As the snow melts and the days get longer, the Bike Borderlands coalition is planning a great mountain biking season and Center staff are working hard to get the Ride With Gratitude campaign in front of everyone who comes to enjoy a good ride in the Northern Forest.

For the first time since the pandemic, we’re coordinating a great Tour de Borderlands calendar of events this year. Events will take place at all Borderland trail networks and run from May 20 to Oct. 1. Riders will have opportunities to win prizes for coming to multiple events and entering drawings.

To spread the word about the Ride With Gratitude campaign, Center staff have presented at biking conferences, talked it up on podcasts, and invited retailers to participate in a hang-tag program, which will put the message, “When you ride this bike, remember to ride with gratitude,” on new mountain bikes being sold in the region. So far, five retailers have joined the program, including our newest member, Hitchhiker Bike Shop in Stowe, Vermont.

If you think your local bike shop would like to participate, please email the bike shop name and a contact person to Joe Fox, outdoor recreation manager for the Center.

Joe recently spoke at NEMBA’s Philip Keyes’ Leadership Conference about the Ride With Gratitude campaign. “Part of Riding With Gratitude means recognizing all of the hard work that goes in to building, maintaining, and advocating for trails,” said Fox. “One way to do that is to purchase a membership for your local trail network, make a donation, or help out at volunteer work days. Another way is to join groups like New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA) and Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA), both of which are Ride With Gratitude partners. Your membership dollars go a long way toward keeping trails open.”

Bike Borderlands and Ride With Gratitude will be at NEMBAFest, August 4-6, in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, this year. We hope you’ll stop by our booth to take the Ride With Gratitude pledge and learn about all the great mountain biking options in the region.

Fox recently attended the Vermont Tourism Day hosted by the VT Chamber of Commerce and the Maine Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Bangor. “At both events, the economic and environmental impacts of outdoor recreation were key areas of focus and discussion,” said Fox. “States throughout the region are working hard to find a balance, and we continue to believe that campaigns such as Ride With Gratitude can help minimize visitor impacts on both the environment and local community culture.”

“When riders adopt an “attitude of gratitude,” communities that host tens of thousands of visitors per year will be more likely to welcome guests from around the world and landowners will be more likely to continue to allow public access,” said Fox. “Outdoor recreation plays a substantial role in the regional economy, but it only takes a few bad actors to jeopardize what many folks have worked so hard to build.” More than 800 riders have taken the Ride With Gratitude pledge. Please take the pledge to show support for the campaign.

To hear more about Ride With Gratitude, listen to Center staff Maura Adams and Isabella Ronson who were recently guests on the Glorious Ladies on Wheels podcast.  “G.L.O.W.” is a “rad group of ladies focused on being uplifting and encouraging to one another and building a community.”