Become a 2024 POP Business Sponsor!

Introduction

Pend Oreille Pedalers POP was formed in 2004 to advocate for, build, and maintain trails for mountain bikers in the greater Sandpoint community. Since then, the club has grown to over 200 members and has overseen trail projects including the Syringa trail network, Mineral Point trails, the Lower Basin trails along Schweitzer Mountain Road, and High Point and Uleda Point trails higher above the Little Sand Creek Watershed.

Sponsorship Levels

Just like our individual membership levels, which range from $25 to $250, we want to offer local businesses options for how they can support POP’s mission as well. Please read each option below carefully to determine the best fit for your business.

Trail-level Sponsor: $2,000 for one-year or $3,000 for two-years

A trail-level sponsor has the honor of getting a local trail “branded” with your company logo for one or two calendar years. A metal sign with your logo will be installed at both ends or access points to your sponsored trail. In addition, all the benefits of the XTR-level sponsorship are included with trail-level sponsorship. Trail-level sponsorships are renewable annually or bi-annually, depending on whether the sponsor chooses a one-year or two-year sponsorship.

Optional benefit: Host a company team-building trail work party on your sponsored trail led by a POP trail crew leader!

There are currently seven trails in the VTT network from which a trail sponsor can choose to sponsor.

XTR level: $1,000 for one year

As an XTR sponsor you will get your logo on trailhead maps in the Lower Basin Trail, at Greta’s Segway, and at the VTT trailhead for one year. Your logo and website link will also be featured prominently in a sidebar on our website homepage and on both the “Membership” and “Maps” pages, where area trail maps will be available for download. You will also receive a “Proud Trail Supporter” sticker to place in your business windows, and either a POP trucker hat or a POP t-shirt.

XT level: $750 for one year

At the XT level businesses will have their logo and website link featured in a side-bar on our website homepage and on both the “Membership” and “Maps” pages, where area trail maps will be available for download. You will also receive a “Proud Trail Supporter” sticker to place in your business windows, and either a POP trucker hat or a POP t-shirt

SLX level: $500 for one year

At the SLX level businesses will have their logos and website links featured less prominently in a side-bar on our website homepage and on the “Maps” page, where area trail maps will be available for download. You will also receive a “Proud Trail Supporter” sticker to place in your business windows, and either a POP trucker hat or a POP t-shirt.

2024 Sponsorship Inquiry Form

Our Vision and Mission

Trail maintenance on the High Point trail on the backside of Schweitzer Mountain Resort

As Sandpoint’s local trail organization, our vision is “an interconnected system of bike trails for riders of varying ability levels for the benefit of Sandpoint and surrounding areas.” In pursuit of this vision, we aim to fulfill our multi-pillared mission, which includes:

  • Maintaining and protecting existing mountain bike trails and cycling routes
  • Expanding opportunities for mountain biking and cycling,
  • Advocating for the interests of mountain bikers with land managers,
  • Building and riding trails with others who share a passion for riding bikes.

Who we are

POP consists of a board of directors of seven volunteers, a part-time executive director, and a passionate and dedicated membership base of nearly 200 annually renewing members.

What we do

Club members checking out the club's trailhead signage in the Lower Basin
  • Meetings: POP’s board meets at least monthly throughout the year. Starting in April monthly club meetings bring members together to discuss trail updates, volunteer opportunities, events, and more. Our club meetings are a much anticipated social event for cyclists in Sandpoint.
  • Camps and clinics: POP runs three sessions of youth programming each year: Spring and fall after-school clinics that run for six weeks, aimed at getting local youth out on trails for 90 minute per week with adult coaches, and two-weeks of summer camp in July that run for five days and introduce kids to skills on several different area trails. Our youth programming is targeted at kids ages 7-12, and enlists several skilled coaches and "junior coaches" (mostly teenagers who have graduated from our programs and return as paid staff).
  • Trail work: We host weekly trail work evenings from May - October, which generally bring 12-20 volunteers out to make headway on new trail projects or to maintain existing trails. We also put on several all day trail work events in the summer, generally to complete the club’s commitment to providing volunteers as part of the matching of grant funds the club has received for specific trail projects.
  • Group rides: POP board members lead weekly group rides through the spring and summer on POP maintained trails near Sandpoint. Members organize group road rides through the club's social media channels for those in the community who prefer the smooth pavement over rocky trails!
Sandpoint kids participating in our youth mountain bike camps
  • Partnerships: POP has formal partnerships with both the City of Sandpoint, on whose property we have built and maintain roughly five miles of trail (with more coming) and Kaniksu Land Trust, for whom we build and maintain “narrow trails” (i.e. singletrack) in Pine Street Woods and other properties in conservation easements with KLT (such as Sherwood Forest). We also work closely with the Sandpoint Nordic Club to coordinate winter trail maintenance and usage in Pine Street Woods.
  • Winter trails: POP maintains roughly 3-4 miles of groomed singletrack in Pine Street Woods using a singletrack grooming machine called a “SnowDog.” POP-maintained narrow trails are open to fat bikers, snowshoers, and winter hikers, and provide Sandpoint with a fun and accessible winter activity right on the edge of town.
Navigational aids in the Syringa Trail System
  • Advocacy / master planning: POP is working closely with the city of Sandpoint on its Watershed Recreation Master Plan. The city is beginning to open its 5,000 acres of publicly owned land in the Little Sand Creek Watershed to recreation, and POP is advocating for and planning singletrack projects in this property that promise to make Sandpoint a world class mountain biking destination in the near future. POP is also working closely with local private landowners on expanding our local trail network, and will be overseeing new trail construction in properties adjacent to Pine Street Woods in the coming years.
  • Fundraising / grant writing: Come fall and winter, POP turns its attention towards fundraising for the next trail building season. This is done primarily through requesting grants from the Recreational Trails Program (federal gas tax), the State of Idaho’s department of parks and rec, and other public and private funding sources.
  • Signage: POP believes that to truly enjoy our community trails users need to know how to navigate them. To that end the club has partnered with the City of Sandpoint, Kaniksu Land Trust, and other landowners to create comprehensive trailhead signage and navigational aids for the trails we build and maintain.

How sponsorship helps POP fulfill its mission

The club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that depends 100% on fundraising and membership to help us fulfill our mission. Funds raised go towards:

  • Matching funds for grants: Most grants include a matching component ranging from 20% - 50% of the granted amount. For example, if the club receives $15,000 from the state to build a section of trail, we may be required to provide an additional $15,000 of funds raised by the club in order to receive the state’s funds. Your support will help us provide matching funds for grants as we continue to build world class trails around Sandpoint.
  • Tools / machinery: Trail construction and maintenance is capital intensive work. We try to keep our volunteers equipped with the best trail tools on the market. There are also costs that go with maintaining the club's machinery, including our SnowDog singletrack groomer, our Takeuchi micro-excavator, and our Rokon Scout two-wheel drive trail bike. And there are other machines we would love to own but do not yet have the means to acquire, including a walk behind skid steer, which would allow us to build trails faster and to a higher standard.
Our partners at Collaborative Trails high on the club's Uleda Point Trail, summer 2020.
  • New trail construction: POP employs professional trail builders for projects that are beyond the scope of our volunteers.  Our partners bring experience, expertise, and capital to our projects that assure the finished product is ready for riders, hikers, and runners, but will be sustainable and require less maintenance in the long run.
  • Education / youth programs: Our youth summer camps have proven to be very popular in their first year. Continuing this program and opening it up to more of the area youth will require further support from the community.
  • Events: When we host events like Basin Fest, Crosstoberfest (the annual cyclocross races), and winter fat biking events there are costs involved. These events offer local riders opportunities to socialize, stay fit, and get out on our trails, while also bringing riders from outside Sandpoint into our community, stimulating the local economy.