Stumpjumper Trail Crew

I'm going to assume that you're reading this because you're willing to read through my spiel on why I should be part of the Specialized Trail Crew.

There's more than one big fat reason for this, but I'm just going to get that one out of the way real quick: the opportunity to ride a 2010 S-Works Stumpjumper for a year. I can't pretend that's not a factor, so there it is. Yet that's not the only reason- not by far. The prospect of riding a fancy new mountain bike is pretty exciting, but what I find more stirring is what I can bring to my cycling community.

Those who know me in person, on the internet and in the Twitterverse are well aware of my passion for all things cycling. Mountain biking was my introduction to my adopted extended family of bike geeks and resides firmly in my heart (well, right along there with my passions for good food and beer). But there's so many idiosyncratic people in this huge family and they've all affected me in some way. And because I love these quirky folks and how they ride (and what they ride) I've tried to bring what I've learned from them to my home of Bozeman, Montana.

Mountain Bike festivals, clunker downhills, Alleycats, hardcourt bike polo, Velocache, roller racing, bike commuting, ice racing, winter riding - these are all things that I've been smitten with and brought back to Bozeman to share with my community. I've written, tweeted, blogged, wrote about bike maintenance and made videos not for local fame and acceptance but to enrich our local cycling culture.

Let's pedal back to the point of this post- mountain biking. As I mentioned earlier the simple act of riding a bicycle on dirt has, for the past eighteen years brought me joy, inspiration, calm, health, pain (both good and bad), and more importantly most of my friends. I ride for many reasons, but the longest lasting memories are those involving the people I've ridden with.

It's because of the people who ride and their passion for riding that this year I assembled the Montana Mountain Bike Network- one of my projects I'm most proud of. The great state of Montana has thousands of miles of amazing singletrack- and much of it is threatened by energy development, mining, logging, or Wilderness designation. Our mountain bike community had no decent way to keep in touch with others in another part of the state, putting us in a position to lose if (and when) trail issues came up. In the first few months of the site being live we had over 90 concerned mountain bikers join. Those folks are more aware of the issues facing their trail access across the whole state- and as a bonus we're all learning about great places to ride.

An exciting outcome of this was the second annual Montana Backcountry Bicycle Festival that I helped organize this year. In an effort to raise awareness of the impending Continental Divide Trail closure south of Dillon, MT the Montana Mountain Bike Alliance threw a party that drew 150 folks from all over the state. We converged on the tiny town of Lima and camped, ate, danced, drank, and rode the whole weekend. Most importantly, those 150 avid mountain bikers are now acutely aware of the immediate future of mountain biking in Montana. Since this year's festival went so well, we've started planning next year's fest- expect it to be dy-no-mite!

Wow, you've made it this far. Thanks again for reading- it means a lot to me. There's so much that I've been involved in that I sometimes feel like I'm getting spread a little thin, especially when you consider that I man the helms of the Twitter feed and blog of the shop I work at in downtown Bozeman.

I can think of nothing better than a new bike and a little writing incentive to help aim the passion I've got for all things bicycle. Thanks again for considering me for the Stumpjumper Trail Crew.

John Friedrich (a.k.a. Mr. DNA)

Twitter:
@johnfriedrich
@MontanaMtnBike
@BZNBikePolo
@BangtailBikes


Blogs/Networks:
Personal Blog
Montana Mountain Bike Network
The Bozeman Fix - The blog of Bozeman Bike Geekery
Jerk Of All Trades - T-Shirts and opnions (new)
Practical Pedal Fixit Blog
Bangtail Bikes

Events/Bike Geekery:
RockySprints
Velocache Bozeman - Bike fun for nerds
Bozeman Bike Polo (not my site, but I got it going here)

There's more out there- It'll just take me well past the September 18th due date to index it all. Thanks again for reading- and if you're ever in Bozeman look me up, I'll show you a few good rides. - John