Last night CAMBr opened the communication channels with the McHenry County Conservation District. The objective of the meeting was to introduce CAMBr to the Board and highlight the need for greater cycling opportunities in the Conservation District properties. There were two speakers that presented. The specific text of the CAMBr portion is attached and a summary of the second speaker. The presentation was well received and acknowledged. CAMBr will follow up with a more detailed discussion in the next few weeks.
Presentation to the McHenry County Conservation District Feb 16th 2012.Good evening everybody,
My name is Mike Angus and I am the President of the Chicago Area Mountain Bikers North Chapter that incorporates McHenry County.
There are thousands of riders in McHenry County. Many of you in this room at some stage of your lives have ridden a bike or own a bike. Maybe it is gathering dust, maybe you ride it occasionally or maybe you are an avid cyclist.
Have you ever thought where all the cyclists ride? Some ride their bikes to school; some find jumps and obstacles to test their skills. Some take their chance on the road to get fit while others enjoy the paved bike paths and crushed limestone that the district has invested in.
1 in every 4 bike sold in the USA is a mountain bike. Mountain bikes are popular as you are not confined to a particular riding surface and you get a sense of freedom when you get off the beaten path and into nature. It is a great feeling; similar to hiking through a forest or riding your horse through a rolling prairie.
Have you ever thought where these cyclists are riding? Does McHenry County offer facilities where these cyclists can ride? Out of the 29 sites that the McHenry Conservation District has under its control only 2 allow biking and none allow biking on natural surface trails.
When you arrive home from work and want to ride your bike to de-stress and get out in nature, where do you go? Do you drive 50 miles north to Kettle Moraine or 50 miles south to Palos Hills or do you go and ride in the conservation district near you and sneak a ride in.
CAMBr is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization consisting of volunteer resources that build and maintain international quality natural surface trails under the supervision of the land owner for multiple users. We are advocates for conservation as well as natural surface riding.
I request the Board to consider establishing legal riding opportunities in Conservation District. CAMBr maintains 23 miles of natural surface trails in a partnership with the Cook County Forest Preserve District at Palos Hills amongst other smaller local riding opportunities. We are at the final stages of building a proof of concept trail at Raceway Woods in Carpentersville in a partnership with Kane County Forest Preserve District where we will be investing $15,000 dollars to build a natural surface trail.
I will be reaching out to the Board in the near future to pass on more information about CAMBr and the riders we represent. We would welcome the opportunity to work together with you to design and build natural surface trails for all user groups to enjoy.
We look forward to continued dialog in the future.
Mike Angus – President CAMBr North
Website: Cambr.org
Email:
mangus@cambr.org
