TERAVAIL IS PROUD TO PARTNER WITH IMBA

Trails have a profound impact on the communities around them. A ribbon of dirt that’s barely a foot wide can change lives for generations—we’ve seen it happen. But it only happens thanks to the hard work of the people who build and maintain it.

We spend a lot of time thinking about people who ride trails; now we’re doing something for those who bring trails to life. We’re proud to announce that we’ve partnered with IMBA to donate a portion of the proceeds from our tire sales to support their mission.

Since 1988, IMBA has been working to create, enhance, and protect great places to ride. Our ongoing contributions will support IMBA’s core initiatives: construction of accessible trail systems, community education on best practices, and advocacy focused on building a larger, stronger, and more diverse mountain biking community.

Located in Lykens, PA, the Rattling Creek trail — an IMBA EPIC — exemplifies IMBA’s (and local partner SAMBA’s) impact. The trails are a labor of love for Keith Whitcomb, a life-long resident of the area. In 1999, Keith and his friend, Mike Mace, began building a loop based on IMBA’s then-new sustainable trail guidelines. The result was a trail that sees plenty of use more than 20 years later and preserves the terrain’s distinct East-Coast flavor. Here’s to many more projects like Lykens.

Watch this profile of the Rattling Creek community and then go show your local loop some love.

0:02 Dave Pugh: Mountain biking, it can be something that you can do 0:07 that will, of course, take you away from your stressors in your life and all of the things 0:14 that bring you down, and you can go back to something that's consistent. Something 0:17 that you can relate to every time, and you can see yourself getting better as an individual. 0:24 Nick Loftus: SAMBA is the Susquehanna Area Mountain Bike Association. 0:27 We've been in existence for about 25 years, but we became an IMBA chapter 0:32 in 2012. So almost 10 years as an IMBA chapter and we operate throughout all of south-central PA. 0:38 The Rattling Creek trail system was established back in the 90s working with DCNR 0:44 and the Lykens burrough. It's about 22 to 30 miles of trail, depending on what you consider 0:50 trail. Some of it's snowmobile trail. But, it is an IMBA EPIC and folks come from all over 0:55 to ride it and cross it off their bucket list. 0:58 Voiceover: Teravail is proud to partner with IMBA 1:00 to support their core initiatives: construction of accessible trail systems, 1:04 community education on best practices, and advocacy focused on building a larger, stronger, 1:10 and more diverse mountain biking community. 1:12 Nick Loftus: Our trail director Josh had a vision to expand this 1:15 and, you know, we took that vision and really blew it out to a bigger picture because 1:23 the expansion that we're working on now will lead to connection in the next tract of the 1:28 state forest. We'll be able to expand that out as well. And that's where the grants come in. 1:33 Voiceover: Trails have a profound impact on the communities around them. 1:37 Studies have shown that investing in outdoor recreation helps support healthier communities, 1:42 contributes to a high quality of life, and attracts and sustains 1:46 local businesses and families. 1:50 Dave Pugh: Trails do not just appear. 1:52 Trails are built by volunteers, they're built by organizations. In this case, 1:57 it's SAMBA and these guys built a new trail system on the back of the IMBA EPIC that already existed. 2:04 It takes effort from people to maintain and build and design, and make sure there's a level 2:11 of interest in mountain biking in the community. 2:14 Kevin Jury: The train station was purchased back 2:17 in 2006. This is right on the trail for Lykens Valley Trail but it connects out to the Rattling 2:25 Creek trail system not even a mile away. This will be a trail hub, and we're hoping to find someone 2:32 who can help develop this property and take it to another level to be that hub that becomes a 2:40 connectivity point for the community. 2:42 Joshua Watts: As proven across 2:44 the rest of the country, there's been a lot of economic development 2:47 in this area. To see, when trails and outdoor recreation come to small towns like 2:54 this, the benefit that the town has. 2:57 Nick Loftus: Some grassroots work, 2:58 a lot of volunteer sweat and time put into it and, you know, when it's all said and 3:03 done we're going to more than double the trail mileage and the access points 3:09 and the connectivity into the local communities. 3:11 Joshua Watts: We're slowly chipping away at it, 3:13 and it's just a great project that I'm very excited to be a part of and the rest of SAMBA 3:19 and everybody involved. And the volunteers and the financial donors and sponsors and it's just, 3:25 it's a great ride that I'm very excited to be a part of.