It is now November 10th and as promised, here are the nominations for your Western MMBA Chapter leaders. Please read and respond with your vote or comments to ricejennbud at yahoo dot com. IF there are not enough votes via this electronic process, then voting will also take place at the December 1st, 2008 meeting.
Nominations:

Jason Dew - Vice President - accepted
About Jason:
[Editor’s note: Current and extremely active Western MMBA member, including many hours of trail work.]

Martin Hall - Treasurer - accepted
About Martin Hall:
Caledonia, MI

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Over the weekend of October 10th - 12th, the Western MMBA held its Epic North Country Trail Ride. It all started on a beautiful Fall Friday afternoon as everyone met up at the Pere Marquette River Lodge, which sits along M-37 in Baldwin, MI. One of the great features of the lodge was the main room, where folks relaxed and mused over the ride information until it was time to head out to dinner. Dinner choices were narrowed down to Smokeys (for ribs, etc.) or Woodys (for pizza, etc.). Having eaten at Woody’s, I can say it would only be fair to place as much emphasis on the “etc.” as the excellent pizza.

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Election time! No, not McCain or Obama…

The positions Western MMBA is looking to fill are listed below. As
each nominated member accepts, they are encouraged to write an
informational paragraph so members know more about them. I will
post all of the paragraphs here once the nomination period has ended.

Nominations are being accepted now. The last day to submit a
nomination is November 10th, 2008.  Voting will then begin November 17th
and end November 21st.

Postions open for nominations:

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

State Representative

Thank You,
Jennifer Bechtel
ricejennbud at yahoo dot com

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October 24 & 25 at the Cannonsburg Ski Area.

In addition to runnig a normal trail day, we will be demoing a toro dingo.

Two attachments are being considered, the tiller and the heavy bucket.

Friday will be spent in the skills area and Saturday will be spent on the xc trail.

Reports from IMBA trail Solutions are that a skilled operator can cut 1-3 miles of benchcut trail in day-

depending on terrain and soil composition. Optimistically we are hoping for around a 1/2 mile each day.

Another consideration is how to best utilize a trail crew.

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One of the Kent County Park System’s largest and most beautiful gems sits mostly unnoticed and largely unused, barely two miles from downtown Rockford.
by AL PRATT

Luton Park, a 265-acre natural wonderland, nestled between Kies and 10 Mile roads West of town, is named for Harry Luton, a retired Grand Rapids-area dentist, and his wife Josephine. In 1993, the couple, whose son John operates his accounting business in downtown Rockford, donated almost 160 acres of the land that makes up the park, to Kent County. They had owned the land since the early 1950’s. Additional acreage purchased by the county in 2000 expanded the park to its current size.

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There is a great photo documentary of the I-5 Colonnade Trail project in located in Seattle on MTBR.  I would love to see us incorporate some these trail building techniques into our trails. 

This wooden berm would be a huge improvement over the washed out berm (which I take responsibility for) locatd at the top of the first descent at Cannonsburg Ski Area. 

Check out this paving! More information on the Colonnade project can be found here. 

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Join us Wednesday Evening, July 30th, 2008 for a “Introduction to Luton Park Group Ride”

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Saturday July 19th.

2nd annual westernMMBA ale and trail potluck extravaganza.

We supply the grills and chapter member Cramer is graciously supplying his backyard for an afternoon of riding, grilling, and general tomfoolery. Bring something to grill for yourself and something to pass- homebrewers this your chance to dazzle us with your best. Meet up at the Cannonsburg Ski Area by the westernMMBA tool trailer.

The group rides start at 2pm. 2 options will be offered.

• A - combination of the ski area, the game area, and some hilly roads.
• B - same as above at a much more relaxed pace.

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GRAND RAPIDS — Steve Kunnath and Sue Swiger wish they could have used bike lanes when they rode into downtown from their home in the city’s Alger Heights neighborhood Wednesday evening.

Press Photo/T.J. HamiltonFrom left, Krista Niedenthal, Justin Mast and ErinSweeney, all of Grand Rapids, look over a proposed use for sites along the Grand River.

“Bike lanes did not bring us here. That’s why we’re here,” said Kunnath as the couple locked up their bicycles in front of DeVos Place for a community-wide “Green Grand Rapids” planning session.

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Work continues at Luton Park biketrail

by Michael Taylor

Monday June 23, 2008, 1:49 PM

A volunteer work crew move rocks and branches at Luton Park, much of which is currently being developed into a network of looping bicycle and hiking trails by the Western Michigan Mountain Biking Association.

Whether you’re a weekend pedal pusher or a pro-level mountain bike racer, you’ll find something to like at trails currently being developed at Luton Park in Rockford. The county recently rubber-stamped the project, spearheaded by the Western Michigan Mountain Biking Association. According to association vice president Rick Plite, the first stage of development–two “loops” totaling 1¾ miles–is already completed. When the project is finished, sometime within the next two years, the park will boast six miles of pristine biking and hiking trails.

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