James Koski (L) and Don Bain, founders of Cascade Huts, LLC.(Photo: Cascade Huts)

Three years ago, Intel employee Don Bain and his friend James Koski (Chief of Staff for Congressman Earl Blumenauer) took a ride from Durango to Moab on Colorado’s fabled hut-to-hut mountain bike route. They had such a good time, they wanted to […]

(File photo)

The Portland United Mountain Pedalers (PUMP) want to show Portland officials what singletrack is all about. They’ve sent an invite to City Commissioners, Parks Department staffers and other key stakeholders for a mountain bike ride through Forest Park later this month.
According to PUMP, the ride will show “what is possible if we focus […]

A packed meeting room at City Hall for last night’s Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting.File photo: 5/8/07

Symbolic of the pent-up demand for more mountain biking in Portland, nearly 40 people crammed into the Lovejoy Room inside City Hall last night for the most crowded Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) meeting I’ve ever attended.
The agenda […]

The City of Portland’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, which advises City Council on all bike-related matters, will host a discussion mountain biking in Portland, with members of the Board of the Portland United Mountain Pedalers.
Here’s an excerpt from the agenda:

PUMP’s Roger LoutonFile photo: 6/17/06

“Mountain bicycling is fast growing as a popular recreational activity. It is also […]

Future site of Bike Skills Park.Photo: Ric Balfour/City of Vernonia

Bikes Belong, a national coalition of bicycle manufacturers and retailers, has just announced they will give a $5,000 grant to the Vernonia Bike Skills Park.
Here’s the official word:
“Our funding is earmarked for construction of the skills development trail, the first element of the park. When complete, […]

Cities across the country are embracing mountain biking and adding singletrack trails to urban parks.

According to an article in the NY Times last Friday,
“…in cities from Philadelphia to Santa Fe, mountain biking is gaining as a viable urban activity. Extensive trail networks designated for the knobby-tire crowd, some many miles in length, now wind through […]

[Ric Balfour]

Trail advocate and planner Ric Balfour is spearheading an effort to transform the small town of Vernonia (about 45 miles west of Portland) into a cycling paradise.
The town already boasts the popular Banks-Vernonia Trail, a 20 mile Oregon State Parks trail between the towns of Banks and Vernonia, but Balfour sees much more potential […]

[Coming to North Plains March 5-6.]

Next week, Portland will host the largest slope-style mountain bike competition in the U.S.
The Wham Bam Thank You Jam will take place at the HindsightMX Indoor Motorcross Park in North Plains (just a few miles West of downtown Portland) and is expected to attract over 50 of the […]

[Timothy Lake]

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) has just released their eighth annual Report Card and Oregon has been named the “Top Dog” in the U.S.
In their official press release they mention local mountain bike club, the Portland United Mountain Pedalers (PUMP).
Here’s more from IMBA:
“Our reasons for making this selection go beyond outstanding riding. There’s […]

[Update: According to a rep from Friends of Forest Park—who were instrumental in making this trail happen—some minor work remains to complete this trail.]
Last Saturday was the second of two trail work parties to complete a new mountain bike trail in Forest Park. The trail, which extends off an existing firelane, is the […]

This Saturday, the Portland United Mountain Pedalers will break ground on the first bit of new mountain bike trails in Forest Park since 1988.
With a major assist from the Friends of Forest Park—who spearheaded the grant and permitting process—PUMP is holding a work party to make the new Firelane 5 trail a […]

[PUMP’s Roger Louton]

With a major assist from The Friends of Forest Park, mountain bikers are set to begin the process of planning and building a brand new piece of trail in Forest Park.
According to PUMP board member Roger Louton, the new trail will be an addition to the existing Firelane 5 fire access road. […]

[A slide from Andy Clarke’sMTB Summit presentation.]Photo R. Louton

Portland United Mountain Pedalers (PUMP) board member Roger Louton sees a golden opportunity to push for more singletrack mountain biking trails in Portland.
He just returned home from the IMBA World Mountain Bike Conference where he heard the Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists […]

Last Thursday the Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) Department held a public meeting to present their “twenty-year vision for developing Portland’s regional recreational trail system.”
In attendance was a small but influential group of representatives from many trail user and advocacy groups including; the BTA, Friends of Forest Park, Portland United Mountain Pedalers […]

Roger Louton, board member of the Portland United Mountain Pedalers and Western Oregon state representative for the International Mountain Bicycling Association, will attend the 2006 IMBA Summit/World Mountain Bike Conference this June in Whistler, BC.
According to their website, the Conference, “will be a global gathering of mountain bike advocates, trailbuilders, land managers, tourism professionals, ski […]