The event organizer for the Bike for Life event, scheduled to be held at Tussey Mountain on August 28, 2011, is looking for volunteers.  If interested in volunteering, please contact Don Hampton, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .  http://www.jamiebestwick.com/bikeforlife/

Written by Aaron Pontzer 

Trails.  We follow them through the forests.  Over the mountains.  Across the ridges.  To breathtaking vistas.

Follow me down…to the valley below.  Follow me…on my favorite trail.  I want to share with you my friends a special place I hold so dear; a wonderful world on the other side of that mountain and through the woods; along the rushing stream so full of life and

Breathe deeply the clean air.  Look and listen, we may see some wildlife.  The mountain laurel is blooming.  The rhododendron is thick.  Smell the hay scented ferns.  The great hemlocks shade our path.  A whitetail buck bursts from the brush.  The wings of the ruffed grouse drum fast through the trees.  Let’s ride together.

All mountain bikers love to ride trails.  Our trails must be built sustainably and with multiple users in mind.  Many of us enjoy other activities such as running, hiking and cross country skiing, and we want to share the trails with others.

We put a lot of time, hard work, and sweat into maintaining and building these trails.  It is all worth it because a trail is a lot more than simply just a trail.  Trails are the places that we meet and gather.  Trails are where we raise our heart rate, challenge ourselves, return to the natural world and build friendships.  In our community, many friendships began on the trail and to this day, many friendships continue to blossom on the trail. 

Jeff came to State College because his wife, Ann, worked for Penn State during the Fall semester of 2010 and Spring semester of 2011.  They moved back to Houghton in May.  Jeff made the most of his time in Central Pennsylvania and left a mark on the trails and a tradition of sustainable trail work that will thrive here for a very long time.  We are very thankful for all of Jeff’s hard work and trail building knowledge.

Jeff laid out the new Kistler trails along with Dave Pontzer and Tom Kistler.  During the winter, Jeff performed some major rock work to improve the newest section of Tussey Mountain Trail Extension just beyond the gas line.  This section had been very difficult to ride before.  It is still challenging, but it is a great improvement.  Jeff, along with Dave Pontzer, did the lion’s share of laying out the reroutes on Lonberger and building these sections in small groups and with larger NMBA work groups; flagged reroutes for New Laurel Run Trail and for Maguire trail that will be built in the future; and, worked together to lay out a 10-year future trail plan.  On his own, Jeff improved Long Mountain trail and designed and submitted to DCNR the proposal for the Bonson Trails near Alan Seeger natural area.  Thankfully, Jeff did find some time to ride his mountain bike when he wasn’t working on the trails.  He continues building and maintaining trails back home in Houghton, MI.

Peter Kaufman grew up in Central New Jersey.  He received BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University.  This Scarlet Knight came to State College in 1986 to work at Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory (ARL).  Peter lives in State College.  Some of his favorite trails to ride in the area are Thickhead, Detwiler, Lonberger and Little Shingletown.  Peter likes to do a lot of hiking.  His dogs, Randall and Riggs, have joined him on many hikes on the Mid-State trail and its side trails.  He also enjoys hiking and biking in the Southwestern United States.

NMBA Members of the Month will be entered in a drawing to receive a $100 gift card from the local bicycle shop of their choice at the end of the year!

Watch for future announcements.  Will you be the next NMBA Member of the Month?!

NMBA is going on a mini field trip!

Our next membership meeting, scheduled for Monday, August 15^th, will take place at Freeze Thaw Cycles and The Bicycle Shop.   We will visit the local bike shops to learn some valuable information about bicycles, bicycle fit, bicycle mechanics, new products and anything else you ever wanted to know about bikes!   

Meet at Schlow Library at 6:00pm.  We will walk to Freeze Thaw to be guests for an hour (6:15pm-7:15pm), and then walk to the Bike Shop to be guests for an hour (7:30pm-8:30pm).

NMBA would like to thank both Freeze Thaw Cycles and The Bicycle Shop for offering their time and expertise to help educate our members.  Please come out and share in the fun! 

Hope to see you all on August 15^th!