XTERRA Eco Team Report

July 15, XTERRA Vashon Island

Gear Donation a Huge Success!
 
XTERRA athletes cleaned out their garages for the XTERRA ECO TEAM's first bike-cycling event. The XTERRA ECO TEAM collected bicycle parts, clothing, and any bike related components for donation to Seattle's BikeWorks: a bicycle advocacy non-profit that teaches bicycle maintenance skills to children of low-income families. BikeWorks uses donated equipment to teach teens how to build or repair bikes and teens are allowed to keep the bikes they build. Younger children receive free bikes from Bikeworks and earn prizes for the number of miles they ride. BikeWorks also donates recycled bicycles to The Village Project in Africa.
 
Many first-time XTERRA athletes participated in the Vashon Island race in the largest field that the race has seen sofar: 120 racers.  Gear donations were already piled up at the registration table one hour before the race, and the two boxes the ECO TEAM brought were  at capacity as soon as they were set down. Donations included tires and tubes, new bike clothing and socks, seats, pedals, cables, chains, cranks, wheel sets, bike shoes, lights, water bottles, stickers, a steel roadbike frame, and a wonderful kids' BMX bike!   ECO TEAM members Brian McNaboe and Yvonne Kraus packed their car to the roof with recycled bicycle gear, even the Thule roofbox was full.  A big thank you to all XTERRA athletes who helped recycle many bicycle parts and bring smiles to kids' faces!
 
August 26: ECO TEAM and BBTC Trail Restoration Work Party

Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River, North Bend, WA.   
 
ECO TEAM members Yvonne Kraus and Brian McNaboe joined forces with Seattle's Back Country Bicycle Trails Club (BBTC) to restore a section of a popular mountain bike trail in the North Cascades.  13 volunteers hauled equipment two miles into the trail and worked in the rain and mud to complete approximately 15 ft of trail "turnpike" that had been damaged by winter storms. The crew had to scrounge for rock and fine mineral soil to make this section suitable for horses and mountain bikes. It took 4 hours of hauling buckets and wheel barrels of rock, excavating gloppy muck, and moving logs to lay out a perfect new trailbed. On the way out, the trail crew stopped to remove a big tree that had fallen on the trail. upon return to the trail head, Crew leader Justin grilled up hearty quesadillas and served cold beverages to a tired crew.

Thanks to these volunteer efforts, the Forest Service is keeping this trail open to mountain bikers, hikers, and equestrians. Altogether we saved the Forest Service approximately $2,000 in labor and materials.  By donating our time, we ensure that this great multi-purpose trail remains open for everyone to enjoy!  

PARTICIPATE IN THE NEXT ECO TEAM EVENT:  Ecological restoration work party in Incline Village, NV. September 28, 2007. 10am - 4pm.  Contact Yvonne Kraus or Barbara Petersen  for more info and to sign up.

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