Happy Holidays from your Poto MBA Board of Directors!
Thank you to all of our members and sponsors for your support in 2025. It’s been another great year with lots of progress on our trails. And we haven’t stopped, here are a few more year-end highlights… and don’t forget to log your volunteer hours for 2025.
Winter Grooming
Winter came in with a vengeance right after Thanksgiving and stayed almost until Christmas! For the first time, we groomed the winter Fat Biking loop at the DTE trail in November. Mike Balhorn was busy. With the additional snow that came in the following days, he groomed 4 times before the meltdown this past week. We also managed to get the Gosling loop at the Potawatomi Trail groomed. Conditions were great for almost a week!
Unfortunately, the DTE trail is currently closed until further notice due to freeze and thaw conditions.
Please also remember and share winter riding etiquette: 1. Don’t ride if you are leaving ruts. 2. On groomed trails- only ride with tires with a minimum 3.8” width 3. Adjust tire pressure for the conditions 4. Don’t “post hole” (create holes on the trail by walking, or bringing dogs)
Completion of Poto Revitalization Reroutes
The work on the Potawatomi Trail came to an abrupt halt with the turn in the weather right after Thanksgiving. Work will resume on re-route #1 as weather permits as well as some additional in-corridor work.
DTE Cassidy Trailhead Pavilion
The pavilion at the Cassidy Road trail head is moving along at a snail’s pace. After months of waiting on a building permit from the State of Michigan, we finally received it two days before Thanksgiving. The 10 footing piers have now been poured. We hope to get the structure assembled sometime this winter, if there is a break in the weather. The concrete floor will have to wait until the Spring.
Batman and Black Friday Rides
We had a great turnout at both rides. At Batman, riders got to experience the new Poto revitalization improvements in the reverse. And there were many new faces getting together for the Black Friday ride. Thank you to Wheels in Motion for your sponsorship of the Black Friday Ride.
Plan ahead for January 2026 – the Abominable Snowman Ride
Join us for the 2026 Abominable Snowman Ride on Saturday, January 17th at the Glenbrook Yurt on the Potawatomi Trail in Pinckney Recreation Area. Weather permitting, we will groom the Gosling loop. This is a cold weather winter ride so dress appropriately! No official start time, generally folks meet and head out around noon. Ride your bike on as much or as little trail as you would like. There are many ride options!
Volunteered? We want to recognize YOU! Log your hours today.
Did you volunteer for Poto chapter activities this year? Whether it is trail work, prepping/preparing/transporting equipment, advocacy, fundraising, map making, volunteering at TTC or other events, administrative work, building changing stations…we would like to capture that time.
Our land managers periodically ask for our volunteer contributions to the trails. Logging volunteer hours helps us with these relationships, showing our Poto MBA dedication to the trails and can enable new trail opportunities for the Poto MBA as we saw with the opening of the Poto-DTE Connector last year.
We are continuing our volunteer recognition program and will be hosting a volunteer recognition event in February. Be sure to log your hours on the Google form linked below, back to January 2025, no later than December 31st.
Log your volunteer hours here. And thank you for your time in supporting our chapter and trails!
2026 Poto MBA Events – Save the Dates*
January 17, 2026 – Abominable Snowman Ride @ Pinckney Rec Area
March 19, 2026 – Poto MBA Membership Meeting 7-9pm at Jolly Pumpkin Kitchen – Dexter
*Additional events and links to Facebook events will be posted as finalized
Interested in making a financial donation to Poto MBA?
This is the perfect time to support your Trails! We are still fundraising for the Potawatomi Revitalization project, the DTE Pavilion and DTE Refresh. Contribute here. PotoMBA is a 501c3 non-profit organization. All or part of your gift may be tax deductible as a charitable contribution. Please check with your tax advisor.
Stay Connected:
DTE Energy Foundation Trail Website
Join or renew your membership with the Potawatomi Mountain Biking Association today. We build and maintain the local trails that we all love to ride. Click here to join Poto MBA.
