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In light of the current STW front page write-up on the rights-of-way issue, I am wondering if IMBA is active in the UK, and if so, why they would not be mentioned in such an article.
CTC is mentioned in the concluding lines. Is CTC simply more effective and active than IMBA in thsi country?
imo CTC is the more established of the 2 and has already got a decent membership but the majority of people on here will not be interested in joining any type of "club/institution" or other regardless of the issue.
These debates have gone on for years.
I could have been involved with IMBA in the early days but Scotland does not have the issues that the rest of the UK has and I basically could not afford it both in cash terms and family time. 7Stanes(FC)+ C.Y.B then took off on the back of IMBA but FC were in the driving seat and did not deliver the long term support once trail centre building increased.
So unless there is a big cash injection into IMBA there will be nothing to gain by joining them as I see it unfortunately. When the reps from the USA were at C.Y.B to sign the agreements with FC/Daffyd Davies etc they did a road trip to try and gain sponsors/sponsorship as they do in the USA and failed. It was left to FC to take up the challenge. Karl Bartlett a previous Chair person wasalso the 7Stanes project manager and hosted various IMBA reps at Stanes sites
IMBA used to have it`s very own button on this site up there ^^^^ a few years back when people were getting all worked up and asking why magazines/publishers were not doing anything to support them. Goes to show how much support they got.
Next time you are out on a trail, at a trail centre or in a bike shop do a quick survey by asking people what they think of the issue. Also ask them if they read magazines or use sites such as this. You may get a surprise.
Sorry, bit of a ramble there 🙄
Not been on my bike for a week or 2..............
That was a helpful ramble. Thanks.
[i]7Stanes(FC)+ C.Y.B then took off on the back of IMBA[/i]
Do you mean IMBA International or IMBA UK?
Are these two separate groups?
UK
Mr Bluementhal(sp?) was the head honcho who came over to CYB in 2001 to cement the deal with FC I recall. Got a picture somewhere. IMBA had(have)a manual/system/blueprint call it what you want for building trails and engaging with land managers which FC wanted to buy into to sell to the bigwigs who required convincing that trail building for mountain biking was a good idea.
We did a bit of trailbuilding on the MBR route that weekend.
SaxonRider - Member
Are these two separate groups?
Yes. UK is a stand alone group taking up guidance and stuff from the American International org. I think the original idea was to set up regional groups to deal with that areas problems with backing from the "board". I am sure there are a couple of forum members who were involved at some point in their respective areas.
UK launched in 2003 I thought?
Anyhoo, I was briefly the Scottish trailbuilding rep whilst I was involved in the trailfairies at Glentress. I think I was contacted once during that spell. Given that, our good position on access up here and a distinct lack of interest (IIRC Scottish membership was very low) I let my membership lapse...
Seems like more of a need from a trail advocacy POV south of the border.
I'm meeting our local IMBA-UK bloke next wednesday,. It'll be interesting to see what he's got to say.
Plug:
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7198/6789030618_e26d3586a5_b.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ir_bandito/6789030618/ ]TV-MTB[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ir_bandito/ ]ir_bandito[/url], on Flickr
There are still some good people working away 😀
2001/2 sometime. IMBA reps with Andy Hopkins at the start of Dalbeattie trailbuilding 😆
[IMG] 
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Hey guys, IMBA in the UK are still active www.imba.org.uk The organisation here is managed by volunteers and stands alone (as far as money, etc is concerned) from the US operation.
We do still liase with head office in Boulder, Colorado (I was there in January of this year) and work to fulfill the over riding mission of representing mountain bikers and campaigning to keep access open to trails. We are also now working with IMBA Trail Solutions (Joey Klein and Rich Edwards from TS are shown in the photo above during a visit to the then fledgling 7 Stanes back in 2001) to offer trail design and build and to support land managers and support riders to create new purpose built mountain bike trails.
IMBA-UK has a number of programs running in 2012 to support our affiliate clubs, businesses and individual supporters ranging from tool grants to training courses. We also have some great new merchandise available through our website.
To find out more or to get in touch check out www.imba.org.uk
I'm interested in IMBA as a purely MTB organisation.
Why does it cost more for an individual to join than a club?
The other thing is the membership;
By joining IMBA UK, you will be helping us to promote mountain-biking in the UK & Ireland. Amongst other things, this means defending our bridleway network, and providing support and information for trail-builders.
Members receive monthly news updates by email. We also hope to build a variety of membership benefits. The IMBA UK website shop offers member discounts on various publications.
Crikey, no wonder you aren't getting much uptake. £37 gets you.....a warm fuzzy feeling? Throw in a t-shirt for crying out loud. It seems too much like a charity. It's pretty shit that no UK MTB companies are supporting though, I would have though this would be right up the street of Hope or Pace etc. Has someone pissed them off?
IMHO, the organisation needs to be made "cool" (either through clever marketing or individual support etc). There's plenty of money in MTBing, and the idea would be to attract some (obviously). Try to make membership (and a cool t-shirt) a "must-have" for all of the Audi and BMW drivers and you'll be on to some thing.
Just some impressions.
but the majority of people on here will not be interested in joining any type of "club/institution" or other regardless of the issue.
the organisations have to be seen to be effective and representative
lots of climbers/boulderers/mountaineers don't belong to clubs or the BMC but still look to the organisation to represent, defend and promote their interests, similar the Ramblers Association
- the flip side of the issue is then who do you invite to represent the interests and opinions of MTB'ers? (for want of a better phrase) and is that a consensus opinion?