Summit County Mountain Bike Alliance evolves out of old Fat Tire Society with renewed mission

SUMMIT COVE — Eight native Summit County mountain bikers rolled down Cartier Court docket in Summit Cove Wednesday night, July 1, to satisfy up on a again porch overlooking the Gore Vary. It’s right here the newly christened Summit County Mountain Bike Alliance — previously referred to as the Summit Fats Tire Society — hashed out its latest enterprise, upcoming plans and vital steps to attain long term objectives.

It’s from an efficient dwelling base right here on this Summit Cove yard the place avid native mountain bikers like president Ben Ferrante and board members Robert Klima and Mike Olsen hope to strengthen the nonprofit group that has a mission assertion of constructing new mountain bike trails, strengthening present ones and unifying the Summit County mountain bike group.

“Ideally we need to be the unified voice of Summit County mountain bikers,” stated Ferrante, a member of the Summit Fats Tire Society since 2012 and president for the reason that group’s rebranding final October. “We wish all of those teams to come back collectively. We need to be the hub of all issues mountain biking in Summit County. That’s our imaginative and prescient … We wish a seat on the desk when points come as a voice of the local people of mountain bikers to construct it proper the primary time, sustainably and in a enjoyable means.”

However earlier than the alliance put within the work to see the group’s membership balloon from 65 this time final 12 months to greater than 150 in the present day, they needed to tackle their identify.

A 30-year group with historical past within the county, the Summit Fats Tire Society was conceived again when “fats tire” meant something wider than your conventional highway bike wheel. Lately, “fats tire” has a a lot totally different connotation within the biking world, as a comparatively new type of biking with massively extensive tires, dubbed “fats tire biking” is more and more widespread in such circumstances as winter using on packed powder atop singletrack trails.

Ferrante made the primary strikes to evolve the Summit County Mountain Bike Alliance out of the previous Fats Tire Society, which he recommended for his or her historic success. Final 12 months a board member got here to him and instructed Ferrante {that a} native unofficial group of mountain bikers had reached out to the U.S. Forest Service about native path enhancements and the group, which was solely related by an e-mail Listserv, was instructed to speak to the native nonprofit group, which led them to the Summit Fats Tire Society.

After sending out a Fb invitation, Ferrante was glad to see 30 folks present up on a chilly, early winter evening after he posed the questions, “Do you care about your native trails? Do you need to talk about how one can care about your native trails? Do you need to have a voice or an opinion?”

After the questions, Ferrante stated he issued an invite.

“Come out, let’s sit down and discuss what may be executed, what needs to be executed,” Ferrante stated.

Not lengthy after, the group had its identify change in addition to 13 locals who now comprise the group’s new board, who confirmed up in Klima’s yard Wednesday evening.

Final month, as soon as mountain snowpack receded and trails dried out, the alliance had its first main occasion for the reason that revamp. It was a path enchancment time out on the 9-mile stretch of the Colorado Path — from the North Fork of the Swan River to the Golden Horseshoe space. It’s the terrain the native affiliate of the Worldwide Mountain Bicycling Affiliation has adopted as its “child,” as Ferrante put it.

On this iconic, not-for-the-faint-of-heart path, alliance members labored with consultants from McGill Path Fabrication, diving up into two crews that tackled 10 totally different spots. They back-sloped, constructed up berms, cleared drainage ditches and pulled lifeless timber away from hanging over the path to enhance the intermediate-to-advanced mountain bike expertise on this multiuse path, which can also be widespread amongst hikers.

After about 15 folks confirmed as much as that first occasion, the group is hopeful extra locals — whether or not they’re present members or not — will come out on July 9 for his or her subsequent Twilight Path Session. It’ll begin out of the Miners Creek car parking zone in Frisco at 5:30 p.m. From there, the group will tackle drainage points and line of sight and security issues.

“The most important factor was the erosion that got here from water,” Olsen stated.

One other main a part of the alliance’s work is placing collectively an simply digestible database of native trails. Olsen stated the group’s newly improved web site, SCOMBA.org/conditions, is especially helpful in early season. A biker can simply entry dozens upon dozens of the newest circumstances updates from one place by way of the user-powered Trailforks web site.

Wanting forward, Ferrante stated the alliance want to host some group rides and group occasions, corresponding to film nights and talent clinics. Maybe down the road in an ideal world, he stated the group may grow to be robust sufficient to associate with greater native occasion administrators like county mountain bike legends Jeff Westcott and Mike McCormack and probably assist with races or host occasions of their very own.

For now, the group is targeted on having a seat on the desk concerning recreation and public-lands choices throughout the county, advocating for the mountain bike group they love.

“Not everyone seems to be conscious of what goes into sustaining trails and why we’ve such superb trails,” Ferrante stated. “It’s an amazing platform for us to say, ‘Hey, should you like that experience, it’d be nice should you may come out and assist in the future and assist dig. And if can’t assist dig, it’d be nice should you may assist us afford the instruments we’d like.’”

For extra data, go to: SCOMBA.org.