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CAMBA Celebrates 25 Years of Trail Advocacy

 

eNews from 

CAMBA Country
The Newsletter of the
Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association
Volume 17, Issue 35
 
CAMBA Celebrates 25 Years of Trail Advocacy
Commemorative Event to be held Saturday, October 7

 
The Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association will observe its 25th year as the region’s leading trail advocacy organization in a casual gathering on Saturday, October 7 at Hatchery Creek Park in Hayward.  The event will get under way at 10:00 a.m. with a brief dedication of the new Hatchery Creek Bike Park and will be followed by group mountain bike rides from Hatchery Creek Trailhead.  Note: This is a change of location from earlier notices about this event.  Following the rides, cake, coffee and cold drinks will be served.  The event is free and open to all local and visiting riders and well-wishers.
 
“It’s been a long and very positive ride,” states CAMBA executive director and founding board member Ron Bergin. “We are extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished over the years,” he adds.  The genesis of CAMBA occurred in October 1992 when Lea Justice, executive director of the Cable Area Chamber of Commerce, called a meeting of local trail enthusiasts. There was no set agenda or intended outcome, just to talk trails. Also attending the meeting were representatives of the U.S. Forest Service, bike shop owners, and event organizers.  And while there were many different trail user groups present, the conversation quickly came around to mountain bike trails and what could be done to better identify and organize riding opportunities for what could be the next big thing for the Cable/Hayward area.
 
At the time, the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival was the face of mountain biking in the area.  And while the event had a huge presence in the sport and attracted thousands of people to the area, few participants made it a habit to frequent the area to ride, except perhaps for the couple of weeks prior to the big event. A few popular routes existed – the Rock Lake and American Birkebiener ski trails, as these were marked and identified routes. Several area bike shops had begun to casually mark routes starting at or near their places of business, but marking was inconsistent and there was no overall organization or cohesiveness. Otherwise, visitors to the area were on their own to find their way among the maze of woods roads, snowmobile trails and uncharted backwoods routes that laced the area.  For those not having the time for trial and error exploration, trail riding experiences frequently included long periods of not really knowing where one was.
 
This soon became the focus of that October meeting and it was agreed that there was a need for a regional organization to pull all of the many pieces together into one overall trail system.  The Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival pledged $1,000 in seed money; a bank account and post office box were opened and by January 1993 a board of directors had been selected and the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association was officially incorporated as a Wisconsin non-stock (non-profit) corporation. And the rest, as they say, is history.
 
Since hitting the ground running in the spring of 1993, CAMBA has grown into a recognized leader in the Midwest and national trails community.  In a few short months that first summer, CAMBA marked, mapped and began promoting a network of over 300 miles of off-road routes.  By the mid-90s the demand for true singletrack trails had begun to surface and in 1999 CAMBA began building singletrack trails, which continues today.  “Gradually many of the older routes fell out of favor,” notes Bergin, “and singletrack became the preferred trail type.” Many two-track and gravel routes remain part of the system, however, to provide easier trail riding options.
 
Today, the CAMBA trail system includes extensive singletrack routes, linking Hayward, Seeley, Cable and Namakagon with additional singletrack at Mt. Ashwabay in Bayfield. In addition, other riding options are available in Drummond and Delta. Steve Morales, former owner of New Moon Bike Shop and a founding CAMBA board member reflects, “When CAMBA started building singletrack many years ago, I thought it would be great to be able to ride from Hayward to Cable on trails that linked up to make one "through trail.” It seemed a fantastic goal at the time. But we built it, one foot at a time.”  
 
As the CAMBA system has evolved, it has matured from simply finding routes and creating rustic singletrack to trails built to sustainable standards to contemporary machine built trails that provide fun flowing riding for all levels of riders.  In addition, CAMBA has embraced much needed enhancements such as the Hatchery Creek Bike Park and the Hayward Hospital Gateway (beginner) Trail. “With the trail system mostly built out,” notes Bergin, “CAMBA has shifted its emphasis to maintaining the 125 miles of singletrack and an equal number of miles of other routes.” In addition to year-round volunteer efforts, CAMBA hires a summer crew that tends to the bulk of trail maintenance needs.
 
“There are two primary reasons why CAMBA has been so successful over the years,” reflects Bergin. “First, we have had a group of tremendously visionary individuals that first conceived the trail system and then went on to shepherd it through its various incarnations as it grew and evolved. And second, we have been blessed with cooperative land managers in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Bayfield County Forest and Sawyer County Forest as well as several private land owners who have allowed us the privilege to create great places for people to play.”
 
Gary Crandall, director of the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival and a founding CAMBA board member adds his thoughts on CAMBA’s beginning, “One of the key components of our early days of CAMBA’s trail advocacy was the supportive public and private partnerships that were formed.  Many individuals were willing to put in the sweat equity to physically get the job of marking the trails done. Other organizational partners, specifically the USDA Forest Service provided the valued contribution of 4 x 4 posts, signage and most importantly the cartographic expertise of Dave Nelson (Assistant District Ranger and also a founding board member).  Businesses too saw that this trail building project was good for the local economy. With all the support we had -  the people, financial resources, physical materials and expertise on all levels, we were able to produce an admirable trail network from day one.”
 
Crandall continued, “It was key to our early efforts that CAMBA was successful in their initial fund raising.  Financial support gave the organization some cash flow stability allowing it to do more fund raising for a variety of trail building, marketing and other efforts.  Memberships, sponsorships, area map advertiser revenues and grants all helped build the momentum.”
 
Where will CAMBA go from here?  CAMBA is looking forward to continuing to provide premier trail riding experiences for local and visiting riders and to that end will continue to emphasize a solid maintenance program and enhance and improve the trails as opportunity, time, funding, and energy permit. Stay tuned.
 
 
Copyright © 2013 CAMBA, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
CAMBA
P.O. Box 141
Cable, Wisconsin 54821