San Diego Mountain Biking Association (SDMBA)
Improving trail access for mountain biking in San Diego Coun ty
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
SDMBA recognizes that San Diego County needs more opportunities for quality trail experiences especially in dense urban and suburban communities.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Land Stewardship / Liaison Program
Land Stewardship / Liaison Programs. SDMBA Volunteer Liaisons provide direction, education, and hands-on building and maintenance of trails throughout San Diego County. Liaisons work with park rangers, city councils, community groups, and others concerned with maintaining accessible and sustainable recreational trails for our citizenship to provide balanced access for all trail users. Volunteer SDMBA member Liaisons work with park staff and managers, community development groups, local and regional governing bodies, community advisory councils, environmental groups, national and regional associations to promote access to these San Diego parks and other areas:Balboa Park/Morley Field - Black Mountain Open Space - California Riding and Hiking Trail (CRHT) - California State Parks- Crestridge Reserve - Daley Ranch - Elfin Forest - La Costa - Mission Trails Regional Park - Noble Canyon & USFS - North County Coastal - Penasquitos Canyon - San Diego County - San Dieguito River Park - San Marcos/San Elijo hills - Sweetwater/Otay - Sycamore Canyon/Goodan Ranch Open Space Preserves - Tecolote Canyon - Evan Ted Williams
Trail Building and Maintenance
Trail Building and Maintenance: Trail work Days are an important element of promoting access to trails by helping to design, maintain, and build sustainable trails for all users. Trail building includes construction of bridges, cutting fresh trails, repairing damaged trails, working around endangered habitats and species, private and military property owners, securing a wide variety of tools, organizing volunteers into workable trained teams, training team' bosses,' developing robust helpful relationships with area Liaisons and agencies, and providing a majority of work during our brief rainy season when trails are most workable.
Education and Youth Support
Education and Youth Support: Looking toward the future, SDMBA involves youth through a variety of recreation opportunities intended to further young rider's safety, fun, education, and responsible use of sustainable trails and habitat. Volunteer time equivalencies, transportation, bike purchases for maintaining safe bike stable, insurance, waivers, safety materials, helmets, bike transport, trained /certified instructors, event advertising and PR costs, SWAG and other distributed materials, materials reimbursement all contribute to program operations. Featured Program Opportunities: IMBA Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day, portable pump track at community events throughout the county, Guided family rides and clinics in partnership with Sprockids San Diego and other partners.
Bike Skill Park Complex Development
Bike Skill Park Complex Development: SDMBA Volunteers, from 2008 to the present, researched and prepared materials to support building a family-oriented Bike Parks with skills / trials areas, jumps, and pump track for the city and its guests of all ages in various locations throughout the County. The Sweetwtater Bike Park and the Greg Cox Bike Park both in the South Bay are very successful in providing a safe place for all riders to practice their skills. Other spaces throughout the San Diego County area are also being explored as options for bike skills parks. Help us promote future bike skills parks for the present and future San Diego families.
Bike Bell Program
Bike Bell Program: One of the main concerns of SDMBA, is sharing the trails with everyone. Having a signal for trail users to know that a mountain biker is coming goes a long way to happy sharing of trails. While first started as a way for hikers to let bears know of their presence, bear bells attached to mountain bikes make it very easy for hikers, equestrians, and other bikers to not be surprised by an oncoming mountain biker. This helps everyone have an enjoyable time in nature, helps prevent misunderstandings, and improves safety.SDMBA's first set of bike bells were provided through a generous grant from our friends at REI. SDMBA desires to expand the Bike Bell Program to new locations throughout the county. If you would like to help, SDMBA can always use a few extra funds to buy more bells and build distribution and collection boxes. Bike Bell Stations in San Diego County include Black Mountain, Penasquitos Canyon, Mission Trails Regional Park, and Noble Canyon.
Where we work
Awards
Advocate of the Year 2018
San Diego County Bicycle Coalition
Community Partner of the Year 2020
County of San Diego
Non profit of the Year 2021
Olivenhain Muni Water District
Affiliations & memberships
California Mountain Biking Coalition 2022
International Mountain Bicycling Association 2023
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of organization members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
2022-23 Upcoming projects and advocacy efforts:
-Continue to work on SDMBA strategic planning, board development, and volunteer committee structure
-Continue to work with Mission Trails Regional Park to pass the Master Plan Update which includes over 20 miles of new trail and a 13 acre bike skills park
-Push planning for bike skills parks across the county
-Create and rehabilitate trails in partnership with federal, state and local agencies and jurisdictions
-Strengthen partnerships with agencies and organizations such as US Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve, San Diego Canyonlands, Black Mountain Open Space Preserve, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, San Dieguito River Park, and others.
-Challenge current and future developments in San Diego County to provide a quality recreational features including natural surface trails to their projects
-Continue to use volunteer expertise to assist in maintenance of trails across the county
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Strategic Plan 2020-2023
Goal #1 Advocacy: Advocate for enhanced mountain biking opportunities and bike parks
-Continue progress on SDMBA Top 10 Priority Projects
Create criteria for the Top 10 Priority Projects
Two of the top 10 priority projects approved for work by end of 2017.
Half of the top 10 priority projects approved for work by 2022
Goal #2 Trails: Develop and improve trails
Develop a network of destination quality trails for various riding styles.
Continue advocacy work with public land managers and seek opportunities to connect existing trail networks
Support Trail Liaisons as they cultivate relationships with land managers and prioritize projects.
Goal #3 Education: Promote the sport of mountain biking through education
Educate trail users on established trail etiquette and mountain biking skills
Goal #4 Build an engaged mountain biking community
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Strategically expanding the capabilities of our professional trail crew utilzing modern trail maintenance and building techniques using hand tools and mechanized equipment. Engaging with partners to improve trail planning, maintenance and building to ensure a quality product.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
San Diego Mountain Biking Association (SDMBA)
Board of directorsas of 06/07/2023
Matt Bartelt
Kevin Loomis
Kevin Loomis
Xyon Business Solutions
Don Sutton
Tim Ingersoll
Scott Hansen
Matt Bartelt
Karen St. Germain
James Camy
Gerry Krippner
Dom Dias
Steven Pearlman
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/21/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.