The Mount Wilson Bicycling Association was founded to advocate responsible trail use for mountain bikers in the San Gabriel Mountains.  We are a part of Save the Trails, an umbrella group for trail advocacy in and around the San Gabriel Valley, and cooperate with CORBA, IMBA, PMBC, Mt Disappointment Endurance Run, and others.

MWBA was informally started by Alan Armstrong in 1986 as a response to negative perceptions of mountain biking by other trail users.  In Alan’s own words (edited from his Mountain Bike Hall of Fame page):

I am a resident of Pasadena, California. I teach welding at Pasadena City College. I’ve spent a life time hiking in the local San Gabriel Mountains. In 1985, at the age of 38, I bought my first mountain bike.
I was never a fast rider; my heart would palpitate like a Kawasaki—the serenity of the forest made it all worthwhile. This daily ride became an important part of my life.  I had only enjoyed the quiet for a few months, when all hell broke loose. The push was on to ban bicycles from the USFS trails, the Toll Road, and a local park. Newspaper articles started to pour on the heat. These people were angry about the speeding down hill bikers and trail damage. These anti-bicycle people had the clout to get media attention and the ear of local politicians.

About this time, I met USFS ranger George Geer of the Angeles National Forest, Arroyo Seco District. The message from George was:

“Listen, Guy, You’ve got a PROBLEM! These bikers are out of control; they’re tearing up the trails, frightening hikers and equestrians. People are REALLY pissed off. If YOU don’t do something to control these guys, ALL bicyclists will be BANNED. It’s YOUR PROBLEM, YOU’VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.”

I repeated George’s speech to every cyclist I met on the Toll Road, soon the process was a group effort. We called ourselves the Mt. Wilson Bicycling Association with 10 active people. We were strictly a peer-pressure-educational group, no rides, no newsletter, no dues, no t-shirts. Our early efforts to educate cyclists were slowly paying off.  We were permitted a yearly pancake breakfast at Henninger Flats, we were invited to become USFS volunteers, encouraged to attend trail building school, and allowed to adopt and maintain trails. I am grateful for the support of USFS Ranger George Geer & county forester Carl Fisher.  In November 1986, our first Pancake breakfast was help at Henninger Flats. This is our only fundraiser of the year.  I am deeply indebted to the mtn. bike industry for their generous support of this event.  In December 1986, the Mt. Wilson Bicycling Association started doing trail work.

Today- with every mountain bike sold, our efforts to educate continue. Ours has been a group effort, I thank the hundreds of cyclists that have joined with the Mt. Wilson Bicycling Association over the years, to build and patrol trails.

Funds from the Pancake Breakfast are given to trail work groups such as the Mt Disappointment Endurance Run, Angeles Mountain Bikers and Trail Keepers, and others for tools and equipment. Supported groups have worked on the Kenyon Devore Trail, Silver Moccasin Trail, Gabrielino Trail, Canteen Trail, Colby Canyon Trail, Strawberry Trail Lower San Gabriel Peak Trail, Upper San Gabriel Peak Trail, Merrill Trails, Sunset Ridge Trails, and others.  One group alone, The Mt Disappointment Endurance Run Volunteer Group, totals about 800 to 1000 hours annually.

Today, MWBA is still around, still advocating for responsible trail use in the San Gabriel Mountains. We have taken our advocacy one step further and have become a Chapter of IMBA. We are currently in the process of working towards the day when we can legitimately recruit volunteers to maintain the trails we love to ride.