Wow! What a great season for trail riding in the Roaring Fork Valley!
A wet spring brought on a month or two of fast, tacky conditions and many trails stayed dry into November.
Each season – after the dust settles – RFMBA likes to take some time to reflect on what we accomplished in the past year and what our goals should be in the upcoming season.
This year we built new trails, flagged routes for future trails, lopped back overgrowth on existing trails, and even brought back a few lost and forgotten routes than need to be on your bucket list!
What the numbers tell us:
In 2019, RFMBA’s programs focused on maintaining, sustaining, and improving the existing trail network in the Roaring Fork Valley totaled 7,775 hours. Judging by that number alone, 2019 was a banner year for our trail efforts!
One thing to keep in mind. While, for example, we can quantify the number of miles the RFMBA Trail Crew cleared on a particular trail, we have difficulty knowing the miles of smiles that were spontaneously generated on the people riding that trail. How can one measure the bonds strengthened between riding buddies or the know the value of a soul searching solo ride at sunset?
For those things we can only guess the impact we are having judged by your continued membership, donations and volunteer support. Without you, there would not be an RFMBA and we certainly would not be enjoying so many trails, so close to home.
To those of you in the RFMBA family, we salute you and look forward to many more years and many more trails! Thanks to RFMBA members, supporters, and volunteers, RFMBA’s mission to create and sustain the best possible mountain bike trail system in the Roaring Fork Valley is moving forward!
The following is a report on the pertinent numbers we were able to quantify. The numbers of times you caught your breath at the top of a climb, or amount of time you were able to feel the rush of dropping into Father of Ginormous or Sunnyside or Grandstaff or Lightning Bug… that’s for you to keep track of… or not. It’s up to you.
Enjoy the ride! …. And see you next season.
Trail Agent Program
RFMBA’s Trail Agent Program trains and empowers volunteers to perform basic trail maintenance on their own time, with tasks and time reported through our online reporting system, unself.com.
The training program was developed as part of Volunteer Outdoor Colorado’s Outdoor Stewardship Institute. RFMBA intends to direct additional resources towards the program in coming years, increasing training opportunities and overall volunteer efforts dedicated to maintaining existing trails.
Trail Agent Program, total hours reported through Unself: 385 hours. Trails maintained include 242 hours on BLM trails & 74 hours on WRNF trails:
- Creekside
- Skillsaw
- Babbish Gulch
- Williams Trail
- Upper & Lower Dipsy Doodle
- Upper Freeman Creek
- Ole Roller
- Stairway Connector
- Prendergast Hill
- North Porcupine
- Outie
- Buckhorn
- Father of Ginormous
- Hobbit
- Secret
- Secret-Jedi
- Tinpot
- Hay Park Trail
- Monte Carlo Trail
- Prince Creek Trail
- Lorax
- Porcupine
- Lani White Trail
- Hunter Creek Trail
- Mill Creek
- Stairway to Heave
- Hummingbird
- Sunnyside
- Medaris
- Pubview
- Salty Dalty
- Alder Trail
- Ditch Trail
Seasonal Trail Crew
RFMBA’s Seasonal Trail Crew Program hires, trains and manages seasonal staff to perform basic trail maintenance, improve trails and trailheads, and in limited cases, assist with new trail build projects. The crew’s program of work focuses broadly on high-use front country trails and remote backcountry trails open to mountain bikes.
During 2019, the crew size ranged from 2 to 4 members from May through October. RFMBA intends to diversify funding sources for the program, ensuring the long term sustainability of the program.
Seasonal Trail Crew Program, total trail work hours: 2,250 hours
White River National Forest: 536 hours
- Hummingbird
- Hunter Creek Trail
- Hunter Creek Overlook
- Hobbit
- Secret
- Secret-Jedi
- Sunnyside
- Shadyside
- Government
- West Government
- Anaerobic Nightmare
- Hay Park
- Buzzard Basin
- Mill Creek
- Cattle Creek
- Red Table
- Forest Hollow
- Conundrum Trailhead
- Braderich Creek
- Coal Basin
- Lake Ridge Lakes
BLM: 770 hours
- Buckhorn Reroutes
- Vasten
- Monte Carlo
- Creekside
- Lorax
- Elk Traverse
- Northside Loop
- Outie
- Innie
- Undie
- Boy Scout
- Sweet Mother
- Ole Roller
- Crimson Ride
- Jasper
City of Glenwood Springs: 299 hours
- Grandstaff
- Tramway
- Lightning Bug
- Coal Camp
- Defiance
- Wulfsohn
- Stevie Bob
Town of Snowmass Village: 186 hours
- Hawk Ridge
- Highline
- Lowline
City of Aspen: 41 hours
Pitkin County OS&T: 62 hours
Volunteer Projects
RFMBA schedules, promotes, and manages public volunteer projects for
approved trail construction projects, open space clean-up efforts, and bike park maintenance projects.
Additionally, RFMBA is pleased to partner with Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers throughout the summer season by helping to select and promote public projects that improve trails open to bikes, and by managing our Volunteer Incentive Bike Giveaway Program that awards a lucky volunteer with a new full suspension mountain bike.
Volunteer Project Hours
- Undie trail build BLM Crown SRMA: 180 hours
- Town of New Castle: 48 hours
- Hawk Ridge Trail Build, Town of Snowmass Village: 132 hours
- Aspen FIFTY, course marshals for trails fundraiser: 192 hours.
- Coal Basin Mountain Bike Preserve trail build: 108 hours
Special Trail Building Crew
During summer 2019, RFMBA secured funding to contract and manage 11 weeks of Rocky Mt. Youth Corp crews to construct the Vasten Trail on the BLM’s Crown SRMA. Each week a crew of 10 worked 40 hours each resulting in 400 hours per week and 4,400 total hours for the project
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