Easton-Bell Sports held a party last week for IMBA and it's board members. Mtbr was invited to join the festivities and we enjoyed chatting with several important members of IMBA's board of directors as well as employees from Bell, Easton, Jenson USA, Fox Racing Shox, SRAM and more! We have a few pix from the evening and a mini tour of the Easton-Bell headquarters including some product highlights from Easton, Bell and Giro.

Besides serving as a location for IMBA's Board of Directors to host their board meeting, the party also served as a chance to mingle with bike industry folks as well as trail advocacy supporters. There were 3 speakers for the evening starting off with a welcome and thank you from Robert (Bob) Winston, IMBA's Chairman of the Board. Next, IMBA's President and Executive Director Mike Van Abel gave an update on the status of things in Washington. He also gave thanks to Tom Ward (IMBA's California representative from Sacramento) for all his hard work. Lastly, Mike explained the importance of local IMBA chapters and local volunteers. This lead perfectly into Mark Davidson's (President of the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz - MBoSC) announcement that the highly successful MBoSC is becoming an IMBA chapter!



Mark comments: "This (announcement) is a historic moment in the history of mountain biking in Santa Cruz. I'm really looking forward to our partnership with IMBA to capitalize on the many new mountain biking opportunities in Santa Cruz county over the next decade."

Here is one of just a few product shots we took. Shown here is the brand new Bell Super - an All Mountain helmet that will be available in May 2013. Shown here in blue/green moto, the Bell Super will have an MSRP of $125.




Read more comments about IMBA and trail advocacy from SRAM's Elayna Caldwell, Fox Racing Shox's Mark Jordan and IMBA's Rich Cook>>



Elayna Caldwell is the Director of Brand Marketing for SRAM MTB products. Before joining SRAM, Elayna worked for Interbike and Fox Racing Shox. Besides serving as the Vice Chair of IMBA's Board of Directors, she also serves on the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League board. We asked Elayna a few IMBA related questions.



Mtbr.com: Since your move to SRAM (and Chicago), has your role as Vice Chair of IMBA's board changed at all? What does Vice Chair do?
Elayna Caldwell: "The Vice Chair position does not wield any more responsibility or influence than any other board member. The purpose of the Vice Chair is to fill in for the Chair to run a meeting in case the Chair can't make it to a meeting or a function."

Mtbr.com: In your new role at SRAM, will you have an impact on SRAM's involvement with IMBA? Does SRAM have a plan for 2013 involvement/support of IMBA?
Elayna Caldwell: "SRAM has the SRAM Cycling Fund which was started in 2008. The SRAM Cycling fund is a $10 million dollar fund and the goal was to donate $2 million a year to support cycling (on and off road). Yes, SRAM is a major corporate donor to IMBA and will continue to be for 2013. I am included in the discussions on where the SRAM contribution is allocated to at IMBA."

For more information about the SRAM Cycling Fund, check out their website at: www.sramcyclingfund.com

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Mark Jordan is the Global Marketing Communications Manager of the Bicycle division for Fox Racing Shox. Before joining Fox, Mark worked at Decline magazine as well as Marzocchi and other industry brands. We also asked Mark a few IMBA related questions.



Mtbr.com: What is Fox's involvement/committment with IMBA? In what ways does Fox support IMBA?
Mark Jordan: "FOX has been a corporate member and partner of IMBA for several years. In addition to our corporate membership, we also have a specific partnership with IMBA California to help support our backyard as well as a Pumptrack Grant program to help groups get community-oriented pumptrack projects going."

Mtbr.com: How important is it to Fox Racing Shox to be active in the mountain bike community?
Mark Jordan: "It is extremely important for FOX to be active in the mountain bike community. We are located in Santa Cruz County where we have had trail access challenges from the beginning. We work with several groups at the local, national and global level to help maintain multi-use trail access. It is in investment in our future as individuals and as a company."

Mtbr.com: What is Fox's plans for 2013 as far as trail advocacy goes? Any other events or trail work days you guys our hosting/supporting?
Mark Jordan: "As I mentioned before, we are big supporters of IMBA and will continue with our partnership with them along with our Grant program. In addition, we will be working with our European distributors to help establish relationships between IMBA, local land and business owners and government agencies to help maintain access. IMBA is becoming more global every year and we want our partners to have the same great resources and relationships that we have in America. We also work with Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz on several levels - from trail advocacy to the Santa Cruz MTB Festival and the Enduro race. We want to help finish the Emma McCrary trail in Pogonip this spring and support MBoSC as they become an IMBA Chapter. We will also be looking for opportunities with MBoSC through IMBA grants, trail work days and other projects."



Shown here is Mike Van Abel (IMBA's President and Executive Director) explaining the importance of local IMBA chapters and local volunteers. We reached out to IMBA for some additional info and IMBA's Development Director, Rich Cook gave us his feedback.

Mtbr.com: How is IMBA doing? Are member numbers up? Funding is up?
Rich Cook: "IMBA is doing well with membership showing 22% growth year over year 2011-2012. Overall IMBA is growing with seven full time professional regional directors now helping out around the country. Overall funding is up, which is good for mountain biking."

Mtbr.com: What are IMBA's plans for 2013?
Rich Cook: "Increase the number of locally accessible trails and bike parks. Leading the charge to maintain and preserve bike access on public land when bike closures are threatened."

Mtbr.com: What can the average mountain biker (or Mtbr online community member) do for IMBA? Join IMBA? Trail work? Join/start a club or chapter?
Rich Cook: "All those things are great. Start by registering for local and regional news about the trails and activities in their area, tap into the network and see what's going on. IMBA now has 10 different regional e-news monthly with stories about riding, events, trails and conditions near you." https://www.imba.com/alerts-news

So there you have it. Helping out starts with a simple email sign-up and can expand from there. Keeping trails open and accessible is something that affects ALL mountain bikers, so do your part to help out. Thanks to all the folks who helped contribute to this article.