|
National Public Lands Day - Hall Ranch, Valmont.
 Celebrate National Public Lands Day with BMA and Boulder County Parks and Open Space! We will use hand tools to help re-route sections of the Bitterbrush and Antelope trails and perform general trail maintenance. We'll start with a light breakfast at 8:00am, then we will split into crews for the work until 1:00pm. Volunteers and staff will meet near Lyons and specific project information will be sent out closer to the project date upon registration. Minimum age is 12 with adult supervision.
|
|
Get Your Ride On - Vagabond Ranch Member Deals
We just received a last minute deal from our fine business member Vagabond Ranch:
We would like to extend to all BMA members a 50% discount on lodging and 80% on guiding for a group of 4 or more from now until the snow closes the trails this fall.
This is a one time inexpensive opportunity to learn the trails in a new-to-most-of-us area. Since most BMA members do not need guides, Vagabond is extending this deal our way.
|
|
West Mag Update
It's September.... and the fuel treatment project at West Mag is still underway. We're sure you're asking yourself, "I thought it was going to be done by now?" It now looks like it won't open to the public until next year.
There are several factors that slowed their schedule down more than anticipated:
-
As soon as the 90 day closure notice took effect on June 1, contractors and USFS personnel began closing off the area. On June 9, a lightning stike started the High Park fire west of Fort Collins, and the contractors were pulled off West Mag to asisst in the back line operations. The Waldo Canyon fire got the crews as well. They did not return to West Mag until July.
- The regional office has control of where they stage crews to complete tasks they have contracts on. The Boulder Ranger District(BRD) had prescribed three crews to work this project but the regional office made the call. Currently, there is only one crew working the West Mag project. As we get into fall, that "could" change as conditions shut crews out of burn areas and West Mag is still accessible. It turns out these crews are well equipped to do the work of stabilizing burn areas to prevent flooding as well, so that second and third crew never got to West Mag this summer.
- The biggest shift that threw the BRD a curve ball came from Washington DC, where the head of the USFS changed the entire focus of forest management from a strategy of holistic forest care (letting fires burn) to one of fighting every fire unless specifically instructed. Check this article out that speaks to this major shift in forest management. One hundred years of fire suppression is going to take generations to get back into balance, if ever.
So these are the factors that slowed the optimistic forecast for a quick turnaround at West Mag. The closure has been amended to last "until further notice". As of September 21, the project is 30% complete. Click here to see the official update from the USFS.
The crews have one year (July 2013) to complete their work, so we'll be back there next summer reopening our favorite trails.
|
|
Caribou Classic / SufferFest = it takes a village
The Caribou Classic / SufferFest is BMA's big fall ride. Ya'll know it's big fun, but what most people don't realize is that putting on a ride this bombastic is also a big big job for a lot of volunteers.
BMA wants to give a shout out to a small selection of the many hardcore, amazing volunteers who made this event happen:
- Whit of Meriwhether Maps, course map maker extraordinaire
- Rich, for courageously marking the course in the cold cold rain on Friday
- Boulder Ham Radio people, keeping us all safe and sound and moving forward
- Those good-lookin' sweeps who made sure everyone made it off the trail in one piece
- Katy and Patrick, start area setup and takedown zombies
- Katy again, for the fab-o Caribou Classic logo and t-shirts we'll actually wear
- Elizabeth and Ashley, for checkin/checkout organization awesomeness
- Zana and Summer, campsite hostesses with the mostesses
 And foremost in our minds - Mic De Min. Mic has been the brains and brawn behind CC/SF for the last three years, making it bigger and better with each year. This year Mic gave well over 200 hours of his time to plan, organize, and pull off the Caribou Classic... and he's coming back for more in 2013. Now that's some dedication! Thank you Mic for all you do, SufferFest is truly a jewel in the BMA crown.
Can you be part of the 2013 Caribou Classic team? Drop Mic a line at sufferfest@bouldermountainbike.org to express your interest in lending a hand next year. Ride planning starts in only a couple months!
|
|
Membership Party- Save the Date
We've set the date: Thursday October 25th all BMA members are invited to our annual membership party where we'll elect new board members, and yes, we'll party. We'll head to Boulder Cycle Sport South - more details will be announced soon. Not a member? Join now and mark your calendar too! |
|
|
Business Members
|
Please support these businesses that support BMA and our trails!
Does your business want to be featured here? Hit the reply button and let us know that you'd like to learn a bit more about how to help BMA.
|
|
