Established in 1996, Oklahoma Mountain Bike Association (OMBA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and supporting mountain biking in Oklahoma. OMBA works with private, city, state and federal land owners to obtain land use permits, build and maintain mountain bike trail systems, features, and address erosion concerns on trails across Oklahoma.  Our trails are designated multi-use and support not only mountain bikers but trail runners and hikers as well. More specifically OMBA provides the following: • OMBA holds the MOUs that allow the creation, maintenance, modification and upkeep of all OMBA controlled trail systems. There are a lot of requirements we must meet which vary based on each landowner and what they have specified in the MOU. If we do not follow these rules, we can and will lose that trail so it's imperative that trail maintenance, improvements, and features are all done in coordination with the trail boss. • OMBA trails include: Arcadia Lake, Bartlesville, Bluff Creek Park, Enid 580, Kelly Farms, Lake Stanley Draper, Ponca City, Roman Nose, SCIP, Trosper Park • OMBA does between 95-100% of all trail mainteance on these trails. Municipalities will sometimes brush hog areas, but overall, the trails you ride are maintained by volunteers and club members. Arcadia alone has almost 30 miles of trail and OMBA volunteer spend between 1000 and 2000 hours per year to keep just that one trail in good condition. • OMBA is a non-profit and while we work each year to obtain grant money, the vast majority of the clubs operating budget comes from membership and donations. Without OMBA, our local trails will fall into disrepair, expansions will cease and MOUs will be lost resulting in the closure of the trail systems. This is not an exageration, municipalities and governments do not have the staff, budget or specific MTB trail skills to keep these trails open. What keeps OMBA viable? We need members and volunteers. Our membership/volunteer to rider ratio is quite low and inevitably people just burn out. Want to see our local trail systems continue to expand? Want more cool features? Don't want to see your local trail close? Please consider joining OMBA or renewing today. https://www.imba.com/join/chapter/oklahoma-mountain-bike-association

After years of work spanning multiple OMBA/OEF presidents, board members and trail bosses, I am pleased to announce that work has started on OMBA’s newest trail system at Trosper Park in central Oklahoma City.  OMBA has secured an MOU with the OKC Parks department and has an approved master plan in place for this new trail system. OMBA will begin construction in the NE corner of the park and the area South of Grand.  The land features dense old growth oak forest and substantially more elevation change that what is visible from the road.  Picture sleeping single track racing through the trees and over obstacles.   Construction will begin this fall and will extend over the next several years building in connected phases.    Many of you will remember the long-lost BMX racetrack located on the NE corner of the park.  We plan to rehab the old track with a vision to provide a dual slalom mountain bike racetrack.  While OMBA is a mountain bike club at heart, we design our facilities for many trail users.   Members of the BMX community have reached out in support, and have expressed interest in assisting with bringing this track back to life.  We are confident that the track can be made equally enjoyable for both Mountain Bike and BMX riders alike.    Additionally, we plan to designate the trail system multi-use as all our other trail networks, thus providing trail runners and hikers with another natural surface option in the OKC Metro area.  Hopefully, members of that community will come help build and maintain the trail system in cooperation with OMBA.   Our first trail build/maintenance day is tentatively scheduled for October with more details to come.  We will begin by clearing the parking lot, hopefully brush hogging around the old track and marking/flagging the first trail on the South.  An announcement will be made well in advance and we will appreciate any assistance you can provide.   This is another example of where your OMBA membership dues and donations help to provide trail users with great opportunities and locations to ride across the state of Oklahoma.  If you are not a member or if your membership expired, please consider joining today at the link below:   https://www.imba.com/join/chapter/oklahoma-earthbike-fellowship   Sincerely,   Tony Sikes OMBA president Shawn Coleman OMBA Vice President Catherine Sharp, GT Jorgito, Jim Clark, Kelli Dyer, Pete Singleton, Joe Miller OMBA Board and those that came before us