Nick Bennette is the Executive Director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, a position he's held for a little over two years. The group recently put together a 5-year Strategic Plan to "ensure the sustainability of mountain biking in Vermont and thoughtfully promote exceptional riding experiences for all through advocacy, education, and community-driven stewardship."

• How did your experience as a consultant help you craft the VMBA 5-year Strategic Plan?  
• Vermont was an early adopter of a state advocacy model apart from IMBA. How has the VMBA Chapter model evolved since it was first launched?
• How does Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion fit with trail advocacy? Aside from being the right thing to do, how does it benefit the MTB community?
• Is e-bike access a hot topic in Vermont? Do you think it's been framed properly in the past?
• How did VMBA get to 10,000 dues paying members?
• Is advocating for trails easier today than it has been in the past?
• Are there additional considerations involved when public trails are located on private property?
• Is relying on volunteers to help build and maintain trails viable in a state like Vermont where so many trail users live out of state?
• What's so great about mountain biking on the east coast of the US? Why is there a perception that the trails are better out west?

Learn more about the Vermont Mountain Bike Association at vmba.org and view their strategic plan here. Photo credit: Mark Clement.

The Singletracks podcast is brought to you by TPC -- The Pro’s Closet. Spring is the perfect time to upgrade, and TPC has an industry-leading selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes, plus frames, wheels and accessories. Each Certified, Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced, and every bike includes thirty day returns. Visit ⁠⁠tpc.bike/singletracks⁠⁠ and enter code Singletracks40 to save forty dollars on every order over two hundred.

Ryan Gaul is the Trek Factory Racing DH team manager and technical director. He’s been at Trek for about 10 years and is based in Madison, WI.

• How close to stock do DH and enduro riders run their bikes?
• Which aspects of a bike are modified to suit track conditions, and what stays the same for every race?
• Do World Cup racers take many risks when it comes to equipment, or are they pretty conservative?
• Is it common to run test parts, or prototypes in races?
• Is it difficult to convince athletes to try new components on their bikes?
• What type of race information is useful for product designers at the brand? How do you collect and communicate that information?
• How many spare parts/bikes do you bring to a World Cup race for each athlete?
• Are most athletes pretty involved in working on their own bikes?
• What’s the most stressful part of a World Cup weekend for you?

Keep up with the Trek Factory Racing team at racing.trekbikes.com.

The Singletracks podcast is brought to you by TPC -- The Pro’s Closet. Spring is the perfect time to upgrade, and TPC has an industry-leading selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes, plus frames, wheels and accessories. Each Certified, Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced, and every bike includes thirty day returns. Visit ⁠tpc.bike/singletracks⁠ and enter code Singletracks40 to save forty dollars on every order over two hundred.

Matt Shriver is the General Manager and technical director for the Trek Factory Racing cross country team and is based in Durango Colorado. He’s a former pro rider himself and previously served as the technical director for the Trek WorldTour road team for seven years.

• How did you make the transition from professional racing to managing race teams?
• What are the responsibilities of a pro team liaison?
• Does Trek Factory Racing provide coaching resources to athletes, or do athletes tend to bring their own training team?
• Some pro teams are organized as collectives, while others like Trek Factory Racing seem to lean on more of a team model. Are there different philosophies among the different racing groups in MTB?
• Is mountain biking a team sport? Is there a lot of strategy in MTB racing?
• How does recovery work between races? Is there much downtime for the staff and athletes in between events?
• How are team athletes selected?
• What is the most stressful part of being a team liaison?
• How intrusive are anti-doping protocols for athletes and staff?
• How does a brand like Trek measure the success of their race team?
• Do you think the current international MTB competition model is sustainable?
• For core mountain bikers who love riding but don’t necessarily follow pro racing, why should they start paying attention to races? What can we learn from watching World Cup competitions?

In an upcoming episode we'll also talk with Ryan from the Trek Factory Racing DH team.

Keep up with the Trek Factory Racing team at racing.trekbikes.com. Photo credit: Trek Factory Racing.

The Singletracks podcast is brought to you by TPC -- The Pro’s Closet. Spring is the perfect time to upgrade, and TPC has an industry-leading selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes, plus frames, wheels and accessories. Each Certified, Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced, and every bike includes thirty day returns. Visit tpc.bike/singletracks and enter code Singletracks40 to save forty dollars on every order over two hundred.