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

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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 ***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 *** 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 Cit ...

(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 (Silver level) *

Copper Harbor, Michigan Copper Harbor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Grant Township. The population of the CDP was 136 as of the 2020 census. The communit ...

(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 ...

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(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 (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,

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(Bronze level) * Santos, Florida (Bronze level) * Singltrek pod Smrkem, Czech Republic/Poland (Bronze level) *Snowshoe Highlands, West Virginia (Bronze Leve

* Redlands, California (Bronze level) On July 9, 2013, Virginia Governor

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announced that a Richmond Region Ride Center would open in 2014 in the

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , 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 tenth-largest city in Arkansas, United States and the county seat of Benton County. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers adjacent to the east. The city is the birthplace of and world headquarters locatio ...

(2016).

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

Trail support and maintenance

Affiliated organizations

Ride Centers

See also

References

External links