With new trails under construction, older trails getting upgrades and a full calendar of group rides, clinics, parties and festivals, the Mad River Riders—a chapter of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA)—is excited to share in all the fun they have planned for 2015 and it invites locals to consider becoming members.
With their dues, Mad River Riders members support trail building, landowner relationships and recreation programs. Last year, the Riders maintained 40 miles of multi-use trails in The Valley, added a new beginner mountain biking route and refreshed several existing routes. The organization has built official partnerships with the United States Forest Service's (USFS) Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont Parks & Recreation, several town forests and many private landowners.
In 2014, the Mad River Riders secured nearly $160,000 of community investment for the Mad River Valley and its volunteers donated almost 1,700 hours of work. Mad River Riders' free programs, such as the Mad River Rippers kids' group rides and Ali Zimmer's women's Wednesday clinics, served over 100 youth and women riders last year and the 2015 schedule and program offerings have grown significantly.
This season the Mad River Riders are managing a major reroute on the Chain Gang trail, as well as adding another new trail at Blueberry Lake. The organization is also working on final approvals for Evolution, a new intermediate trail that will parallel the Cyclone trail to the top of Dana Hill Road, and Mad River Riders is planning new trails and reroutes near Marble Hill Road on the Vermont Land Trust's Tenney property in conjunction with the Catamount Trail Association and the Mad River Path.
Mad River Riders members get the full benefits of a VMBA membership, including shop discounts at a wide range of outdoor gear stores, free day passes to most Vermont bike parks and paid networks, two-for-one ski tickets to many Vermont resorts and much more. As a chapter of VMBA, the Mad River Riders is allowed to build and maintain trails on state and USFS land, has better access to grant funding and is part of a strong statewide community of trail builders and riders. This year, Mad River Riders also added a new, reduced-rate student membership for students enrolled in school, ages 18 and under.
In addition to becoming Mad River Riders members, the organization encourages everyone to support at least one other VMBA chapter through the chapter add-on program. The newly formed Waterbury Area Trail Alliance (WATA) is an example of a nearby chapter, along with Millstone Trails in Graniteville, Fellowship of the Wheel in Chittenden County and the Rochester Area Sports Trail Alliance (RASTA).
