rally

rally your troops...

today I have been on the DCMTB team list serve trying to rally our troops
trying to get people on the DCMTB squad to JOIN MORE or RE-NEW their MORE DUES

in our discussion former DCMTB Team Captain and former MORE Board Member Joe Foley shared this very useful information about the impact MORE has had on our local mountain bike trail systems
not sure if he typed it up or did a quick cut and paste
I will shamelessly CUT AND PASTE Joe's words here...

For the benefit of those who aren't familiar with what MORE has done, here are a few things that would almost certainly be different if it weren't for the almost 20 years of work that MORE has done in this area.
- Schaeffer Farms wouldn't exist
- Fountainhead wouldn't exist
- Rosaryville would not exist except for a few old horse trails that no one would know about
- Wakefield and Accotink would almost certainly be closed to bikes -- there'd definitely be no night riding at all, and the new phase 1/2/3/4 trails wouldn't exist.
- The Gambrbill Yellow trail extension wouldn't exist
- Patapsco would be a muddy mess for most of the year (a lot of the thanks go to Mike on this one for his time as the Patapsco Liason, the difference from when I started riding there 10 years ago is amazing)
- Laurel Hills wouldn't exist
- The Hoyles Mill Connector between Schaeffer Farms and Black Hill wouldn't exist (no MoCo epic rides)
And almost every legacy trail system in the area would be a mess for a couple more months a year
if not for the

A few things that are in progress now, thanks to MORE:

- the Black Rock Mill connector between the Clopper Lake day-dare a Senceca Creek and Schaeffer Farms (another singletrack trail-to-trail connection in northern MoCo)
- rebuilding the trails at fountainhead to make them more sustainable, and to almost double the mileage
- rebuilding the trails at Lake Fairfax/Colt's Neck
- The watershed is closer to being mapped and legal than ever before

If MORE is a frustrating organization at times, it's because it's limited by the number of volunteer hours that it gets, not just in trailwork (where they set a record of 6000 hours last year) but in organizing. This isn't just on the board, but in the "staff" positions that they're always looking to fill. So join and find a way to get involved. Volunteering tends to burn people out pretty quickly, so there are always jobs looking for someone.
thanks Joe!

also trying to see what sort of interest we could get for a team trail work day at Fort Dupont
the response is strong
DCMTB is comprised not only of a group of strong riders... but also a cast of characters who have been hugely active in mountain bike advocacy over the years
MORE: Mid-Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts
http://more-mtb.org/
DCMTB
www.dcmtb.com

Fort Dupont in Washington DC
www.nps.gov
Rock Creek Park in Washington DC

www.nps.gov
Joe Foley Photography
www.joefoleyphotography.com

http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/search?q=MORE
http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/search?q=rock+creek+park