La MBHOF è lieta di comunicare gli :2003 INDUCTEES TO THE MOUNTAIN BIKE HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM
che sono: Gary Crandall, Promotion, Cindy Devine, Racing History, Dan Koeppel, Journalism and Ashley Korenblat, Advocacy.
La 16th "Annual Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Induction" si terrà a Las Vegas, Nevada il 13 Ottobre 2003 a partire dalle 6:30 P.M. in occasione dell'Interbike,tutto il pubblico e il benvenuto.
http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/
Allego la scheda dei nuovi iscritti "in inglese"
GARY CRANDALL
Gary Crandall's first off road experiences are rooted in northwestern Wisconsin in the tiny towns of Cable & Hayward in the late 1970's. There the seeds of an off road bicycle event on the world renowned American Birkebeiner cross-country ski trail were sown in 1983. An inaugural field of twenty-seven off-road pioneers gathered on the Main St. in Hayward, WI to take part in a weekend of fat tire racing and fat tire fun dubbed the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival. From that first field of 27 to the 2,500 riders who are selected in a random lottery six months in advance of the event, the Chequamegon Festival remains one of the nation's most popular off road gatherings.
The Chequamegon event set the tone for the mountain bike boom that occurred in Midwest during the 80's and 90's. As the festival director since 1984, Gary has been continuously at the helm of one of the most popular longest running events in the sport. With an eye toward sustainability of trails, quality of event experience and maintenance of race staff sanity, a self-imposed 2,500 rider limit was set on the Chequamegon cross country events in the early 1990's. In the event's twenty-one year history, well over 35,000 riders have enjoyed the roller coaster glacially formed terrain of the Chequamegon race courses.
As a devoted trail advocate, Gary and other area volunteers were instrumental in forming the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA). In 1990 CAMBA and the Chequamegon community joined forces to turn a confusing maze of ski trails, logging roads & deer paths into a user-friendly system of over 300 miles of mountain bike trails. As a multi-agency partnership with federal and local entities joining with community based volunteers, the CAMBA project has set a high standard for trail construction and economic development in northwestern Wisconsin.
Gary believes one of the greatest challenges facing the mountain bike industry today continues to be maintaining the youthful exuberance and excitement of the formative years of the sport. Focusing on the fun, adventure and innovations of the sport's early days is essential for the long-term health of the industry. An industry that supports grassroots racing promotion, while increasing contributions for trail advocacy will help to insure a continuous source of new riders and places for them to ride.
Bio provided by Gary Crandall, edited by the Hall of Fame
CINDY DEVINE
In the summer of 1988, a 28-year old Whistler physical therapist named Cindy Devine arrived on the American racing scene at Mammoth Lakes, California, which, at that time, was the most thriving mountain bike scene in the world.
It was only her second year of mountain biking and she ended up leaving Mammoth with a Bronze medal in both the Downhill and Dual Slalom events.
The following year - 1989, Cindy continued to challenge her American competitors for podium finishes on the NORBA circuit, and eventually won a Gold and a Bronze medal at the 1989 unofficial World Mountain Bike Championships; this time she won Gold in the Downhill and Bronze in the Slalom.
In 1990 the World Championships became an official UCI sanctioned race. It was during this event that Cindy marked her place in history as the first "official" World Champion in the Downhill.
By 1992, Cindy had captured one Gold and two Bronze World Championships Downhill medals, three Kamikaze Downhill titles, 3 Canadian Downhill National Championship titles and the classic "Desert to Sea" 150 mile mountain bike race win (Palm Springs to San Diego).
Cindy's world class accomplishments, professionalism, and sheer talent provided inspiration and motivation for many other successful Canadian mountain bikers, including Alison Sydor, Lesley Tomlinson, Elladee Brown, Andrew Shandro and Roland Green.
To this day, multi-time World Champion, Alison Sydor, credits Cindy for her position as a role model, athlete and flag bearer for the mountain bike movement in Canada.
Currently, Canada is a leader in the sport - whether it's manufacturing, racing, freeriding or touring, the scene here is thriving, It is the birthplace of the "Freeride" movement and home to current World Mountain Bike Champion, Roland Green.
Ask anyone in this country about Cindy Devine - everyone, and I mean everyone, will agree that she was the first mountain biker from this country to bring the sport to another level. Her notoriety as a racer and ambassador has influenced so many people to experience the sport in this country...she is an integral part of the history of mountain biking in Canada.
Her career will forever be remembered in Canada, and throughout the world.
How did she come to be the fastest downhill mountain biker in the world in 1990, after only 3 years on a mountain bike?
Cindy was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela of an Icelandic mother and a Canadian father. At 4 years old she was growing up in the now infamous "North Shore" of Vancouver, B.C., amongst the ancient cedars and steep slopes of these coastal mountains.By 14, Cindy was commuting 80 km every Saturday on a 10-speed, from her house to the Vancouver beaches. What started as lengthy day trips as a teenager, eventually grew into cycling across Canada when she was 21, across Hawaii, Fuji, Cook Islands and New Zealand at 24, and across Europe at 26.
Cindy possessed an obvious talent for power, independence and endurance. While on her cross Canada ride, she rode solo, slept in church cemeteries, and consumed only shredded wheat and skim milk! This is a woman who has spent large amounts of time inside the caverns of her mind...
Her favorite rides are countless, but the worse place she reports riding is across Eastern Germany only days after Chernobyl blew.
Devine retired from racing in 1994 as 5-time undefeated Canadian National Downhill Champion. She continues to stay involved in mountain biking as an instructor during the summer months with the West Coast School of Mountain Biking and the Shimano Dirt Series.
She has also returned to her rehabilitation medicine career with a successful consulting company in Rossland, B.C.
In June of 2000 at the World Mountain Bike Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain, Cindy and several others, including Thomas Frishnecht, Ned Overend, Alison Sydor and Nicolas Voillouz, to name a few, became founding members of the "Rainbow Club" - a celebration declaring a decade of World Champions.
Cindy has graced the covers of many a national and international bike magazine and Canada has a "daughter" that they are extremely proud of at an international level - A dedicated brave heart who raced with so much style and class.
She has mentored an entire nation of riders, both competitively and recreationally, and has created a legacy that will forever be the "era of Cindy Devine"... the first and the only!!
Submitted by Elladee Brown
DAN KOEPPEL
Dan Koeppel began his career in mountain bike journalism in 1988, writing a profile of Chris Chance that appeared inMountain Bike Action. Since then, he has gone on to write for nearly every major cycling publication, including Bicycling, Bike, Velo-News, and, most notably, Mountain Bike. In 1993, Dan was hired as the Mountain Bike editor of Bicycling, where his job was specifically to manage the California-based transition of Mountain Bike from an insert in its parent magazine to a separate magazine. One of his first moves was to spearhead the hiring of Zapata Espinoza, then editor of MBA, to run Mountain Bike. (Dan himself gave up a fairly lucrative career as more conservative journalist, giving up his position as Los Angeles bureau chief for MediaWeek, a prominent entertainment business magazine, in order to take the Mountain Bike job.)
With Zap on board, the two went on to bring Mountain Bike from an initial circulation of 40,000, to its current industry leading position.
In 1996, Dan left MB to found one of the first action-sports related website, Charged (subsequently bought by America Online); at the same time, he continued to write his popular "Hug the Bunny" column in MB, which is now approaching it's tenth anniversary. Dan also started the first major bike industry website, MBElectro, which is now known as
Today, in addition to his column, Dan writes about mountain bikes - and other topics - as a contributing editor at National Geographic Adventure; he's also written about bikes for Elle, Men's Journal, Sports Afield, the New York Times, Los Angeles magazine, and Travel-Holiday.
His major contribution to bike journalism has been to reduce the seriousness of the so-called "profession." To him, having fun is everything, and donuts can replace heart-rate monitors, leg shaving, obsessive mileage counting, and eating horrible energy gels - in fact, they make the adventure even more organic, more about using the bike as a tool to directly access nature and the outdoors.
"As much as Dan is appreciated world-wide for the sense of fun that he's brought to the sport, he should also be recognized for the serious side of cycling journalism that he's contributed. In 1993, Dan introduced his long running Eco-Trail column which highlighted the nature side of the mountain bike experience. In 1994 Dan turned heads as the first
journalist to report on the spate of growing injuries which resulted from the industry's rush to market lightweight parts of substandard manufacture. >From the serious to the silly, Dan has been an enthusiastic and inspiring contributor to the sport since the late 80's. The bike industry can count itself lucky for Dan's devotion to providing a comfortable and inviting
atmosphere for riders of all levels and backgrounds. His handshake with newcomers is not some artificial manifestation of trying to be cool. It is authentic and deserving of his nomination to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame," said Zapata Espinoza.
On the bike, Dan is slow and feeble. This has given him an advantage in understanding the average rider, who is neither, but is often made to feel that way by arrogant, get-everything-free bike journalists. He has done some pioneering bike journalism and touring; he accompanied John Stamstad on his record-setting transcontinental off-road marathon; he was the first mountain biker to visit and write about Mexico's Copper Canyon; the first to write about the Tour de France from the perspective of a cheese lover; and the first to incontrovertibly prove the tenuous connection between mountain bikes and donuts.
Dan's serious side has led to some hard-hitting journalism, including critiques of the state of bike advocacy; an investigation of ultra-light bike parts; and the first environmental issues column in a bike magazine.
His primary contribution to bike journalism - and to the bike community - has been to recognize that bike
journalists are elite, pampered, and often foolish oafs; his steadfast insistence on serving the reader and the
mountain bike community changed Mountain Bike and Bicycling, and the influence shows in every bike magazine published today.
"When I quit my 'real' job and went to work at Mountain Bike," Dan says, "my old boss told me I'd just ruined my career. I can't think of a better way to destroy oneself than to on a mountain bike. Being able to write about the thing I love the most has been the greatest blessing of my life."
Finally, though it initially appears to have little to do with off-road cycling, in 1994, Dan wrote an episode of "Star Trek: the Next Generation," which featured a strong, tough female character. Dan did what any true mountain bike aficionado would do: named her Juliana, after Juli Furtado, who was in the midst of her famous 18-race winning streak at the time (the episode is called "Inheritance," which appeared during the show's seventh season.)
Bio Submitted by Matt Phillips
ASHLEY KORENBLAT
Ashley's long and active involvement in mountain biking began in 1989 when she became the president of Merlin Metalworks. Since then she has been a force in many aspects of the mountain bike community, including industry, racing, and primarily advocacy.
While at Merlin, Ashley raised the initial capital which allowed the company to custom order titanium tubing to Merlin's specifications. Up until this time the only titanium tubing available was made to Boeing's specs. This improvement led Merlin to develop several of the most sought after bike frames for both mountain biking and road cycling. At the same time Ashley used forward thinking management practices to create self directed work teams who operated through a flex-time system. Merlin frames were honored in Business Week magazine as an American product which exceeds world-wide quality standards.
During her time at Merlin, Ashley began racing. She quickly progressed to the expert class, traveling to races throughout New England and participating in several NORBA Nationals. She got involved in race promotion when Merlin began hosting races as part of the New England Points Series. Ashley negotiated a variety of professional sponsorship partnerships which included John Tomac in conjunction with Mongoose, Greg LeMond with Greg LeMond Bicyles, and Lance Armstrong as part of the Subaru Montgomery Cycling Team. A personal highpoint in her own racing career was winning the dual slalom at the Norba Finals in Mt Snow Vermont in 1989, with Missy Giove finishing in second.
Meanwhile, the threat of trail closures in the Boston area led to Ashley's involvement with the recently founded New England Mountain Bike Association, NEMBA. Increasing interest in mountain biking meant that NEMBA's membership was growing quickly. But how could this interest and energy be harnessed to keep the trails open? The mountain bike community had to prove to land managers in New England that allowing mountain biking on their trails would be more beneficial than harmful. Ashley attended countless public hearings and hiking club meetings. She helped organize volunteers for everything from NEMBA's administrative work to trail maintenance. She used her position at Merlin to raise funds to hire a professional trail crew to work in one of Boston's parks. This was one of the first examples of a public/private partnership that kept the trails open.
In 1990 Ashley joined the IMBA Board of Directors. At that time IMBA was an entirely volunteer organization. Ashley quickly realized that a professional Executive Director was needed. Working with Hall Of Famer, Linda DuPreist of Specialized, Ashley raised over $60,000 from the bicycle industry which allowed IMBA to hire Tim Blumenthal. Ashley served as IMBA's President from 1996-2000. IMBA's current budget will be roughly $1.8 million in 2003. Through its various trail programs, IMBA will work on over 75 trail systems this year, while providing critical services to its 450 member clubs around the world.
IMBA is the national voice of mountain biking in Washington DC, not only with regard to this year's important Transportation Bill, but also in ongoing negotiations with federal land managers such as the BLM, the USFS, and the Army Corps of Engineers. During the 1992 presidential campaign, Ashley organized a bike ride for then Governor Clinton and Congressman Joe Kennedy to promote the Bike Bill. She followed up with many visits to D.C. during Clinton's term to promote biking in the newly created National Monuments. In 1997 Ashley was named one of the most important women in mountain biking by BIKE Magazine.
Recently Ashley raised funds from local businesses to form the Moab Trails Alliance. By bringing all of IMBA's knowledge and experience to Moab, the Moab Trails Alliance will be able to greatly enhance the already world class Moab trails. MTA will be working with local land managers to connect and build new singletrack trails throughout the Moab area.
Ashley currently owns Western Spirit Cycling with her husband Mark Sevenoff. Western Spirit takes people on multi-day mountain bike trips in the National Forests and National Parks from New Hampshire to Tuscon and from North Carolina to Oregon. Western Spirit has trips for those just getting started in the sport, such as the Grand Staircase (which Ashley's mother-in-law did for her 70th birthday) and trips for those with lots of experience, such as the Sun Valley Singletrack or the Colorado Trail, with five days of singletrack above 10,000 feet. Western Spirit has taken thousands of people into the backcountry, and each one returns with a renewed commitment to the sport of mountain biking.
Rob Vandermark
President, Seven Cycles, Inc.
che sono: Gary Crandall, Promotion, Cindy Devine, Racing History, Dan Koeppel, Journalism and Ashley Korenblat, Advocacy.
La 16th "Annual Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Induction" si terrà a Las Vegas, Nevada il 13 Ottobre 2003 a partire dalle 6:30 P.M. in occasione dell'Interbike,tutto il pubblico e il benvenuto.
http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/
Allego la scheda dei nuovi iscritti "in inglese"
GARY CRANDALL
Gary Crandall's first off road experiences are rooted in northwestern Wisconsin in the tiny towns of Cable & Hayward in the late 1970's. There the seeds of an off road bicycle event on the world renowned American Birkebeiner cross-country ski trail were sown in 1983. An inaugural field of twenty-seven off-road pioneers gathered on the Main St. in Hayward, WI to take part in a weekend of fat tire racing and fat tire fun dubbed the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival. From that first field of 27 to the 2,500 riders who are selected in a random lottery six months in advance of the event, the Chequamegon Festival remains one of the nation's most popular off road gatherings.
The Chequamegon event set the tone for the mountain bike boom that occurred in Midwest during the 80's and 90's. As the festival director since 1984, Gary has been continuously at the helm of one of the most popular longest running events in the sport. With an eye toward sustainability of trails, quality of event experience and maintenance of race staff sanity, a self-imposed 2,500 rider limit was set on the Chequamegon cross country events in the early 1990's. In the event's twenty-one year history, well over 35,000 riders have enjoyed the roller coaster glacially formed terrain of the Chequamegon race courses.
As a devoted trail advocate, Gary and other area volunteers were instrumental in forming the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA). In 1990 CAMBA and the Chequamegon community joined forces to turn a confusing maze of ski trails, logging roads & deer paths into a user-friendly system of over 300 miles of mountain bike trails. As a multi-agency partnership with federal and local entities joining with community based volunteers, the CAMBA project has set a high standard for trail construction and economic development in northwestern Wisconsin.
Gary believes one of the greatest challenges facing the mountain bike industry today continues to be maintaining the youthful exuberance and excitement of the formative years of the sport. Focusing on the fun, adventure and innovations of the sport's early days is essential for the long-term health of the industry. An industry that supports grassroots racing promotion, while increasing contributions for trail advocacy will help to insure a continuous source of new riders and places for them to ride.
Bio provided by Gary Crandall, edited by the Hall of Fame
CINDY DEVINE
In the summer of 1988, a 28-year old Whistler physical therapist named Cindy Devine arrived on the American racing scene at Mammoth Lakes, California, which, at that time, was the most thriving mountain bike scene in the world.
It was only her second year of mountain biking and she ended up leaving Mammoth with a Bronze medal in both the Downhill and Dual Slalom events.
The following year - 1989, Cindy continued to challenge her American competitors for podium finishes on the NORBA circuit, and eventually won a Gold and a Bronze medal at the 1989 unofficial World Mountain Bike Championships; this time she won Gold in the Downhill and Bronze in the Slalom.
In 1990 the World Championships became an official UCI sanctioned race. It was during this event that Cindy marked her place in history as the first "official" World Champion in the Downhill.
By 1992, Cindy had captured one Gold and two Bronze World Championships Downhill medals, three Kamikaze Downhill titles, 3 Canadian Downhill National Championship titles and the classic "Desert to Sea" 150 mile mountain bike race win (Palm Springs to San Diego).
Cindy's world class accomplishments, professionalism, and sheer talent provided inspiration and motivation for many other successful Canadian mountain bikers, including Alison Sydor, Lesley Tomlinson, Elladee Brown, Andrew Shandro and Roland Green.
To this day, multi-time World Champion, Alison Sydor, credits Cindy for her position as a role model, athlete and flag bearer for the mountain bike movement in Canada.
Currently, Canada is a leader in the sport - whether it's manufacturing, racing, freeriding or touring, the scene here is thriving, It is the birthplace of the "Freeride" movement and home to current World Mountain Bike Champion, Roland Green.
Ask anyone in this country about Cindy Devine - everyone, and I mean everyone, will agree that she was the first mountain biker from this country to bring the sport to another level. Her notoriety as a racer and ambassador has influenced so many people to experience the sport in this country...she is an integral part of the history of mountain biking in Canada.
Her career will forever be remembered in Canada, and throughout the world.
How did she come to be the fastest downhill mountain biker in the world in 1990, after only 3 years on a mountain bike?
Cindy was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela of an Icelandic mother and a Canadian father. At 4 years old she was growing up in the now infamous "North Shore" of Vancouver, B.C., amongst the ancient cedars and steep slopes of these coastal mountains.By 14, Cindy was commuting 80 km every Saturday on a 10-speed, from her house to the Vancouver beaches. What started as lengthy day trips as a teenager, eventually grew into cycling across Canada when she was 21, across Hawaii, Fuji, Cook Islands and New Zealand at 24, and across Europe at 26.
Cindy possessed an obvious talent for power, independence and endurance. While on her cross Canada ride, she rode solo, slept in church cemeteries, and consumed only shredded wheat and skim milk! This is a woman who has spent large amounts of time inside the caverns of her mind...
Her favorite rides are countless, but the worse place she reports riding is across Eastern Germany only days after Chernobyl blew.
Devine retired from racing in 1994 as 5-time undefeated Canadian National Downhill Champion. She continues to stay involved in mountain biking as an instructor during the summer months with the West Coast School of Mountain Biking and the Shimano Dirt Series.
She has also returned to her rehabilitation medicine career with a successful consulting company in Rossland, B.C.
In June of 2000 at the World Mountain Bike Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain, Cindy and several others, including Thomas Frishnecht, Ned Overend, Alison Sydor and Nicolas Voillouz, to name a few, became founding members of the "Rainbow Club" - a celebration declaring a decade of World Champions.
Cindy has graced the covers of many a national and international bike magazine and Canada has a "daughter" that they are extremely proud of at an international level - A dedicated brave heart who raced with so much style and class.
She has mentored an entire nation of riders, both competitively and recreationally, and has created a legacy that will forever be the "era of Cindy Devine"... the first and the only!!
Submitted by Elladee Brown
DAN KOEPPEL
Dan Koeppel began his career in mountain bike journalism in 1988, writing a profile of Chris Chance that appeared inMountain Bike Action. Since then, he has gone on to write for nearly every major cycling publication, including Bicycling, Bike, Velo-News, and, most notably, Mountain Bike. In 1993, Dan was hired as the Mountain Bike editor of Bicycling, where his job was specifically to manage the California-based transition of Mountain Bike from an insert in its parent magazine to a separate magazine. One of his first moves was to spearhead the hiring of Zapata Espinoza, then editor of MBA, to run Mountain Bike. (Dan himself gave up a fairly lucrative career as more conservative journalist, giving up his position as Los Angeles bureau chief for MediaWeek, a prominent entertainment business magazine, in order to take the Mountain Bike job.)
With Zap on board, the two went on to bring Mountain Bike from an initial circulation of 40,000, to its current industry leading position.
In 1996, Dan left MB to found one of the first action-sports related website, Charged (subsequently bought by America Online); at the same time, he continued to write his popular "Hug the Bunny" column in MB, which is now approaching it's tenth anniversary. Dan also started the first major bike industry website, MBElectro, which is now known as
Today, in addition to his column, Dan writes about mountain bikes - and other topics - as a contributing editor at National Geographic Adventure; he's also written about bikes for Elle, Men's Journal, Sports Afield, the New York Times, Los Angeles magazine, and Travel-Holiday.
His major contribution to bike journalism has been to reduce the seriousness of the so-called "profession." To him, having fun is everything, and donuts can replace heart-rate monitors, leg shaving, obsessive mileage counting, and eating horrible energy gels - in fact, they make the adventure even more organic, more about using the bike as a tool to directly access nature and the outdoors.
"As much as Dan is appreciated world-wide for the sense of fun that he's brought to the sport, he should also be recognized for the serious side of cycling journalism that he's contributed. In 1993, Dan introduced his long running Eco-Trail column which highlighted the nature side of the mountain bike experience. In 1994 Dan turned heads as the first
journalist to report on the spate of growing injuries which resulted from the industry's rush to market lightweight parts of substandard manufacture. >From the serious to the silly, Dan has been an enthusiastic and inspiring contributor to the sport since the late 80's. The bike industry can count itself lucky for Dan's devotion to providing a comfortable and inviting
atmosphere for riders of all levels and backgrounds. His handshake with newcomers is not some artificial manifestation of trying to be cool. It is authentic and deserving of his nomination to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame," said Zapata Espinoza.
On the bike, Dan is slow and feeble. This has given him an advantage in understanding the average rider, who is neither, but is often made to feel that way by arrogant, get-everything-free bike journalists. He has done some pioneering bike journalism and touring; he accompanied John Stamstad on his record-setting transcontinental off-road marathon; he was the first mountain biker to visit and write about Mexico's Copper Canyon; the first to write about the Tour de France from the perspective of a cheese lover; and the first to incontrovertibly prove the tenuous connection between mountain bikes and donuts.
Dan's serious side has led to some hard-hitting journalism, including critiques of the state of bike advocacy; an investigation of ultra-light bike parts; and the first environmental issues column in a bike magazine.
His primary contribution to bike journalism - and to the bike community - has been to recognize that bike
journalists are elite, pampered, and often foolish oafs; his steadfast insistence on serving the reader and the
mountain bike community changed Mountain Bike and Bicycling, and the influence shows in every bike magazine published today.
"When I quit my 'real' job and went to work at Mountain Bike," Dan says, "my old boss told me I'd just ruined my career. I can't think of a better way to destroy oneself than to on a mountain bike. Being able to write about the thing I love the most has been the greatest blessing of my life."
Finally, though it initially appears to have little to do with off-road cycling, in 1994, Dan wrote an episode of "Star Trek: the Next Generation," which featured a strong, tough female character. Dan did what any true mountain bike aficionado would do: named her Juliana, after Juli Furtado, who was in the midst of her famous 18-race winning streak at the time (the episode is called "Inheritance," which appeared during the show's seventh season.)
Bio Submitted by Matt Phillips
ASHLEY KORENBLAT
Ashley's long and active involvement in mountain biking began in 1989 when she became the president of Merlin Metalworks. Since then she has been a force in many aspects of the mountain bike community, including industry, racing, and primarily advocacy.
While at Merlin, Ashley raised the initial capital which allowed the company to custom order titanium tubing to Merlin's specifications. Up until this time the only titanium tubing available was made to Boeing's specs. This improvement led Merlin to develop several of the most sought after bike frames for both mountain biking and road cycling. At the same time Ashley used forward thinking management practices to create self directed work teams who operated through a flex-time system. Merlin frames were honored in Business Week magazine as an American product which exceeds world-wide quality standards.
During her time at Merlin, Ashley began racing. She quickly progressed to the expert class, traveling to races throughout New England and participating in several NORBA Nationals. She got involved in race promotion when Merlin began hosting races as part of the New England Points Series. Ashley negotiated a variety of professional sponsorship partnerships which included John Tomac in conjunction with Mongoose, Greg LeMond with Greg LeMond Bicyles, and Lance Armstrong as part of the Subaru Montgomery Cycling Team. A personal highpoint in her own racing career was winning the dual slalom at the Norba Finals in Mt Snow Vermont in 1989, with Missy Giove finishing in second.
Meanwhile, the threat of trail closures in the Boston area led to Ashley's involvement with the recently founded New England Mountain Bike Association, NEMBA. Increasing interest in mountain biking meant that NEMBA's membership was growing quickly. But how could this interest and energy be harnessed to keep the trails open? The mountain bike community had to prove to land managers in New England that allowing mountain biking on their trails would be more beneficial than harmful. Ashley attended countless public hearings and hiking club meetings. She helped organize volunteers for everything from NEMBA's administrative work to trail maintenance. She used her position at Merlin to raise funds to hire a professional trail crew to work in one of Boston's parks. This was one of the first examples of a public/private partnership that kept the trails open.
In 1990 Ashley joined the IMBA Board of Directors. At that time IMBA was an entirely volunteer organization. Ashley quickly realized that a professional Executive Director was needed. Working with Hall Of Famer, Linda DuPreist of Specialized, Ashley raised over $60,000 from the bicycle industry which allowed IMBA to hire Tim Blumenthal. Ashley served as IMBA's President from 1996-2000. IMBA's current budget will be roughly $1.8 million in 2003. Through its various trail programs, IMBA will work on over 75 trail systems this year, while providing critical services to its 450 member clubs around the world.
IMBA is the national voice of mountain biking in Washington DC, not only with regard to this year's important Transportation Bill, but also in ongoing negotiations with federal land managers such as the BLM, the USFS, and the Army Corps of Engineers. During the 1992 presidential campaign, Ashley organized a bike ride for then Governor Clinton and Congressman Joe Kennedy to promote the Bike Bill. She followed up with many visits to D.C. during Clinton's term to promote biking in the newly created National Monuments. In 1997 Ashley was named one of the most important women in mountain biking by BIKE Magazine.
Recently Ashley raised funds from local businesses to form the Moab Trails Alliance. By bringing all of IMBA's knowledge and experience to Moab, the Moab Trails Alliance will be able to greatly enhance the already world class Moab trails. MTA will be working with local land managers to connect and build new singletrack trails throughout the Moab area.
Ashley currently owns Western Spirit Cycling with her husband Mark Sevenoff. Western Spirit takes people on multi-day mountain bike trips in the National Forests and National Parks from New Hampshire to Tuscon and from North Carolina to Oregon. Western Spirit has trips for those just getting started in the sport, such as the Grand Staircase (which Ashley's mother-in-law did for her 70th birthday) and trips for those with lots of experience, such as the Sun Valley Singletrack or the Colorado Trail, with five days of singletrack above 10,000 feet. Western Spirit has taken thousands of people into the backcountry, and each one returns with a renewed commitment to the sport of mountain biking.
Rob Vandermark
President, Seven Cycles, Inc.