Howdy from Lubbock, TX!

On May 7 & 8, we had the privilege of welcoming and working with Ryan & Susan. From the class lesson to the trails, they did an outstanding job. It was great to have a crew of their caliber come to our area (and it's about time TX had something like IMBA's trail crew!)

I will be writing an article about it for our next club news letter (WTCA - West Texas Cycling Association) so I can tell everyone what a good job they did. Thank you for the program. I hope it will be a success for years to come.

I renewed my membership to TBC while they were here. Please keep me informed and updated on the latest news concerning the 'Share the Roads' License Plates. I'm looking forward to displaying those beauties on my Honda (and I told Senator Wentworth as well.)

Thanks again & keep up the good fight!
Cole McKenzie

RIDE ON!

Many thanks to Ryan Spates and Dr. Susan Stormer of the Subaru/BikeTexas "Trail Doctors" for their great presentation at our last meeting. Presently they are assisting the city of Nolanville with three exciting trail projects: The establishment of their city parks' connecting trail system; preparing to conduct a trail building course; and assisting local members of the Texas Bicycle Coalition with Nolanville's first ever bicycle rally fundraiser later this year. They began their efforts last week by presenting their design for Texas' first ever Mountain Bike Skills Trail in Plaza Park. As Ryan said in his email: "this will be an interpretive learning tool for riders of all abilities, and may one day expand into a stunt park as well." Great news, Nolanville!

Sue Weaver, MS. Ed.
Public Health Specialist
Texas Dept. of Health, Region 7

The Subaru/BikeTexas Trail Doctors workshop in Frisco was an educational treat and great time as well. Jeanne Patterson and the Texas Bicycle Coalition have put together a program for educating Texas trail builders that will result more sustainable trails for years to come. The classroom seminar held on Saturday was a step by step progression on how to build a sustainable trail that will be low in maintenance and follows all guidelines for keeping trail erosion at a minimum. There was plenty for all of us to learn and Ryan and Susan did a great job of presenting the sometimes rather technical information. They managed to explain how to figure slope elevations and rolling grade dips in a way that actually made sense. We got to use a clinometer to measure slopes and trail grades ... all very educational stuff that we needed to know.

Sunday we started work on the trail. The rain last week made conditions a little on the muddy side, but several sections of trail were completed and a lot more was flagged for future work days. Trail workers got to work on learning how to bench cut a trail properly and we got to practice armoring techniques with a lot of the large flat rocks that were native to the area. Some of us just played in the mud while others worked, but we all had a good time.

Thanks to all who helped organize this event and I hope we get to visit with the Trail Doctors again soon!

Tom McMillan
DORBA Trail Director
Johnson Branch Trail Steward