Just Start Showing Up: Paula Burton, NEMBA's Trail Blazing Trail Builder

Back in July, I posted my episode with Nicole Freedman, the executive Director of NEMBA, and she was the one who introduced me to Paula Burton, a long-time mountain biker, NEMBA CT chapter founder, and instructor for NEMBA Trail School.Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to meet Paula in person at the trail school I attended back in June, but we did connect over Zoom for an article I was writing for the NEMBA Single Tracks newsletter. We hadn’t been talking for long before I realized that Paula was just the kind of guest I love, love, LOVE to have on this podcast - a real person doing really integral work that is constantly improving the outdoor experience for newbies and weekend warriors like me!Paula’s been riding since before mountain biking was really a “thing”, and she’s got tons of stories to share that serve to highlight how far we’ve come in outdoor representation in the last 30+ years…. but also how not everything has changed quite so much.Enjoy this special Friday Funday Feature!NEMBA (New England Mountain Bike Association) - https://nemba.org/IMBA (International Mountain Biking Association) - https://www.imba.com/And a few more fun links:Thunder Mountain Bike Park (Charlemont, MA)Appalachian Mountain ClubConnecticut Greenways CouncilGeorge Waldo State Park (Southbury, CT)What is a pump track?Rockhouse Hill (Oxford, CT)What is a Class 1 Ebike?Bluff Point State Park (Groton, CT)Highland Mountain Bike Park (Northfield, NH)Pittsfield State Forest (Pittsfield, MA)Building your Biking Bucket List? Paula’s recs:Baja California (Mexico)Bear Ears National Monument (UT)Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument (UT)Moab (UT)Grand Junction (CO)Fruita (CO)