The story of LAMBO, so far

The Lakeland Area Mountain Bike Organization's roots go back to the mid 1990s. Mountain biking was beginning to take off as a popular sport in Northern Wisconsin, and it didn't take long for mountain bikers to find and start riding the hiking and skiing trails at the Raven Trail, near Clear Lake in Woodruff.

Back in those days, it wasn't well understood how mountain bikers could co-exist with other trail users. There were perceived issues with erosion, as well as conflicts with hikers. The mountain biking community at the time formed Lakeland's Own Biking Organization (LOBO) to address these issues. To this day, sections of the Raven's bike trail use singletrack that LOBO members built.

Those members also did work to mitigate erosion, foster good relationships with other users, and generally worked with the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest to keep mountain biking alive at the Raven Trail. Those efforts were largely successful.

By the mid 2000s the sport had grown faster than many had foreseen. The numbers of mountain bikers began to overwhelm the efforts LOBO had made, and mountain biking at the Raven became endangered.

Around this time the sport itself was going through major changes. Bikes were becoming lighter and suspension was getting better, and cheaper. The types of trails bikers wanted to ride changed. Mountain bikers were now looking for singletrack.

This turned out to be the perfect opportunity. Original LOBO members, Steve Petersen (the Superintendent of the NHAL State Forest), and a younger generation of riders recognized that by building trails expressly for mountain biking, many of the existing problems would be removed. These new trails would keep bikers from interacting with other users. Just as importantly, they would be built sustainably, in accordance with the International Mountain Biking Association's well-established guidelines. And the State Forest would facilitate the whole thing.

Enthusiasm was high, and in the summer of 2006 the name LOBO was changed to LAMBO, the Lakeland Area Mountain Bike Organization, to more clearly describe the purpose of the club. I remember a lot of discussion around the justification for adding the word "area" so our acronym could be LAMBO. If you ever thought the name was meant to sound like Lambeau, you were at least a little bit right.

Members went to work right away by establishing a separate and distinct entrance for mountain bikers. With no small amount of nostalgia, I remember LAMBO's first official work day quite clearly. The turnout was great, and Tony Martinez was there from the State Forest to help. He brought all the tools we used and ran the chainsaw like a boss. For the record, Tony is still a boss, and always there when we need him.

The next major step at the Raven was bringing in the IMBA Trail Care Crew to teach us all how to build the sweet, sustainable singletrack the Raven is known for. Again, we couldn't have done that without the State Forest facilitating the crew, providing logistical support, and helping us identify approved routes.

Another example of how LAMBO's partnership with the State Forest has made great things happen is the skills course at the Raven, completed in 2009. LAMBO was quite inexperienced in fundraising at the time, so the State Forest found grant money for the project and let LAMBO volunteers, under Tony's supervision, use their facilities to build the structures over the winter. When summer came, everything was ready to go.

In 2015, LAMBO incorporated as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, a move that really propelled the club forward in its ability to accept donations, attract new members, and manage larger projects.

LAMBO has continued the partnership with the State Forest at the Zip Mountain Biking Trail in Minocqua. LAMBO maintains several partnerships to build, maintain and operate the Zip Trail: the Town of Minocqua, the Northwoods Zip Line, and the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest. The trail traverses Minocqua town property and State Forest property, and LAMBO has a Land Use Agreement for each. LAMBO also maintains a snowshoe trail system across both. None of it would be there if the Northwoods Zip Line had not paid to have the first segments of trail built.

It is pretty clear that LAMBO would not exist without great partners, and that relationship will continue to be critical for the foreseeable future.

LAMBO's most ambitious project yet is 15 miles of mountain bike trail on and around the world-class terrain at the old Musky Mountain ski area in Sayner. With the help of amazing volunteers, generous donors, and the invaluable support of the State Forest, Musky Mountain will be one of the best mountain biking trail systems in the Midwest.