The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
educational association whose mission is to create, enhance and preserve trail opportunities for mountain bikers worldwide.
IMBA was formed in 1988, when five California-based mountain bike clubs created an alliance to fight widespread trail closures. The founding clubs were the
Concerned Off Road Bicyclists Association,
Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay,
Bicycle Trails Council of Marin
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bi ...
,
Sacramento Rough Riders and
Responsible Organized Mountain Pedalers. Gibson Anderson, of Sacramento, was elected IMBA's first executive director.
In 1993 IMBA hired Tim Blumenthal, a former IMBA board member and cycling journalist, as its executive director. When Blumenthal began, the organization had roughly 1,200 individual members and about 60 affiliated clubs. The headquarters moved to Boulder, Colorado, in 1994.
In the late 1990s, IMBA's membership grew in Canada, Europe and Australia. An international summit was held in Switzerland in 1997. Educational outreach programs such as the Trail Care Crews – traveling trailbuilding schools sponsored by
Subaru
( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...
car corporation – helped expand IMBA's reach. At the end of 1999, IMBA had more than 28,000 individual members, 14 staffers and a budget of $1.2 million.
In 2006, IMBA's membership grew to 32,000 members, with more than 600 affiliated clubs and patrols and a staff of 26. International programs, including
IMBA Canada IMBA can refer to:
* Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Vienna, Austria
* International Masters of Business Administration
* International Mountain Bicycling Association
* Imba, a full-stack web programming language
* Gaming slang for game imbal ...
, are continuing to grow. In the US, IMBA has established partnership agreements with most major federal land management agencies, and is widely recognized as a leading source of information for trail-based recreation.
Trail support and maintenance
The IMBA strives to promote mountain biking, trail building, and trail maintenance in a way that enhances the local community, and in a way that considers and minimizes the ecological impact to the environment. The IMBA has developed a set of principles known as the
"Rules of the Trail" which promotes responsible and courteous conduct on shared-use and
singletrack
Singletrack (or single track) describes a type of mountain biking trail that is approximately the width of the bike. It contrasts with double-track or fire road which is wide enough for four-wheeled off-road vehicles. It is often smooth and flow ...
trails.
Affiliated organizations
*Australia
**Mountain Bike Australia
*Europe
**Italy
**Germany
**Netherlands
**Spain
**United Kingdom
*North America
**Canada
***Association pour le Développement des Sentiers de Vélo de Montagne au Québec
**Mexico
**United States
***Bicycle Trails Council of Marin
***Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay
***Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance
***
Jersey Off Road Bicycle Association
The Jersey Off Road Bicycle Association (JORBA) is a mountain biking association based in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, United States, founded in 1999. Their activities include trail maintenance, sustainable trail building, group rides and sk ...
***Michigan Mountain Biking Association
***
Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists
***Monterey Off Road Cycling Association
***Mountain Trails Foundation
*
Northwest Trail Alliance(formerly Portland United Mountain Pedalers)
***Responsible Organized Mountain Pedalers
***Southern Nevada Mountain Bike Association
***
Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association
The International Mountain Bicycling Association-Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (IMBA-SORBA) is an advocacy organization for mountain biking in the Southeastern United States. IMBA-SORBA is a regional division of International Mountain Bicy ...
***
SouthWest Association of Mountain Bike Pedalers (SWAMP)
*
Valley Mountain Bikers*South America
**Argentina
Ride Centers
IMBA has created a "Ride Center" designation whereby IMBA recognizes and rates sites that feature extensive trail networks.
IMBA staff selects candidates for "IMBA Ride Center" recognition on an invitation-only basis. Ride Centers are the organization's strongest endorsement of a trail experience.
As of December 2013, the following is a list of IMBA Ride Centers.
*
Park City, Utah
Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...
(Gold level)
*
Bike Taupo
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bi ...
,
Taupo, New Zealand (Silver level)
*
Oakridge Area, Oregon (Silver level)
*
Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley is a resort city in the western United States, in Blaine County, Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum in the Wood River valley. The population was 1406 at the 2010 census, down from 1427 in 2000.[Copper Harbor, Michigan
Copper Harbor is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Keweenaw County, Michigan, Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Grant Township, Keweenaw County, Michigan ...]
(Silver level)
*
Central Savannah River Area
The Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) is a Media market, trading and marketing region in the U.S. states of Georgia (U.S. State), Georgia and South Carolina, spanning fourteen counties in Georgia and seven in South Carolina. The term was coined ...
/
Forks Area Trail System
In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...
(FATS) (Bronze level)
*
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...
(Bronze level)
*
Cuyuna Lakes, Minnesota
Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area (CCSRA) is a state park unit of Minnesota, USA, being developed to rehabilitate a portion of the Cuyuna Range where mining pits and piles of waste rock were left behind after decades of open-pit mining for ...
(Bronze level)
*
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. At the 2 ...
(Bronze level)
*
Helena, Montana
Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County.
Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...
(Bronze level)
*
Mt. Buller,
Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...
(Bronze level)
*
Santos, Florida (Bronze level)
*
Singltrek pod Smrkem, Czech Republic/Poland (Bronze level)
*Snowshoe Highlands, West Virginia (Bronze Leve
*
Redlands, California
Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 census. The city is located approximately west of Palm Springs and east of Lo ...
(Bronze level)
On July 9, 2013, Virginia Governor
Bob McDonnell
Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. His career ended after his corruption scandal and convic ...
announced that a Richmond Region Ride Center would open in 2014 in the
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
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, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
metro region as the first legacy project of the
Richmond 2015 Bike Race.
World Summit
Each year IMBA has a bike race showcasing different trail systems all across the world. Some locations have included
Steamboat Springs (2014) and
Bentonville, Arkansas
Bentonville is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, tenth-largest city in Arkansas, United States and the county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, Benton County. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers adja ...
(2016).
See also
*
Mountain Biking
Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...
*
Single track (mountain biking)
Singletrack (or single track) describes a type of mountain biking trail that is approximately the width of the bike. It contrasts with double-track or fire road which is wide enough for four-wheeled off-road vehicles. It is often smooth and flow ...
References
External links
*{{official website, http://www.imba.com/
CNN: Idaho tops states on IMBA report cardSummit Daily News: IMBA to visit Breckenridge
International non-profit organizations
Non-profit organizations based in Colorado
Cycling organizations in the United States
Mountain biking teams and clubs in the United States
Mountain biking