Prez Sez IIA"V II1'UOhlEtnll! Happy October everyone I I'm back ...

made The

60$$il ffrJCil
by Hedda Rockhopper

Grinder

deadline. and am ready to get on my bike and hit the trails. I want
to start off my column telllng everyone who could not make it on the 1'sali trip in North Carolina what an incredIble time VIe hadl Fl1day nIght a few of US had dinner (Sherpa Rice) in NantahaJa. Saturday everyone met at the Tsali trail. and we proceeded to

experlence Johnson andMouse loopsfora combined toWofabout 15 mileS. It was truly awesome. perhaps the greatest scen~ rve
ever ridden in. AfteIWaIds most of us went back to camp for lunch Fontana. saturday evening we had R & R ..dlnner around the camp fire...and then crashed. Sunday
and a cold swtrn in Lake

moming we packed up and half the group met at the Nantahala Outdoor Canter (NOC)where we rented rafts and tnok an eIght mile white water trip down the Nantahala River. Talk about scenery and aid water. I would not have missed it for anything! I would like to take the time to share with you some accomplishments of BUMP over the past year ...thlngs we have done for the coxnmunlty and for our members as well. First of all. we successfully completed our 17 nille mountaln bIke loop at Oak
Mountain State Park. Many. tnany thanks to all who contributed

their pr~ious time over the yearsl BUMPhas also gotten Involved in tra11access projects. i.e. Bankhead National Forest. Roekford and Brompton. etc... We scheduled a number of planned rides/trips to Sandrock. N..; 'nenton. G},..; and Helen. GA for the National Championship sedes to name a few. We have always made a sb'ong effort to brtng you fun and educational presentations at the monthly meetings. We helped wIth educational seminars at Birmingham Sports and more recently at Bob's Bikes. As (ar as membership goes. we have increased it by nearly 500% because of membership drtves and Trail Day events. We all have been working hard to upgrade our Uttle club and by Cosh, we've done IU aUMP always has been open to suggestions and comments as to how we might do even better. I mean, after all. this is yOUF dub. Please let us know what more we can do to strengthen our club. HUGH TIlE LEADER

What wen known and admired mountain biker/artist, rtdJng on what trail, caught what kind of air on whIch whoop-de-doo at what rate of speed .... tacoed .. which wheel. and broke which bone in how many places? It must first be stressed that this gentleman Is an excellent and capable mountain biker who rides well Within the I1mits of his magnIficent abilities. As it happened this day. our hero was rtgorously enjOying his favorlte trail. an ATV' trail called "1be Kentuck" which can be found in the Talledega National Forest, A well constructed and well kept trail. The Kentuck had recently been regraded, (totally b1..dfed)and to be sure condJUons were conducive for very rapid circQfficyclulaUon of the route. It was as OQrhero was doing Just that. at apprOXimately 30 miles per hour. that he circumaviated a particular Jump under strictest control. The aforementioned unfortunate accIdent occurred at the exact moment of re~allghtlng to the earth, when for no apparent reason. our hero's front wheel Calledand became bent in a number of places. lnu:nedIatelyensuent to this unexpected development. our hero experienced a sudden and awkward cessation of momentum suffering what he knew instantly to be a broken collarbone. As luck would have it tllere was a ranger In a vehicle near-by Just then. and an effIcient reSCQewas accomplished without delay. His companions carned him directly to the emergency room at St. Vincent's where he was seen at once and treated in a most expeditious maIU1er. Upon viewing his X-rays. our hero remarked that what had shortly before been his collarbone now looked much like ~a bunch of Cigarette butts in an ashtray. Without meaning to Imply any negllgence on his part. we will glean from our friend's bapless experience the lesson that we must be certain that our eqUIpment is c()nsidered to be adequate for our weight and rtd1ng style, inspected regularly. and replaced as needed. We would like to express to our dear fdend our sincere regret that this has happened. and our wish that he make a rapid and full recovery.

~GRIN/)tR

Membership RenelNal
The lime for membership renewal is upon us. "l just joined this summer" you say. While it is true, you shouldn't have to update your membership until a ye:u: is up, we are not really equipped to deal with the logistical headache of keeping up with whose membership is up when. Another teasan to make renewal time immediately prior to the new year is 10 have some indication of what our membership will be, what OUf bank account will be. and how to set goals based on both of these factors. The most important reason, at least for you personalty, is that according to our new bylaws of incorporation, any member who has not renewed their membership by November 15lh will not be entitled to vote at the December meeting. This vote will decide who wiU t&ke the two available board of director seats for the next three years. "But I just gave you $20 and you want $20 more now?" No. the amount you wiU owe for yoU(' 1995 BUMP membership will be determined by when you joined in 1994 according to a

D:E:EP TJfOUGJfrS
B!J lac! Brac~9
I don't always need to tide fast. but sometimes I just want to do the loop as fast as I can to see how I've progressed in my training. But those always seem to be the days when I run into someone I haven't seen in a while and wind up talking on the trail. or have to stop to help some babe with a flat. And on the best downhill stretches, it never fails that there are hikers and other bikers coming the other way that make me have to slow down. When I get back to the parking lot and look at my time~ I get discouraged and think I have accomplished nothing toward my training goals. But as I drive away, I remember that the most imponant thing I am training myself to be-is a responsible and considerate trail-user.

quarterly proration schedule as deliniated below:

The following names are of BUMP rnembets who joined between April6lh and JI11y 5th. YOlK .-enewal fee will be $15. Carl Roberts Steve York William SwnmefS Michael PotWd Larry Stanley Virginia Powell SaIatl faUon Wa1I~ Retan JosieCasq Travis Fowler Lisa Fowler Deanna McVey ConnocMcVey John Otto Meier Linda Meie( Jim Yealy Tom Cosby Gail Cosby Randy Carleton Vicld Carleton Michael Balliet Karen Balliet Sam Jovings Kim Jovings Josh Bums Kathy Burns Marleen Pinlcerton Ken Pinkerton Mark: Wilcoxen Paul Dvorak Kevin McCain Laura Bass Gary Wilmot Augusta Cash Ralph Cash Heath Goebel

BUMP Demographics
Many of you have already filled yours out and turned jt in at the September meeting-or folded it up and sent it. I am referring to a form can~d BUMP Questionnaire that asks for you to divulge all sorts of information about yourself and your consumer preferences. some of which you might think a bit personal. Let me explain the purpose of this interrogation. We would like f()t our membership to answer these questions foX' two reasons. The first is to provide basic up-to-date information for our developing data base that board member Linda McDuffie is working to compile. The main reason for the questionnaire, however, is to establish an informational foundation from which to approach potential club sponsors. For instance, if 75% percent of our membership either has
their checking account or their mortgage with ArnSouth, then AmSouth Bank would be a great prospect for us to appeal to for sponsorship.

Melissa Durrett
BUynGagnon

John Gober III

BeverlyPoweU

John Pearson Mike lIerleYich

Stephen McConnel

AL. Gagnon ToddFrench Inger King

The folIowing names are of BUMP members who joined between July 6th and October 2nd. Youn:enewal fee will be $10. Barbara OIschoef Marshall Pitts Perry Burnen RusseU Allen Dan Meeks Bill Christenberry LaurenHenderson Greg Kllburn Nancy BroWCl' Bill Reading John Harrison LalJ(a l:larrison David Chandler AIisa Scofield Lori King Ken Cater Shawn Wright Mickie Powell Brent Marshall Michael Sakalian Steye Powell Shere McBryde Jeff King Dr. Eric Solomon Will Luckett Earl Hall Jo Mudd Holly O'Shea RB Tumsull

any member whose name did not appear on these lisl$ will be the full $20 fO( their 1995 membership.
The renewal fee of

Also as a member benefit for 1995. you wIll receiVe lite Grinder by mail each tnoflth. Please either turn your checks in at the October or November meetings, or mail them to: BUMP. P.O. Box 390061~ Binningham. AI.. 35259-0061. Thank youI

If you do not already have a questionnaire, they will be available at bike shops. Please fill them out 8S individuals rather than as households. Trifold your questionaire, and staple or tape it closed to send it through the mail. We appreciate YOllr help in making
this project successful.

~GRIN/)ER

Maddog

Get to know Earl at River Oaks Cycles

200/0 discount for all BUM P members!

Retraction!!!
We would like to retract the blurb which appeared In last month's Issue titled "BUMP Given Maddog?". Team Magic will eontinue to run the MaddogIn their usual excellent and professional manner, and BUMP apologizes for any confusion caused by this premature announcement.

9880930
River Oaks Village 3704 Lorna Road. Hoover

Next to GABRIEL'S
Sal/e your receipts for the S'I. relmbUfsement

@60606U6CGd60~~~~~60

OCTOBER 8TI1, WOMEN~S RIDE SPONSORED BY THE BIRMINGHAM BICYCLE CLUB AND

ASK HUGHIE
6060~6d~GO~6CGO@~60~
Dear Hughie. I've gotten out of the ha.bit of riding. It has always been a source of stress rellef and well-beJng for me, but now. even on beautiful days. 1 can't seem to make myself go. even though I think it would make me feel better. Tell me how to get out of this IUt. .Grounded in GraysvJlle
Dear Grotmded. As JH11 alWQ&lS do U1ith questions such (IS these. I consulted with. the good doctor. who commented that you are likely sttfferi.ng from. burn-out. It sounds Weeyou have been riding a lot andjust nud,

CAHABA
CYCLES
3120 Cahaba Heights Plaza 1927 H()Over Court HWY 31

967 .. 2003

822-6600

welL.a break so that when you com.e back to it.

riding will be a fresh and rf;juvenatfn9 activity rather than a daDre. U you continue riding dwing CI bum..()ut

Correction:
In last month's Grindel:' on the first page under "Elections Revamped" Bill Hal'rington was listed as one of the present board members. While having Bill Harrington on our board would certainly be an asset to our club, that particular seat is actually held by Bill
Garrett, whQ we are equally as fortunate to have. Sorry about the mix-up.

from the sport completely. Juan also mentioned that you shollldn t worry and feel guilty about your fitness during a ':fairlg brief hfatu.s" because
O11IIthing you lose will come back quickly

cycle. you might wind up walking away

when you

get bade to riding regularly. Dr. Juan says that you need to -glue yourselfperm.fsslon" to not ride untll
yOW"

enthusiasm. is renewed or. at least. renewable.

If a breaJcfrom. yr;nu bike is what will help you the

most. then take fL .Annnnd. I must say ..I ~.

Our apologies to anyone who carne out for the work-day In September. As of the pI1Iltlng of the September GI1nder and the September meeting. a work-day was still scheduled despite the fact that a large number of members were to be out-of-town on the BUMP tr1p to ThalL N.C. The work-day was cancelled at the last mJnute. however. and a notice was posted at the front gate. Again. BUMP's sIncerest apologies if you were tnconvenienced by this. It will not happen agatn. Our work-day in October is on Sunday the 9th. lOam at th., park oftlce. Our next work-day will be November 5. The last work-day of this year will be on December 11.

ftM. NA.Itl'l'EIt&ItI~E W -DAY

;!:: P -

29- 94

J T HU ...~ 2 : 4 ~

PM

J e n i f' e r

J a c. k son

~GRIN/)tR

THE HISTORY OF BUMP

BILL HARRINGTON, BUMP Founder and former President:
My inyolvement as a mountain bike land access acliyist began because of a yellow legal pad. In the fall of 1988, the

pulaskis. Harrington alx'eady knew what he was doing, and Hester

and I attended a workshop on trail building in Elijay, GA. We've all spent a lot of hours walking through the woods with topo maps laying out the trail in a wa~ that drainag~ and erosion.would

have the least impact on the tIail, and the trail ...tbe least Impact
on the woods.

KEN HESTER, BUMP Treasurer:

Seven or eight yeatS ago in Boulder. Colorado. Ken came across a sight that com.pletely enthralled him. Chained to a telephone pole in a vertical l'Osition, as if it were climbing, the pole, was an old, thiCk-framed bike with big fat knobby lites.

Birmingham mountain biking community was th('eatened with the possible closure of the ~ingletra.ck trails at Oak Mountain
State Park. The park conducted a hearing on mountain bikes, and I brought along a legal pad for note laking. To ban or not to ban, that was the discussion. At that time there was no organization supporting mountain biking in the Birmingham area. so after the hearing one of my fellow cyclists suggested that. since I had a notepad., I should collect the names and phone numbers of the cyclists present Thi:; is how it all began for me. Once I had the list, I was in charge by default Believe me, I neyer had any intentions of

His interest was piqued. Ken returned to Birmingham

and eventually took up

mountain biking at Oak Mountain. When the trails were closed. Ken was among the con,emed mountain bikefS who attended the h~ngs, and became involved with the newly organized mountain biking advocacy group right at the start. He worked side by side with Bill Harrington in the quest to regain singletrru::k

volunteering my own preGious time to start up a mountain biking organization. However, when we were subsequently banned from
the singletrack: at Oak Mountain, it became painfully obvious to me that if I didn't do something, no one else would either. A lot

He is a fonner president and currently is He also selVes as lWson to Oak Mountain State Park after having designed and ove.-seen the construction of the BUM? trail at Oak Moimtain.
serving as the treasU(er for the club.

at Oak Mountain.

of cyclists were very discouraged by the ban, and 1 heard a lot of whining about how all was lost. Yet for some reason I refused to
take no for an answer. Now almost six years later, BUMP has !nore than 2()() membefS. and the club has built 11.5 miles of great ttail at Oalc: Mountain. I have the immense satisfaction in knowing that for once in my life I really made a difference, that all the time and effort I put into BUMP and Oak Mountain has really paid off. Lite(aUy thousands of cyclists have benefited and enjoyed

HUGH LEADER, BUMP President

One winter weekend. some th(ee years ago. I was visiting my girlfriend at the time hete in Binningham. She asked me if I
wanted to go mountain bike riding the following morning. I said sure, not really knowing what I had agreed to, tossed back: a few cold ones. had some dinner and went to bed We headed out early the next morning for the old rest stop atop of llighway 280 South. It was maybe 50 degrees and very clOUdy. We met about se"en or eight other fools, I mean folks. and began to pedal.

something I played a key role in creating.

BILL GARRETT, BUMP Board of Directors:

I came into the pictlU'e dght around the time they were coming up with the name BUMY. Hanington and Hester had been pounding away at the park for more trail. It was a crazy time. Prior to a public hearing for all of the trail-user glOUpS to discuss whether or not to allow our club to build a bike ttail, our opposition (of which there was no shortage) took TV ~ews up to the one big mud hole on the Red Trail. There 'Was a spring coming out of the ground at that sp:lt, and they had the crew rum

Well, (wo and a half hours later, I was hooked. Covered. in m.ud from head to toe, I could not wait to do it again. One fall weelcend, some three years later. I'm assigning names to trails I recently helped build.. planning weekend rides to neighboring states. and president of my own hometown mountain bike club called BUMP. Who would've thought this was possible? Certainty not me.

PAST OFFICERS OF THE BUMP CLUB

As is so often the case in new organizations, BUMP was

the tire trneks through the mud to illustrate the damage mountain
bikes caused. At the hearing, thero were all kinds of people you never saw out on the tmils or at park clean-up days. It seemed like the politics is what they were into, not the woods. Some of

very loosely organized in the beginning, with a r;:ore group of people doing most of the work and rotating leadership roles. But
as Bill Hanington commented, "We got the important stuff

done::.Nv'hich is why we have a trail to ride at Oak Mountain.

1991
President.: Griff Goad

1992
President

them got really loud and emotional. Harrington had his b.ike out
in the parking 10t-a CannonclaIe named the Red Shred-and we we.re all nervous someone would get a hold of it and m~e a big deal out of it. It wasn't long after that meeting, though, that we were given the gerahead by the park to start construction. Building the trail was the part that I liked; I neve{ had much

Ken Hester

1993-1st half
President: Bill Hanington Vice Pres: Jack Bransdod Secretary: William Owen Treasw-er. Drew DeShaw

1993-2nd half
Ptesident: Jack :Bransdort' Vice Pres: Hugh Le<1de(

Secretary;
Treasurer:

William Owen
Ken Hester

to do with the dickering with the park-I just showed up at those

meetings to be a wann body. I enjoy hammering on the dirt ..jt must appeal to the yard man in me. I've only missed one wode. day since we started the trail, and I've worn out one and a half

1994'"
President: Hugh Leader Vice Pres: Jenifer Jackson

Secretary: Bany Hair TreasW'e(: Ken Hester

msGRIN/)tR

Commentary
By Bob Bruner
In the last couple of weeks, I have talked to a few members about BUW and the direction the club is tOOng. There seems to be three camps of opinion. One group feels that BUMP is too political and that the new. corporate sys~em .of elections will result in a closed leadership and stagnatton an the club. The second group believes that the incorporation of the club was a good idea, and that with BUMP's size and visibility it was necessary to set up a more complete governing body with rules and bylaws. They are pleased--no complaints. The third group. the undecided, are sometimes satisfted. sometimes not. 'When.1 joined BUMP last December, I was in need of an outlet. Not only did the club provide me with a social group. but it also promoted mount<Un biking. By that time I had found that I feally enjoyed mounWn biking and wanted to learn more about it After a couple of months, I realized that social activities were not the only tbing on the club's agenda. There weJe governmental issues, both on the fedel'al and state level: land acquisition: The Gtin(le(; growing pains within the club; races to participate in or watch; public relations to attend to, etc... The scope of BUMP was much larger than I had envisioned. I had mistakenly perceived the club as a bunch of gonzo dudes and dudettes who rode mountain bilc.es at O~ Mountain. <hank beet and partied twd. Very narrow on my part To make a short story longer ...! believe that some of the misconceptions, problems or concerns that the members and the officerslboatd members have between them could be solved with some communication. If you have a need to voice an opinion, speak out. We all should be in the same boat. with our concerns
revolving around having fun riding mountain bikes, and

this may sound trite but...you have to spend money to make money. It's called advertising. The Grinder makes BUMP visible and helps the club to grow. . 10 those of you who want to stay In BU~; ~ay those membership dues. This allows you to VOTE. which g.s.ves yom nomi~ed person a chance to be voted into office. We may be officially voting only for two board members. but the membership certainly can speak up about who they want as officers next year. And to the governing body: if the .load is too great, share it Let us know ~hat's going on. We are.U!t~e;sted. In closing; I feel to be fu. we must all take the InItiative to educate outselves to understand what's really going on before we criticize. Maybe we also ought to tak:e SQlJle time to appreciate all the hard work being done for our benefit whether we agree with it or not The club has grown from around ~O to.2w.. inside of one year ...tlas been restructured and reor~lzed 10that same year...so our leaders must be doing somethmg rig~t. No fInal conclusions can be drawo on the basis of a club tn such ttansition. Let's all wode together to make sure 1995 is the best year yet for BUMP. Editor's 1101t: This piece, as well as olhers that will appear in The Grinder or already have appeared, may displeau or offend some readers. Whether BUMP or ,he Editor of The Grinder agrees with a vIew expressed. we neverthe-Iess provide a public forum in rhe vehicle of The Grinder Jar any BUMP member to convey rheir opinions and Ideas. BUMP members have historically been encouraged in The Grinder and at BUMP meetings to talk to the officers about their concerns or submit material to be pub1Jshed. There are those who feel The Grinder should 1101 be used to air controversial issues, but this editor cannot in any conscience censor the contelll of. or refuse to publtsh submissions from the very people lhis publication seeks to serve. We realize that not everyone can be pleased.

promoting the sport of mountain biking. To all of the Dl.embets~ if you Ceetlike the elected officers and board members aren't doing what you feel is important. confront

them, but be ptepared to do your part. We should all be working

for the club, not for our egos. We're a voluntary non-profit

La)'awa)' n()W f()r

organization, right?
To the officers and board members: let us. the mem bets. get more involved. I get the distinct impression that many members feel as if they have little to no say ...that the goveming body is distanced from the litUe folks. I propose the resurrection of the committees. Rem.embef them? And what happened to the open steering committee meetings? I suspect that incorporating and establishing the process of how officers and board members would be elected, plus various other details ...tClOkit's toll on the governing body, dampening enthusiasm and possibly fraying some nerves at the same time. Maybe if the Committees hac! still been in place, they could have off-loaded some of the tasks from the officers and board members. And while I'm already out on this limb, I would like to state that I encouraSe the continued growth of The Grinder. In my opinion. it is a positive voice for the promotion of the span of mountain biking and of the BUMP club. For many people it is their ftrSt exposure to the club and few clubs have a publication of this quality to represent them. It is also your voice. Don't gripe about whafs in The Grinder. write somethingl So far as I know. nobody has been denied access to state their views publicly in TheGrinder. As far as the cost of the growth of The Grinder.

the Ii()lida 'YS

1410 Montgomery Highway Vestavia, Alabama 35216

979-3460
Remember to turn in your rec:e'Ptsfor a !S%
reimbursement to the BUMP Club!