Missouri receives Mountain Biking "People's Choice" Award

In this year's Internation Mountain Biking Association ratings, Missouri received the "People's Choice" award and a very respectable grade of B+ overall.

Could Missouri be a mountain biking mecca? Or is it becoming one?

Let the report from the Internation Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) speak for itself:

MISSOURI: B+
106 votes, 3.60 average GPA, 97% say access improving
Our newest category, the People's Choice Award, highlights the location that IMBA members choose as the best place for mountain biking and access. This year's winning state, Missouri, received the highest overall score based on a combination of total votes, overall grade and trends from the online 2003 IMBA Report Card poll. And why not? In the past five years awesome clubs from Kansas City and St. Louis have built miles of new trails with many more on the way. Missouri is also emerging as a hub for heartland mountain bike advocates, as the IMBA affiliate Earth Riders hosts the annual Midwest Mountain Bike Conference. The next step: creating a statewide organization that focuses beyond Missouri's two major metropolitan areas.