Q&A with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance
I was recently able to connect with Patrick Walker, the Senior Marketing Manager of Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance. Read along as he answers questions about mountain biking resources, tips for beginners, and Evergreen’s role in the local mountain biking community.
Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance is a well-known organization in the mountain biking community. For people who may not know, can you highlight some of the key things that Evergreen does?
Evergreen has been a part of the Washington State mountain bike community for 30 years. Originally started as the Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club, with a small Seattle based membership, focused on opening access for mountain bikers on single track trails in the Puget Sound area. We have since grown to be the largest statewide nonprofit mountain bike advocacy and trail building organization in the United States. We now have over 6,000 members and 8 chapters across the state, and build more trail miles each year than any other trail building organization.
Key local projects include Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park in Issaquah, Tiger Mountain, Raging River, St. Edwards Park, Big Finn Hill, and the North Bend pump track. Our mission is to Create, Maintain and Protect Sustainable Mountain Bike Trails in Washington State, with a vision of making Washington the best place to ride!
Our work includes advocating for access and funding for trails; collaboration with other trail users to reduce conflict and increase access; building and maintaining world class mountain bike trails; creating a strong MTB community through group rides and events; and providing tools for riders, to build skills and confidence on the trail, through our professionally led clinics and camps.
Are there any resources you recommend for individual practice/training, bike maintenance, or trip planning in the Washington area?
Our website offers a number of resources from trail information, to skill building opportunities, to blog posts and links to information riders can use. Additionally your best resource can often be your local bike shop (LBS), the people who work there ride (probably a lot) and know what opportunities and other services are available in your local area.
Do you have any general advice for new riders?
Get out and ride! The more you do, the better you will get, and more fun you will have. Say hello! Whether you are passing from behind or approaching another rider, speak up and say hi! Give way to horses, hikers and uphill riders. Avoid closed trails, whether it's because of conditions (too wet), maintenance or construction, stay off! Pack it in, Pack it out, we ride in beautiful places, let's keep it that way. Know your limits, pushing limits is fun, blowing up and crashing is not. Look before you leap and build up to new challenges. Turn it down, a lot of us like to roll with a personal soundtrack, if you ride with tunes be sure your earbuds are at a level where you can hear other riders, and please keep your bluetooth speakers at home. Support your trails, great trails don't just happen. Many trails that are new to you have taken decades to build, be sure you give back by supporting Evergreen through donation, membership or volunteering to do trailwork!
Can you offer some suggestions of ways people can get involved in the local mountain biking community, outside of just riding the trails?
The Evergreen Calendar is full of opportunities to connect with other riders. Events, clinics, and volunteer work parties bring a fun bunch of folks together who love to ride bikes.
Are there any other frequently asked questions about local mountain biking and/or Evergreen as an organization that you’d like to address?
Electric pedal-assist mountain bikes (e-MTBs) are becoming very popular, they are getting more people out riding bikes and that's a good thing!
New owners of e-MTBs may not be aware of where they are legally allowed to ride. Riders need to know that all non-motorized single track trails are CLOSED UNLESS POSTED AS OPEN TO E-MTBS. If there is no signage identifying a trail as open to e-MTB, don't ride your e-MTB there. Detailed information and maps can be found here on our website.
If you are not an e-MTB rider, don't be a jerk if you see someone riding their e-MTB on a closed trail. It's the land manager’s job to enforce the rules, not yours. We are all here to have a good time, be polite and informative, reach out to the land manager (if you feel the need), and enjoy your ride.
Thank you, Patrick! Look forward to seeing you out on the trails!