Bike Patrol

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What does the mountain bike patrol do?

The responsibilities of TORC’s mountain bike patrol follow those outlined by the IMBA’s National Mountain Bike Patrol. Highlights include:

Helping maintain safe trails by reporting hazards and obstacles
Assisting injured/distressed trail users
Interacting with trail users, land managers, and emergency care personnel
Providing routine trail-side bike repair

IMBA has also started a Trail Ambassadors program through the patrol that provides the same services as a patroller, but without the expectation of trailside CPR or first aid. An active mountain bike patrol establishes good relationships with land managers that help promote and sustain trail networks and events on those trails. The bike patrol is also involved with night ride events, local races and skills clinics, and Trips for Kids – Triangle events. There are currently about 20 active patrollers and ambassadors that have logged ~300 hours in the past year.

Meet TORC’s Patrollers and Ambassadors: Find out more about the folks putting in the volunteer hours on the Patroller Profiles page.

What do I have to do to join the mountain bike patrol?

Joining the mountain bike patrol through TORC is very straight forward. You have to:

Get in touch with TORC’s mountain bike patrol chair: Kim Bailey.
Join TORC/IMBA as a National Mountain Bike Patrol (NMBP) member. This currently costs $50 as a patroller and $35 as an ambassador.
Complete an online exam available when you sign up for the patrol/ambassadors program.
Be actively certified in basic first aid and CPR (Red Cross or American Heart Association). We have several options available locally to get certified, including some free options through the local parks. More information can be found here.This requirement does not apply to ambassadors.
Complete an orientation ride with the patrol chair or another experienced patroller at the trail system where you expect to log the most hours.
Subscribe to the TORC NMBP email list: http://lists.torc-nc.org/mailman/listinfo/mtbpatrol

Currently, there are no minimum hour quotas that need to be satisfied to be an “active” member of the patrol, but in order for the patrol to be a success with the local parks, regular patrolling is needed!

Logging patrol hours:

Over the past couple of years we have been using log books at each park to record hours, but this has presented several challenges. To help overcome these challenges, an electronic log book has been created on TORC’s website to record patrol activity. This will allow hours to be more efficiently recorded and easily accesses by land managers and other patrollers. Please record all of your patrol/ambassador activity using this log book. Of course, if anything you discover on a patrol ride needs to be attended to immediately, please directly communicate with the appropriate land manager on site!

Land Managers: You can easily view patrol logs for you park with the log book, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed and have patrol logs automatically appear in an online news reader.

Useful links & more information:

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