In a sport that is already growing in Austin, the surrounding area and the state of Minnesota itself, the Southeastern Minnesota Bike Club will host the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew in July.

The group will be in Austin July 8 and 9 and will spend time discussing with the public how to build and maintain trails and will also hold a “hands-on” in the field seminar when they work on Austin’s own mountain bike trail.

It constitutes another big step in the area’s own mountain biking presence that has seen the short and successful ride of its own high school team which will host its second race this September.

“This is for people to understand the potential of this,” said Steve Kime, who aside from being part of the SMBC is also the chairman of the Vision 2020 Bike/Walk committee.

“This is an opportunity to lure people to something in Austin and to help in our goal to make Austin a destination,” Kime continued. “This is a growing sport.”

The team, based in Austin, held its first race in only its second year, last September pulling in riders from around the state.

Up until this point the course and the team have been driven by a volunteer effort. People like Gareth Hataye, who has spearheaded a lot of the construction of the trail, have made it all possible along with a very specific inspiration.

“The inspiration was Dr. Dick Schindler,” Kime said. “He’s inspired a lot of us.”

The trail crew will hold an information seminar called Better Living Through Trails from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, July 8 at the Ruby Rupner Auditorium at that Jay C. Hormel Nature Center that works more with building and maintaining trails. While it’s open to the public it’s also geared toward county, city and community leaders as well as land managers.

Another seminar, Trail Building Classroom, will be held from 9 a.m. to noon before the group heads out to the trail at 1 p.m. Saturday for actual trail work.

The hope is to further expand the course, which winds through a chunk of land across from Todd Park to the west. That would be on top of a recent expansion completed earlier this year.

“It’s been expanded by a half-mile already,” Kime said.

The speed in which the mountain biking team effort has grown is an indication and reflection of how popular the sport is becoming. Austin’s own example is a testament to how this effort has really gone forward.

“A lot of things have happened in a very short time,” Kime said. “It’s gone a long ways to putting Austin on the map.”

But a lot of this visit by the trail crew also goes toward alerting the public to the trail and team. The two-day visit is open to the public, but Kime pointed to Friday’s seminar as being especially important.

ime said about getting the word out. “Building the awareness would be good and getting the people informed.”

Aside from general trail maintenance, which Kime suspects will fall to the SMBC, the trail group will also point to ways the trail needs to interact with the surrounding environment.

The trail already is built in such manner.

“It’s built to be sustainable and not to disrupt the environment,” Kime said. “They can help us with that.”

“This kind of takes it to the next level,” Kime added.

 

•Friday, July 8, 3 to 5 p.m., “Better Living Through Trails,” Ruby Rupner Auditorium, Jay C. Hormel Nature Center.

•Saturday, July 9, 9 a.m. to noon, “Trail Building Class,” Ruby Rupner Auditorium, Jay C. Hormel Nature Center.

•1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Austin Mountain Bike Trail, hands on discussion.

•Registration is requested by going to www.imba.com/civicrm/event/info?id=667&reset=1.

•For more information or assistance in registering contact Gareth Hataye at 507-219-1886 or by email at gshataye@gmail.com