Complaining About the MMBA

The MMBA recently asked all trail coordinators to remove teeter totters from the trails for insurance reasons. This is a nationwide issue. The MMBA Freeride Forum was full of users who were up in arms over this. After 13 pages of complaining and hating the MMBA, I wrote the following.

It is clear to me than many of you have no idea how the MMBA works. That’s okay. I didn’t know how it worked until I became a board member. The state board works on larger tasks such as:

• Finding recently-introduced legislation that can be harmful to our sport. This can include legislation that allows horses on all trails, legislation that bans us from all public trails, and everything in between.
• Working with IMBA to find and pay for a multi-million dollar insurance policy to cover the court costs for anyone who is part of a lawsuit and to cover any awards that are not in our favor.
• Trying to put on an Annual Meeting & Expo that is much better than the last.
• Providing a mode of communication for the membership.
• Other things as they come up.

Who are the MMBA?

• YOU. It starts with you. If you don’t put something into it, it’s probably not going to work.
• Your chapter. This is the rallying point for people who like to learn about local issues and to develop relationships with local land managers.
• Your chapter board. Those of you who are willing to volunteer to lead your group in your local advocacy efforts.
• Your state board. Those of us who are willing to volunteer to handle larger, daunting issues such as insurance and state issues, such as bills within the House and Senate.
• Your trail coordinators. These are some of the organizations greatest artists. These people put a LOT of time and effort into YOUR trails. They post trail days and some of them even provide food and beer. They do this to get YOU involved, yet many of you never show up.

I am from an area where there is a strong cycling community, but not really an MMBA presence – the Keweenaw. I chose to get involved in an organization at the state level to fight for YOUR trails. My trails really are not threatened by the issues that are championed by the MMBA [not yet]. I’m doing this because I care about the sport and I care about what happens in my state, not just my little area. I’ve also learned that the MMBA is full of extraordinary people who are proud to show off their efforts when someone happens to be “in town.” It’s an awesome network of mountain bikers for those who choose to take advantage of it.

I could spend all of my time writing articles so I can contribute to my personal income, which isn’t that great; but I choose to spend a fair chunk of my time getting involved with making certain decisions that will never be a part of the job for a chapter volunteer (unless they are the chapter president). Over the last year, I’ve worked very hard to inform you guys of legislation that is important to mountain bikers, and to get you guys to contact your representatives. I have recently taken quite a bit of time to inform everyone of recent changes within the organization. I have also tried very hard to get myself out there to meet the membership. I would’ve like to have done more, but money and illness have held me back.

I use my God-given talents for this organization, and while I don’t consider myself a master trail builder, I have still managed to help clear trails for a race in Copper Harbor, show up to a National Trails Day event at Luton Park over by Grand Rapids, and help with other little tasks on the trails. On top of all of that, I am personally liable for anything against the MMBA. I am not unique in the MMBA leadership.

I also happen to think freeriding is immensely cool. I know freeriders who continually build awesome jumps, pump tracks, and stunts. They have rallied freeriders AND cross country riders together to build these things. The new pump track at Michigan Tech is a great example. I even try some of the easier stunts when I ride at Tech and I plan to move onto harder stunts as my confidence builds. I love the challenge.

When you say, “Screw the MMBA. The MMBA sucks. The MMBA never does anything. The MMBA doesn’t care about freeriders…”

When you say these things, you are actually saying, “Screw Di. Di sucks. Di doesn’t do anything for mountain bikers. Di doesn’t care about freeriders. Nate, Nick, Chris, Di, Marty, Martin, Heather, and all of the Chapter Reps, Trail Coordinators, and other volunteers all suck, don’t do anything for mountain bikers, and don’t care about freeriders.”

Thanks, guys. I am glad that putting my heart into this organization is completely worthless to you.

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What is really sad is that some of you probably don’t even have current MMBA memberships to help pay for that shiny, new insurance policy that allows us to continue building and maintaining trails. Most land owners also require that we have this policy in order to continue mountain biking on their property.