2003 NDCF News

2003 - NDCF Rider Awards

2003 - Lewis & Clark Legacy Trails Master Plan

The Lewis & Clark Legacy Trails are multi-use non-motorized trails to be designated/constructed near the Missouri River through North Dakota. A master plan is currently being developed by Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson for the North Dakota Department of Transportation. The draft master plan will be available for public viewing and comment in early August, and will be posted on the project website at www.ndtrails.com. Public input meetings were held in 6 communities in June, and will be held again in August to obtain public input on the draft Master Plan. Your input is needed! For more information, see the website.

2003 - IMBA Trail Care Crew Update

The IMBA Trail Care Crew will be in North Dakota AGAIN this year! IMBA has recently signed a national Memorandum of Agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers whereby the two organizations agree to work together towards improving trail opportunities on Corps lands. In North Dakota, the Corps owns much of the shore line along Lake Oahe and Lake Sakakawea. The IMBA Trail Care Crews are focusing on 8 trail projects on Corps land throughout the US, including one at Lake Sakakawea State Park near Pick City on August 9 and 10. The Trail Care Crew will put on a slide show of trails and trail work around the world Friday night, August 8th at the state park's amphitheatre. A trail workshop will be indoor classroom style Saturday morning on August 9, with trail work in the afternoon (lunch provided). Sunday will be more trail work, probably 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch provided. We will be constructing a "demonstration" project segment of trail along/adjacent to the national North Country Scenic Trail. This demonstration project will display the various design concepts for sustainable trails for application to future Lewis & Clark Legacy Trails in North Dakota.

2003 - NDCF Gets Mentioned on the MN MTB Scene

NDCF gets a nice plug in an article written by MTB Racer Jay Richards.

2003 - NDCF Helps Defeat Anti-Cycling Bill

On Thursday, January 23rd, 2003, Cyclists from all over North Dakota packed the Senate hearing at the State Capitol. At issue was a bill(SB2391), authored by a Fargo State Senator, John O. Syverson (R-Fargo 47th - 19th Ave & north). In his proposal, cyclists would be forced to purchase a $50 registration to be allowed to ride their bikes on public hard-surface roadways in the state. Additionally, the legislation re-wrote sections of the North Dakota Century Code in such a way that would put it outside of accepted practices regarding the rights and requirements for bicycle operation. One section, mandating all cyclists purchase the registration, would have been in clear violation of the US Constitution’s interstate commerce clause. Clearly Senator Syverson had other things on his mind when writing this bill.

The hearing room was filled to standing-room-only, and time and time again, cyclists stepped to the podium to make their argument against the bill. At one point, as yet another cyclist stepped up from outside of the committee chairperson’s vantage, the Senator asked, “How many more of you are there?” After the hearing, the committee took an unusual step and called for a vote while those who testified were still in the room. The committee voted unanimously to make a “Do Not Pass” recommendation on the bill. A few days later, before the whole Senate, the bill died; not even its author, John O. Syverson voted for the bill.