Women's Group ride Sign Ups (hosted by Liv Ambassador Julia C.) are now in Store

18 and Life: an ode to the 90's

The 90's were awesome. To be clear I'm not living in the past, I was a terrified geek in the 90's, and I'm not about to try to relive that... just saying if you weren't around you kind of missed out. Let's put it in perspective, we all started listening to some really good but kind of silly music, and none of us knew about the importance of fresh veggies and protein until The Zone. Literally, a book had to come out and tell us that those two things are important to healthy living.

I don't know how we got through it, but then again I have no idea how everyone didn't die in the 80's.

Let's get back on track, if something happened in cycling, we either had to be there at the actual event, or wait a couple months until the pictures came out in print magazines. Print magazines. Words printed on real paper. The pictures were from the same guy who wrote the story and he had to go to a place and wait to have them actually developed.

I remember once speaking into a payphone. In a booth and everything.

Concerning the road side of cycling, there was Indurain and Pantani and later Lance, all doped to the gills and crushing each other. Cipo was in there, too. I guess I have to say "allegedly" at this point, though it's all pretty much been chronicled. Cold war being over and all, that was our new arms race. I remember hearing from a euro-pro that Indurain, and I was a fan, wasn't even that great of an endurance athlete. "His breathing was loud and not natural when he overtook you." It was a glorious, deadly, tragic time to be watching athletes.

There were the bad trends as well. Regrettables like Skid Row's guitarist sporting an ear-to-nosering chain.

And then there was John Tomac ruling the entire mountain bike world on a drop bar bike. Do you even know how far ahead of his time this guy was? Let's look at one image:

Skinny tires, less than 3" of suspension (be honest), cantis and drop bars. Change the wheel size and that's a semi-modern gravel bike. He even cut the number plate to hell. When I'm on a lonely fire road, I try to look like that guy. In fact, I'm always trying to basically be that guy. 

More 90's fodder to come. 

Lots of acronyms: NEMBA's open letter to IMBA on Wilderness and e-bikes

Monday, December 7, 2015

The following is an open letter urging IMBA to support the STC's Wilderness initiative and reaffirm IMBA's stand on e-MTBs.

TO:       Mike Van Abel, IMBA Executive Director
Robert Winston, Chair, IMBA’s Board of Directors
 
FROM: Philip Keyes, Executive Director, New England Mountain Bike Association
 
December 7, 2015
Via email
 
Dear Mike and Robert,
 
Once again, I’m writing you and IMBA’s Board of Directors on behalf of the New England Mountain Bike Association to urge you to support the Sustainable Trails Coalition’s initiative to allow human-powered travel in our nation’s wildlands. Last I wrote, it seemed that you and your Board were considering supporting the STC, but given IMBA’s December 1st  Blog Post, this does not appear to be the case – hence this open letter to you and your Board.
 
Also, I am writing you to ask IMBA to clarify its position on e-MTBs. We urge you toreaffirm IMBA’s 2010 policy position that mountain biking is a human-powered form of recreation. We hope you will confirm your position that electric-assist mountain bikes should be managed like other motorized vehicles on public, natural surface trails, and not be granted special status on non-motorized trails.
 
We publically voice these concerns because we believe that these are the two most important national issues facing the mountain bike community today.
 
I.  Regarding IMBA, Wilderness and the Sustainable Trails Coalition
 
In your August 2015 blog post, IMBA and the Sustainable Trails Coalition, you more than hinted that IMBA was considering offering some level of support to the Sustainable Trails Coalition (STC), and you urged your readers to “stay tuned.”
 
This was gratifying to hear and we were optimistic that support was going to be offered. However, Mark Eller’s December 1st Blog Post responding to Outside Magazine's articleabout the STC made it clear that IMBA is not offering any tangible or financial support whatsoever.
 
We believe that this is a huge mistake and we urge IMBA to reconsider and become active in supporting the initiative to remove the ban on mountain biking in Wilderness.
 
Please consider the following:
 

• IMBA’s current strategy to work with Wilderness groups to protect certain trails from becoming Wilderness is compatible with seeking to modify the Wilderness Act or the interpretation of this Act. We do not believe that our or IMBA’s ability to advocate to protect critical mountain bike trails is contingent upon acquiescing with the status quo that bikes do not belong in Wilderness.  We believe that land management agencies and Wilderness proponents will work with us even if we make it clear that we do not agree with the ban and are actively seeking to change it.

• IMBA’s current position to not support the STC will negatively impact IMBA regardless of the success or failure of the STC. Conversely, IMBA will benefit by supporting the STC regardless of the outcome. If the Sustainable Trails Coalition is successful at modifying the Wilderness Act without IMBA’s support, IMBA will appear as irrelevant and out-of-date, basically sidelined in what is arguably one of the most important access initiatives ever undertaken by mountain bikers. On the other hand, if IMBA offers no support to STC and STC fails, many mountain bikers around the country will lay blame on IMBA for not getting involved or providing the assistance necessary for success.  Not supporting STC is a lose-lose for IMBA. On the other hand, if IMBA supports the Sustainable Trails Coalition it will benefit regardless of the outcome. If the STC initiative is successful, IMBA can truly and deservedly share in that success. If unsuccessful, at least IMBA will be seen as having the fortitude to stand up for mountain bikers and do what is right. As is said, “It is better to have fought and lost than to never to have fought at all.” The mountain biking community will understand this and will support the organizations that fight the good fight.

• We do not believe that introducing legislation to modify the Wilderness Act will result in the gutting of the land protections offered in the Act. We believe this to be Wilderness proponent propaganda. Clearly the intent of the Act is to prevent wildland development and widespread mineral extraction. It is also clearly not Congress’ original intent to ban muscle-powered recreation.

• We believe IMBA’s membership would support the STC, if asked. In one of Vernon Felton’s articles on Wilderness in Bike Magazine , IMBA is quoted as saying that “IMBA’s membership is split on whether mountain bikes should have access to wilderness areas.” We have a hard time believing that there is a 50/50 split, and it’s more likely that it’s only a very small minority who believe that the bike ban is just. IMBA has never surveyed its membership on this issue, and probably should. NEMBA is IMBA Member #150 and we’ve never been asked.

 
There is still time for IMBA to show concrete and tangible support to STC but it needs to happen soon.  Here are some ways we hope IMBA can help the Sustainable Trails Coalition:
 

• Publically endorse STC’s initiative and urge IMBA’s membership to support STC through financial donations and lobbying their senators and representatives.

• Urge your partners in the bicycle industry to support this campaign. Urge PeopleForBikes to do the same. The bike industry should financially support this initiative but seems to be waiting for IMBA’s green light.

• Make supporting this issue and the proposed legislation IMBA’s number one goal of the 2016 National Bike Summit this March. If IMBA did this, we believe that it will be one of the most well-attended bike summits by mountain bikers ever.

• Utilize IMBA’s lobbyists and staffers to partner with the STC in Washington, DC and actively engage Congress on this issue. This is why IMBA exists.

 
This fight is winnable. It can be a win for everyone, including IMBA. It will be inspiring to the thousands of advocates around the country and hundreds of thousands of riders around the world to have IMBA on the right side of history on this issue. Otherwise, sadly, IMBA loses.
 
II.  Power-Assisted Electric Mountain Bikes
 
Moving on to the issue of e-MTBs, we hope that you and your board of directors will reaffirm IMBA’s 2010 policy position that e-MTBs “should be regulated as with other motorized off-road travel.” We are concerned that IMBA is poised to abandon this position.
 
NEMBA’s position is as follows:
 
“The recreational use of electric and power-assisted bicycles, ORVs or ATVs on natural surface trails should be managed using the same guidelines and policies as other motorized vehicles.”
 
Power-assisted bicycles are improving in speed, power, and battery life, and we believe it important for land managers to develop management principles now.  NEMBA is also aware that some senior citizens or people with disabilities might want to use these vehicles on natural surface trails. We support this under the ADA guidelines that agencies have already adopted for the disabled.
 
IMBA recently undertook its own independent study of the impacts of e-MTBs (paid for by the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association and PeopleForBikes) that indicate that the impacts of low-powered Type 1 e-MTBs are about the same as human-powered mountain bikes, not unlike Wilson and Seney’s 1994 study. This data was presented to the bicycle industry at the Interbike Trade show last September.
 
This raises the question whether IMBA should be engaging in this type of research, and we are very concerned that IMBA is using this data, perhaps under pressure from the bicycle industry, to shift to a more accommodating position on e-bikes on trails.
 
Bicycle Retailer’s Interbike Show Daily contained two articles indicating that IMBA is becoming more willing to advocate for electric bicycle use on non-motorized trails.  The September 17th Show Daily article titled “IMBA Report could open the door to e-MTBs on trails”  comments that IMBA’s “study may be the first step toward opening up some trails to e-mountain bikes that are currently closed to them.”
 
The September 16th Show Daily quotes IMBA’s fact sheet about e-MTBs saying “IMBA recognizes e-MTBs, particularly those equipped with Type 1 pedal assist, are substantially different from other motorized uses, and may warrant a separate category and new management strategies.” The fact sheet goes on to say, “IMBA’s initial study suggests that with proper management, e-MTBs have the potential to offer a beneficial use of public land with acceptable impacts. […] This is a new category of trail use with the capacity to promote outdoor activity and overall health.”
 
NEMBA strongly disagrees that e-MTBs should be given their own recreational category on public, natural surface trail systems. We urge IMBA to reaffirm its 2010 position that mountain biking is a human-powered, non-motorized form of recreation and that e-bikes are a form of motorized recreation.  Both may be appropriate recreational activities, but it’s important to maintain the category of non-motorized trails.
 
 
Consider the following:
 

• For decades, groups like NEMBA and IMBA have defined mountain biking as a non-motorized form of recreation. That definition is the pillar of mountain bike advocacy. Creating a third category for power-assisted vehicles would undermine this basic tenet and significantly blur the distinction between mountain biking and motorized recreation. This will profoundly affect our ability to advocate and gain access to more trails and open spaces. Land managers and environmentalists would once again lump us together with the motorized set, and with all of the negative baggage that goes with it. This has the potential to set mountain bike advocacy efforts back decades.

• Creating a new category for certain types of e-MTBs would create a management nightmare. Currently it is very difficult to distinguish an e-MTB from a regular mountain bike from a distance, and it is even more unlikely that land managers would be able to distinguish a Type I e-MTB from its more powerful brethren, some of which can attain speeds up to 50 MPH or more. Without a huge staff and significant management resources, there would be no way to regulate and police e-MTB use. It is possible, even likely, that land managers would prefer to ban all bicycles from their properties so that they do not need to spend the resources required to distinguish and manage the different categories of bikes. In addition, land management agencies considering creating mountain bike trails or allowing mountain bikes on existing trail networks will not do so if they think they are opening the door to motorized vehicles.

• The technology and the torque of e-MTBs is progressing at a very fast pace and some low-level power-assisted bikes already have “turbo” buttons that dramatically boost their speed and torque applied to the driven wheel. The impacts on the trails will also increase and the social impacts of sharing trails with vehicles that can easily attain speeds of 20+ mph will present a host of problems. Events such as the e-MTB race at next year’s Sea Otter will further catalyze a “wattage race” and a desire to race and train on e-MTBs.

• As IMBA is no doubt aware, this is a hot button issue for mountain bikers around the country. We believe that if IMBA promotes e-MTBs on non-motorized trails, the organization would experience a significant and dramatic backlash from its membership.

 
We urge IMBA to take a strong national leadership role in preventing e-MTBs from using non-motorized trails. Specifically, we believe IMBA should do the following:
 

• Educate national, state and local land management agencies about this new motorized technology and urge these agencies to pro-actively include e-MTBs as a motorized use only.

• Educate the bicycle industry, through the National Bicycle Dealers Association, the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association, and PeopleForBikes about the appropriate use of power-assist bicycles. As a new product line, these electric bikes offer potential public benefits for transportation, traffic mitigation, pollution control and livable communities. It is toward these ends that the bicycle industry should focus. It should be noted that there currently is not a large market for offroad e-MTBs. The push for e-MTBs seems to be coming more from the industry than from consumers, and IMBA should help guide both consumers and the industry based upon the long standing principle that mountain biking is human-powered.

• Work with law-makers to be clear that legislation that promotes e-bikes as part of the vehicular transportation mix not include e-MTB access to non-motorized trails. The recent California legislation, for example, is not clear about this and opens up the possibility that public trails could be open to e-bikes unless posted closed.

 
 
To summarize, NEMBA believes that these two national issues are critical to the future of mountain biking and we urge IMBA to support our recommendations. If bikes aren’t allowed in Wilderness, mountain bikers will always be second-class citizens on all public lands. If IMBA believes that power-assisted bikes should be allowed on non-motorized trails then our fate will be sealed as being part of the motorized community, regardless of our best attempts to parse the difference.
 
We urge IMBA to lend its support to the Sustainable Trails Coalition and reaffirm its 2010 position on e-MTBs.
 
Thank you for reading.
 
Regards,
 
Philip Keyes
Executive Director
NEMBA
 

Celebs: they're just like us Idahoans.

Matthew Mcconaughey rocks the 208 "Snowflake Trucker" with wife Camila Alves outside Austin.

More gift ideas.

We don't have a huge quantity, however, so gobble them up fast!
I'll just go punish myself for that one, now.... 

Meet your new Trek DH team. They all have the same last name.

The Athertons leave longtime sponsor GT; Form Trek Factory Racing

They are a family of three media darlings hailing from the UK, and two of them (Gee and Rachel) are DH World Cup/World Championship-contenders. The other one (Dan) has numerous World Cup 4X podiums (and a win) under his belt, but now that they don't have those anymore he spends most of his time building obnoxiously huge courses for his own "Red Bull Hardline" events. 

That other guy with the bike, his last name isn't even Atherton (it's Vernon), and he's a Junior. He's very fast and has potential, but he's a development project. We'll talk about him more next year, if things pan out... for now let's go meet the siblings.  

Is Gee wearing a Trek shirt with bike parts in the shape of the American flag, even though he's proper-British?
We're gonna have to let it slide. This time.

Gee can do backflips and such, but in his heart he's a racer boy.

In order of importance we start with Gee. He's the little brother to Dan, but was last year's DH World Champion and by far the more successful racer of the two. He's perennially fit and focused, is much more fashionable than Dan, and once appeared nude in an issue of Cosmo UK (nether-regions covered up by a well-placed hand).

My face's natural go-to position is looking pissed off. I'm actually normally in a pretty good mood. - Gee

He didn't have a great 2015, where all the World Cups were won by Aaron Gwin or a Syndicate rider, but he's always right there, knocking at a winning time, even in the wet. He'll be hungry on the new bike and Bontrager tyres (see there, I even spelled "tire" like a limey) this year. With that, I think you have all you need to know about Gee, so let's move on to Rachel.

How can you not love the smile of an Englishwoman?

Rach has 26 World Cup DH wins at this point to Gee's 8, which is stunning considering she's only 27 years old and more than a couple of those years have been plagued with injury. She's obviously dominantly fast, largely from training and riding with her brothers. In the Women's category, it doesn't really matter the course or her equipment, if she is healthy and keeps her head on straight (and she almost always does) she will win.

She's looking to bring another girl onto the team to mentor and wants to further the sport. She's generally in a happy mood and has been a bit of a crossover star, especially in the UK, because she does a lot of media work and because she's such a colorful, fun interview. Like all the Athertons, she doesn't mind swearing and does it in the most endearing, English of ways. It only serves to aid her charm. 

Though the eldest, this one is quite childlike in his passions.
Dan likes to jump, dig in the dirt, and wear skinny jeans.

And then there's Danny-boy. You could say Dan's injury-prone, but that paints a picture that's only half true. It's like saying that someone working for the CDC, holding the most disease ridden children on the planet in their arms on a day to day basis, is "sickly" because they get a cold twice a year.

Dan's built like a brick-*hithouse and tough as a coffin nail both physically and mentally. He gets hurt from time to time because he builds and then launches himself off some crazy-big hucks. Now, with social media and filming and his Red Bull Hardline thing, he doesn't have to race...but break out the goggles and fanny packs 'cause he's going to try his hand at Enduro this year anyway. "It just seems like the right thing to do," he probably said.

What else about Dan? Oh, for a while he was dating this smokin' hot chickie from Fox Racing's Marketing department, but then they had to let her go because she {allegedly} was a bit too much of a pro-racer superfan. Still, that had to be a life-highlight for him.

And there you have it, your brief intro to your new Trek Factory Racing team. All the best in 2016.

Our Meridian Location is now a Burton Snowboard Dealer

Meridian IMT is now a full service Burton Snowboard Shop

2015/16 Boards , Boots, and Bindings in stock now.

This shot was taken Nov. 6th. In Meridian. Mind blown!

We've partnered with Burton. We bought Newt + Harold's snowboard grinder, and have staff with the swagger and the expertise to run it, and now it's beginning to all come to fruition. Our plans for Meridian snowboard domination nearly complete, all we need now is a little more snow.

Wait...a single board splits into two?
What sorcery is this? 

So what do you do next? Well, stop into Meridian. They're a full service ski and board shop and will get all your current gear ready for the first big dump. While there, check out all the new rad Burton stuff and get inspired. Meanwhile, you should probably also stop by the ski swap that starts tonight at 5:00 at Expo Idaho. There will be deals, drinks, and a de-evolution into insanity.