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Show B1 Wednesday, September 5, 2007 NUMB attract novice to advanced riders BrlaBowa Express Associate Editor Door locked. Store closed. Those who looked like customers custom-ers moments earlier gather near the register at Altitude Cycle in Vernal.' "We need to figure out food and vehicles," says store owner Troy Lupcho as he joins the group. "So who all is going?" They call themselves NUMB - Northeastern Utah Mountain Bikers - and they're finalizing plans for a trip to Island in the Sky, a more than 100-mile trail in Canyonlands National Park near Moab. With the final questions answered, the group disperses looking forward to the trip less than a week away. "It's instant friends," says Jenny Biggs. "People can get involved and fit right in. Biggs describes herself as a novice mountain biker. She's been riding rid-ing regularly for about three months, but was off-and-on cycling i iuy uuiuuiuh. iraiis maintained uy monneasiern 4 K r rv7b. v. Ulf ill wntAi---. i.lf" . I : V 'j.' Ill s . has been riding mountain bikes since the early '90s and previously raced BMX and road bikes. Mountain biker Troy Lupcho outlines several trails maintained southwest of Vernal. He explained from a single parking lot, rid- ers can take of in one of many directions and mix and match trail segments to form whatever ride they can imageine. Each office is independently owned and operated. .0) of every sale is f donated to the m vi Aporbwv V it 1820 West 1 Children? Miracle V Vernal, Utah Hwy.40,SteF Network. 435-781-2500 Outstanding Agents. Outstanding Results - thusiast for several years before. be-fore. The trip to Moab is an extra for the group, which plans two rides each week in the Uintah Basin. "The quality of the trail system sys-tem is astonishing," says Pam Rosal, who in her second year riding singletrack. "Here we are in the middle of Cow Town, USA and there is this group of progressive, progres-sive, motivated riders building and maintaining trails." . Both Rosal and Biggs say they lookforward to Mellow Mondays: the first ride of the week that's for everyone, from novice to advanced. The weekly ride is a chance for less experienced riders to learn from the more advanced among them. For intermediate to advanced riders, the week's second ride, held on Wednesdays, provides more of a challenge. Each week, organizers pick from one ot several sanctioned sanc-tioned mountain bike trails in the area. Lupcho - or "Troy Boy" as u " w"" ; wu T . uian Muuniam dimsis. kupuiu r NUMB riders stop to take a break and rebuild a section of singletrack. Aside from enjoying the sports, the mountain bike group focuses on building and maintaining mountain bike routes. he's called by fellow riders - explains ex-plains that adding new trails is on hold right now while the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service review future land uses. Until new trails can be added, the group is working on maintaining the trails they have - largely accomplished just by using them. Lupcho says the best way to maintain trails is to use them, periodically stopping to move larger rocks and other debris and stopping to clean up trash. Over time regular use turns what started out as cow paths and game trails into hard-packed hard-packed mountain bike trails. One of the biggest threats to these trails, explains Kevin Christopherson, is motorized tioAw TKot'o mViir MTTMD - o representative who works with both the Forest Service and BLM to, among other things, keep motorized users off of and away from mountain biking trails. . Several of the group's seasoned sea-soned riders say they own four-wheelers four-wheelers or off-road motorcycles. But they recognize the larger motorized vehicles don't mix with mountain bikes. After working to build and maintain trails, riders can enjoy the benefits of their work. It takes weeks, months or even years to get a mountain bike trail into top condition and all the work can be easily destroyed by other trail users such as motorized and equestrian traffic, - - - - Gtftynihis4siftrn(kBaiookSM; 5 bedrooms; J 12 bads; new hardwood floors My finished watotf basement; attradivriy landscaped witiiwatrrfal; lots of storage. II&5 711079 CalArteMatt2S-S573 k 4 o ,5V r "It literally takes years to rebuild re-build a mountain bike trail after motorcycle or horse traffic, " says Lupcho. One extreme is saying open everything up and allow motorized motor-ized users everywhere, explains Christopherson. The other extreme ex-treme says to close off all motor-ized motor-ized users. Most NUMB members are somewhere in the middle. They recognize there are several different types of users and each are legitimate. But they aren't always compatible with each other in the same place. Lupcho says he's proud of the trail system and for the second year, hopes to attract out-of-towners to the area with NUMBfest, an organized festival later this month. - w r T - lata 'QHu T.imfVirt started organizing and promot- ing Dinotrax, another mountain bike festival. Each year, he closed his store for a few days and took his staff to work the event, which was centered around Red Canyon Lodge. "Why would a local business want to sponsor an event 40 miles away? Why aren't we supporting our trails an local economy?" he said of his decision to do away with Dinotrax. Most of the area's current trails are on BLM-administered lands and Lupcho says the BLM is on-board with the annual event. He readily admits his involvement involve-ment in building and organizing trails and attracting mountain bikers to the area is tied to his business. "You can't sell. a product people can't use," he explains. He said since the closure of the BMX track near Vernal, his sales and service of BMX bikes have dropped. By keeping NUMBfest closer to home, he's able to keep his store open through the event. The event will include several organized rides on the area's many miles of groomed mountain bikejfrails. , Lupcho added one of the biggest big-gest changes from Dinotrax to NUMBfest that is more attractive to participants: the new event is free. For details on NUMBfest, scheduled Sept. 21-23, or to learn about NUMB's weekly rides, visit Altitude Cycle at 580 East Main in Vernal, call 781-2595 or visit www.altitudecycle.com. (mh(twi(ilfafj2iNflstMi Puffed falltarfbiKwi78MS . .,3 or leg i, - V--w.ccnccr.org 247 for Information or to find free services available in the Uintah Basin. September Joyce Bolton, local area artist, Western Heritage Museum, all month. Call 789-7399 for more information. Tot and Mom Book Club, Uintah County Library, 1st and 3rd Thursday at 11 a.m. "The Secret" Book Club, 2nd and 4th Thursday at 7 p.m. TOPS meets Thursday at the city offices, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Community Bible Study at the home of Dave Jolley every Monday evening at 7 p.m. For more information 789-2305. 6th Annual Bluebell Corn MazePumpkin Patch, through the month. Call Mark 454-3732 for more information. September3 The regularly schedule Uintah County Commission meeting canceled due to holiday. Next meeting on Sept. 10. September 5-9 21st Meeker Classic Champion Sheep Dog Trials in Meeker, Colorado. Call 970-979-0080 for more information. September 6-7 USOMATA registration from 1 to 7 p.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Parrish House, 226 West Street in Vernal. Call 789-6499, 789-6499, 247-2592 for more information. September 8 Olie Anderson Monster Trucks at Western Park, Call 789-7396 for more information. September 11 Explorer's Bible Study beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Vernal Christian I Church. 1845 W. 750 S., I Vernal. Call Cindy or Barb at TRQ-Wnn for mrtm I information. September 13 Golden Age Center, Summer Picnic Program, "Wolf Creek" meet at the center at 9 a.m. AARP Safety Driving Program, Fred Mullen instructor. For ages 50 and older, $10, from .1 to 5 p.m., call Golden Age Center 789-2169 for more information. Some insurances will credit participants. September 14 Christian Motorcyclists Association, at the Cobble Rock Cafe at 7 p.m., call Anita Harlan 790-2266. Revival at the First Baptist Church, 7 p.m. 2100 W. Highway 40. Call 789-7396 for more information. AARP Safety Driving Program, Fred Muller; instructor. For ages 50, $10, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., call Golden Age Center 789-2169 for more information. Some insurances will credit participants. September 15 Northern Utah Geneology and Family Heritage Jamboree at the Ogden Marriott, 247 24th Str. in Ogden, Saturday starting at 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Contact 801-829-3295, Kimberly Savage for more information. Buckskin Hills Recreation Area - Open House. 12 to 5 p.m., demonstrations in all venues and ATV training. Sept 21-22 Indian Summer Storytelling Festival 2007 begins Friday night at 7 p.m. with Bedtime Stories See CALENDAR on page B2 . CaiXarylw0iaw7t5 |