit

The IMBA trail Care Crew has officially left the building and looking back on the weekend I have to say it was a huge success. Steve and Morgan Lommele arrived in the Tri-Cities last Thursday and they’re first stop was Bays Mountain park where Richard and Ben gave them the full tour of the trail system.

Thursday night NTMBA held the monthly club meeting a little bit early at one of the best restaurants in town and a big NTMBA supporter, Texas Roadhouse. While we all dined on the Roadhouse’s awesome food and beverages, Steve and Morgan presented us with a brief Power Point presentation. The topic of the meeting was how to strengthen the club, fundraising ideas and some pointers on how to promote member involvement. The meeting was interesting and a nice change of pace from our usual subject.

Friday we kicked things off at 9am with IMBA’s Better Living Through Trails presentation. The crew discussed the low cost of trail construction and maintenance in comparison to the development and maintenance of other recreational sports and activities. Steve and Morgan boasted the abilities and efforts of the NTMBA and future projects and partnerships are now being discussed as a result of the meeting.

In attendance were members from NTMBA and the Mountain Trail Riders Association, Kingsport city officials and engineers and ETSU personnel studying the health benefits of outdoor recreation.

After the meeting several of the members headed out to the Big Oak trail where Steve and Morgan surveyed the scene and flagged an incredible re-route. It was amazing to watch them find a new line that not only made the trail more sustainable, but also added more trail.

Once the flagging was done it was time to play. We left Bays Mountain Park and took the crew over to the Warriors Path State Park to show off some of the Tri-Cities finest singletrack.

For Saturday, the weather forecast was looking grim but we continued on with the class thinking only positive thoughts and hoping the rain would hold off long enough for us to complete the project. We began the day at 9am in the Bays Mountain Homestead Museum with a sustainable trailbuilding class given by the IMBA crew. The class was extremely informative and benificial, and throughout the session a lot of great swag was given away courtesy of IMBA and Piney Flats Bike Shop.

At noon we broke for lunch and fueled up on some excellent BBQ courtesy of Texas Roadhouse. As we ate we peered out the windows and noticed that what little rain had fallen, had now subsided, and decided to get outdoors while we had the chance.

With close to 30 volunteers in attendance the group made quick work of the new trail, raking, bench cutting and removing deadfall from the line. As the final touches were being made to the re-route, some of the volunteers split off and began the process of revegetating the old unsustainable section and making it completely disappear. Thankfully the rain held off for the majority of the day and the project was completed.

NTMBA would like to thank everyone who came out, braved the elements and helped us create an awesome new section of trail. A special thanks to all those who made last weekend possible: Texas Roadhouse, Piney Flats Bike Shop, Roy Settle and S.A.G.A., Courtesy Cheverolet/Subaru, The Bike Shop, and Bays Mountain Park. A special thanks to Richard Hyland for all the hard work he put into making this weekend possible and of course Steve and Morgan Lommele of the IMBA Trail Care Crew for the great presentation and workshop.

Now go out and enjoy the trail, well that is if it ever stops raining.