Switching GEARS: Life After IMBA

These are tough times for the International Mountain Bicycling Association, the advocacy group that began in 1988 and rose to prominence by providing a unified voice for access to public land. IMBA started in California when a handful of local mountain biking clubs decided they would be stronger together than they were individually. They needed critical mass to influence lawmakers in Sacramento. IMBA gave them that. In the 30 years since, IMBA has extended its reach across the country and is counted among the special interest groups affecting federal policy in Washington DC.

But recent setbacks and controversies have taken some of the air out of IMBA’s tires, and a new membership model has led many IMBA chapters to abandon the organization … or, at least, to question whether they could be doing things better themselves.

Right here in Washington County, the Glacial Edge Area Riding Society is one of the chapters that has decided on a different path. Rich Ramsey, a founding member of GEARS, has seen the good times and the bad.

“The IMBA chapter was as good as it gets for local clubs,” Ramsey said. “For a one-time setup fee of $500 you got 501(c)(3) status, revenue sharing—a 60/40 split, 40% returned to the chapter—and a membership tracking/communications system … also a regional representative who made connections to IMBA headquarters a breeze.”

That business arrangement allowed GEARS and other clubs like it to focus on trail building, trail maintenance, and riding their bikes. It was a good deal for a while. But this year IMBA discontinued its revenue sharing. Local clubs still may benefit from nonprofit 501(c)(3) status, but otherwise their contributions to IMBA are paying for little more than access to a suite of fee-based services. It’s like paying admission to a shopping mall.

“As with many other chapters, GEARS United decided return on investment was not worth it and we would try to find our own way,” Ramsey said.

The “GEARS United” to which he refers is a recent combination of the original Glacial Edge Area Riding Society with the upstart Ozaukee County Mountain Bikers and Sheboygan County’s venerable FatKats. GEARS United was in the process of reorganizing to prepare for life after IMBA when another disgruntled IMBA chapter came calling.

“Metro Mountain Bikers, reorganized as a standalone 501(c)(3) nonprofit under new leadership, has a plan to unite the mountain biking community of southeastern Wisconsin under one flag,” Ramsey said. “They are offering chapter-style organization that will include 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and insurance coverage for the price of individual membership. The Glacial Edge Area Riding Society, Ozaukee County Mountain Bikers, and FatKats would become chapters of Metro Mountain Bikers. We would operate as separate entities but under their umbrella. This was the structure of the former Wisconsin Off Road Bicycling Association: WORBA was the 501(c)(3) with insurance coverage for the price of membership. And, by the way, Metro offers a membership service. We are in the process of working out details of any type of ‘official’ chapter agreement.”

Representing Milwaukee County and Waukesha County, Metro is more than 300 members strong.

“From my point of view, the trail systems will all benefit from the larger pool of resources that this unification will create,” Ramsey said.

Eric Hackbarth of the Ozaukee County Mountain Bikers agrees.

“IMBA’s new membership model … not a good fit anymore,” Hackbarth said. “With the Metro relationship, everything stays local. They know the area. We have access to years of experience in trail building, as well as dealing with local officials that we’ll be able to tap into for advice. And the integration of the membership tracking into the Metro website will be a nice feature. Again: all local. It should serve us well as it gets built out to take on the GEARS members.”

What effect will reorganization have on trail building and trail maintenance? That might be hard to quantify, but reorganization at least should do no harm. Lower administration costs should mean more dollars for GEARS United to spend on tools and other necessities. During the last few seasons there have been numerous refinements at Pleasant Valley and at Glacial Blue Hills, but nothing revolutionary. In a future blog post I will examine some really ambitious plans for Glacial Blue Hills, plans that already enjoy the support of West Bend’s parks department. Stay tuned!