New Trail Liaisons Going into 2016
Fellow MORE members and mountain bikers: 2015 is behind us and 2016 is looking to be another year of great riding in the DC area thanks in large part to MORE’s trail liaisons and to the teams and communities that they have built around our trails! 2015 was another huge year for MORE, with new parks, new trails, new liaisons, great events, lots of trailwork, and advocacy successes and progress.
Ryan Delaney is now officially MORE’s Executive Director. If you haven’t done so already, please congratulate him. We have heard from a number of liaisons how valuable Ryan’s work on advocacy has been over the last couple of years, and while Ryan will be very busy with a number of new duties, advocacy remains high on his priorities.
Holly Fisher is with us again in 2016, sharing her time between MORE and SCORE, managing the Cranky Monkey race series and the MoCo Epic.
You may have heard that the Patapsco team has decided to change up their approach in 2016; they have been supporting both the Patapsco Epic and Patapsco 100 race for the past two years, and in 2016 they will be putting together a locally managed multisport event in the park involving at least biking and running (and maybe horseback riding) instead of the Epic. Combined running and biking festivals are a growing trend and we are all looking forward to this new approach.
The MoCo Epic rocked in 2015 thanks to so many factors, including a super volunteer core team, (Todd Bauer, James Corbett, Bob Cavalry, Sean Johnson, and Kevin Dillon – mostly liaisons as well!), great weather, and expertly maintained trails! I know the mountain-biking community is looking forward to another year of memorable MORE events and races.
Fifteen people stepped up to become Trail Liaisons in 2015:
- Michael Klasmeier – Bacon Ridge
- Jon Schultz – Banneker
- Pete Johnson – Cabin John
- Mark Burkett – Clopper Lake/Seneca Ridge
- Victor Beltran – Clopper Lake/Seneca Ridge
- Tim Weddle – Cosca (along with Austin Steo)
- TR Harris – Hashawha
- Carlo Alfano – Rivers Edge/Brunswick
- James McNeely – Rosaryville
- Michael Moses – Rosaryville
- Sean Johnson – Seneca Greenway
- Paul Hardy – Fountainhead (along with Tom Crotty)
- Brian Treece – Fountainhead
- Ian Buggey – Fred Crabtree
- Karl Libert – Wakefield (along the Tom Howe)
- Cathy Reidel – Wakefield
That’s 16 new MORE liaisons in 2016! It’s also four more parks that MORE is helping liaisons to look after, including Banneker, Hashawha, Rivers Edge, and Crabtree.
MORE now has a total of 61 liaisons!
Please say thanks to your local liaisons for all they do. Their dedication and the bonds they create with land managers, local bikers, and other trail users are critical to keeping mountain biking in the DC region strong.
Stay tuned to MORE’s Calendar of events for future trail work days and other events in the region, and please, stay involved!
If you are not a MORE Member consider joining MORE and spending some time helping MORE’s liaisons maintain the trails thousands of riders enjoy each and every day throughout the year.