Dr. J Trail Opening Gala and PTAG Appreciation Day on Saturday

9:19 am

The buzz has been increasing for months, starting with the county approval for its first legal freeride trail, trail design, liability considerations, unique trail signage and even breaking ground for an upcoming bike park!  There’s a lot of independent volunteers and organizations behind this development, and its quite an inspiration for mountain bikers.  Congratulations on breaking ground!!

A little blurb from Jamie Pfaeffle, PTAG Freeride Steward (cross-posted on bike pgh blog):
The Dr J trail was started by myself, Nick Pointon and Tony Urbanek now two years ago as a rogue freeride trail build in North Park. When PTAG and Allegheny County discovered the trail they asked the builders to come forward and work with them to make it into a legal, sustainable trail built within accepted standards. Tony initially came forward and when asked by PTAG who built the trail he said “Some guy named Dr J” (which is the nickname the rogue trail build crew had given me).

We then worked with PTAG, the County and a team of local freeriders (myself, Nick, Justin Jackson, Bill Kirk and Dave Brunger as the design team) to make a plan to meet this goal. We were fully approved by the County parks director Andy Baechle to re-build the trail one year ago. I went from being a rogue trailbuilder to a PTAG board member and organizer of a team of trail builders with the help of the trail design team.

We (the design team plus 20 other guys who have been psyched to build) have spent the last year re-building the trail into what it is now with wooden ladder drop-offs, jumps, bridges, a rock garden and elevated skinny features. More work is planned to add additional features along the bottom section of the trail. A skills area is planned for installation beginning this month. We hope in future years to be able to build other freeride trails in the North Park South Ridge area, making a collection of trails into a freeride area.

And from PTAG website:

Time: Saturday, October 23, 2010 – 1:00 – 7:00pm
Location: Sharon Shelter, Pie Traynor Field parking lot, North Park
Details: Come out to the annual PTAG Party to help PTAG celebrate the year’s accomplishments and the grand opening of the Dr J freeride trail! We’ll toast to PTAG’s hard work. There will be a trail dedication and thanks for the trail crew, riding, food and beer. Some of the build crew may be freeriding in Halloween costumes so please feel free to join them! We will also run some cross country rides around the South Ridge area. Rides will start at 1pm and we will start the party at 3pm.

Interview with IMBA Mid-Atlantic Regional Director

12:18 pm

Since 2008, IMBA has made a shift from Regional Leadership Committees within each state comprised of volunteers, to paid staff assigned to larger territories; coordinating with the existing advocacy groups and land managers in each region.   While the initial acceptance of this change was difficult for some advocates to swallow, it has clearly increased effectiveness and overall clarity of the IMBA mission.  Velomuse strongly identifies with this mission, as we aim to create lifelong cyclists, which requires significant work with non-profits, advocacy organizations and various land-managers.  We tend to draw inspiration from the sections of community that are not already represented well: women, youth, mountain biking and cyclocross.  IMBA is a solid affiliate, and we are proud they use community experience to represent us.  We thought it would be a nifty idea to showcase the behind-the-scenes work of IMBA Regional Director, Frank Maguire.  He’s there, everywhere you turn.  And while he may be paid a small salary, he’s certainly volunteering many aspects of his daily life above and beyond the call of duty.

Frank Maguire, IMBA Mid-Atlantic Regional Director

Name: Frank Maguire

Region covered: I cover 7 states in the Mid-Atlantic: WV, VA, MD, DE, PA, NY and NJ.

Advocacy experience, time with IMBA: I have been involved with bicycle advocacy on some level since I really started biking as an adult. I got more serious about it in the late 90’s and became the volunteer Central PA representative for IMBA in 2001. I sit on DCNR’s (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)  Recreational Advisory Committee, I helped write the PA SCORP (State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan),which called for more bicycle infrastructure and access, and have volunteered as the local trail liaison here in State College since 1999. In 2009, I was hired to work full time as the Regional Director for IMBA, a program that was just started thanks to the support of SRAM.

1) How does the International Mountain Biking Association’s mission impact Pittsburgh, and how does it affect my riding?

In many ways that riders take for granted. IMBA was started in 1988 by 5 California clubs that realized that trail closures due perceived impacts and misconceptions about bikes on trails was going to be a global phenomenon. Those clubs understood that being able to speak as a unified voice and have the information to back it up would win more arguments then individuals stomping their feet and saying “that’s unfair”. Since then, IMBA has been on a mission to unify the mountain bike community and to provide the trail knowledge that will help win overland managers.
To move that down to how it helps riders in Pittsburgh, IMBA over the years has worked with both PORC and PTAG (links to upcoming DR. J trail Grand Opening Gala details) to train people on the elements of sustainable trail construction. Additionally, by collecting success stories in similar cities, we have been able to provide source documents and plans for trail projects. For example, I was able to give folks working on the new Dr J trail in North Park several maintenance plans and user management documents from other similar trail systems, to help them convince the county that the trail was not only a good idea, but possible to manage.

2) What are some of the obstacles that you have worked on, that pertains to our local community?  Are these common in other regions?

Pittsburgh is actually a fairly progressive city when it comes to access, and the vibrant cycling community is both a factor in and a beneficiary of that access. One issue that I see is a common thread in PA as a Commonwealth, there are a myriad of local, county, state and even federal open space public lands, with varying degrees of engaged management. What this means is that there is almost always somewhere to ride if you look for it, but because there often isn’t a master plan (trailheads, signage, visible land mangers) it is hard to focus attention and actually grow our sport. In plain speak, because riding isn’t threatened, there is no good cause to rally behind and get more people organized. For those of us who have already learned the secret handshake to where the “good stash” is, that might seem fine, but I am in this to see more people on bikes everywhere.

3) Any success stories for our region?

There are several, if your definition of region is the states I cover for IMBA. Right in Pittsburgh, the legalization of the Dr. J Trail (documentation photos courtesy of Jon Pratt) represents a new chapter in urban riding, one that we are hoping to see duplicated around the country. Raystown Lake is a huge success, making a positive impact in a rural area. I am working on other large scale projects in the Allegheny National Forest and New River Gorge, WV that will be new and exciting models.

4) How can I be involved and support the development of mountain biking in our region?  (regional clubs/committees, website, contact information, upcoming IMBA events, etc.)

Getting involved with PTAG is really the first step. The season is winding down at this point, and IMBA’s website, has a calendar.  If you sign up for updates, we will send out a regular regional e-news. If you are facebook person, there is a IMBA Mid Atlantic page where I try to post relevant events and information weekly.