Midwest Singletrack Advocacy Summit

[LakeRaven]

http://www.earthriders.org

The folks down in Kansas City are hosting a three day festival at the Landahl trailhead in Blue Springs MO. I attended the Summit last year and I give it 4 Stars.

The summit is a rare blend of serious advocacy conferences and a wildly fun Mountain Bike Festival. The trails are really great riding. Forget about all your preconceptions of the regions potential for mountain biking. I've ridden all over the country and hit every big name trail you've seen in the magazines. You will be as delighted with the trails at Landahl as I am.

Spring starts earlier down south. Are you jonesing for real dirt under your knobbies followed by a cold fat-tire ale and some live music all just a short stroll from free camping. I haven't seen many of you since the Mah Dah Hey Gathering last September, so lets try to link up down at KC and kick off the 2004 season with the folks from earthriders.

[TML]

Hello LakeRaven,

Welcome to the MORC boards!

The summit sounds like a great way to start the season. Reports from people who went last year are all thumbs up. I've definitely got an interest in going. I know Kurt (mtnbykr) is headed down, anyone else?

[SuperClydesdale]

Just kidding, Gary

I think I am going to make the ST Summit. Looking forward to BBQing some gnomes too, come September.

Are you going to the weekend event at Crowder in April? Doug Long told me about it when I was riding there over Halloween. Sounds like a hoot. I'll send more information as I gather it.

Cheers
Mark

[TML]

I'm registered and plan on makin' the trip down! My plan is to camp and possibly ride the Berryman on Sunday then come home on Monday.

Anyone else making the trip or thinking of going?

[KleinCrazy]

Now that is a quite a plan.

ride at Minor at night friday after the Summit, Ride/race at Landhal on Saturday? , Drive 4 hours to berryman? Ride Berryman on Sunday ride drive the 10 hours back to MN on Monday. I'm impressed.

Though I won't be going this year.

Have fun and represent the MN riders well all.

[TML]

Originally posted by KleinCrazy
Now that is a quite a plan.

ride at Minor at night friday after the Summit, Ride/race at Landhal on Saturday? , Drive 4 hours to berryman? Ride Berryman on Sunday ride drive the 10 hours back to MN on Monday. I'm impressed.


Yeah, it might be a little ambitious, but dang, I'm so close to the Berryman it'd be hard to not ride it. We'll see how it goes. I could nix the Berryman idea and just ride Crowder on the way home if that's open.

I've got room for another person, possibly two, if anyone wants to make the trip down with me.

On a side note James, I bottled my first batch of brew last night. Looking forward to trying it out soon. It's a brown ale.

[TML]

Originally posted by SuperClydesdale


I think I am going to make the ST Summit.

Hey Mark,

Are you going for sure? It should be a good time.

[LakeRaven]

Get that breeder on board.

[mtnbykr]

2004 Midwest Singletrack Advocacy Summit Update

There’s a significant amount of news and updates for this year’s Summit.
Please bear with us, as we’ve been extremely busy trying to bring you
the best festival to date.

LOCATION CHANGE
We’re still holding the Summit at one of the Midwest’s premier
singletrack destinations, Landahl Park.

Due to scheduling conflicts, we are changing trailhead locations. The
correct trailhead is the Argo Road trailhead, not the Truman Road
trailhead.

Directions: From I-70 take MO Highway 7 North to Argo Road. Turn East
(right) on Argo road. After stopping at the 4-way stop, the trailhead
and Summit location will be on your left. Parking will be on your
right.

This trailhead is the same one as last year.

LODGING (HOTEL) CHANGE
ERTA and Ramada had a misunderstanding regarding the Summit weekend
rate. Since they’re holding the cards (or rooms in this case), we’re
not going to be able to offer the Summit rate as we intended.

We suggest reserving a hotel room at Knights Inn, located at the
intersection of I-70 and Hwy 7. Their room rates at $34.95 (plus tax)
for double occupancy. The contact information is:

Knights Inn
1110 NW Hwy 7
Blue Springs, MO

816-224-4466

CAMPING
Due to the same scheduling conflicts, Summit attendees will not be able
to use the group camping area at Landahl. We are still offering camping
at the Summit, but unfortunately fires won’t be permitted.

We apologize for this inconvenience.

FRIDAY PRESENTATIONS AND MEETINGS
We’ve separated the advocacy meetings from the festival portion of the
Summit in order to provide singletrack advocates with more benefit for
their local trails. We realize that this may present scheduling
conflicts for some of you

We’re extremely excited about our presenters this year. We’ve secured
commitments from a number of professionals who are focused on promoting
singletrack advocacy. The schedule of events:

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Introductions

9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
IMBA, Advocacy and Freeriding
Brandon Dwight – IMBA NMBP Coordinator

Brandon will present on IMBA’s focus and thoughts on freeriding and
freeriding trails that will offer summit attendees ideas and solutions
to freeriding and incorporating freeriding trails as part of a
singletrack system.

10:30 – 12:30
Trail User Impacts on the Environment
Don Weir – Environmental Geologist and Environmental Assessment
Specialist

Published author and scientist, Don will present specific information
regarding trail users and trail user impacts on the environment. Don
will be able to provide Summit attendees with scientific tools to
clearly and effectively discuss the science of trails with their
respective land managers.

12:30 – 1:30
Lunch

1:30 – 2:30
Website Development and Management for Advocacy Organizations
Cort Andersen – Principal Partner, Identis, LLC.

Cort Andersen will present Summit attendees with website development and
management ideas based on his expertise as a founder of Identis, a
website development and management company. Summit attendees will
benefit by learning effective ways to set up and establish their web
sites.

2:30 – 3:30
Ticks and Tick-born Diseases: Facts and Myths
Dr. Greg Cummins

Dr. Cummins will present facts and dispel myths related to ticks and
tick born diseases. Anyone who uses singletrack trails in the Midwest
knows that ticks are part of the outdoor experience. Dr. Cummins has
conducted research relating specifically to ticks and the diseases they
carry. His presentation will allow Summit attendees to bring valuable
information back to their respective areas regarding the truth about
ticks.

3:30 – 5:30
Round Table Advocacy Discussion
Panel of Experts

This open forum will allow advocates from throughout the Midwest to
bounce ideas off each other, discuss success stories and ask questions
of a panel of experts that ERTA has assembled from advocates located
throughout North America.

This will be the perfect opportunity for Summit attendees to learn from
and impart their wisdom on the group.

Directions to the meetings are found at www.earthriders.org (http://www.earthriders.org/)

MUSIC
This year we’re featuring live music from some fantastic local bands.
The mix of bands we’ve been able to put together for your listening
pleasure is a funky mix of several different styles and genres.

The Music Schedule is:

MARCH 20th

12-2pm
Bixby Lane

2-4pm
Levee Town

4-6pm
Jarvis Jort

7-10pm
John Paul & the Flying Circus

ERTA BENEFIT RAFFLE
On Saturday afternoon, after the guided rides are finished, ERTA will
offer Summit attendees the chance to win numerous prizes and products.
This year we’re excited to feature products from:

New Belgium Brewery (Cruiser Bike, Jerseys, more)
Dirt Rag (Dirt Rag Products)
Garmin (GPS)
Trek (Tons of Trek Products)
Surly (Surly Products)
Salsa (Salsa Products)
Red Bull (Red Bull Products)

And many more.

The raffle tickets will be sold at $2 each or 3 for $5. Any proceeds
generated from the raffle will go towards helping ERTA offset our costs
for the 2004 Summit.


CONCLUSION
Thanks for your support and for attending the Midwest Singletrack
Advocacy Summit. The trails are in fantastic condition and we’re
looking for to showing you around what IMBA considers “the best urban
singletrack trail system in the country, if not the world”. High praise
indeed, but we’ll back it up with some tasty, technical and altogether
fun singletrack.

We’re looking forward to seeing you in a about a week.

Earth Riders Trails Association