The mountain biking community, and all park users, were saddened to hear of the untimely passing of Matt Chaplin, who died suddenly on Thursday April 24 while riding the trails.  Neil Silverman and others on the ride attempted to assist him, but the apparent heart attack that took his life did so immediately.  Matt is survived by his wife and three young children, and PMBA offers its deepest sympathies to them.  PMBA is collecting donations to the Chaplin Childrens' Scholarship Fund - see the box at the top of this page. This special fundraiser will end MAY 10 and we will send all money collected on that date.

This incident has underscored the need for preparedness on bike rides, and PMBA will be addressing these issues in the coming weeks.  Knowledge of first aid, awareness of your location in the park and the nearest emergency access, and having a plan for dealing with accidents and injuries will be important topics of discussion.  Similarly,  the event underscores some of the inadequacies in the ability of emergency responders to enter and navigate through the park, which FOW has addressed in its Sustainable Trails Initiative.  Although this tragedy was apparently not preventable, these initiatives should improve the quality and speed of both public and private responses to similar incidents in the park.