IMBA Summit, Thoughts, Nuggets...

So much was learned and then promptly forgotten at last week's IMBA World Summit. Where to start? First thing learned, Augusta is a treacherously foggy town. Driving is deadly; invest in a driver, preferably a limousine with some sort of glass partition to separate you from his or her subversive, proletariat-centric chatter. Second, Dave Wiens is taller in person and instead of speaking, he communicates with short, high pitched bursts of sounds. Third, Mafia Racing's Spencer Powlison has a handshake than can crush cue balls into fine powder and is also part of the IMBA team. Fourth, there is soooooo much information being delivered to you, whether in a keynote address, seminar, pamphlet, book, etc that it can be somewhat overwhelming. That being said, there were several nuggets of wisdom gleaned from the day's proceedings...

-Sram and IMBA are the same age: 22.
-Sram made 335 million in mountain bike revenue.
-Sram's Mike Mercuri's nickname is Merc.
-IMBA and the National Parks Service have partnered until 2015 (predicted year of the world ending so any partnership afterwards would be moot).
-Phil from Chain Reaction Cycles has a beautiful, luxurious head of hair.
-1.2 billion dollars has been set aside this year for cycling and pedestrian funding.
-In my notes, I wrote "Could this guy eat his cereal any louder? Come on!" during the keynote address breakfast.
-Tom Sauret, SORBA excutive director has a speaking voice made for an NPR call-in show. Come on people, let's give "On Point" host Tom Ashbrook the heave ho in favor of the sugary sweet dulcetry of TS!
-Successful trail fund-raising tip: Leadership teams must donate money to encourage corporate fund matching. "Have skin in the game", like Ice T in this pleasant little romp.-Coca Cola doesn't donate money for trails.
-Corporations make "marketing investments", not donations.
-Naming trails after significant donors can be controversial.
-Quantifiable proof to show a trail's usage helps secure local government help and funding while showing which trails get usage and which don't. Enter, stage right, the TRAFX system! -When running a race as a trail fundraiser, "variabilize" as much of your cost structure while minimizing fixed costs.
-Small town economies can benefit greatly from races and trails. Destination tourism people! Would anybody ever visit Brevard, NC voluntarily? (apologies to the residents of Brevard)
-Jeremy Wimpey is super cereal about recreation ecology. Super cereal.
-The "Stacked Loop Trail System" provides a diverse trail experience in a limited space.

-TTFs are viewed in a negative light by non-cyclsits.
-TTF stands for technical trail feature.
-The Wilson Seney report shows hikers and cyclists have the same impact on soil displacement. Horses and Motorcycles have much harsher impacts on trails. Basically, if you want to ruin a trail as fast as possilbe, train horses how to ride motorcycles, motorcycles with tank treads, in the rain.
-Formal trail failure leads to informal trails sprouting up.
-The Cane Creek merch booth smelled like a used baby diaper, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Their giant pet kitty Cerberus is a handful!
-Subaru's booth had a grass roof.
-The Blog considered showing up for the FATS group ride on a Specialized cross bike but something or someone nipped the idea in the bud! Maybe next year.