Summit County Off-Road Riders is a non-profit 501(c)(3). Join our club for free by emailing your name to join@scorr.org. Donations are accepted through Paypal:
Your donation pays for maintenance on trail building equipment, USFS patrol motorcycles, and support for our volunteer trail crews. New trails continue to be built on Tenderfoot Mountain, accessed at the end of, map search: “Landfill Road, Keystone, CO”. There is a dedicated parking area for riders and trailers 1/4 mile past the landfill entry and shooting range.
At the base of this mountain, map search: “Cemetary Road, Dillon, CO” We have our fee-based “Tenderfoot Track Club” The gate code is 2112. There is a second parking area for riders and trailers past the gate. Join anytime at Tenderfoot Track Club. Your fee pays for track and equipment maintenance.
Tenderfoot Track Club
Purchase a season, family, or day-use pass online for our Family Friendly MX track.
Become a member at: Tenderfoot Track Club
How Can You Help Our Motorized Community?
First, you need a Colorado OHV sticker. Stickers for E-Bikes are optional at this time but encouraged. https://cpw.state.co.us/buyapply/Pages/RegistrationsOHV.aspx
All of our custom new trails and seasonal maintenance are supported by this revenue source.
SCORR works with our local U.S. Forest Service and “The Friends of the Dillon Ranger District” https://fdrd.org/calendar/ for building and maintaining Motorized Multi-Use Single Track (Moto-MUST). Please become one of our motorized representatives by volunteering, attending their workshops, and contributing to their fundraisers.
SCORR does not have regular meetings, rides, or newsletters. Our member list is simply used to provide a group total for our grant applications. We currently have over 450 members and have two Facebook Pages:
SCORR: https://www.facebook.com/groups/867082356644770. SCMDBE: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1464168663883909
Join SCORR for free by e-mailing your name and address to: JOIN@SCORR.ORG
SCORR and SCOMBA
SCORR and SCoMBA (Summit County Mountain Bike Alliance) are teaming up to work on a new singletrack trail on Tenderfoot Mountain near Keystone, CO.
Colorado OHV Sticker Program Grant Awards:
2014: Dillon Crew, $39,900
2015: Golden Horseshoe, $101,400
2015: Tenderfoot Mtn. Trail System, $87,500
2016: *Dillon OHV Trail Crew, $41,000
2016″ Tenderfoot Mtn. Trail System, $73,000
2017: *Dillon OHV Trail Crew, $47,500
2017: Tenderfoot Mtn. Trail System, $ $139,500
2018: $0
2019: Tenderfoot Mtn. Trail System, $78,100
2019: *Dillon OHV Trail Crew, $42,500
2020: *Dillon OHV Trail Crew 2020, $68,900
*The Dillon OHV Trail Good Management OHV Crew is a two THREE person seasonal crew that develops, maintains, and improves trails for Summit County, CO riding areas including:
Montezuma Area
Tenderfoot Mtn. Trail System
Golden Horseshoe Trail System
Swan River Area
Spring Creek Area
Green Mtn. Reservoir Area
SCORR is a successful motorcycle club because we are a reliable partner with our local land managers.
Minimal System Requirements for
Starting a Motorcycle Club
by Tim Nixon
Why Start a Motorized Club?
Can’t we just get on our bikes and ride? Well, yes and no. Look at how many riding areas are closed. Yes, we can ride the open trails legally, but not the closed ones. Trails usually close because motorized users were not represented at the bargaining table.
We have to go to public meetings. The credibility of just one or two motorized people is low and can be ignored by public officials. Credibility increases by the number of people represented. Active board members with titles like the president, treasurer, etc., plus the amount of signed-on passive club members increase your credibility. This translates to more resources (time, money, personnel) that you can ask for with grants or get allocated from existing budgets. The more people in your group will result in more attention from your local land managers.
Pick your battles. Speaking with a common voice gets you heard, so decide what your group wants to ask for privately before going public. Then it may not always be an uphill battle. The US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management legally have to include all user groups in their management decisions. Local towns and counties may want to add motorized trails to attract tourists, feed the local economy, and collect more taxes.
Remember that an organized group is a listened to and accommodated group.
Internal Organization for a Moto Club
Board Members:
Use the usual structure of President, VP., etc., where job responsibilities are divided up according to a person’s strengths. The Financial VP should know numbers, the Web VP should know web software, the Membership VP should be a people person, and the President and VP should know a little about everything. This structure is mandatory if the club is to become a non-profit and it is highly recommended for adding credibility to your organization. Several Public Relations (PR.) board members can be assigned to attend public meetings as the club’s representative, removing that task from other board members.
Website and Internet Presence
Why a website at all? Think of a website as a clubhouse that’s always open. Potential members can find your club, join, and contribute money directly to your PayPal or online bank account. Anyone questioning your club’s legitimacy will get the facts from this website. Viewers will learn about your club’s philosophy, goals, accomplishments, etc.
Members can also share information on a dedicated Facebook page, (without messing up your website). Start a Twitter account, snap chat, or whatever some of your members may want to head up, as it expands your membership and searchable internet footprint.
How Do You Start a Website?
Usually, you hire someone and pay them many thousands of dollars, and continue paying them every time the site needs to be updated. Or you can do it yourself.
First, you need a “domain name” like scorr.org. Search for an available short, memorable, and don’t have to spell name at https://www.whois.net/. The goal is to find a name that is not being used and has an ending like “.org” which means it is a non-profit organization.
Next, find an online company that will “host” (store, backup, and connect to the internet) your website. You can also buy your domain name through them, keeping the yearly renewal simple.
Many companies have simple “wizards” and “plugins” that help you to design your website. There are many companies out there. Please compare any company to the one I’ve used for many years: https://www.ionos.com/
How to Get Club Members with a Website
A website should be simple and to the point. Include easily searchable and findable keywords in your text (content) like the club’s location, names of local towns, and local features. Words like motorcycle, off-road, MX Track, etc. Imagine someone searching for “Motorcycle club in Summit County, CO” Your website should pop up on the first page.
Include information near the top like an e-mail address where they can join for free and a PayPal link button (free with a Paypal account) for anyone to send you money. Paypal money can then be transferred to the club’s bank account for free.
The main page is the one that Google searches, so try to keep pertinent information on the first page or just keep the website to one page. Use an internet provider (IP) website design wizard or the option to use free templates called “word press” (ionos.com has this), your site will automatically look good on everything from workstations to smartphones. Include clickable web links to other sites that may include motorcycle shops, maps, and your local land managers on the main page. This is one way to be found on the internet as the more your website is linked to others and they link back to yours, the more popular it becomes for search engines like Google. This is the “web” part of the World Wide Web (WWW)
How to Get More Club Members
Do it the old-fashioned way. Get a banner and a booth at a community event. We collected hundreds of names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers from one booth at a national motocross race. Over the years only a few have opted out of our e-mails.
We also have membership recruitment meetings where we offer free appetizers and a raffle. Many of our raffle items came from the local moto shops. Advertise the meeting on local radio stations and in the local newspapers. Buying advertising through your local media outlets may also result in free feature articles and radio segments about your club. These free segments are many times more credible to an audience than paid advertising.
Consider advertising just to promote the club’s image or announce a public service. We donated money to the local trail-building organization. We also donated a helmet to Flight for Life so they could practice removing it. Both times we took pictures, wrote a press release, and sent it to the local media outlets.
The moto shops are also a good place to have sign-up sheets or a poster with an e-mail address for a free sign-up. Free is a keyword here and don’t bother asking for an address. Name, e-mail address, and an optional phone number. The phone number is if they want to be contacted about volunteering for trail maintenance and building days.
Public Image
Our club members volunteer for trail building days (also as ambassadors for non-motorized trail days) which adds to our legitimacy and public image. The trail building and maintenance days can also be partnered with other non-profit groups. This can be an established group that also builds trails for hiking, biking, and motorized multi-use single-track trails.
Smiling at a trail user who demands that you do not belong on that trail is a great start. Then inform them that your club built and maintains that trail and they are more than welcome to use it. I have personally done this and it feels wonderful.
Partnering with Established Non-Profits
SCORR has worked successfully with several organizations like the Colorado Trails Preservation Alliance (www.ColoradoTPA.org) which granted us our first seed money.
We then went straight to the Colorado Division of Wildlife/ Off-Highway Vehicle division to have the head guy speak at our first public meeting to talk about grant opportunities. Our club is now approaching a total of a million dollars in grants since we first applied decades ago. https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/OHV-Progam.aspx
The Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition (www.COHVCO.org) helps not just us but everyone by fighting state and even regional trail battles by attending meetings and providing legal counsel.
We promote “stay the trail” (www.staythetrail.org) riding because motorized users that go off the trail provide excellent visuals of destroyed habitat. These images help to close motorized trails and are one of our biggest challenges in motorized use on public lands.
The American Motorcycle Association https://americanmotorcyclist.com/ is an organization, like all of the above that needs the support of your members with yearly dues. They provide national support for “the motorcycle lifestyle and to protect the future of motorcycling”.
The Friends of the Dillon Ranger District https://fdrd.org/ is our local forest service support group. They have their own staff, tools, and relationships with local land managers. They also have their own funding through the White River National Forest Ski Conservation Fund and The National Forest Foundation. They have many ongoing public events with guided tours at the local ski areas in summer and winter, charity auctions, fundraisers, and trail building.
They simply ask for volunteers for their trail projects and are not shy about taking additional donations. This is something your new moto club may want to consider as you can also request trail work on motorized trails. Research if your area has one or more similar organizations.
If your local national, or state forest does not have a support group, your motorized group can be that organization. We have even partnered with the local mountain bike group because there is a new thing out there where they have actually attached motors onto bicycles! We now have a shared interest in motorized trails. One more secret, some mountain bikers also own and ride motorcycles.
Non-Profit Status
Forming a non-profit 501(3) c is something for a tax expert to do, yet the yearly tax form is a simple postcard if the club has under $50K of money flow. If you are starting an MX track or these days the “Family Adventure Motopark (FAM)” then you should become a non-profit.
A non-profit can apply for and obtain grants. If you work with a local, State, or Federal Government Agency (BLM or USFS) you may NOT have to become a non-profit. They will apply for the grant using your clubs’ membership count, and then collect, spend and report on how the money was spent. They need your legitimate club identity with your membership count (more peeps = more $) for their grant applications. For example, our local forest service uses our club name and membership count to apply for state grants to build trails. The state also gets federal dollars to augment its grant funds. One of these grants pays for two THREE seasonal USFS personnel to patrol, design, build and maintain our local motorized trails with these dollars.
Insurance
Your club should have liability insurance if you are having organized rides, a central club meeting area, or running a track. Colorados Trail Preservation Alliance is working on partnering with a snowmobile “Risk Retention Group” in Vermont where they may expand to include wheeled motorized clubs where we can get affordable insurance.
The AMA also offers event insurance when there is a hard start and stop date like a weekend race.
External Organizations
Land Managers
Who owns the land that you want to ride on? Introduce yourself and talk to them about what they want. You basically want to ride on “their” land so that part of the conversation will go quickly. You do not want to say that you want it to become an international tourist destination or that you want high profile/ high impact races on it. Ask first for a locals riding area. Who knows, the towns and county may want your area to become a moto riding Mecca.
They may be simply overwhelmed by you being there because you could potentially make their job harder. Make it easier. How? If you want to develop trails on public lands, they may need an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) according to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Offer to do this for them. (Better yet, ask if they already have one!). It’s expensive and can take years, but this is the main attribute of having a successful motorcycle club. Persistence.
Persistence
Land Managers are salaried and career public servants. They may spend most of their career in your home area. You are a volunteer that has maybe an hour a week to work on this moto thing. You may also end up living a good chunk of your life in this same area.
Neither one of you is going anywhere, anytime soon. Yet, several success stories include working with a new land manager! Be nice to this one and get included in their big plan.
Be patient, be reliable, be available, be nice. Persist.
by Tim Nixon -President/ Summit County, CO Off-Road Riders (www.scorr.org) © 7/4/2022