An interview with Philip Keyes, NEMBA's Executive Director

Philip is the Executive Director for NEMBA (New England Mountain Bike Association), the world's largest regional recreational trails advocacy group. 2002 marked the first time ever a group has purchased land in order to preserve and manage it for use by mountain bikers. NEMBA is currently planning and collecting donations to purchase a 47 acre parcel of land at the uber-popular riding area known as Vietnam in Milford MA. Philip is the key person behind this initiative and we talked with him about it. I am seated at the dining table in Philip Keyes' home drinking strong coffee and fending off the advances of an overzealous dog. We're talking about Vietnam, the coming evolution of mountain biking and shrinkage.

BustedSpoke.com: Start by telling us how far NEMBA has come.

Philip Keyes: NEMBA has grown from a group focused on Boston area riding spots like Lynn Woods and the Fells, with 250 - 300 members to a group with 4500 members and 17 chapters all over New England. Growth has been phenomenal!

BS: What have been some of the benefits of that growth?

PK: It allows us to keep the politics local. People care about their local riding areas and that's where they want us to build trails.

BS: Where is NEMBA going?

PK: We are moving into a new phase of organization which is land ownership and land management. Our plan for the relatively near future is to own land and mountain biking trails in all of the New England states.

The Vietnam initiative is the first benchmark of what will be an ongoing process where we see ourselves owning, say, 100 acres in Northern Vermont, buying land in Maine and turning that into killer recreation mountain bike destinations.

BS: It sounds like NEMBA is becoming a mountain bike "entertainment" group, in addition to its advocacy. In essence you'll be promoting responsible riding by providing access to trails you own and manage. Is that accurate?

PK: I think that's essentially accurate. The reason we are doing this is to put our money where our mouths are in regards to open space conservation. One of the greatest threats to mountain biking is sprawl and the loss of key lands. For instance, in MA we are losing many acres a day to development. Just look at Bow Ridge in Lynn Woods!

If we want to preserve our riding, long term, it means preserving open space. We have given thousands of dollars to other groups to buy land, now it's our turn to play the game.

In the process, you're right, the tables will be turned. NEMBA will become a land trust, and will manage its own lands, and that will have it's own challenges.

Just yesterday we set up a Land Management Steering Committee at our board meeting, that will be outlining how we want to develop Vietnam, as well as how we want to develop a management team which goes beyond NEMBA to include those who love and care for 'Nam, as part of the process.

BS: Will there be any access issues?

PK: We are doing this for mountain biking, not for NEMBA. This will be a place open to the public, free of charge, whether or not one is a NEMBA member.

BS: Places like Lynn Woods have always been managed lands, yet still struggle with illegal trail, and stunt building. Vietnam has never been managed. Do you foresee more or fewer problems than at managed riding sites?

PK: I see that as our biggest challenge. This land purchase is historic in that it has never been done before [being owned by mountain bikers]. Also, a mountain bike organization has never before managed trails.

The way things have been going with trail building, working with the free ride crowd, and groups like TNR [Tuesday Night Rides], Rage and Sinister Bikes we've been really successful. NEMBA has guided this but it has really been due to a collective that has gone beyond NEMBA. And that's how we want the land management in 'Nam to progress as well.

As for illegal trail building, we want to get those creative types building challenging trails involved in the process. It will eventually come down to, from a liability aspect, "How technical can we make these trails?"

Myself and a lot of those involved want to see these trails be very, very technical. However, the building of stunts of manmade materials like trestles and teeters require constant inspection on a yearly basis. If something breaks, the fact of the matter is, people do sue and we have to be concerned about that.

BS: In which direction do you see mountain biking going?

PK: As you well know, technical riding has gotten so huge, where there is a confluence of BMX, trials, downhilling and cross country. They are all coming together and creating a whole new playing field. And it's very exciting! And now, with the influence of downhill racing having an effect of bringing more speed to the game, there is definitely an elevated sense of risk.

BS: Well, I think if you were to join us on one of our freerides at Lynn Woods you'd be appalled at how slow we are!

PK: [laughter] Ya, you're right! This past summer I did a ride at Lynn with Richey Schley on a brutally hot day, and of course it was fairly slow. However, talking with Richey who does a lot of work with downhillers like Steve Peat, he agrees there is an increase of speed, the road gap jumps and hitting 30-40 mph and launching of stuff. Before, I think it was slow speed, but it's all changed. [Laughter] Not me, however!

BS: Which leads me to my next question. Do you partake in any drops?

PK: I am a good mediocre rider, meaning that I ride well on a broad range of styles and terrain, but I am in no way a freerider. Freeriding for me causes a fair amount of, shall we say, "shrinkage"! [Laughter]

BS: [laughter]

PK: Although a number of those I ride with will do stuff and it is really fun to watch them. And, if I get my "cajones" up I will do a few things, but I'm personally more of an epic rider.

BS: So, six years ago, you were interviewing me for Dirt Rag. What was going on then and what has Philip Keyes done since then?

PK: Well as far as my own background, I am actually an anthropologist by training and got into mountain biking as a way to postpone and procrastinate during my dissertation. Which I was very successful at! Upon returning from Bolivia doing research, mountain biking started to take over my life, and I started writing for Dirt Rag, and still am. But as I started to write their advocacy column, I started getting more involved with NEMBA, started as secretary and moved my way up. I've been executive director for about four and a half years now. [pause] I never did finish my dissertation!

BS: A dream come true?

PK: Well, yah! I get to ride all the time, write about mountain biking, think about mountain biking all day long and get paid to do my passion!

BS: Paid?! -- Note to editor!

PK: [laughter] I think a lot of people work to get money to do what they want, and getting paid to do it is great.

BS: So let's talk about Vietnam. Tell us where and what it is.

PK: Vietnam is a real mosaic of public, private and corporate lands. There are conservation lands in Milford, conservation lands in Holliston and those about private and corporate lands and the power company lands. There are about 25 miles of trails, 85% of which are really beautiful cross-country trails where you can go for wonderful cross-country ride. The more technical trails, frequented by the freeriders, are in a small portion of the area.

The portion we are going to purchase is a 47-acre, land-locked parcel of privately owned land.

BS: How does this affect access to the surrounding conservation lands?

PK: This initiative really started off as a number of meetings took place with the town of Milford, the town of Holliston and the state, all worried about this area being under threat of development. What we are doing is part of a much broader strategy to protect the whole area. Already the town of Holliston has purchased about 250 acres, which is contiguous with our parcel. From Holliston you can get right into the Milford conservation. There has been a large, ongoing protection effort that goes beyond our 47 acres.

The other parcel of land is in Milford, and is owned by a developer, and that's going to be the tough one. That land has a lot of popular mountain bike trails. But, we simply have a developer with a plan for developing that, and it's in the state of undergoing various environmental studies. There are spotted turtles in the area, there are wetlands protection issues. However, it is most likely that land will be lost.

BS: Can we somehow prove that the dwindling numbers of mountain bikers in the area is of significant environmental concern?

PK: [laughter] Exactly! We can do the same thing they do with the turtle studies, where they put radio transmitters on the turtles to follow there breeding patterns. Although, I'm not sure we really want to know the breeding patterns of mountain bikers quite yet! [Laughter]

BS: [laughter]

PK: Inquiring minds want to know! [Laughter]

BS: The parcel NEMBA is purchasing, is that a developers land?

PK: That land belonged to an individual as part of an estate who was trying to sell it for development. Those deals fell through however, and when we approached him and explained who we were and what our goals were, we were able to negotiate, and he came down significantly on the price.

BS: I've seen quite a fair amount of coverage of this project on various other websites and it seems like places as far away as British Columbia are taking up the rally cry. Have you had a lot of support from outside NEMBA's territory?

PK: I think mountain bikers around the country realize the precedent setting nature of this. We've had donations from DC, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Minnesota - they are coming from all of the country! $100 donations! Quality Bicycle Parts saw our website and video and sent us three grand!

What's been really cool is that dealers around this whole area - Wheel Works, Landry's, Milford Bike, International Bike, Cycle Loft and Bicycle Alley - all came together and pledged $2000-$4000 each and promised to go to their suppliers to do the same.

BS: I know that in the past the stigma attached to NEMBA was that if they were going to make a trail, it was going to be one everybody could ride. Is that accurate?

PK: There was a time in the history of mountain bike advocacy that we had to fight tooth and nail to argue that we were legitimate on ANY trail and if we were to build a trail, we had to build it for everybody. We've moved beyond that now. Yes these are shared use trails, but it's OK to build a trail that 80% of the people can't ride. We've come a long way. NEMBA definitely had an image problem about building trails that were too easy. That came primarily from working with land managers and doing what land managers wanted. But, now the dialogue and the interplay have changed where they say, "Hey, if I want mountain bikers to use these trails and stay off of other trails, I have to make them so they really want to use them."

So, we've worked a lot to change our style. New technology and, as we said, the confluence of BMX, trials and downhilling have all come together to really create almost a different sport, and a very legitimate one.

For me it doesn't come down to whether you wear body armor or what kinds of bikes you ride. It comes down to preserving our riding for the future and that really does come down to not building illegal stunts and not building illegal trails and finding ways that you CAN build those things legally.

BS: With the creation of the so called "Bleachers" trail above the ball field at Lynn Woods, have you experienced more support from the freeride crowd?

PK: Oh, absolutely! What I think is so great about all of this is working with Bill Lazdowski from Sinister Bikes and working with some of the real hardcore riders within TNR. I think projects like Lynn and like Vietnam are great. You know, partnerships are where it's at. It's all about collaboration, not competition.

When we build a trail, we have to consider the fun factor yet be sustainable. And a challenge of that is to not look just a half-year down the line. We have to be looking 5, 10, 15 years down the line when we build trails.

BS: Like the "Keyes" trail in Carlisle? [Laughter]

PK: [Laughter] Well, yah, I'm a little embarrassed about that one, really.

BS: I didn't notice the placecard until we finished the loop and saw your name on it and I thought, "Yup, Philip's been here!" [Laughter]

PK: [Laughter] Well, for the record, I didn't name that trail! At the festival, I went out to mark the loops and came upon the sign and was really embarrassed.

Over the next few years, we'll be seeing many, many more miles of single track trail being built by NEMBA and hopefully they will be very, very technically satisfying.

BS: What does one get with their NEMBA Membership?

PK: It's twenty bucks and tax deductible. You get a year subscription to our magazine Single Tracks [NEMBA's magazine]. You get a membership card which is good for discounts at local bike shops. You get some stickers and most importantly, you support trail building and the protection of mountain bike access in New England.

BS: So what's coming up in the near future?

PK: We will be hosting 70 or so trail projects, we will having our Mountain Bike Adventure Series sponsored by Harpoon, our partnership with EFTA [Eastern Fat Tire Association] in there fun ride series, another festival in the fall and all sorts of great fundraising events throughout the year.

BS: With all of that going on, will you get to ride?

PK: [laughter] Oh, yah! I ride about five times a week, otherwise I get cranky!

To make a donation towards the purchase of 'Nam, visit NEMBA's website at www.NEMBA.org.