Our Mission
The Oregon Mountain Biking Coalition (OMBC) is Oregon’s statewide mountain biking coalition, a group of regional trail organizations representing mountain bikers across the state. We provide stewardship, education and support for the creation, enhancement and protection of mountain biking experiences in the State of Oregon.
Our vision is to establish Oregon a premier mountain biking destination, offering a diverse set of riding experiences in all settings from backcountry to urban, for riders of all types and abilities.
We believe:
Mountain biking is quiet, human-powered recreation enjoyed by many
By connecting mountain bikers with the lands they own, sustainable recreation is a powerful conservation tool
Mountain biking is a positive economic driver in communities large and small
And we value:
The conservation of trails for sustainable use, now and in the future
Experiences that enhance our well-being and connection with nature
Equitable access to riding within all settings, backcountry to urban
Our Board:
Nate Kuder lives in Parkdale, OR on the eastside of Mt Hood. Currently serving as the Board President, he’s been an avid mountain biker since early 90’s and has watched MTB grow from the tiny niche to a mainstream global sport. He’s stoked to give back to the sport and provide for the next generations of mountain bikers across the state.
Keith Leavitt represents Team Dirt on the OMBC, serving as the “cruise director” for Team Dirt’s social events in and around Corvallis. Keith is a permanent transplant from Colorado and has been mountain biking for over 25 years, having raced nearly every contrived and wonky format the sport produced during that time. Although he’d rather just ride bikes and build trail all of the time, he can usually be found mulling around at Oregon State University (where he serves as a Full Professor of Management and the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Business).
Patty Lenz, formerly President of HRATS, celebrates living in Hood River, OR. Being an Oregon native, she joined OMBC to ensure that the amazing singletrack trails she loves and rides all over Oregon remain accessible, maintained….and hopefully expanded upon. She heads up PlayNorthwest, a sales group representing great Outdoor brands in the Pacific Northwest and her business relies upon continued access for all to great trails in amazing places all over the PNW.
Gabriel Amadeus Tiller (he/him) is the founder and former executive director of the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance. He helped co-found the OMBC and is a proud board member of Bikepacking Roots. Gabe lives in Mill City, OR and works with a variety of clients as a map designer and recreation planner and developer. He’s passionate about backcountry trails and long-distance connectivity, and is a staunch believer that outdoor experiences have the power to transform people’s lives. Gabe represents Trans-Cascadia on the OMBC board of directors.
Emmy Andrews is OMBC’s Treasurer and the Executive Director of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA). Prior to becoming COTA’ Executive Director in 2021, Emmy served on COTA’s Board of Directors from 2016-2020. She lives in Bend and has only broken one bone mountain biking.
Adam Steffen has called Eugene home for 30 years and is actively involved with local mountain bike club Disciples of Dirt. Having bought his first mountain bike in 1989 (long before shuttling was a thing) he’s been excited to ride, guide a bit and occasionally race throughout western North America. When not riding bicycles or sliding sideways on snow in winter, he can be found working on park and trail plans as a landscape architect for the City of Eugene. With a strong belief in the “greater good” he supports OMBC’s work to protect access and enhance use of lands and trails for future generations of mountain bikers.
““Trails are the oldest known form of communication known to humankind.””
On October 29th 2017, a group of thought leaders representing the majority of mountain bike stakeholder groups from around Oregon, gathered in Bend for a prolonged discussion regarding the creation of a statewide organization. The goal was to flush out if such an organization was needed, who it would serve and what issues and needs were most important for the mountain bike community.
This group conducted deep dives into many issues such as actual needs from a statewide organization, model of representation and potential goals. Out of this session, it was agreed upon that all organizations present wished to work together to form a statewide organization.
Our Vision:
To establish Oregon as one of the premier places in the world to ride mountain bikes. Oregon will offer a wide range of mountain bike experiences from urban bike parks, to community trail systems, to backcountry trails that serve the needs of an ever growing population of mountain bikers.
Who We Are:
We are Oregon's statewide mountain bike coalition; a group of regional mountain biking and trail organizations, supported by industry, and providing a voice for mountain bikers statewide.
What We Do:
We provide support and education, on behalf of member organizations to national, state and local decision makers, showcasing of the benefits of mountain biking. We plan, design, build and maintain great trails and mountain bike experiences; we collaborate, we communicate, we inspire, we protect, we educate, and we ride.
Prioritized needs from a statewide organization
1) Professional Voice in Salem
Stakeholder groups desired to back a statewide organization that would provide mountain bikers a professional and consistent presence at the state-level to interface with governmental and outside entities. The desire was to have a consistent avenue of communication and collaboration with Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department and in particular the new Office of Outdoor Recreation. This was seen as vital to the success and continued development of mountain bike opportunities. All in attendance saw the benefit of a centralized voice creating greater awareness and education amongst state elected officials around the benefits of mountain biking.
2) Resource Sharing
As trail building and maintenance is a technical skill, and all stakeholder groups own varying amounts of special tools and machinery to execute this skill. Across all stakeholder groups there are varying levels of accountability and inventorying strategies with these resources. There was strong agreement around the concept of creating a centralized hub to share these equipment resources amongst groups.
3) Inter-organizational Communication
Most stakeholders expressed the desire for a statewide organization that would manage communication between the different organizations. As each organization is entirely volunteer led and powered, this often results in fluctuating time commitments to various projects depending on personal and professional demands. Since groups clearly prioritize local projects over statewide initiatives, a centralized voice for dispersing information, contact information, and bringing groups together (such as convening further Summits or trail schools) is needed.
4) Backcountry Labor
Stakeholders identified the need for additional labor support on backcountry projects as another high priority. With a renewed emphasis on these types of routes (the Oregon Timber Trail or Trans Cascadia for example), the need for stewardship on these trails has also risen. As these sites are often quite remote, the labor pool available for such endeavors shrinks due to a several constraints facing volunteers. These landscapes are often managed by the USFS, which is also currently seeing a reduction in maintenance and recreation resources. Therefore, volunteer stewardship is known to be essential in keeping these trails open. By facilitating or coordinating efforts in this realm, a statewide organization was seen has having a high value.
5) Storytelling Assistance
Many trail organizations do not have the internal capacity to help them tell the ‘story’ of who they are and what they do. This groups recognize that having this collateral will allow them to better communicate with existing and potential members, engage with land managers and also more effectively reach sponsors and supporters. This kind of work is often the work of marketing professionals. Having access to individuals with these skills will help many groups further their goals.
6) Statewide Wilderness Position
Stakeholders ranked this as one of the highest priority needs from a statewide organization. The desired statement would express the position of all groups on the closure of trails via changes in federal land designations. Over 150 miles of bike-accessible singletrack in Oregon has been closed due to Wilderness designations in the past decade, with over 300 miles at risk due to new proposals. In the face of this, most stakeholder groups sought the creation of a rallying point on this issue.
Many stakeholders steward trails on federal lands faced with this potential closure, but feature no single point of contact of position on these proposals. The convening members shared optimism that a mutually agreed upon position would help them preserve existing recreational access in the face of these threats and also better equip themselves to engage with elected officials.
7) Grant funding support
Most of the participating stakeholder groups have relied on sizable grants to fund construction, maintenance, outreach and equipment acquisition. These grants have come from a vast array of public and private sources both within Oregon and nationally. No matter the funding source, compiling, writing, and applying for these grants are a significant time strain on volunteer organizations. Many groups felt that having professional help identifying eligible sources and matching them with projects, along with preparing and writing the grants would be highly valuable. Several groups used examples of other recreation nonprofits that employ full time development/grant writing staff.
8) Strategic Planning Support
Multiple stakeholder groups identified the need for additional support in their efforts to develop long-range strategic plans as well as conduct organizational development training. They recognize that their current leadership structures may not have the expertise to accomplish this and view bringing in outside contractors as a way to execute this need. Specific guidance in non-profit governance will help stakeholders groups grow structurally and increase their efficiency and efficacy.