January 21-23, 2009, in Waco
The Annual Texas Trails Network (TTN) Conference “Texas Trails; Then, Today and Tomorrow“, scheduled for January 2009, will feature a great range of expertise of trail promoters and builders, from both Texas and around the country. The program topics range widely, from the nuts and bolts of trail building to getting the community and political support for a project – all key ingredients for a successful trail project. The conference will be anchored by a presentation by Enrique Peñalosa (see above) during his tour through Texas.
Photo: Houston native Raina Fraley hangs out with her new buddy (background) during a cycling trip at Brazos Bend State Park earlier this year. She learned about the trail through TTN’s online Trail Finder.
The TTN conference caters to both newcomers and seasoned veterans by offering basic tools and new insights on urban and rural trails, and discussing how they offer a higher quality of living to residents, businesses and visitors alike. For more information on the conference, including the program presentations, click the above link.
The gathering in Waco comes on the heels of successful TTN Conferences in Grapevine in early 2007 and The Woodlands in 2008. The hosting Hilton Waco Hotel sits on the Brazos River and Lake in downtown Waco, across from the 1868 suspension bridge (now a bike/ped bridge) that was the largest at its time and carried cattle going up the famous Chisholm Trail in the 1870s.
A riverside trail network running through downtown Waco is anchored on the east by Baylor University and on the west by the huge pecans and oaks of Cameron Park, where the bluffs overlooking the junction of the Brazos and Bosque Rivers have been fashioned into an extensive network of mountain bike trails by local off-road cycling advocates.
