BAMBA News May 2012
| BAMBA News May 2012 |
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Anthill Film Strength in Numbers Premier Come out and support BAMBA and the Eagle Bike Park at the premier of Anthill Films new movie Strength in Numbers. Tickets go on sale at 6:30 on Thursday May 10th at The Northgate Reel Theatre. Movie and raffle from 7:00 – 9:00pm. Big thanks to Eric Denning and the Reel Theatre for donating their theater again. Show some love and buy some popcorn.
Trail Work this Weekend BAMBA is asking for volunteers to help with trail work this weekend on the Shake n’ Bake downhill trail. The trail coordinators for the city (Ian Fitzpatrick and Patrick Harper) will be leading volunteers both Saturday and Sunday May 5th and 6th.
The Lease is Complete! The BAMBA board has been working diligently with the city and county over the last two years to create an environment where the Eagle Bike Park can be properly maintained and cared for. One piece of this puzzle was for the county to expand the lease of the City of Eagle so that the city can manage the entire park. The new lease was signed this week which is a huge step forward in the proper management of the park. Thanks to everyone at the City of Eagle and Ada County who made this happen. Renew your BAMBA/IMBA Membership! Now that the city has taken over management of the bike park they are working closely with the Boise Area Mountain Bike Association to help provide direction from IMBA and trained volunteers. While you’re renewing your membership, get a BAMBA bumper sticker for your other ride. Get one for your significant other too! They’ll love you for it! Help promote BAMBA by rock’n your hot off the press BABMA sticker. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s BAMBA!
Recent BAMBA Accomplishments
BAMBA Projects and Goals
Planned rides: Sign-up at: http://groups.google.com/group/bamba-rides?hl=en to receive BAMBA Ride notifications Stay in touch! Visit http://eaglebikepark.org/ for news and events. |
BAMBA Bumper Sticker!
BAMBA Bumper stickers!
To get yours, email BAMBA.imba@gmail.com
Or, come to the BAMBA Movie Fundraiser – Anthill Film Strength in Numbers Premier
$2 each! What a deal and a great way to show your support for BAMBA!
BAMBA Movie Fundraiser – Anthill Film Strength in Numbers Premier
Come out and support BAMBA and the Eagle Bike Park at the premier of Anthill Films new movie ”Strength in Numbers”.
Tickets go on sale at 6:30 on Thursday May 10th at the Northgate Reel Theatre.
Movie and raffle from 7:00 – 9:00pm.
Big thanks to Eric Denning and The Reel Theatre for donating their theater again. Show some love and buy some popcorn.
BAMBA News April 2012
| BAMBA News April 2012 |
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Note from Eagle City Council member Mary Defayette:
Hello BAMBA Members: I just wanted to provide a brief update on the exciting progress we have been making towards our goal of making the Eagle Bike Park a marquee recreational destination. As I mentioned before, the City of Eagle committed to make a contribution of $8,000 towards the ongoing maintenance of the bike park once we signed a land use agreement with the county. I am happy to report that the city and county are very close to finalizing that agreement and we should be able to report final progress on that project within the next month. As part of that agreement, the City and our attorney have been working very close with the BAMBA board in crafting our overall maintenance strategy for the 2012 biking season. At a high level, we have agreed that the contribution of $8,000 will be used to fund 1-2 part time trail coordinators and associated materials needed to perform basic trail maintenance at the park. One of the keystones of our strategy will be the volunteer process we are creating for groups like BAMBA to become involved in at the park. Once the agreement is in place, all trail projects will need to be coordinated with our trail managers. This means if you want to do trail maintenance, have trail improvement ideas or simply want to donate time and/or materials, you can meet with a coordinator, explain your ideas and work out a plan to get that project done. There are several benefits to working with our trail coordinator(s).
Speaking of volunteering, if you want to get a head start on making a difference at the park, please email the trail coordinator(s) at trails@eaglebikepark.org Also, the budget process for the City will be taking place this summer and if the Eagle Sports Complex is close to your heart, it’s imperative that the Council hears it from YOU! We’ll keep you posted on times and dates for public testimony on funding this jewel. Thanks again for all you have done to make the Eagle Bike Park a great cycling destination. I look forward to a great 2012 season! Best regards,
Eagle Bike Park Trail Maintenance Day When: April 21, 2012 (9am-2pm) Where: Eagle Bike Park (Utility Shed near the skate park) Hey cyclists, it’s that time of year again when we need to focus on fixing the wrath mother nature (and those who rode when it was muddy) has wrought on our trail system. BAMBA will be hosting a trail work day April 21, 2012 from 9am till 2pm to fix erosion, improve drainage, and shape and adjust jumps on the freeride lines. We will be breaking into several groups to address as many different areas of the park as possible. Crew leaders with experience to lead small crews will be greatly appreciated. So come out and give some love back to the trails you love to ride! Please bring a shovel as we may be limited on tools. Please RSVP by emailing the trail coordinators at trails@eaglebikepark.org
Upcoming Events at the Eagle Bike Park: We have several events coming up at the Eagle Bike Park including races from the Velopark Grand Prix and Wild Rockies. The YMCA is also doing their Off Road Sprint Triathlon out there in May. Visit the Eagle Bike Park website for an update on ways to get involved: http://eaglebikepark.org/upcoming-events/
Movie Fundraiser – Anthill Film “Strength in Numbers” The BAMBA board is currently planning our next movie fundraiser for Thursday May 10th. We will be premiering “Strength in Numbers”. More details will be coming soon but here is a quick teaser to get everyone stoked about the event:
Planned rides: Sign-up at: http://groups.google.com/group/bamba-rides?hl=en to receive BAMBA Ride notifications
Stay in touch! Visit http://eaglebikepark.org/ for news and events. |
BAMBA News Jan 2012
| BAMBA News Jan 2012 |
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Happy New Year! It’s been a while since the last newsletter, but we’re here to fill you in!
Sean Pinder Eagle Project: Sean’s project involved fixing a trail, which suffered heavy erosion caused by rain. They had lots of tools and machinery that helped them fix the trail and reshape it to protect from further erosion. Over the course of 6 hours, Sean and his volunteers were able to make the trail much safer for all trail users. BAMBA coordinated with Ridges to Rivers to have one of their equipment operators complete the excavation work so the scouts could rake, shape, and pack the new water bars and repaired trail surface. Braden Evans Scout Project:
Braden Evans is a Life Scout in Troop 317 in Eagle. Braden’s project consisted of 3 things:
Austen Nelson Scout Project:
Austen Nelson also worked with BAMBA to complete some erosion control work on a freeride trail for his Eagle Scout project. A large section of eroding trail was stabilized using cinder blocks including the landing for a drop and a steep eroding section of trail leading into a jump. The scouts who volunteered logged over 300 hours of service to complete the project which included hauling blocks across the hillside and installing them into the trail.
Good job guys! Thanks for making this happen…
New Eagle City Council members ready to help bike park….
As a new Eagle City Councilwoman, I was very excited to make one of my very first motions that we add an Eagle CC liaison position to BAMBA. After meeting with several board members and supporters in December I felt it was imperative that City of Eagle embrace and support the many volunteers that have worked tirelessly on the Eagle Bike Park. I am thrilled to be the liaison and look forward to working with this fine group towards an even better park with the cooperation of the City of Eagle. I encourage all of you to participate in the budget process to make sure that the City Council hears about the needs of this jewel of Eagle. Mary Defayette Mary’s PIC sourced from City of Eagle ( http://www.cityofeagle.org )
A local Rider’s Shameful Secret: This story was submitted by a local rider… Click photo for a good read. Do you know that bike?
Friendly reminder to share the trail and be respectful to other trail users when you’re out there… Our reputation depends on you! Here’s a link to IMBA’s Rules of the Trail
Upcoming Events:
Planned rides:
Stay in touch! |
City of Eagle Provides Funding for Unique Bike Park
| BAMBA News |
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BAMBA BREAKING NEWS! City of Eagle Provides Funding for Unique Bike Park February 16, 2012—By unanimous vote, the Eagle City Council agreed to contribute critically needed funding to the Eagle Bike Park (located at the Eagle Sports Complex) on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Eagle City is partnering with the local International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) chapter, Boise Area Mountain Bike Association (BAMBA), to jointly use these funds to support the park.
The Eagle Bike Park, located north of Floating Feather on old Highway 55, is one of the largest public cycling venues in the western United States with over 12 miles of trails and over 300 acres of land. Many of the trails are multi-use and are enjoyed by hikers, walkers, runners, dog enthusiasts and equestrian’s. Newly elected Councilwoman Mary Defayette (and BAMBA liaison) said, “I look forward to working closely with BAMBA for the future development of this incredible jewel. It’s great to see so many valley residents of all ages enjoying the park. There is so much potential for regional and even national events and the unanimous approval of funding by the Council speaks to the importance of this park to our community.”
Brad Nelson, a founding member of BAMBA, agrees with Dafayette’s assessment of the park’s potential. “One of the remarkable attributes of the Eagle Bike Park is its unique progression for riders—they can start out beginners and progress to experts in many of the cycling disciplines without ever leaving the park. When IMBA came out for a site visit they were most impressed with the level of progression that was designed into the park. It is fantastic to join the progressive thinking of the Eagle City Council to the progressiveness of the park. This is the first of many steps to making the Eagle Bike Park the gem that Mary speaks about.” First time Councilman, Mark Butler echoes their feelings from a slightly different perspective. “This park is a real treasure in our community–the trails are so cool! I am happy that all the awesome volunteers are willing to make this park an ever increasing quality location for folks to recreate at!” Much work remains but all agree that this is a great beginning.
About BAMBA: Boise Area Mountain Bike Association (BAMBA) was formed in 2011 as the local chapter of the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA). BAMBA membership is filled with riders from all the disciplines of cycling and from all walks of life. One of BAMBA’s main charters is working to preserve the unique attributes of the bike park at the Eagle Sports Complex. BAMBA prides itself being associated with a biking venue that is one of the largest and most diverse of its kind in the country. BAMBA also supports group rides, educational efforts and fund raising events to support biking in general in the Treasure Valley.
Stay in touch!
Visit http://eaglebikepark.org/ for news and events. If you Facebook, you can Like us at: Eagle Bike Park |
Supporting Eagle Bike Park
Some of the accomplishments of BAMBA this year:
The formation of a chapter of IMBA – the International Mountain Bicycling Association
Over 1200 volunteer hours for the year bringing the total over 11,000 in 4 years. Volunteer work consisted of repair, improvement, erosion control, and week control on multi-use and downhill bike trails at the park.
2 fundraisers and a membership drive raising over $6000 for the bike park
Worked with eagle scouts to complete several important erosion control projects including:
- Installing cinder blocks for erosion control purposes on several areas of the new freeride trail. (Austen Nelson and Bradon Evans)
- Installing sections of fence to protect a sensitive slick spot location. (Bradon Evans)
- Installing fence and reseeding the eroding hillside below the pump track. (Bradon Evans)
- Rebuilding and installing water bars on the return trail for freeride lines next to the pump track. (Sean Pinder working with Ridge to Rivers and BAMBA)
- Donation from Lowes and installation of tool storage shed. (Levi Smith)
BAMBA also worked with city managers and received the following commitments from the city:
- Complete a lease with the county that extends the city’s lease to include all trails at the park.
- Complete a land use agreement with BAMBA to allow the organization to assist the city in maintenance of trails.
- Pay a landscaping company to spray herbicide in select areas to help control weeds on trails.
- Pay a landscaping company to assist with weed control on trails.
Despite the commitments from the city, none of the above four items were completed by the city. The city, however, did find $1300 within their budget to have goats eat weeds in a small section of the southwest corner of the park. The city also helped pay for fencing materials for one of the Eagle Scout projects.
In September of this year BAMBA created the following presentation and met before the city council:
Eagle City Pre-Council Meeting presentation
While the meeting with the mayor and city council was not scheduled until after 2012 budget negotiations had already been completed, BAMBA did have a chance to present the following ideas to them. While not enough to cover all the needs of the park, the city did say they would try to spend 1-2K for maintenance in 2012, which is a start. It would be great if the city approached the county to ask them to help provide funding for trails as well. As a comparison point, the trails in the Ridge to Rivers system are funded at ~$2200 per mile which is consistent with funding recommendations from the International Mountain Bicycling Association. At $1-2K for 2012, the Eagle Bike Park trails maintenance budget is $80-$160 per mile.
Elections for Mayor and City Council are being held November 8th, 2011. BAMBA has created a questionnaire for candidates of this election to determine their position on funding and support for the bike park. Following are the responses that have been obtained so far. BAMBA encourages members of the community to get out and vote for candidates who are willing to support the continued success of, and proper funding for the Eagle Bike Park.
Mark Butler can be contacted via email at: markleebutler@gmail.com or by phone: 208-939-7444
Gary Tanner can be contacted via email at: gtanner@evanskeane.com or by phone: 208-384-1800
Norm Semanko can be contacted via email at: semanko@rmci.net or by phone: 208-863-7921
Mary Defayette can be contacted via email at: press@mytowninformer.com or by phone: 208-440-1252
September BAMBA Newsletter
| BAMBA News September 2011 |
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Lots of trail maintenance been happening at Eagle Bike Park! August 10th an LDS youth group from the Eagle 6th Ward came out and performed trail maintenance at Eagle Bike Park (EBP). In the past some of the kids (and even a few of the adults) have raced BMX and mountain biked at EBP. They were looking for a community service project and this fit perfectly. They worked for only a few hours but were successful in clearing weeds off much of the BMX track and weed wacked along a few of the mountain bike tracks.
Ed Newgen was gracious enough to provide cold bottled water which was much appreciated as it was very hot and dusty as you can imagine. The group consisted of 9 adults running weed wackers and about 30 high school kids. Here’s a group pic sporting their Ephesians 6:6-7 shirts. (Scripture reads, “Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men”). Late August a bunch of weed-eaters came out to the park and spent about 3 days grazing… ( Pic from Facebook: Reed Cycle )
Sept. 3rd, a few folks went out and worked on Junk Yard and shoveled up all that dirt that washed down the hill and covered the handicap parking area. I had a good friend visiting form California and I put her to work shoveling dirt. Thanks Wendy! You can come back anytime…
Sept. 4th, Pastor Ed from Eagle Nazarene Church brought over 100 people to clean the park, repair some trails and they did an amazing job. The park looks great! Here are some after shots…. We owe them a huge thank you!
Upcoming Events: High school club rides – open to all high school age riders. Please email jtgallegos0313@gmail.com for more info… Planned rides: September Stay in touch!
Visit http://eaglebikepark.org/ for news and events. |
HALLOWEEN NIGHT RIDE!
What:
Halloween Night Ride
When:
Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 @ 7:00 PM – around 9:30 PM
Where:
Eagle Bike Park, Eagle ID
Fees:
Free!
RSVP:
Please RSVP at: board@eaglebikepark.org so we get an idea how many are coming… ( you can also RSVP on Facebook: Eagle Bike Park )
Route:
TBD
Details:
As the flyer states, this is a NO-One left behind ride. Depending on participation, we may have different speed groups.
Bring lights and your normal bike gear…
— Will post more details as they become available…
