VMBA’s greatest strength lies in the sum of its parts – the 29 Chapters that make up our organization. When you become a VMBA Member, you select your Primary Chapter – typically where you live or ride the most. But what about the other networks that you enjoy riding or communities that you want to show your support? It is precisely for these reasons that our Add-On model exists. VMBA Members can support multiple Chapters through their membership, which supports trail stewardship statewide. Add-on memberships are critical to the fundraising and operations of all our Chapters, with 100% of all Add-on membership revenue going directly to the Chapter(s).
Why support multiple Chapters? Membership revenue helps bring trail projects to life and makes Vermont one of the best places to mountain bike. Most Chapters have a trail project that they hope will come to fruition this year, and you can add that Chapter to your Membership to help make the projects a reality. Consider supporting the following:
- Richmond Mountain Trails is working towards completing The Driving Range – a soon-to-be trail network in Bolton. Notably, this project is the first network in Vermont designed and built from the ground up with adaptive riders in mind.
- Fellowship of the Wheel is working on repairing and upgrading the marquis trails of their Carse Hills Network – maintaining their classic technical characteristics while making them more sustainable.
- Southern Vermont Trails Association is executing major and much-needed improvements to trails in the Crosstown network outside of Dover.
- Woodstock Area MTB Association is conducting a full-scale refresh and re-berming of their much-loved Sir-Berms-A-lot trail, part of a larger strategy to rehabilitate the Mt. Peg trails network.
- Ridgeline Outdoor Collective is improving the Contest Trail, the first ever mtb-designated trail in the Green Mountain National Forest. Their work is to bring the trail up to modern trail-building standards, protecting the original primitive character while making it a larger loop option with the Velomont Trail.
- Addison County Bike Club is designing and constructing a new pump track adjacent to Middlebury’s Mary Hogan Elementary School. This pump track will facilitate easy access for youth programs while helping ACBC achieve its goal of getting more local kids on bikes.
- Franklin County MTB Club is constructing a new 1.5-mile singletrack trail in St. Albans Town Forest – a 30% expansion of the current trail system. And this is just phase 1 of a multi-year plan that aims to connect the Town Forest and FCMBC’s other flagship network, Hard’ack.
- Stowe Trails Partnership has crucial maintenance needs for ever-popular trails in Cady Hill Forest like Florence, Snake, and Cady Hill Connector, in addition to refurbishments to trails in Adam’s Camp and Sterling Forest.
- Brewster River MTB Club is making adaptive enhancements to Meagan’s Trail at Cricket Hill. These targeted enhancements are part of a larger plan to bring all of Meagan’s Trail up to adaptive standards and further enhance Cricket Hill as a network that offers something for everyone.
So many more trail projects are planned this year spread across our 29 Chapters, and they all depend on your support to come to fruition. So take a look at our list of Chapters and consider: where you ride, what you want to see in trail development, and where you hope to ride in the future. Then head to our “Current Term Add-on” page and select a Chapter or two to throw your support behind. Remember, 100% of your add-on membership goes directly to the Chapter(s) you choose. When you support as much of VMBA as possible, and you are supporting our amazing Chapters, big and small. Help us grow our community of Chapters and make Vermont an even more incredible place to ride.