CBMBA dealing with its success on trails and off

Preventing conflicts between the public and ranchers is key

Travelling down the intricate mountain bike trails around Crested Butte, it may never occur to the rider the years of development behind each path. Unbeknownst to most, a small village tinkers away behind the scenes, perpetuating nearly 400 miles of recreational trail.

For 31 years the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association, or CBMBA, has been the life force behind one of the valley’s most treasured pastimes. Equal parts passion and altruism drive the CBMBA, a non-profit organization led by president John Chandler and vice presidents Dave Ochs and Doug Bradbury. Responsible for planning, constructing and maintaining the majority of mountain bike trails in Crested Butte, the club works year-round to provide recreation for locals and tourists alike.
“It used to be that in the winter, there would be nothing. Now, if you can believe it, we have meetings all winter long, and it’s all of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes,” Bradbury said.
Much has changed since 1983 when Don and Kay Cook started the world’s first mountain bike club. Within the last few years, according to Chandler, involvement in the CBMBA has grown to include men and women of a younger generation, transforming the energy of the club and enabling a more diverse workflow.
“In a lot of realms we have seen a lot of young folks coming into the fray, and that has helped the club in ways I can’t explain,” said Chandler. “They are good riders and have a vision for the trail, so they come in and are allowed to speak their minds, show us what to do, and I think you see it in the quality of the trails that come out of the club now. It’s phenomenal.”
The increase in memberships came at an auspicious moment, as the last six years have generated an unprecedented amount of opportunities for building new trails. Whereas a decade ago the club was scrambling for projects, today they find it difficult to keep their heads above water, especially as a volunteer organization.
Ochs explained that with the expansion of CBMR trails and easement acquisitions through various land trust properties in the upper valley, the opportunity for new trails has skyrocketed.
“It’s funny how when it rains, it pours; when it comes in, it comes in thick. We’ve gone years where we had no trails to work on, where we were just scrounging for maintenance projects, but the last five years we’ve gotten opportunities to put trails in,” Ochs explained.
However, since the CBMBA is constantly in a state of flux, Bradbury believes the building of new trails will soon level out, shifting the focus back to maintenance.
“All of the sudden there was just this coming together where there was a real heyday of trail building, and we are sort of in the middle of it,” he said. “I can start to see it peaking, as far as 100 percent new, but at the same time that’s what I said a couple of years ago, too. Eventually there maybe won’t be as many new ones, and we’ll get into more of just maintenance of the ones we’ve got.”
One of the most significant factors attributed to the development of new trails is an improved relationship with local ranchers, something Bradbury, the retired inventor of Manitou Mountain Bikes, has been at the forefront of cultivating. An innovator at heart, Bradbury engineered improved cattle guards dubbed “metal rollovers,” in hopes of eliminating the need for gates and preventing the accidental release of cows.
“Basically I figured it all out and then just built them in my shop. I welded them all, cut them, developed a jig,” Bradbury said. “It’s like building a bicycle—it’s the same sort of thing as far as production of rollovers, and it was something to do in the middle of winter, a reason to keep the shop warm.”
Similar to a raised cattle guard, the rollovers are made up of steel pipes about four to five inches across and weighing around 350 pounds. Understanding that the structures would need to be transported to areas inaccessible by a car, Bradbury designed the rollovers to come apart prior to assembly.
With the acquisition of the Lupine Trail and out of respect for the area’s ranchers, Bradbury began by building three metal rollovers for the Lower Loop area. The trend quickly caught on and the request for rollovers started flooding in. By the end of the winter, Bradbury had constructed and installed 10 metal rollovers for various areas, including Strand Hill, Farris Creek and Deer Creek.
Preventing conflicts between the public and ranchers is a key part of ensuring that future projects can move forward, such as the proposed Crested Butte to Gunnison trail.
Advocated as a method to boost the economy through recreation, the CBMBA—in conjunction with local advocacy group Gunnison Trails and the International Mountain Bicycling Association, IMBA—has worked tirelessly to convince the Forest Service and state congresspeople of the economic benefits the trail would provide.
“We are recreation-based, and the trails around here are some of our biggest economic draws for tourism. To include something as epic as connecting Gunnison and Crested Butte, two major mountain bike destinations, would be an amazing amenity for this town,” Ochs explained.
For decades, mountain biking in the valley has attracted tourists from all over the world, and in recent years that attraction has increased as more trails become available. According to Ochs, many locals complain that the trail system in Crested Butte is too intermediate-friendly, causing a great deal of congestion and misuse.
“We get a lot of comments. People get upset that we made the trail easier, or that all of the trails are being made to allow more intermediate bikers instead of making them expert trails,” he said.
Contrary to the grievances, Ochs argues that Crested Butte actually maintains a higher level of trail difficulty than most other mountain biking destinations, by offering a very low number of beginner trails.
“We are a mountain bike mecca with very minimal green trails,” he said. “We have no green trails really. We would like to see some easier trails and ways to get newbies or beginners out to enjoy the experience. Not to go out, trip over a rock, get a black eye and say ‘I never want to do this again.’”
Perhaps the most important mission of the CBMBA is their work with the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative, a coalition aimed at protecting the valley from irresponsible development. As a stakeholder, the CBMBA has partnered with other coalition members, including Gunnison Trails, the High Country Conservation Advocates, the IMBA and the Wilderness Society, to create a legislative proposal that would prevent the obstruction of recreational lands.
“It’s been a unique process in terms of how this has grown and evolved, and to what extent certain areas have taken on certain designations and what the plans are for preservation. We are all on the same page, which is the bottom line. We all want to see our land preserved, and with that being said we just want to recreate at the same time,” Ochs said.
While the commitment to its various undertakings is never lacking, it has become increasingly difficult for the CBMBA, an organization that operates strictly off membership fees, donations and the occasional grant, to keep up with growing demands. For years the board has toyed with the idea of hiring a paid executive director, but Chandler explains they have struggled to obtain the necessary funds.
“I’ll be honest, we don’t know the steps to take to have that paid executive director,” he said. “People have talked about helping us write and look for grants, and we’ve gotten a few, but you just don’t have the time to go out there and look for the money.”
At the same time, some board members worry about the consequences of a compensated staff. Many resort towns that shift to a paid basis tend to see a decrease in community turnout for certain events, such as trail workdays.
“We are doing it for the love, and then all of the sudden when you get to that point where you are getting paid for it, now you’re responsible, and then all of the sudden it turns a corner. It tends to change the dynamic,” Bradbury explained. “That’s been the beauty of this club since day one—it’s community-driven. If you look at the amount of physical work that has gotten done by this club, it’s just huge. I can’t think of any other organization in the valley that is doing the same, especially all for free.”
Though the demands of the job are often overwhelming, Chandler praises the community for its constant outpouring of support, which he says carries them through the most difficult times.
“It’s just great having the whole community come out,” he concluded. “Every time you’re at a trail workday and they say thanks, every time you hear a positive comment, anyone you meet, it just makes you feel good. It’s why we do it.”