www.shorelinecyclingclub.org

We all know what great riding opportunities we have in our area and the Shoreline Cycling Club decided to get the word out to the rest of the cycling community. For the last year, a small committee has been working to produce the area’s first ride guide, the DIRTroad. The DIRTroad is a 36 page guide to 10 of the best MTB and road rides in our area with detailed maps and descriptions of each ride. 20,000 copies of the publication will be distributed to Michigan Welcome Centers, local Convention & Visitors Bureaus, Chambers of Commerce, regional bike shops, local motels along with many other locations. The DIRTroad committee sought out local grants, donations and advertisers in order to produce the guide. It is the Club’s intent to continue producing the DIRTroad in the future with additional rides and information for the cyclist. In the short term we are relying on membership dues and donations to make this project happen. In the long term we hope to actually generate income through advertising.

The next step for the Club is to generate an electronic version of the DIRTroad and update our website to host the e-version. The cost for this will be at least $500 and again we are seeking advertising, donations and membership dues in order to make this happen. If you would like more information about the e-DIRTroad let us know.

In other news, the Club is continuing to develop the Non-Motorized trail park in Manistee into an off-road amusement park with dirt jumps, a pump track and more singletrack. This past winter also saw a considerable increase in skier traffic on the XC ski trails.
The School Forest singletrack in Ludington will be completed this year with a total of over 5 miles of family friendly trails.
The Club is also involved with:
• Awesome looking new bike racks in downtown Ludington.
• Ludington Optimist Bike Rodeo.
• Healthy Active Manistee week in Manistee.
• Special Olympics
• Andy Klevorn’s Singletrack Showdown race.
• Trail upkeep and maintenance with the North Country Trail Assoc. and Manistee and Oceana Ski Councils.

As you can see, the Club has accomplished quite a lot in a few short years. We need your support to continue these projects and to begin new ones.
We will not be sending out invoices to existing members so unless you signed up at last fall’s meeting, you are up for renewal. All business members will be recognized on our website so include your logo. Memberships can be handled by using the PayPal button or print the membership application from the “join” page and send it in.

Just a note of caution when you hit the trails this spring, make sure they dry enough to ride on. A great deal of damage can be done in the spring by riding on freshly thawed trails. It’s been a long winter and we all want to get on single track as soon as possible. But let’s all try to be good stewards of the lands we ride on for future cyclists.

Here’s a video of Jeff B. and Andy K. riding fat tire bikes on the beach north of Ludington the other day. Certain conditions don’t necessitate a fat tire bike, but if conditions change then you can be left riding soft sand in a normal mountain bike. I think it’s a for sure third bike in the quiver, ahead of a cross bike, but that’s just me. Discussion  on our Facebook page?

In the meantime, here’s a video of a portion of our ride.

Greetings fellow mountain bikers,

The last heavy snow fall we got of the year did a number on many of the local trails. We have been working hard on cleaning them up but there is still more work to be done. Here is the latest info:

• School Forest trails are in great shape.
• North Country Trail between M10 and M55 has been cleared and is in good shape. The condition of the section between Dillings and Marilla is yet to be determined.
• The Big M area is greatly improved but still needs more work. The outer loop, Lumberjack, Camp 24, half of Big Wheel, and Half of Oh Me are fairly clean (big stuff gone but still some branches down). We haven’t gotten to Catamount nor Firetower yet.
• Arcadia is in great shape and the flowers are already starting to bloom!

Happy Trails!

The Shoreline Cycling Club has been working with the City Of Manistee and the Manistee Non-Motorized Transportation Committee to develop cycling and skiing trails at the Manistee Non-Motorized Trail Park. With winter back in full force, the ski trails at the park are a great way to stay in shape for the cycling season. We are keeping the trails groomed and in top condition for skating and classic skiing. Current trail conditions, maps and info are posted at www.skimanistee.org. There is no fee to use the park.

Well it was fun while it lasted, 50 degree biking in mid-January. Sure the skiing was not good. But cycling was awesome! We almost made it to good weather for the Salsa bike demo at Trailhead Bike Shop scheduled for Tuesday, January 17 at 5 o’clock. More details here.

Here’s a video from Yankee Springs shot the weekend before the party ended.

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