We have some fantastic news coming out of the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC this morning. The League of American Bicyclists is reporting that Google Maps has finally added a “bike there” option to the choices of directions between to locations.

According to the press release from the League of American Bicyclists:

“This new feature includes: step-by-step bicycling directions; bike trails outlined directly on the map; and a new “Bicycling” layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads. The directions feature provides step-by-step, bike-specific routing suggestions – similar to the directions provided by our driving, walking, or public transit modes. Simply enter a start point and destination and select “Bicycling” from the drop-down menu. You will receive a route that is optimized for cycling, taking advantage of bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly streets and avoiding hilly terrain whenever possible.”

If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re as excited about this as we are. Not only is this a great tool for planning rides and commutes, but it also gives yet another example of the visibility, impact and importance of cycling. Like Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists says, “It is a game-changer…”

You can see all of this in action, along with a cool little video and some instructions here.

Are you excited about this? How will this impact your riding and/or commuting? Let us know your thoughts by adding a comment below.

Philadelphia-area mountain bikers of all shapes, sizes, experiences and abilities will again have the opportunity to fraternize, ride, eat and buy stuff when the Fourth Annual Rally in the Valley goes down on April 17th in Wissahickon Park.

The Philadelphia Area Mountain Bike Association (PMBA) is putting on the event, which brings together riders, local shops and national sponsors. In addition to guided trail rides rides through Wissahickon Park, a swap meet, music and food, participants can also look forward to skills clinics, a kid’s course and door prizes. You’ll also have the opportunity to demo some new bikes on the best trails that Wissahickon Park has to offer. That’s what we call fun for the whole family.

It’s also worth mentioning that proceeds from the event go towards trail maintenance days in the Wiss and mountain bike skill clinics throughout the year.

Rally in the Valley may be the premier event for PMBA, but the group is also an active voice of advocacy in The Wiss, as well as other trails in, and around, the Philadelphia area. They have many other events through out the year such as trail maintenance days and donation drives for organizations like Neighborhood Bike Works—a local non-profit that uses bicycles to increase opportunities for urban youth. As I’ve mentioned before…be part of the solution and join PMBA…and maybe donate to Neighborhood Bike Works while you’re at it.

Practical Info:

• Wissahickon Valley in Fairmount Park
• April 17th 2010
• 8:00am to 2:00pm
• Register online www.phillymtb.org
• On-site Registration 7:00am to 10:00am
• Registration and parking at Northwestern Ave (near Chestnut Hill College)
• $25 (adults over 19); $10 (kids 8-18); Kids under 7 are free
• Helmets are mandatory for all participants

Planning to attend the Rally in the Valley? Leave a comment below to see who else is going.

The good people over at Bikes Belong recently showed us 55,000 reasons why they’re so cool. Several cycling organizations and projects (catering to those who love non-paved as well as paved cycling) have just benefitted from the award of $55,000 worth of grants.
Of particular interest:

• Moab Trails Alliance will get $10,000 to help complete a paved path between Moab’s Lions Park Trail and Transit Hub with Arches National Park and all of the off-road trails to the north. It’s hoped this trail will reduce the number of automobiles in the area by 200,000.
• $10,000 grant to the City of Redmond, Washington to help fund the design and building of the Redmond Bike Park.
• Watauga County Tourism Development Authority won $5000 to help develop a mountain bike trail system in Rocky Knob Park outside of Boone, North Carolina.
• $5000 grant to the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA) so that riders in and around Cable, WI can see the completion of 28 miles of continuous singletrack.

The remaining $25,000 will be split between the Ohio River Trail in Cincinnati that will link downtown with the airport; the City of Middleton, Wisconsin to help build a mountain bike park adjacent to a golf course; and the Cuyuna Lakes Trail Association in Minneapolis to build two sections of paved trail to connect a variety of public areas in an effort to complete the 39-mile Cuyuna Lakes State Trail.

For complete information, head on over to Bikes Belong. And while you’re there…be a part of the solution, and join.

Just because you haven’t seen a brightly colored Subaru, emblazoned with the IMBA logo, roll into your neighborhood lately, it doesn’t mean that IMBA is napping. Quite the contrary. IMBA is hard at work on the front lines of the mountain bike access struggle—namely, Washington, DC. IMBA recently conducted several meetings with key congressional leaders and federal agency personnel.

IMBA reports that they’ve held productive discussions with Chairman Raul Grijlva (D-AZ), Congressmen Peter DeFazio (D-OR), and Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO), among other members of the House Natural Resources Committee. Congressman Grijalva pledged that he will not seek changes in Forest Service management strategies that would prohibit existing mountain bike access.

A similar view was expressed by Congressman DeFazio: “Bicycling, along with other non-motorized uses, has a de minimis impact on Wilderness values.” He elaborated, “The Forest Service should be prohibiting detrimental activities that have a significant and permanent impact on the Wilderness qualities of areas they recommended for Wilderness. I hope the Forest Service adopts this view and manages non-motorized uses like bicycling accordingly.”

IMBA also met with staff members of the National Park Service and Forest Service. “These meetings continued our important partnerships to build sustainable trails, repair eroded trail systems, manage recreation and get more people outside experiencing their public lands,” said IMBA Government Affairs Director Jenn Dice.

Read the full story at the IMBA website.

Slated for Augusta, Georgia on May 5 – 8th, 2010, the 2010 IMBA World Summit is expected be the largest yet. Seminar topics will include destination and urban trail networks, land conservation and sustainable trails, youth outreach and new programs designed to grow local capacity for the 700+ clubs and patrols in IMBA’s global network.

In addition to seminars and networking, the gathering will feature parties and plenty of riding, including a closing day tour of the Forks Area Trail System (FATS), an IMBA Epic.

Online registration for the 2010 IMBA World Summit is open now through May 3rd, 2010. IMBA members, be sure to login to your account before completing the registration form to enjoy special pricing.

The conference will be held at the Augusta Marriott hotel. IMBA has received a limited number of discounted rooms available at a rate of $109 from May 3rd – May 8, 2010. The rooms are first come, first served, so please make your reservations early and stay at the center of the action during the Summit.

For additional information visit: www.imba.com/summit/2010_World_Summit.html.

Dirt Rag Magazine would like to invite you to our own event: Dirt Fest. Mark your calendars for the weekend of May 21st-23rd, 2010 and head over to the Allegrippis trails at Raystown Lake in Hesston, PA.

Dirt Fest will be a fun mountain biking festival, featuring 32 miles of prime singletrack for a weekend of great riding. Camping will be available. We invite you to come and join the festivities, demo mountain bikes and check out the latest products in the industry expo area.

IMBA will be on hand to teach trail building clinics and advocacy, and other club events will take place.

Dirt Rag will be bringing the flavor of hops and barley as we host a Pennsylvania beer tasting event, complete with brew techniques and history. Other entertainment and spectacles will follow.

The cost for attending is $30 per person including two nights of primitive camping at Susquehannock Campground or $15 for the weekend without camping.

Visit dirtfest.blogspot.com for more information on Dirt Fest (and/or to contact the promoters about getting your company or organization involved in the expo area, or as an event sponsor). If you’re ready to rock and roll, click here for registration.

Dirt Rag’s Dirt Fest is brought to you by Dirt Rag, IMBA, Raystown Mountain Bike Association, Rothrock Outfitters, and the Friends of Raystown Lake.