Cheryl Willson
To my fellow OR bike racers:
I'm excited that the Cross Crusade has made such a significant contribution to Northwest Trail Alliance. I have personally donated cash and product to NWTA (www.nw-trail.org) as well--it is one of the local organizations I actively support. In fact, I even joined the board of directors last winter for a two-year term. I thought it best to pair my local bicycle advocacy work with an important, local organization rather than just acting under my name, my business's name, or my team's name--all of which would've been viable options.
The fact is, NWTA (formerly Portland United Mountain Pedalers) is more than the "little group that could": it's the little group that does! We're a non-profit operated entirely by volunteers. We steward off-road trails over a large geographical area in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington, and we have carefully crafted partnerships w/ Portland Parks and Recreation, the Forest Park Conservancy, and others right here in Portland. (We are also now partnered w/ the International Mountain Bike Association.) If you ride and use trails in the region, then we've worked on them and advocated for them. Years ago (22, to be exact), PUMP was founded to secure access for bikes in Forest Park. That work is continuing today--last night was the latest meeting of the Forest Park Advisory Committee, a group convened by Portland Parks to recommend new trail riding opportunities in Forest Park. The same is under wheel at Powell Butte. You get the picture--and that's just here in the city. This is crucial for all of us 'crossers!
For those of us who also mountain bike, access to trails and their stewardship are primary concerns. Think of the new Sandy Ridge and the beloved Tillamook State Forest trail networks, and you have an idea of the significance of NWTA's work.
We do need more resources and, especially, members. Please consider joining NWTA this year. We need your help and would be proud to have you! Thanks for reading,
Erik Tonkin, Owner
Sellwood Cycle Repair
7639 SE Milwaukie Ave.
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 233-9392 (work)
(503) 348-7211 (cell)
Director at Large, Northwest Trail Alliance
Racer, Kona Factory Team
Manager, Team S&M
On Jan 12, 2010, at 4:30 PM, T. Kenji Sugahara wrote:
> To my fellow OBRA racers,
>
> Last year, Vivo Productions Inc. - the company that puts on the Cross
> Crusade Series - joined 1% for the Planet
> (onepercentfortheplanet.org), a growing global alliance of businesses
> that donate 1% of their annual revenues to a network of close to 2,000
> environmental organizations worldwide.
>
> I am pleased to announce that as part of our pledge to this cause,
> Vivo Productions recently decided to donate $1,100 to local offroad
> cycling advocacy group Northwest Trail Alliance (www.nw-trail.org).
> Last year, the group - formerly known as Portland United Mountain
> Pedalers - rebranded itself, added a new slate of longtime bike
> advocates to its board of directors (incuding our very own Erik
> Tonkin), and started advocating for more local off-road cycling
> opportunities with renewed energy. Northwest Trail Alliance's fresh
> approach - combined with the personal efforts of my good friend Frank
> Selker - has resulted in the formation of a new advisory committee
> focused on increasing singletrack acces in Forest Park, among other
> things. At this very moment, the group is actively working to preserve
> bike access to trails around Powell Butte, helping develop a new
> riding area at Gateway Green, and advocating for the creation of pump
> tracks in city parks across Portland. And all across NW Oregon and SW
> Washington, their small army of unsung trail stewards and volunteers
> has been maintaining and building sweet singletrack trails that I -
> and probably many of you - have enjoyed riding.
>
> So we thought it was time to give back. And we'd like to use the
> occasion to ask all of you, who enjoy riding or racing on dirt, to
> step up your support for Northwest Trail Alliance, by becoming a
> member or by supporting the organization in other ways. There is
> strength in numbers and all of us have much to gain from a strong,
> local advocacy group, working hard to "create, protect and enhance
> offroad cycling opportunities" in our local parks and in the beautiful
> open spaces across our region. Northwest Trail Alliance needs your
> support and we think they deserve it.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brad Ross
> Executive Director
> Cross Crusade Cyclocross Series
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