The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

educational association that aims to create and preserve trails for mountain bikers worldwide. The IMBA promotes

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

, trail building, and trail maintenance. The IMBA has developed a set of principles known as the "Rules of the Trail", which promote responsibility on shared-use and

single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

trails.

History

The IMBA was formed in 1988 by the Concerned Off Road Bicyclists Association, Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay, Bicycle Trails Council of Marin, Sacramento Rough Riders and Responsible Organized Mountain Pedalers. Gibson Anderson of Sacramento was the IMBA's first elected executive director. In 1993, IMBA hired Tim Blumenthal, a former IMBA board member and cycling journalist, to serve as their second executive director. When Blumenthal began, the organization had roughly 1,200 individual members and about 60 affiliated clubs. The headquarters moved to

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, in 1994. In 1997, an international summit was held in Switzerland. It held educational outreach programs, such as the Trail Care Crews, which was sponsored by

Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...

Corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

. At the end of 1999, IMBA had more than 28,000 individual members, 14 staffers and a budget of $1.2 million. In 2006, IMBA's membership grew to 32,000 members, with a staff of 26 and more than 600 affiliated clubs.

Affiliated organizations

*Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance * Jersey Off Road Bicycle Association *Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists
Northwest Trail Alliance
(formerly Portland United Mountain Pedalers) *Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association *

SouthWest Association of Mountain Bike Pedalers The SouthWest Association of Mountain Bike Pedalers (SWAMP) club is an association of mountain bikers that creates, and maintains mountain biking trails in Florida. The organization has built and maintains trails in several parks, including Alafia ...

(SWAMP) *Valley Mountain Bikers

Ride Center

IMBA has created a "Ride Center" designation where sites that feature "extensive trail networks" are recognized and rated. IMBA staff select candidates for "Ride Center" recognition on an invitation-only basis. As of December 2013, the following is a list of IMBA Ride Centers: *

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. Most of the city is within Summit County, Utah, Summit County, with some portions extending into Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is sou ...

(Gold) * Bike Taupo,

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...

, New Zealand (Silver) * Oakridge Area, Oregon (Silver) *

Sun Valley, Idaho Sun Valley is a resort city in the western United States, in Blaine County, Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum in the Wood River valley. The population was 1,783 at the 2020 census. The elevation of Sun Valley (at the Lodge) is above se ...

(Silver) *

Copper Harbor, Michigan Copper Harbor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Grant Township. The population of the CDP was 136 as of the 2020 census. The communit ...

(Silver) *

Central Savannah River Area The Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) is an unofficial trading and marketing region in the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina, spanning thirteen counties in Georgia and seven in South Carolina. The term was coined in 1950 by C.C. McCol ...

/Forks Area Trail System (FATS) (Bronze) *

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...

(Bronze) * Cuyuna Lakes, Minnesota (Bronze) *

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham Cou ...

(Bronze) *

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat, seat of Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold ...

(Bronze) * Mt. Buller,

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

(Bronze) * Santos, Florida (Bronze) * Singltrek pod Smrkem, Czech Republic/Poland (Bronze) *Snowshoe Highlands, West Virginia (Bronze) *

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...

(Bronze) On July 9, 2013, Virginia Governor

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announced that a Richmond Region Ride Center would open in 2014 in the

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

metro region, as the first legacy project of the Richmond 2015 bike race. World summit Each year, IMBA has a bike races worldwide. Some locations have included Steamboat Springs (2014) and

Bentonville, Arkansas Bentonville is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers adjacent to the east. The city proper had a population of 54,164 at the 2020 Unite ...

(2016).

International representation and affiliate

IMBA España:IMBA ArgentinaIMBA CanadaIMBA ItalyIMBA EuropeIMBA Schweiz

References

External links