The GORC Mountain Bike Patrol

In January of 2007, 26 volunteer members of GORC founded our IMBA affiliated mountain bike patrol to take the next step in promoting singletrack trail advocacy. We give our volunteer hours for the love our favorite sport and the good of the trails. The founding members have given hundreds of personal hours performing trail construction and maintenance, meeting with land managers, talking with other groups such as hikers and equestrians, and putting forth large efforts to create and preserve trails for future generations.

The primary goal of the patrol is to assist, educate, and inform all trail users, and to aid land managers in making the trails a better place to spend your outdoor time. Patrollers are not law enforcement of any type, but we do have the means to contact proper authorities should the need arise. We mainly patrol while riding our mountain bikes but can also be seen hiking and picnicking with our families and friends. Patrol members are trained in first-aid, CPR, minor on-trail bike maintenance, and proper trail etiquette. In the future patrollers will have the option to not be First Aid/CPR certified under the new Trail Ambassador program.

The Creed of the GORC Patrol

• Assist, Educate, and Inform other trail users and leave law enforcement to the people with the badges. Do Not Ride On Wet Trails!
• Obey and educate others on the IMBA Rules of The Trail.

Who has helped us along the way?

• REI (Recreational Equipment Inc) In Brentwood, MO with grants to supply jerseys, first aid kits, two way radios, and patroller patches.
• Wild Trak Bicycles in Alton, IL with 26” inner tubes for each patroller.
• Our first aid guru trainer Becky who keeps us up to date. Thanks, Becky.

Who are we affiliated with?

• St Louis County Parks Trail Watch Program
• St Charles County Parks
• Missouri Department of Conservation Weldon Spring
• SIUE (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)
• IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association)
• The National Mountain Bike Patrol

Where will you find a patroller?

• St Charles County Parks Trails, including Bangert Island, Indian Camp Creek Park, Broemmelsiek Park, Quail Ridge Park, Matson Hill Park, and Klondike Park.
• The Lost Valley Trail, the Hamburg Trail, and during the winter time the gravel road system within the Busch Wildlife area of Weldon Spring Conservation area.
• St Louis County Parks, including Greensfelder Park, the West Tyson section of the Chubb Trail, and the Creve Coeur Lake Park singletrack trail.
• Occasionally a patroller may also be found at Grant's Trail, Cliff Cave, or other St Louis County Parks trails.
• As the patrol grows in size look for us at other area mountain biking parks.

How do you identify a Patroller?

Patrollers can be identified in several manners, but the key ID is the bright red National Mountain Bike Patroller jersey. A patroller may also have a patch on the back of their hydration pack, or a patrol plate attached to the front of their handlebars.

Where do we ride?

Patrollers can be seen on a daily basis riding the local trails that we are affiliated with.
You will not see a patroller riding on a wet trail, but you may find a patroller at the trailhead preaching the gospel of not riding wet trails to help prevent damage to the trail that causes many hours of headaches and back-breaking work to repair.

There are also regularly scheduled rides including:

• On the first Sunday of every month the patrol supports the monthly GORC ride at Greensfelder park.
• There is a monthly ride on the weekend which rotates to different St. Charles County parks
• The SIUE evening ride which takes place every Thursday at 6:00 PM at the SIUE R/C Airfield trailhead
• And the weekly Lost Valley ride leaving every Tuesday night at 6:00 PM from the "Mound" trailhead.

The weekly and monthly rides are cancelled if the trail is so wet that our knobby tires will sink into the trailbed leaving a depression in the soil. Many rides are cancelled within hours of the ride after a GORC member or patroller checks out to the trail conditions before the ride.

Our most challenging quest?

That would be educating trail users not to use the trails when they are wet. If your tires, shoes, or horseshoes are sinking into the soil then it is time to go find something more productive to do than destroy the trail that others have put their heart, soul, muscle, and back into constructing and maintaining.

Patrol Leaders

Head Steward: Rob Horn rockboy62@gmail.com
St Charles County: To be announced.
St Louis County: To be announced.
SIUE: To be announced.
Weldon Springs: To be announced.

Interested in Becoming A Bike Patroller?

Contact: Rob Horn - Rockboy62@gmail.com

Or check out www.imba.com for more information.