Here is your daily outdoor news bulletin for April 16, the day Dr. Robert Hoffman accidentally ingested LSD and launch a…wait, what was I talking about man?
New IMBA Ride Center in Virginia
Pocahontas State Park outside Richmond, Va. is being tapped to become an IMBA Ride Center, joining Harrisonburg as one of only 11 such destinations in the world. In the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Andy Thompson describes how a chance encounter at a fundraiser for the Richmond 2015 (the group bringing the World Cycling Championships to the city), lead to the idea of putting a Ride Center in Pocahontas. The plans call for a public/private partnership in raising funds, which IMBA estimates at up to $2 million total. One interesting aspect of the plan is the proposed section of trail designated for riders with disabilities, hand cycles, and adaptive-use bikes. Obviously, the completed project is a long way off – they are hoping for trail on the ground by spring 2015 – but it’s exciting bike times in the River City for sure.
Bike Friendly Universities Announced
Speaking of bikes, the League of American Bicyclists announced their list of Bicycle Friendly Universities, adding 14 new schools. The program now recognizes 58 institutions of higher learning in 30 states. Stanford University took the top billing as the only Platinum member of the list which takes into account programs, acces, and safety for bikes on campuses. Some Blue Ridge Schools made the cut including Georgia Tech, Lincoln Memorial University, University of Maryland, and Virginia Commonwealth receiving Silver status, and Clemson, Duke, Eastern Mennonite, Emory, George Mason, James Madison, NC State, Old Dominion, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington, South Carolina and Virginia Tech all receiving Bronze status.
Some of those schools are also on our Top Adventure Schools Tournament bracket, so don’t forget to take that into consideration when you vote.
Eyeing the Southern Sky
Things are not looking that great for rivers in the South. American Rivers Associate Director Ben Emanuel says as much in a post from the AR blog. Focusing mostly on the Chattahoochee, but citing all rivers in the Southeast, he says drought makes it even harder to navigate the sustainability management issues present in the region. The American Rivers list of the top ten Most Endangered Rivers comes out tomorrow.
