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The Purpose of Airborne MTB Club
Our organization serves mountain bike enthusiasts along the Treasure Coast
of Florida by acting as a connection between riders and land managers.
We also serve mountain bikers outside the area by providing accurate local
trail information on this website. It is our goal to improve the level of understanding of land managers with
respect to mountain biking. It is our goal to help riders attain
more and better riding trails in our area. In that regard we also
help with trail building and maintenance.
Our secondary function is to give local riders an opportunity to be a club
with a social aspect. We help plan trips - some day trips, some
longer, to other trails outside of our area. We have a calendar of
events
which lists some of the things we have planned.
Trails
Our organization has been the
leading force in working with St. Lucie County to see that the
Ft. Pierce Bike Trail trail is made a legitimate county park instead of the out of bounds
trail it has always been.
After the hurricanes, and after
dutifully respecting a request to please observe trespassing signs posted,
no progress was made toward the actual purchase of the land. As
trespassing enforcement ended, there was a rapid repopulation of the area
with ATVs. Local cyclists met at the damaged trail in the Fall of
2005 and voted to make an earnest effort to repair the trail and maintain
bicycle presence on the trail. To have failed to do so would have
meant the destruction of the bike trail. Hundreds of volunteer hours were
donated by concerned local riders and for the first time in almost 2 years
the trail at Ft. Pierce is in good shape to ride.
The trail was intentionally restored as close to it's original
configuration as was possible, and although less wooden structures are
evident, the trail is actually more technical than it was before.
Our efforts are also focused on trail maintenance and development at the
Halpatiokee Regional Park
in Martin County. Here, we are
welcome to ride the singletrack. We are in the process of placing 'shared
- use - trail' signs and laying out a marked course for cross country
riders. We have been encouraged and given permits to be on-site and
develop trails here. Currently our TCC teams are extending the
southern River Trail extension. We are also working at creating some
bypasses where the perimeter road was damaged by trucks. We are also
installing some directional signs.
If you know of other areas in Martin or St. Lucie counties to ride, please
let us know. (Click
here to let us know)
Free Memberships
Airborne believes that
trail work done is more valuable than money in the bank. We
stand firmly behind the idea that any person who is willing to give up a
half day of their time to come out and invest some sweat equity, certainly
has earned a membership to our club. We also value cash for tools and
supplies, but simply want to place an emphasis on how very much we value
user participation. These are YOUR trails. Contribute in a way that
is best for you. We say, "Get involved, get your voice heard".
Believe us when we say if you are out there working with us, your ideas
will be listened to. On the other hand, if you think you can just go
out and start building stuff, you will meet with resistance.
Remember, we're trying to represent MTB'ers as a unified bunch, working
together, and working toward creating a face and voice in this area so
that MTB opportunities can expand.
Memberships, Donations & Money (in general)
Fees from
donations
and
memberships
are tax
deductible. We are a non-profit organization. Monies collected
currently are first held in reserve with the specific intent of being used for
professional fees when needed as they relate to issues regarding the
re-opening of the Ft. Pierce bike trail. After that, fees will be
used for trail enhancements. Your membership and donation dollars will go
right back into your trails. This year we were able to buy a 20 inch
Stihl Chainsaw, repair the 10 inch pole saw, and the Ryobi 16 inch
chainsaw. Without these tools it would not have been possible to
clean up the Ft. Pierce and Halpatiokee Trails as quickly as we did.
Regarding the bike trail at Ft. Pierce
This
organization feels in the strongest possible sense that the deal being
pursued by St. Lucie County on behalf of local cyclists is a win-win-win
situation.
St. Andrew's
Episcopal stands to gain financially from such a deal. For
them, to sell the land in the conservation easement for the purpose of
retaining the bike trail is tantamount to creating a public park. St.
Andrew's will gain a financial reward for land which has a very low dollar
value because it can never be developed. They gain release from
having to uphold the conservation easement and restore the land. St. Lucie County adds a gem to their
county park system and also a true conservation area south of the creek.
This park is a vital part of the county's ambitious and wonderful plan for
the 10 mile creek corridor, which includes many paths, parks, and passive
use areas. They should be allowed to purchase the land for a very
fair price. They are trying to do something great for their
community. The club, Airborne, and mountain bikers in Florida and
throughout the country will have made this wonderful trail a legal trail.
Not one among us enjoys the stress of having to trespass to ride, or even
to donate volunteer hours and dollars to maintain the trail.
We cannot imagine any reason why this
would not happen. The county has the funds and the
interest. St. Andrew's has the opportunity to relieve itself of a burden
and gain financially while at the same time serving the community, and
Airborne, simply, preserves a nice place to ride a bike.
As discussions of a sale failed to reach
a favorable conclusion between St. Lucie County and St. Andrew's Episcopal
Church, a third party has appeared interested in the parcel of land.
The developer is an industrialist and is very interested in relieving
himself of the conservation land. At last we heard, after the first
of the year (2006) a sale between this person and St. Andrews 'should'
take place, and subsequently St. Lucie County would then tender the land
contract already offered the church. It is our understanding that the
industrialist is okay with those terms.
Feel free to contact these people and
send your support letters to:
St Lucie County,
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church,
South Fl. Water Mgmt.
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