Our History

Philadelphia is one of the largest metro areas in the United States with many miles of amazing trails throughout city parks, and has a large community of people who ride mountain bikes. However, until late 2006, there was a noticeable lack of an official organization representing the sport and the riders.

In October of 2006, the Friends of Wissahickon, a local advocacy group that "...conserves forest and creek, restores trails and preserves the [Wissahickon] Park's historical structures," brought IMBA to town. IMBA Trail Solutions is their professional fee-based trail consulting group, and they started by building a demonstration trail in the park as an introduction to their Sustainable Trails Initiative Project. On top of starting the process of rebuilding most of the trails in the Wissahickon to sustainable standards, this endeavor helped local mountain bikers recognize the importance of trail stewardship, and inspired them to lend a hand. It was a successful venture, and helped local riders establish a more solid rapport with non-riders in the park. After word snow-balled around town, Trail Solutions' Trail Care Crew leaders Kristin Butcher and Ryan Schutz held a presentation at the Manayunk Diner, and the Philadelphia Mountain Biking Association was born.

Interest was immediately strong around town, and the first major decision of the group was to join a pilot program at IMBA and become one of the first chartered IMBA Chapter clubs. Several local companies pitched in to support the organization, namely REI, who donated $500 for us to join as IMBA's Charter Chapter. Aside from all the insight, guidance and professional support that IMBA provides us, PMBA is an official member group under the IMBA 501(c)(3) non-profit tax status umbrella. We are a volunteer charitable organization and all contributions are tax deductible!

Many people are investing their time and money into the organization. Online fulfillment capabilities make it easy, efficient and environmentally friendly to join and contribute! Things are happening fast so please visit this website often!

The bottom line is that this club will showcase the talent and resources that this area has to offer towards becoming good stewards of the local trail systems.