By Brent Hillier
Mountain Bike Trail Advocacy
Is our obsession with gear contributing the destruction of the places we love to use that gear in? How can a circular economy address this? And which companies are out there, in the outdoor sector and beyond, already tapping into...
Dave Ternier shares details of his new project Single Track Communications. We also discuss the future of the podcast and realistic landscape of relying on volunteers as a trail association. Remember that the podcast is supported by listeners like you....
Paul Perrault tells us the story of Bike Cochrane and how this Alberta organization is building community through mountain bike trail and active transportation advocacy. Paul tells us how Bike Cochrane figured out their town’s ‘bikeability’ and how the organization...
Justin Martin, Executive Director of the Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores (COGGS) in Duluth, MN shares how they renamed their Mission Creek trail network. The trails were renamed using traditional indigenous language of Ojibwe. Justin takes us through the entire...
We hear from Dave Ternier about how he got into advocacy and what is on his mind regarding the future of trails. Dave shares his experience in telling stories and lets us know about Valley Life Recreation, a group in...
We’re back for Part 2 of our conversation with Richard Edwards of IMBA Trail Solutions. In the second part we discuss future and what Trail Solutions can do. We also continue our conversation on what increases in trail usage has...
We hear from Richard Edwards of IMBA Trail Solutions in what is Part 1 of our two part conversation. In this first part we discuss Richard’s history in advocacy, and how Trail Solutions began. We also begin the conversation on...
This episode we check in with the Blue Ridge Off-Road Cyclists in Roanoke, Virginia. We hear from Trails Coordinator: Ian Bongard and President: Stuart Lamanna. We discuss politics and trails as well as the changing landscape of how people are...
We check in with the Kickapoo Mountain Bike Club located near Champaign and Danville, Illinois. We hear from Vice-President: Troy Savalick and Executive Director: Anthony Maro. We discuss the recent trail expansion at the Kickapoo State Recreation Area, and how...
Starting off a new season of the podcast and coming off of what was the 4th Anniversary of the show this week, we look to the future. And not that fairy-dream world in which we all get a vaccine, but...
To answer the question of what Trail Days could look like this summer, I’m joined by three guests. First, Bill Hoyne, Safety Lead with the Greater Bragg Creek Trails Association in Alberta, Canada. Second, Tony Ferlisi, Executive Director of Mountain...
We’re joined by three guests, all of them experts in Youth in the Outdoors. Returning to the show is Melissa Werkman, she’s now the Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy ‘Center’ of Kent County in West Michigan. Mike Greer joins...
Looking at what lies ahead, after COVID-19 for Trail Associations, Advocacy and Trails and Outdoor spaces in general. We’re joined by: Susie Murphy, Executive Director of the San Diego Mountain Biking Association, Patrick Lucas of the BC Aboriginal Youth Mountain...
Ian Jones, President of the Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association returns to the podcast to help us navigate the plethora of tech resources available online to help increase your organization’s productivity. We go through a list of a dozen or...
We hear from the crew at the Lowelifes Respectable Citizens’ Club: Treasurer and previous guest Erik Hillard, President Matt Baffert and Secretary Rob Pettersen. We discuss starting a new organization, their ongoing project of restoring the Condor Peak Trail, the...
We dive back into the old topic of eMTBs with a fresh perspective: Joe Vadeboncoeur, President of the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association discusses his article: “eMTB Thoughts”. Prior to being Board President, Joe worked in the Bike Industry at...
With recent global events regarding COVID-19, the podcast is returning two weeks early. We’ll be hearing from a few different trail associations on what they’re doing to address the Pandemic. We’ll also hear from Eleanor Blick, Senior Communications & Advocacy...
We hear from three Professional Trail Builders. First, Shane Wilson joins us from Hood River, OR, and is the Project Manager with the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s Trail Solutions. Pat Podolski is the Owner/Operator of Golden Dirt Trails in BC,...
Continuing with our theme of Climate Change, we hear from the founder of Minneapolis Bike Parks: Devin Olson and Program Director: Kim Holm. They’re a fantastic example of a successful grassroots organization. They focus on building Bicycle Playgrounds that increase...
Jay Darby of IMBA Canada, returns to continue our discussion on Climate Change and what role Mountain Bike Trail Associations can play in addressing it. In addition we’re joined by past guest and Executive Director of the Aboriginal Youth Mountain...
As a follow-up from last episode, we check in with IMBA Canada to hear about their Provincial Council Programs. We’re joined by Executive Director on IMBA Canada: AJ Strawson, Jay Darby: Field Program Coordinator for IMBA Canada and the Chair...
Executive Director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA), Tom Stuessy, returns to the podcast. Tom shares how the Vermont Outdoor Innovation Coalition (VOICe) has evolved in earning the organization and it’s Chapters consistent funding. And a key part of...
Our first episode back after our Summer hiatus we hear from two guests. The first, Morgan Lommele of People For Bikes, fills us in on what the order signed by the Secretary of the Interior allowing e-MTBs on Federal Land...
This episode we hear from the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz out in California, they share their Mountain Biking Impact Review and the findings made by their Science Committee. We’re joined by Matt De Young, Executive Director and Emma Kelsey,...
We hear from four Mountain Bike Dads: Anthony Duncan, of the International Mountain Bicycling Association and father of 7yo son, Miles. Blake Rowsell, Capilano University Instructor, Board Member of the BC Mountain Bike Tourism Association and dad of Clark, who’s...
As a follow up to last episode where all three guests were staff of their local organizations, we’re going to dive into the topic of Paid Employees. Sara Gress, Executive Director with the Wood River Trails Coalition and Ernest Saeger,...
We hear from three Executive Directors from three different trail organizations: Christine Reid of the North Shore Mountain Bike Association in North Vancouver, BC, Ernest Saeger of the Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance is Colorado and Sara Gress of the...
In celebration of the 2nd Annual Women’s Mountain Bike Day on May 4th and Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 12th we hear from three mountain bike moms. Skii Fleeton of the San Diego Bike Coalition, Jules Gujer: NICA Coach in...
This episode we hear from a panel of guests about the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association, better known as SORBA. Guests include the SORBA Executive Director from Greenville, South Carolina: Tom Sauret, SORBA Executive Committee President and former President of the...
Brennan Morrow is a Board Member of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA) and Madras Chapter Rep. Brennan is sharing COTA’s User Profiles; essentially characters they’ve created to help predict community engagement for programs, events or initiatives they roll out....
Wrapping up our 5-Part series on Conservation, we hear from Phil Waidner, Program Manager of Camps and the Teen Trail Corps at the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, otherwise known as NICA. Phil shares the past, present and future of the...
At the beginning of January 2019, the “Outside/In” Podcast released an episode called “Rake And Ride”. It tells the story of the impact of illegal or unsanctioned trails, and the interaction between the mountain bikers who created them, the officials...
We explore a community with both a multi-use Trail Association and a Mountain Bike Club. My guest is Daniel Cammiade of the Nature Trails Society in Victoria, British Columbia, located in the Southern end of Vancouver Island. We discuss whether an...
We hear from Laura Puckett Daniels, Deputy Director at the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association in Crested Butte, CO. Laura shares with us how her Bike Club added conservation to their mandate and created the Crested Butte Conservation Corps. In addition, Laura tells...
Greig Gjerdalen is faculty with the school of Outdoor Recreation Management at Capilano University in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. Greig is currently studying how mountain bikers interact with nature and he’s asking: “Is nature merely scenery and therefore more of a...
The original question for this episode was asked a year ago by Jennifer Deeks, Communications Officer of the Guelph Off Road Bicycling Association. We’ll hear some previously unheard audio from a number of past guests’ including, Mark Schmidt of Parks Canada, Drew...
The final episode of 2018 is hosted by Rocky Blondin, past guest and President of the Fraser Valley Mountain Bikers Association. Rocky has adapted his two part blog post called: “So You Want To Be a Trail Builder?”. He not...
Membership is a crucial function of most trail associations, and there’s no shortage of services available on the internet. Dana Wacker is the Communications and Promotions Director at the Naniamo Mountain Bike Club and she breaks down a number of...
We hear from four different guests who each represented their Trail Association at a different event this fall. My guests are Laura Puckett Daniels of the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association, Steve Sheldon of the Tri-Cities Off Road Cycling Association, Andy Cox of the HydroCut Trail...
The 50th Episode of Front Lines MTB is here to celebrate all the conversations from the first 49 Episodes. Guests include: Jay Darby, Christine Reid, Tara Llanes, Patrick Lucas, Carrie Karsgaard, Eric McKeegan, Ambreen Tareq, Joshua Rebennack, Bruce Martens, Thomas...
October 20th in British Columbia was a municipal election for City Councillor and Mayoral positions. This election cycle saw a number of Trail Advocates on ballots from all over the province. We hear from three of them: Janis Neufeld from...
The world is waking up to the benefits of Mountain Biking, and now communities are asking how they can become the next Mountain Bike town or destination. Caliente, Nevada is doing just that. With the local mine no longer operating,...
After our summer hiatus we’re back with some follow up on some past topics and joined by a few guests. First we’ll hear about the Vermont Outdoor Innovation Coalition from Tom Stuessy, Executive Director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association. Following...
This episode we explore two upcoming events. The first is the 2018 MTB State Summit in Grand Rapids, Michigan; hosted by the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, Michigan Mountain Bike Association and the Jersey Off Road Bicycle Association. Tom Stuessy of VMBA and Melissa...
Christine Reid of the North Shore Mountain Bike Association (NSMBA) discusses diversity and what it means to be a woman in Mountain Biking with guests: Cynthia Young of the NSMBA, Amanda Schulze, Brand Strategist and Founder of Lithia Effect and Danielle...
For the 3rd Panel Discussion of the Podcast we hear from four Adaptive Mountain Bikers: Jeremy McGhee of SportON USA and the UnPavement, Ethan Krueger of Adaptive MTB Trails, Andrew Liddawi of Break the Boundary and past guest Tara Llanes...
As a follow up to the last episode we welcome back to the show, Patrick Lucas. He’s the founder of the Aboriginal Youth Mountain Bike Program and shares his “Best practices and guidelines for engaging and working with Indigenous Peoples on...
This episode we here from Len Necefer, he’s a Navajo Mountaineer and CEO of NativesOutdoors. Using the Geo-tagging capabilities of Facebook and Instagram, Len has been returning traditional Indigenous names to popular recreation spots. Len also helps us understand the value and...
Diving further into youth programs we look into one particular high school race team’s effort to create trails for their NICA team. We’ll hear from Team Director and Chair of the Stillwater Area Scholastic Cycling Advocates: Calvin Jones, and Dirt Boss and...
For the 40th episode of the podcast we go back to where we started with Episode 1 and focus on Kelowna, BC. We’ll hear about two programs and how they’re reducing the barriers for access in the sport of Mountain...
