upcoming Trail Fest.
(Photos © J. Maus)
The Northwest Trail Alliance has announced the first annual Portland Trail Fest. The event, which organizers says will become their annual signature event, will be a four day “celebration of trails, knobby tires, and the planet.”
Beginning on Earth Day (4/22), the Trail Fest will start with a party at the headquarters of Chris King Precision Components in Portland’s Northwest Industrial Area (rumor has it this event will be held on their roof which overlooks Forest Park). The party will be emceed by Joe “Metal Cowboy” Kurmaskie and the Director of the International Mountain Bicycling Association, Mike Van Abel will make a keynote speech on “the current state of affairs and the future of mountain biking across the globe and in our backyard.”
Mike Van Abel will keynote.
On Friday, the Trail Fest — which could be thought of as Portland first-ever mountain bike summit — will turn its attention to trail advocacy and policy issues. The NWTA and IMBA will hold meetings with local land management agencies and there will be a leisurely “PDX Advocacy Ride” followed by a social.
Saturday’s agenda will take mountain bikers outside of Portland to a new trail system on BLM land just east of Sandy. The Sandy Ridge Trail System (which features we reported on back in August 2008) is about a half-hour drive from Portland and features trails designed with the held of IMBA and the NWTA is the BLM’s official volunteer and stewardship partner. There will be a “trail care party” followed by a ride.
On Sunday, the Fest wraps up with a “fun-filled day of riding some of the sweetest trails in our region and featuring various group rides in and around Portland, for all levels of riders.”
Learn more about the Trail Fest on the NWTA website.
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Sounds great. Nice going NWTA!
The name of the event is confusing. It makes it sound like an event for ALL trail users. It should be called Portland Mt. Bike Fest, or some such,
Sounds like a lot of fun. Excellent work!
we are all trail users.
I volunteer to be the “Editor-in-Chief’s” proof reader.
Hey fatblackandsurly, If I made an error somewhere, feel free to email me at jonathan@bikeportland.org and point it out. I strive for perfection and I appreciate the extra set of eyes. — Jonathan
Could someone actually give directions to the Sandy Ridge Trail system.
Both NWTA and Bike Portland give zero information other than “a half hour drive from Portland” and “just east of Sandy”.
Hey Anonymous…#6
“Could someone actually give directions to the Sandy Ridge Trail system.
Both NWTA and Bike Portland give zero information other than “a half hour drive from Portland” and “just east of Sandy”.
Learn how to use the search function. There is one on the NWTA site.
Anonymous: after you ride the system out in Sandy, be sure to log back on and Thank the PUMP (now NWTA) members who attended the Sandy Trail planning meetings and advocated for the plan that added the most MTB trails. We spoke up, they listened. And when there is a trail maintainence event, roll up your sleeves and help out. It’s fun and rewarding!
And someday, if the Barlow Trail system plan gets implemented, you will be able to ride to this trail complex from PDX, off road, all the way.
Here is a link to some info on the Sandy Ridge Trail system. It takes me a little over an hour to get out there from north Portland. Stop in at the Skyway Bar and Grill a little east of the trailhead post ride for snacks, brews, etc. Nice folks at this electic, down-home spot in Zigzag.
Gotta love it when you mouse over the picture it still says “PUMP’s Forest Park Mountain Bike tour”!
Re: I volunteer to be the “Editor-in-Chief’s” proof reader.
I read the sentence incorrectly. I apologize for the remark. Carry on!
Thanks for the usual unfriendly advice of use the search function etc.
It might actually be useful to include more detailed directions to a location in the actual article or web page related to the event.
But then again it’s only good business to make it easy for people to get to your events.
As for building trails I am IMBA trained. I just moved to Oregon and thought that this would be a good way to get involved with trail building again, but if the responses I got here today are any indication of the type of people I will be involved with I might just skip this altogether.
Sorry for trying to get some clarification and make it easier for more people to get to the venue.
Anonymous (#12):
I added the Sandy Ridge Trail System web page and map link to the event flyer. Thanks for the suggestion!
Please do not get discouraged by the less-than-courteous response you received here from some other commenters. I don’t think these comments reflect the inclusiveness of Northwest Trail Alliance. A summary scan of our forum will show you that our officers and active members are all very welcoming to riders who just moved to the area or people who are new to the sport.
We have a lot of very exciting trail projects we are involved with and we’ll need all the help we can get.
If you like to help out with any specific trail or other project, just shoot me an email. Another good way to get involved is attending our monthly social and network there with the various trail stewards in our region.
Best,
Kris Schamp
Marketing & Communications Director
Northwest Trail Alliance
kris@nw-trail.org
PS: a map will tell you only so much about a trail… if you like to get an idea how much fun it is to ride the Sandy Ridge Trail System, you should check out this video. Enjoy!