Ep 50 – The Greatest Hits and a Look Back on Where We’ve Been

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 Schoen, Steve Sheldon, Hansi Johnson, Mike Greer, Calvin Jones, Hank Grey and Len Necefer. Stay tuned until the very end for a special announcement.

Continue reading “Ep 50 – The Greatest Hits and a Look Back on Where We’ve Been”

Ep 49 – Advocates Turned Candidates: Panel Discussion of Municipal Election Candidates

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 Nakusp, Stewart Spooner from Rossland and Jeff Cooke from Squamish. We also here from Cooper Quinn of the North Shore Mountain Bike Association about how groups can get engaged with elections, without compromising their charity or 501c3 status.

Continue reading “Ep 49 – Advocates Turned Candidates: Panel Discussion of Municipal Election Candidates”

Ep 48 – Creating New Mountain Bike Communities: Interview with Patrick Kell of IMBA

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, they’re looking to Mountain Biking as the reason to draw visitors into town. We’ll hear from Patrick Kell, Grants Manager at the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) about how things got started, what trails are currently built and what the potential could be for future trails.

Continue reading “Ep 48 – Creating New Mountain Bike Communities: Interview with Patrick Kell of IMBA”

Ep 47 – We’re Back! Check In On Some Past Topics & Guests

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 that, we’ll get an update from Lance Pysher of the Bitterroot Backcountry Cyclists on their lawsuit against the US Forest Service. And finally, we’ll hear from Tony Ferlisi Executive Director for Mountain Bike the Tetons and his experience representing Mountain Bike stakeholders on the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative committee.

Continue reading “Ep 47 – We’re Back! Check In On Some Past Topics & Guests”

Ep 46 – Details About Two Upcoming Events You’ll Want To Check Out

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 Werkman of MMBA join me. And second, Jay Darby of IMBA Canada and Christine Reid of the North Shore Mountain Bike Association share details about the Western Mountain Bike Advocacy Symposium, in North Vancouver, BC. Both events are sure to be great and if you can make the trip to either, they’ll be well worth it.

Continue reading “Ep 46 – Details About Two Upcoming Events You’ll Want To Check Out”

Ep 45 – New Voices for Mountain Biking: A Women’s Round Table Discussion

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 Baker, Freelance Writer and Communications Manager at BC Bike Race.

Continue reading “Ep 45 – New Voices for Mountain Biking: A Women’s Round Table Discussion”

Ep 43 – Working with Indigenous Communities: Interview with Patrick Lucas

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 trails and outdoor recreation projects”.

Continue reading “Ep 43 – Working with Indigenous Communities: Interview with Patrick Lucas”

Ep 42 – Traditional Indigenous Names: Interview with Len Necefer of NativesOutdoors

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 importance of those names and the effects of cultural appropriation on Indigenous communities.

Continue reading “Ep 42 – Traditional Indigenous Names: Interview with Len Necefer of NativesOutdoors”

Ep 41 – The Space Between Spaces: Providing Riding Opportunities for Youth in Stillwater, MN

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 Board Member: Hank Gray about how SASCA is creating trails in Stillwater, MN for it’s students and community.

Continue reading “Ep 41 – The Space Between Spaces: Providing Riding Opportunities for Youth in Stillwater, MN”

Ep 40 – Reducing Barriers for Youth: Elevation Outdoors & BikeWays Bike Shop

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 Biking. The first guest is Mike Greer, Executive Director of Elevation Outdoors. Second we’ll hear from Norm Vados and Bonnie Fraser of BikeWays and the Pathways Ability Society respectively.

Continue reading “Ep 40 – Reducing Barriers for Youth: Elevation Outdoors & BikeWays Bike Shop”