What great day to build a trail. Sunday January 22^nd IMBA-SORBA Middle TN hosted a party of 25 trail volunteers and gave birth to phase 1 of the Cane Ridge Park Mountain Bike Trail. This 2.2 mile section is the beginning leg of a proposed 9 mile trail system in Davidson County’s southeastern border to Rutherford county line, just off Battle Road. Cane Ridge is an established ball park and radio control airplane venue, which is one of the current volunteer projects under construction by IMBA-SORBA Middle Tennessee.

A few facts from the 1^st work day:

-26 Trail Volunteers introduced to this project

-100+ hours of TRAIL LOVE!

-3600 feet of new corridor

-Lots of smiles and energy taking us forward!

Don’t let us loose this incredible momentum and Join us….February 4^th and 18^th Cane Ridge Trail Love Work Days.

Link to more details and REGISTER to show your volunteer spirit and become a TRAIL BUILDER!

Yazoo Brew Tap Room is hosting our Nashville Premier of “Pedal Driven” Bikumentary, at 6:oo pm, Wednesday Nov. 16th.  We are eager to share much about new projects and growth of mountain biking in Middle TN, so join us to get the scoop.  We need your support to complete these new trails.

Please RSVP if you plan to attend. Click here and register to attend.  Limited seats available.

This is a free event.  On sight Donations and IMBA-SORBA membeships are encouraged!

Not a member?  Join us NOW! Choose Middle TN for your affiliate chapter.

Yazoo Brew Tap Room is located at 910 Divsion Street, Nashville, TN 37203 – 615.891.4649

Visit Howell at the Moon Productions to learn more about Pedal Driven and other HATM documentaries.

Upcoming events:  Click here or image above to Subscribe to our Newsletter.

Let’s see….how can we double the amount of mountain bike singletrack in Middle TN? Well, for a couple of years we have been working on taking area trails from a total 50 miles to over 100 miles by 2015. That’s only 4 years and tons of funding and volunteer sweat equity is required to make this happen. IMBA-SORBA, with local governments will make this happen with your support. We need members, active members! We must draw on the talent of folks that love the trail and are willing to challenge their neighbors to JOIN, Volunteer and share their Trail Love!

New trails….Where? Cane Ridge, Bell’s Bend, Percy Warner and Joelton Parks in Davidson County (Master Plan sites), with a potential site in Williamson County. Work day schedule for Cane Ridge will be published soon, so keep in touch. You can follow us on this site, NashvilleMountainBike.com forum and IMBA-SORBA MidTN Facebook Fan Page for updates and details.

Fund raising and leadership opportunities are upon on the horizon, including a local Country Artists offer to host a benefit for Percy Warner MTB Trail Funding. Are you up for it? It’s going to be a great ride!

This note from Nashville Metro Parks Planning on the heels of the Burch Preserve Meetings at Percy Warner.

Mountain Bike Trails
A spin-off from the Burch Reserve planning process has been the identification of approximately 120 acres in Percy Warner Park for the development of new, single-use mountain bike trails. Shared use with existing hiking and equestrian trails is not proposed.
In response to the need for additional mountain bike trails throughout Davidson County, Metro Parks convened in late 2010 a committee of representatives from IMBA, SORBA and Mayor Dean’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee to look countywide at opportunities for mountain bike trail development. The committee is developing a working conceptual master plan that will include priorities and recommendations based on geographic distribution, skill level served, program opportunities and other factors. Planning for the Percy Warner mountain bike trails is being wrapped into this larger planning process. Metro Parks expects to be able to present the plan later this year.

Sunday, January 22nd, 2011 ~ Trail Building Day, Cane Ridge Trail

9:00 AM-1:00PM

Open new trail corridor on phase ONE!

Suggested items to bring:

Dress for winter weather(in layers), Trail Snacks,Water / Hydration, Gloves, Long Pants, Sturdy work boots.

Also bring FRIEND & A SMILE!

For more information:   trails@sorbamidtn.org

EVENT POSTPONED!!  Update 6/23/2011

Due to the unforseeable string of wet weather, we are moving this event to July 9, 10. July 9 the Festival and Kid’s race, July 10th the Harpeth Bikes 50 miles of Hamilton Creek. I think it will be too wet for this to be a success. Our goal is to have this race in dry conditions and having it this weekend will be impossible. In the future for Hamilton Creek events, I will make a rain date part of the original plan. It typically does not rain this much in June and we picked June for this reason. The trail will likely be damaged and the conditions dangerous if we run the events this weekend.

If this causes anyone who has pre-registered any hardship, please let me know so we can work out a refund for you. I believe I can speak for Harpeth Bikes and Sorba that we want the best event we can put on and create the best experience we can for all riders and spectators. Moving the event is the best way to do this.

Thanks for understanding and please join us!

Tim Spencer, Race Director

contact: hamcreekfest@sorbamidtn.org

MTB Community – Coming June 25 & June 26.

Harpeth Bikes and IMBA-SORBA Middle TN are stepping up this year to make this and AWESOME event! This year, among many other things to be announced as they become finalized, Harpeth Bicycles and Ellsworth will be GIVING AWAY a BRAND NEW Ellsworth Glimpse to one lucky racing participant.

Race Entry will be $45, but with Harpeth and other sponsors, we believe you are going to get your money’s worth! More details to come, but I think it’s time to start training at Hamilton Creek!

RACE INFO HERE!

How will we cross under Bell Road? Good question! There will be a MANDATORY dismount and riders will have to walk their bikes under the tunnel. We will have two way traffic marked off on the connector that gets you from the Pinnacle Trail to the Lakeside Trail.

This year we will be racing the ENTIRE trail and starting/finishing at the Ned Shelton trail head. We will be racing CCW direction (Not “backwards”) and there will be solo and team categories.

Festival -

We will have the normal events including clinics, the skid race, hill climb as well as Kids Mountain Bike Racing – kid Parent relay, face painting and more! Festival is Free! Mark your calendars, invite your friends because there will be demo bikes available
Thanks to Sorba Middle Tennessee and Harpeth Bikes for stepping up huge..and by the way, I haven’t even told you have the stuff that will happen there just because it’s not all 100% written in stone. (Just 99%)

Tim Spencer – Race Director   hamcreekfest@sorbamidtn.org

For those of you unable to attend the meeting last night…I’ll try to give a quick recap (as it pertains to mountain biking): Although mountain bike trails were not part of the master plan for the new Burch Reserve property, according to Tim Netsch (Assistant Director Planning & Facilities – Metro Parks) mountain bike trails WILL be added in Percy Warner Park on a tract across the street (I think I’ve captured the approximate area below with the green circle but don’t hold me to the exact location).  I believe its about 120 acres.  Trail cutting will not start immediately (even with the high level of interest).  Metro parks (with assistance from SORBA) is coming up with a county-wide master plan for mountain bike trails (this is very exciting!) that will include PWP.  They will prioritize the projects, and I imagine PWP will be 2^nd or 3^rd on the list behind a couple other existing projects.  When the master plan is complete, I will definitely pass it on!

I know many of you will remain skeptical until the rubber meets the dirt, but this is HUGE win…and the only reason this is happening now is because of your feedback/interest and the relationship SORBA/IMBA has established with metro parks.  If you are a mountain biker and are not yet a member…we need you!! http://sorbamidtn.org/join/

A big thank you to Metro Parks and Friends ofParks for including mountain biking in the plan for PWP, a big thank you to SORBA/IMBA for laying the groundwork for a great partnership, and a big thank you to everyone who provided feedback at the meetings or thru the website.  You have been heard!!!

If anyone is interested in seeing the master plan for the Burch Reserve Property (which includes some pretty cool features like observation towers, canopy walks, walking paths, etc…) the presentation should be available in the near future on the Friends of Warner Parks website (http://www.friendsofwarnerparks.com/).

Keep on ridin’!

Carolyn Heichel
SORBA Mid-TN Membership Chair

March 23rd Tennessean Article, “Runners Bikers want to use trails” after Public Meeting does not share all the details that will avoid user conflict.  With the announcement of mountain bike specific trails at Percy Warner that will not intersect others, we now look to the county wide master plan and work PW into a high priority project.  More info to be shared in April as sight review will render a glimpse of what’s to come.

Tennessean – Residents Debate Warner Parks…

IMBA E-news Article

SORBA Member’s letter to the Tennessean

Same Tennessean Article reference on NPR

Action Alert for Public Meeting for Percy Warner

Vanderbilt University’s Outdoor Rec Center’s Inaccurate Take on why MTB is not allowed in Percy Warner

One Speed Blog – Percy Warner New Addition

Join the Middle TN Chapter of IMBA-SORBA and attend the premiere of the Southern Mountain Bike Summit! Join land managers, industry leaders, politicians, and fellow mountain bikers in the scenic mountains of western North Carolina to teach, learn, meet, greet, ride, and grow the sport of mountain biking in the Southeast. Connect with friends, old and new, as you make mountain biking in your region exceptional.  Click here for the schedule of events and details.

Y’all come get some GRITS (Great Riding In The South).

SPONSORS

CST, Maxxis, New Belgium, Niner Bikes, REI, Shannon Ridge, Specialized Bicycles, Subaru of America, Thomson, Transylvania County Planning & Economic Development, Trek Bicycles

ONLINE REGISTRATION IS OPEN – CLICK HERE!