^{Photo:Thom Carroll}

Without trails, there is no mountain biking. Because of that simple but key reason, Shimano stepped up as the founding sponsor of the International Mountain Bicycling Association's Dig In program, which helps local advocacy organizations raise funds for mountain bike projects through crowd-sourced contributions and matching industry donations.

Twice a year, IMBA chooses recipients from a pool of deserving applicants. Each selected project is eligible for $2,000 of matching funds once the project reaches $2,000 in online donations. Thus far, Dig In has helped 43 projects from 35 different organizations by raising a combined $280,000 to build new trails and mountain biking infrastructure across the U.S.

^{Photo: Andy Shinn}

"As a 100-year-old brand, we always try to take the long view," said Andy McSorley, Shimano

Mountain Bike Brand Manager. "We aim to invest in opportunities that have a payoff for a lot of people over a long period of time. Obviously, facilitating opportunities for people to ride bikes makes good business sense for a bike component manufacturer. But just as important is that we strongly believe in the positive outcomes that come from outdoor activities, so we are always looking for ways to enable more of those great experiences.

^{Photo:Nathalie Dupre}

Thats exactly what Dig In has done. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, it provided funding for Walden Ridge Park, the area’s first public MTB trail network. It’s situated just 10 minutes from downtown and serves up approximately a dozen miles of gravity-oriented mountain bike tracks. 

^{Photo:Gaston Farmer}

In North Texas, the Western Heritage Park Trail project created a 4.3-mile loop that quickly became a tourism driver for the area. More importantly, it provided green recreation space for the local community of Mineral Wells, a primarily lower-income, working-class town.

It's a similar story in Pennsylvania's Weiser State Forest, where Dig In supported the Rattling Creek Trail System expansion. The project's aim is to provide additional access to the existing network, which has been awarded IMBA's Epic Trail status. Grassroots project managers hope the additional access points will let out of towners experience more of the local communities while providing the towns with additional economic opportunities through MTB tourism.

^{Photo:Weatherford Mountain Bike Club}

“We are trying to develop new trails and new trail towns,” explained Nick Loftus, president of the Susquehanna Area Mountain Bike Association, which is spearheading the project. Indeed, by creating trail connectivity, mountain bikers will be encouraged to visit places such as Lykens, which was once a thriving coal mining town, but more recently has fallen on tough economic times.    

“SAMBA is addressing [trail access issues] by helping several communities gain rideable access to their local IMBA Epic,” noted Anthony Duncan, IMBA’s director of local programs. “This will be a welcome economic stimulator for those communities and is a great example of the type of project Dig In is designed to support.” 

^{Photo: Thom Carroll}

Indeed, outcomes such as these are just what IMBA and Shimano had in mind. By creating this platform for giving, Dig In aids in front-end fundraising while also helping promote these projects to a wider audience of potential donors.

^{Photo:Davis S. Jenne}

"When a new project can illustrate that it's already garnered some support, it helps them in the pursuit of additional funds," added Duncan. "And none of this happens without Shimano. They saw the vision and understood what we were looking for, and really stepped up in a big way. They really want to have an impact on grassroots advocacy efforts, and what better way to do it than grassroots campaigns."