Over the Memorial Day Weekend in May, Steve Kasacek and Shane Wilson, IMBA Trail Solutions visited our area to evaluate our trails and local amenities for a mountain bike destination at the Bronze Level. This is a designation that attracts visitors from all over the world to travel here and enjoy our trails, local restaurants, bike shops, lodging and other outdoor recreation.
Unfortunately, we were just a few points short of making the grade, but if the points we need can be acquired within the 1 year grace period, we will be awarded the designation. The areas that we need to improve are adding more bike optimized trail, improve signage, trail maintenance all of which is attainable by August 30, 2020.
A Ride Center Designation is based on Traditional Singletrack, Bike Optimized, Gravity and Bike Park Features for all levels of ability. We have the Traditional Singletrack, but we need more of the other categories. Here is a quote from Steve Kasacek:
" Shane and I greatly enjoyed our time in the north Georgia mountains, it is clear there is something special there and the history of riding is rich. Its also obvious that the club and local partners have been making impressive gains when it comes to developing more high quality and modern riding options. We both look forward to a continuing partnership and helping ensure Elljay offers the best destination riding possible."
To that end, the Ride Center Report was very detailed and gives us the road map to plan and build more and better trails. NGMBA will be using this report to help guide our planning with our land managers in the future.