Saturday, December 27, 2014

TEAM ROBOT shovel fund

IMBA was here.


In our latest IMBA rant in a long, colorful list of IMBA hate-filled rants, we proposed that the IMBA adopt a newer, more honest mission statement going forward.

IMBA: More access is probably better hopefully, but less would be okay too, as long as it isn't too much less, please.



Trivial posted this idea in our comments section, and it got us thinking:

"If that bumper sticker was made and sold by Team Robot, I would purchase several under the condition that profits generated by sticker sales would go to a shovel fund and that once sufficient, shovels would be purchased by Team Robot so that they may dig 400+ feet of single slalom trail into a hillside somewhere, with or without authorization, specifically for bicycle use. That would be bicycle advocacy in action that I would get behind. Results."



That sounded like such a good idea that we now have new stickers for sale on the web store. Check it out:






Every sticker sold goes towards the TEAM ROBOT shovel fund. Stickers are six bucks, and every $6 sticker purchased will go directly towards my preferred tool of choice, the $6 Eagle round tip wood handle shovel from Home Depot, which will promptly be used to turn soil and make cool stuff for bikes.



There's a long list of other tools we and the other dudes use to build trails, like handsaws, buckets, digging bars, rakes, and chainsaws, but I like shovels. Shovels move dirt. Dirt makes jumps. Jumps are cool. This is the TEAM ROBOT shovel fund.

We also like the shovel because it's the trail-building tool IMBA affiliates are least-likely to use.

This berm brought to you by the Eagle Round Tip 44" Wood Handle #2 shovel.


If we actually sell more than 10 of these stickers, 10 being the absolute upper limit on our personal need for #2 shovels and coincidentally our rosiest projection for sticker sales, the goal is to use these funds to support all the other awesome trail builders we know- Brad, Jim, Phil, Todd, Ryan, Kirt, Scott, Petr... all the guys. Each trail builder gets the shovel of his choosing, because we're realistic and we know the Eagle Round Tip doesn't always hold up in other, rockier climates. Most importantly, none of this money will ever go towards an IMBA-style machine built sidewalk trail.


If you believe the IMBA sucks- and it does- help us make mountain biking suck less. I'll keep you posted on all shovel acquisitions and transfers.

11 comments:

  1. And post up the final location of said trail that may or may have spontaneously occurred as a possible but in now way provable result of sales of said IMBA SUCKS stickers = which they do. Compromise is failure.

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  2. 100% backing this.

    Although I prefer a flatty with fiberglass handle (I break the wooden ones), I still appreciate any shovel. That and a big ol' clay pick. Its all you need.

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  3. And post up the final location of said trail that may or may not have spontaneously occurred as a possible but in no way provable result of sales of said IMBA SUCKS stickers - which they do. Compromise is failure.

    ---

    there is the literate version

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  4. I told Brad I'd be down to help any time. Especially out West. And I'm okay with buying stickers for shovels, but time is really more valuable.

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  5. If I buy some stickers for your shovels, can I get a Teamrobot T-shirt to wash my car with?

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  6. I bought 2 stickers becuz IMBA licks donkey balls and I love Robots

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  7. Are you inviting donors to dig?

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  8. How's the shovel fund doing with creating a bunch super-rad trails?

    Seems like IMBA has taken note of the shovel fund and ramped up projects like:

    - Supporting new bike parks from coast to coast, including Orange County, Calif, Denver, CO, Cincinnati, OH, etc.

    - The $100,000 grant from Bell Helmets to create a new black-diamond DH line, free to all and built on public land

    - Reopened trail access at Baltimore's Loch Raven area after two years of painstaking negotiation with local government

    Sure, those projects and dozens of others must totally suck because IMBA is involved. I can't wait to hear about the way more impressive Team Shovel projects!

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  9. Hey all Mafias do things that look great to the public in order to increase their grip over unsuspecting sheep.

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