IMBA's Managing Mountain Biking Book

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="005b85a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Big Ring Adventure Team</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Big Ring Adventure Team"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="black_spire_bash_guard.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Black Spire Bash Guard">Black Spire Bash Guard</A>   |   <A HREF="speed_king.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Continental Speed King MTB Tires">Continental Speed King MTB Tires</A>   |   <A HREF="garmin_edge_305.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Garmin Edge 305">Garmin Edge 305</A>   |   <B>IMBA's Managing Mountain Biking Book</B>   |   <A HREF="ink_well_tattoo.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ink Well Tattoo">Ink Well Tattoo</A>   |   <A HREF="neuvation_wheels.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Neuvation R 28 SL 2">Neuvation R 28 SL 2</A>   |   <A HREF="ritchey_fork.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ritchey Comp Carbon Road Fork">Ritchey Comp Carbon Road Fork</A>   |   <A HREF="vredestein_se_road_tires.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vredestein SE Road Tires">Vredestein SE Road Tires</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="006d2b83.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="23eafa00.gif" border=0 width="175" height="160" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <I><B>Serious cyclists having serious fun!</B></I></div> <div> Big Ring Adventure Team</div> <div> A Division of 53T, Inc.</div> <div> P.O. Box 622</div> <div> Madison, IN 47250-0622</div> <div> Office: 812-265-4203</div> <div> Mobile: 812-292-0700</div> <div> Fax: 812-418-3368</div> <div> E-mail: <A HREF="mailto:info@bigringadventure.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@bigringadventure.com">info@bigringadventure.com</A></div> <bR> <div> We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click <A HREF="http://www.networkadvertising.org/pdfs/NAI_principles.pdf" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.networkadvertising.org/pdfs/N">here</A>.</div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>IMBA's Managing Mountain Biking Book</I></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="697" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 144 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="http://www.bigringwriting.com" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.bigringwriting.com"><IMG SRC="0ea6a640.jpg" border=0 width="106" height="100" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.bigringwriting.com" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.bigringwriting.com">It's your story. Tell it well.</A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="http://www.honeystinger.com" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.honeystinger.com"><IMG SRC="0eb92640.jpg" border=0 width="146" height="100" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.honeystinger.com" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.honeystinger.com">Sting or bee stung</A>.</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="166"><div> <A HREF="http://www.neuvationcycling.com/" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.neuvationcycling.com/"><IMG SRC="0ee97640.jpg" border=0 width="151" height="100" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.neuvationcycling.com/" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.neuvationcycling.com/">High value, not high dollar.</A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="166"><div> <A HREF="http://www.weber-sports.com" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.weber-sports.com"><IMG SRC="0ec78640.gif" border=0 width="120" height="100" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.weber-sports.com" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.weber-sports.com">Bringing the outdoors to you.</A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER COLSPAN=4 HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="673"><div> Advertise on this site - send us an <A HREF="mailto:sales@bigringadventure.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:sales@bigringadventure.com">e-mail</A> for more info.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <B> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script>  </B></div> <div> <B>  <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="google_window"> <table border="0" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <tr><td nowrap="nowrap" valign="top" align="left" height="32"> <a href="http://www.google.com/"> <img src="http://www.google.com/logos/Logo_25wht.gif" border="0" alt="Google" align="middle"></img></a> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="www.bigringadventure.com"></input> <label for="sbi" style="display: none">Enter your search terms</label> <input type="text" name="q" size="31" maxlength="255" value="" id="sbi"></input> <label for="sbb" style="display: none">Submit search form</label> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" id="sbb"></input> </td></tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap"> <table> <tr> <td> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" checked id="ss0"></input> <label for="ss0" title="Search the Web"><font size="-1" color="#000000">Web</font></label></td> <td> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="www.bigringadventure.com" id="ss1"></input> <label for="ss1" title="Search www.bigringadventure.com"><font size="-1" color="#000000">www.bigringadventure.com</font></label></td> </tr> </table> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-7176479705988926"></input> <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1"></input> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1"></input> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="ISO-8859-1"></input> <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"></input> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1"></input> <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en"></input> </td></tr></table> </form>   </B></div> <div> <B>Product:</B> <I>Managing Mountain Biking: IMBA's Guide to Providing Great Riding</I>, published March 2007.</div> <div> <B>Author(s):</B> 47 contributors, including some of the best in the business.</div> <div> <B>Date of Review:</B> April 2007.</div> <div> <B>Reviewed by:</B> Rich Ries.</div> <div> <B>Cost:</B> $35.00 MSRP; IMBA members receive a 10 percent discount; quantity discounts are available.</div> <div> <B>Contents:</B> 10 chapters, index, 26 Success Stories, 256 pages, 270 color photos, 25 illustrations in an 8 ½” x 11” paperback.</div> <div> <B>Source:</B> Provided by IMBA.</div> <div> <B>More info:</B> <A HREF="http://www.imba.com" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.imba.com">IMBA Web site</A>, including Table of Contents and 14 sample pages.</div> <div> <B>Recommended?:</B> Yes. Highly.</div> <div> <B>Full Disclosure:</B> I am the southern Indiana rep for IMBA and not even remotely impartial about the value of the work they do.</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="609" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 38 ><NOBR><div> Ratings</div> <div> (1 is lowest, 5 is highest)</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="389"><div> Comments</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 38 ><NOBR><div> Material Covered</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="71"><div> 5</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="389"><div> Hard to imagine an aspect of managing MTB trails not covered here</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Quality of Writing</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="71"><div> 4</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> Good copy editing and a welcome lack of jargon</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="123"><div> Quality of Graphics</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="71"><div> 5</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> Provide both eye candy and explanation</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="123"><div> Organization</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="71"><div> 3</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="389"><div> Overuse of Tip boxes, sidebars, Success Stories and other inserts mar otherwise excellent flow</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="123"><div> Cost/Value</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="71"><div> 5</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="389"><div> Required reading for all trail builders</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <I>Managing Mountain Biking</I> is the mirror image of another excellent resource from IMBA, <I>Trail Solutions: IMBA's Guide to Building Sweet Singletrack</I>. <I>Solutions</I> has tons of detailed engineering and construction information with an overview of management principles. <I>Managing</I> is devoted to management. <I>Managing</I> actually has lots of engineering and design information, but it's all presented in the context of trail management. </div> <div> <I><IMG SRC="1075cc20.jpg" border=0 width="348" height="450" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I><I>Managing Mountain Biking</I> covers every aspect of trail design, from signage to sustainability, but it looks far beyond the trail tread into the community. There are chapters on Partnerships, Managing Volunteers, Managing User Conflict, and Safety and Risk Management. Much of this has been covered elsewhere, but <I>Managing</I> includes the latest thinking on these subjects and gathers all that genius into one convenient volume. <I>Managing</I> also has the latest insights on Providing Challenging Trails (Chapter 10), a welcome beacon of light into an area of darkness. In my experience, too many trail challenges are poorly designed, poorly constructed, and poorly maintained.</div> <div> The graphic elements of <I>Managing</I> are excellent. Photos of MTB facilities from around the world make the reader eager to go ride great trails. Photos and illustrations trail management strategies make the reader eager to go build great trails, or to go fix some not-so-great trails. My one complaint about the books centers on its abundance of graphics; there are so many that at times they interrupt the flow of information.</div> <div> Although <I>Managing</I> backs up its points with solid science, the reading is easy. The book presents valuable information to both beginner and highly experienced trail builders in a format that is accessible to average readers but is never boring or pedestrian.</div> <div> Perhaps the best thing I can say about this book is that every trail problem I've ever encountered, from user conflicts to erosion to trouble finding enough work day volunteers to reluctant property managers, is specifically addressed somewhere in <I>Managing</I>.</div> <div> Every MTB trail building organization should have <I>Managing Mountain Biking</I> in its library, and every MTB trail building volunteer and every property manager should read every page at least once. Trail designers and work crew leaders should read every page every month, just so they don't forget anything. This book is that good.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>