Jered came to NWTA when we signed the groundbreaking Rocky Point Trails agreement. He has spent countless hours laying the groundwork for an amazing trail system for all of our members to enjoy and is our current board President.
He wants everyone to know that we are looking for folks that want rad trails close to home and are willing to LEAD – come out and help us make world-class trails in our backyard.
You can reach Jered at [email protected].
How and when did you first get involved with NWTA (became a member)?
I joined the NWTA when I joined the board, which was when NWTA made the Rocky Point lease official, the running joke is “I came with the property.”
What made you decide to join the NWTA board?
A hard sell from Bob Lessard made me join the board. More philosophically, however, trails take a ton of effort to get built: there is the upfront planning and politics of finding the site, approvals, etc., then the trail design, the building, and after that, keeping the trails maintained. It takes a village, and I want more trails, so I decided to get involved and put my efforts where my mouth is! Since 2019 the NWTA has grown to over 5500 members; there are around 1000 members who have volunteered in that timeframe. How can we get more of our members to come out and volunteer with us to create more trails and better trails in the Portland area?
What part of NWTA’s mission resonates with you? What are your plans to help move this forward?
Access. I want everyone to have access to trails. This means creating a way into mountain biking for people who don’t look like me, who aren’t of the same socioeconomic background, the same physical abilities. The people make mountain biking great, so I want to see more different people riding bikes. Then there is access in terms of trail access. More trails close to home, more trails you can ride to, if we can get trails in everyone’s yard, we’ll have a much larger and richer community!
I am working on a few projects and relationships, trying to bring more youth into mountain biking and trail building, and educating myself on adaptive mountain bike trail design so that MTB principles can be integrated at the beginning of projects where possible.
When did you first start mountain biking & what was your first bike?
I started mountain biking in high school back in Connecticut. The town I grew up in has a ton of awesome trails, and I still love going back to ride there. My first bike was a Giant Iguana – full rigid, Suntour top-mount shifters, bar ends, sooooo rad.
What do you love about mountain biking?
I love being in the woods. I love getting lost in the woods. I love spending time with friends on half-baked adventures.
Favorite place to ride?
I mean RP because I’m there the most and it is close to home. I also really love riding at Cold Creek. With a toddler at home and the work at RP I don’t ride other places as much as I would like. Tiger Mountain is super fun; I got up to North Vancouver and Whistler for the first time and that was amazing. Oakridge never disappoints. I need to go on way more bike road trips. 2023 here we come!
What do you do during the day (that pays your bills)?
I am a Creative Director/Art Director – I just got laid off so if you know anyone looking for an CD or AD I’d love to talk.
What song or type of music do you listen to to get pumped up (for a ride or for a dig day)?
I grew up listening to punk and hardcore. That is still what I listen to. The faster and angrier the better!
Tell us something (not mountain bike related) about yourself?
Outside of mountain biking, I’ve got an amazing partner and a two-and-a-half-year-old kid, which has been a super fun adventure so far. Cooking plays a pretty central role in my life; hanging out in my kitchen and preparing food is one of my favorite things to do, and I love cooking for other people and making sure folks are well fed. We picked up a GoFastCamper so we will be doing a lot more camping this year!