​The good news we’ve all been waiting for is here!
 
Yesterday, the OHV Commission awarded Reno Area Dirtriders a total of $33,468.00 for the Peavine Maze Project. 
 
RAD’s application was ranked #2 out of 29 total applications received.  The Commission ranks applications based on several factors and funding is awarded based on the priority of this ranking. Not all applications were approved, and out of the applications which were approved not all were fully funded. The Commission agreed that RAD’s project is a highly beneficial contribution to the OHV community, and fully funding our grant was their priority. As a brand new organization run by people who have never done this before, we are absolutely beside ourselves!

Our project is dedicated to improving some of the singletrack in the Peavine maze area by repairing various trail erosion issues and making improvements where appropriate to enhance your riding pleasure. ;)

​Sierra Trail Works, who has been involved with the creation and maintenance of dozens of local trails, will be contracted to perform the work required by heavy equipment. ​

​In addition, inspired by all of the great clean-up work that Pine Nut Mountain Trail Association does, the grant will support two clean-up days in 2020 in areas that RAD determines to be in most need next year. 
 
As a condition of the grant, RAD is required to “match” our funding with a minimum of 150 volunteer hours in 2020.  With the interest and support we have received since announcing this project proposal (and perhaps some enticement with food and giveaways), we don’t expect this to be a difficult quota to meet.  
 
Again, all of the money funding this project is straight from the OHV registration sticker fees. This is a highly transparent process, and RAD will have to account for all of our time and every penny spent on the project in quarterly reports to the Commission.  
 
So what’s next?
 
Some paperwork needs to be finalized with the Commission between now and the New Year.  Then we just need to wait for winter to pass before we can begin the trail work.  So for now, our first order of business is to celebrate! 

A little late on the recap, but it was a perfect day for our last RAD ride and campout over at Moonrocks on November 23rd.  Blue skies, tacky chocolate dirt, and celebrating the freedom of life on two wheels with great people - what more could we ask for!

We kept it pretty casual this time - splitting off into groups of all skill levels.  It was a great experience for many people to learn some of the great single track in the area, and lots of fun for those of us who frequent those trails as well.  At the end of day, we all gathered back at camp, played on the track area and shared some BBQ around the fire.

Happening right now on December 10th is the Nevada OHV Commission's public meeting to consider all grant applications and determine awards.  RAD has received positive feedback from the technical advisory committee, so the prognosis is looking good for our application. However, we are waiting on pins and needles to find out what happens!!

Get out and enjoy the good dirt out there right now, and check back for updates!

After months of planning, meetings, tedious work and some emotional highs and lows, it came down to the wire waiting on one final essential application element to come through for Reno Area Dirtriders to submit its very first grant application to the Nevada OHV Commission before the November 12th 4:00pm deadline. As we all breathe a sigh of relief and accomplishment, us RADmins are excited to report this pivotal milestone to our members. 

Our project proposes to contract with Sierra Trail Works to improve several problem areas of the singletrack in the Peavine Maze including removal of whoops, removing downed trees, repairing some major washouts and trail erosion, and installation of more signage. In addition, we are planning to add some cool trail features such as berms, jumps and other things to up the fun factor! Lastly, we have requested grant funding for some clean up days in areas to be determined.  If approved, RAD will need the help of several volunteers to help with trail work in order meet volunteer hours quota, which is a condition grant approval.

The grant funds being awarded by the OHV Commission is 100% your registration sticker money going to work for you in your own back yard if Reno Area Dirtrider’s application is successful. Grants will be voted on by the Commission on December 10th, and we will not know until some time after that whether our application was approved, and if so, exactly how much funding we will receive for the project. However, we feel very optimistic for a positive outcome and are looking forward to taking the first big step towards what we hope to be the start of a movement to benefit our dirtbike community. 

Creating this grant application, and building relationships with the Forest Service and the Nevada OHV Commission along the way, has been a valuable learning experience for us RADmins. We’d like to thank our local business supporters, Reno Motor Sports, Reno KTM and Big Valley Honda for providing us with letters of support to supplement our application. We hope that, after cutting our teeth and successfully completing this small project, we can turn our sights to bigger goals like the creation of new trails and connectors, or maybe even a track – we have lots of ideas!

We encourage you to get involved with us. There are so many ways you can help and be an ambassador of our sport. Please spread the word and help us bring the community’s awareness to this local project.

Stay tuned and braaap on!

 -Your RADmins

HI RAD RIDERS!
I wanted to give everyone a quick update on what the RADmins have been up to behind the scenes since our 1st RAD Ride in Mitchell Canyon two weeks ago. As well as thank all of you that have joined with us. We are learning and growing, this club will succeed if we all pull together and work towards common goal. You have a great chance to help shape our club with positive input and a bit of sweat. It is not easy working as a group, but if you can accept responsibility and contribute your skills - we are going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Sept 12th, Lacey and I attended the latest Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition (NVOBC) meeting and mixer. The NVOBC is a well organized and well funded group that is advocating for all things outdoor. We want to get involved to make sure OHV has a voice in what happens with our land.

We met with Mauricia Baca, the Executive Director, and after about 20-30min of talking with her, we walked away with the feeling that their organization wants to include OHV. They do have a couple SxS excursion companies as members, but so far, no dirt bike representation. She preached inclusion of all outdoor activities, so we are going to hold her to it and keep going to their meetings.

While at this mixer, we met with perhaps the most important person in our riding community. Nikhil Narkhede, the new OHV Program Manager at Nevada OHV Commission.

​We are extremely excited to announce that we are in the process of applying for our first NV OHV trail maintenance grant! We are learning to navigate the piles of paperwork and regulations to get this done! Our deadline is Nov 12th.

The Peavine "maze" is all of ours. Miles of single-track, no SxS’s, hikers, MTBers to be seen. We are working with the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Service to get approval for knocking down whoops, rerouting and generally fixing up those trails. Wanna see some nice jumps, berms and flow? We can do it! We are going to do it! It will take some time, but it’s gonna happen.

That’s all for now everyone, the RADmins want to thank you all so much for your support and donations, we are going to accomplish good things and we are going to have some fun doing it! watch this space for more info soon.

Links:
https://ohv.nv.gov 
https://www.fs.usda.gov/htnf
https://getoutdoorsnevada.org




​