State of the Dirt: Spring 2022
Thanks for your support of Falls Area SingleTrack!
We’re looking forward to continuing our mission to protect, create and enhance quality trail experiences for mountain bikers in cooperation with other trail users in the Sioux Falls area during the 2022 season!
Our goal for 2022 is to be more diligent and more engaged with community interaction moving forward. That being said, be on the lookout on our social channels and website for trail building and maintenance opportunities. We will be bringing back community volunteer sessions this year. (Finally!)
What have we accomplished in the last two years? A ton! Here are the key take-aways:
FAST is now a 7 member board.
Current board members include:
Ben Blomberg, President
RP Dezell, Vice-President
Thad Barnes, Treasurer
Tuesday Vander Weide, Secretary
Jim Massa, City Liaison
Reva Graves, Marketing/Communications Director (not pictured)
Brad Blomberg, Board Member-At-Large
The Trail boss program
Because we all have differing availability, and strengths, and because of the decreased number of our board, we are in the beginning stages of adding a trail boss program to FAST. What does this mean? ALL of the fun trail building and maintenance and none of the politics. FAST is developing this program to foster the next generation of FAST board members. This program allows for hands-on experience with trail building, maintenance, group session leadership, community engagement, training, and policy knowledge that is associated with our organization. A trail boss is assigned to a specific park and their responsibility is to scout, manage and assist board members with the needs of the trail system.
Andrew Hoy has graciously allowed us to make him our guinea pig with this program and we are hoping to implement this in other park trail systems in the near future.
If this is something that you are interested in, please get in touch.
Leaders Park
We resurfaced 2 large bridges that are now wider and feature steel uprights to support the guard rails.
We have added more signage and trail maps to the trail.
We have added a new section of trail to the south part of the park. That will give you an additional, more challenging option for climbing out of the trail system.
Yankton Trail Park
We continue to maintain trails at Yankton Trail Park. Everything is looking good and riding great.
Tuthill Park
After the original TrailArts build that was finished up in 2020, we have:
Added in additional trail to the river bottom
Added a more advanced hand-built line along the hillside closer to the river.
We are planning to replace the main drainage bridge and several others with an upgraded bridge design that will be studier and better suited to handle the water flow within the park.
Legacy Park
There is singletrack on the west side now! Heck Yeah! We have added around 3 miles of trail. This trail is a machine-built, multi-use trail system, twisting through flat terrain in a small grassy open area along the Sioux Falls bike path. This trail is perfect for beginner mountain bikers, runners, and hikers to enjoy year-round and features mostly natural dirt surfaces.
Spencer Park
We have added in a hand-built trail, twisting through tight trees along the Big Sioux River. This trail is great for practicing your balance and bike handling skills and features natural dirt surfaces, tight corners, stumps, rocks, log rollovers, and more.
Pasley Park
We are continuing to work on adding in singletrack along the river in this park. We have been engaging the Lincoln High School mountain biking team for this build. The kids are really excited to participate in the build and willing to learn how to make a sustainable trail. We are thankful for their eagerness to learn and we are pumped to be able to share our knowledge with the next generation of mountain bikers. This trail is not 100% completed but will be finished up this season. We will continue to update you on the progress.
Dunham Park
What? There’s even more trail on the west side?
We are super excited to open this section of trail very soon. Trail boss, Andrew Hoy, and his west side trail crew have been putting in hard work and long hours to finish this trail up. Andrew has been a crucial part of making this trail come to life. We appreciate his willingness to take on this project. If you see him out in the wild, be sure to give him a big FAST high five and thank him for his work. We will continue to update you on the progress and will hopefully be opening this trail up to the public very soon.
Great Bear
As you know, back in 2021, our friend the mayor tweeted this:
“People have asked for years about singletrack bike use at @greatbearsf Today, I signed off on the agreement to go before council for future trail work in partnership with Falls Area Single Track (FAST)” @paultenhaken
We are so happy to have his support on this potential project. FAST will be applying for IMBA's Trail Accelerator Grant Program to help fund the planning and design for this project. We'll know by early August if the project is selected and will open up some opportunities to coordinate with trail building professionals.
25 by 25
So with all these new trails, where does that leave us on our goal of 25 miles of trails by 2025. With all of the additions, we are at around the 15-mile mark.
Trail etiquette and policy
FAST trail etiquette is the following:
All FAST trails are closed during wet conditions
No unauthorized trail changes or additions
Stay on designated trails
Obey all signs, gates, and barriers
Leave no trace, pick up your trash and pet waste
No motorized vehicles
No horses
Plan ahead, bring water, tools, a pump, and wear a helmet
Yield to all trail users
Yield to uphill riders
Never scare animals
No hammocks over the trail
We have seen a large increase in inquiries about eBikes, OneWheels, and electric scooters on the trail. FAST’s policy always aligns with the city of Sioux Falls on these matters. There are no motorized vehicles allowed on ANY trails with the exception of Class 1 eBikes. See the policy here:
Sioux Falls Bicycling & Recreational Trail Ordinances https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/siouxfalls/latest/siouxfalls_sd/0-0-0-55313
If you happen to run into an individual on any unauthorized motorized device, please nicely inform them of this policy. We want to be a positive force for the sport of mountain biking and they may not be aware of this rule. For a full list of FAST trail rules, and etiquette for each trail system, visit our website. We have also put together this great article about spreading positivity on the trail you can view that here.
Bike & Gear Swap
The swap continues to grow and was a great success in terms of networking and fundraising. This year it was hosted on the patio at Remedy. 25 vendors braved the cold and the wind with us that day as we sold our bikes and outdoor gear. Around $800 was raised for FAST.
Tools/Equipment
Since our last state of the dirt, we have continued to stack our arsenal of trail-building tools. Due to the generous support from FAST members and local business sponsors, we have added the following:
Grillo tractor with attachments
A trailer for storing and hauling our equipment
Plate packer
Saws
Trimmers
Blowers
Power tools
Rogue Hoes
Rakes
All of these have been essential tools for us and our builds the past two years. We could not have made so much progress without them.
RTP Grant
FAST was awarded a Federal Recreational Trails Program Grant in 2020. We are planning to use these funds to upgrade 4 bridges at Tuthill Park this spring.
Events
Follow our social media channels for updates on upcoming rides, volunteer sessions, and other events happening throughout 2022. Some may include:
Trail Maintenance
Trail Ribbon Cuttings
Sioux Falls Mountain Bike Races @ Tuthill Park
Trail Challenge
Take a Kid Mountain Biking
Fundraising Events
Website
If you haven’t noticed already, we have a new website! Be sure to browse around.
Swag
We still have hats, stickers, and shirts available to purchase. Get in touch with a FAST board member, email us at fallsareasingletrack@gmail.com or purchase one online through our website store.
Membership
There is strength in numbers. FAST continues to be an independent 501c3 non-profit organization. We are a volunteer-driven, membership-based organization that relies on membership dollars to cover operating costs. All of our work is performed by dedicated volunteers, but the tools, materials, insurance, equipment rental, and a thousand other necessary items all cost money. Your support helps us make strategic investments that will ease the cost of maintenance and allow us to plan and develop new mountain bike trails in the Sioux Falls area.
Falls Area Singletrack is a chapter of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA). We have taken the steps in aligning with IMBA and unifying a worldwide mountain biking movement. Organizations more closely connected to IMBA have an increased level of support for sustaining our local group's infrastructure including joint membership. A FAST membership is also automatically a membership with IMBA.
Membership processing through IMBA is now $39 for a membership fee per member per year or $50 per year for a family membership. There is also a monthly membership option for as low as $5 per month. Join or renew your membership today!