The Nonprofit GORC Gravity is Helping Transform Missouri Towns into Mountain Biking Capital

GORC Gravity Is Bringing Modern Trails to St. Loui

The nonprofit GORC Gravity has already helped six small Missouri communities

The GORC Gravity crew isn’t slowing down

Dave Schulz who formerly worked in law enforcement in national parks and is a lifelong biker and nature lover, volunteers to work with local governments and bikers to build trails. The 41-year-old does this work as part of a nonprofit, GORC Gravity, he started with friend Steve Friedman in 2019 to support mountain bike park development.

Quietly, Schulz has been encouraging the growth with knowledge and connections he built by studying other successful trails across the world. He’s one of a number of people organizing around the sport in Missouri.

At the same time, Missouri’s mountain biking scene has been exploding as more bikers hit the trails during the pandemic. Sales for traditional bikes, indoor bikes, parts, helmets, and other accessories grew 75% in April 2020 to $1 billion – an unprecedented amount, according to market research group NPD. Market Research Future estimates that the industry will grow by 10% by 2027.

“I think I’ve worked with almost a thousand people to date over the last three years — in various architectural firms, park development, volunteers, local businesses,” he said. “There’s a lot of people involved in this.”

The trails are a quick and cheap way to drive economic impact in a small community, Schulz said. With a few hundred thousand dollars, cities can build tourist destinations and a backbone for businesses.

Small communities that formerly leaned on mining, such as Ironton and Steelville, are becoming biking destinations. GORC Gravity has helped six Missouri towns open parks and trail systems. And more are planned for the future.

Before he launched GORC Gravity, Schulz spent time in Arkansas studying the state’s robust mountain biking system. He wanted to learn: How can a town replicate the economic impact that places such as Bentonville and Fayetteville saw?

“They sort of jokingly — but sort of true — call themselves a mountain biking capital of the world,” Schulz said of Arkansas. “And there’s a good reason for that.”

Many bikers shared the same perspective, recalling trips to Bentonville or referring to the expertise of economic development officials in the state. Biking brought in $137 million in economic benefits to northwest Arkansas in 2017, according to a study from the Walton Family Foundation, which has funded trail development in the state.

What caught Schulz’s eye is that Arkansas doesn’t have the terrain that typically lends itself to mountain biking. It’s wooded, it’s grassy – it’s Midwest topography – unlike the open spaces in the western part of the country. But in about 10 years, the state made itself into a biking destination.

It turns out, there was a process that could be replicated: By going straight to boards, councils, aldermen, or mayors, presenting the economic data, and connecting them directly to developers and architects, small communities could get trails going in as quick as six months — a stark difference from typical park processes, which take three to six years, Schulz said.

He co-founded GORC Gravity to aid towns and local bikers with the process. The group is an offshoot of Gateway Off-Road Cyclists, a nonprofit founded by a group of St. Charles-area bikers in 1998.

Schulz travels around the state, speaking with leaders and supporting the development – once he even stayed in a small recreational vehicle on a campground for several months, he said.

Planners have gravitated toward small towns. Take Ironton, for example. In about a year and with around $500,000, the town of about 1,400 in east Missouri was able to transform undeveloped hills into the Shepherd Mountain Bike Park, said Lacee Cofer, the park’s director. The idea sprouted from local mountain bikers called the Valley Growth Initiative, and GORC Gravity helped research.

Shepherd Mountain Bike Park shuttles around 100 people per weekend up its mountain to access the trails, Cofer said. The park, which offers challenging jumps and ramps, was the first in the Midwest to host the Big Mountain Enduro competition, a national mountain biking tournament.

The park has helped to grow businesses in the area. Since it opened in 2021, several new businesses have opened their doors. Local sales tax revenue has increased by 16%, Cofer said. People from Arkansas and Colorado have also moved to the town during the pandemic.

“From what has grown and who has moved here and doing in-person interviews with people in the community, it can definitely be attributed to the mountain bike park,” Cofer said.

The parks will attract nearby families and bikers. But once you build the trails, how do you keep people there?

“If you get them to stay an extra night, now you have somebody that is spending money in your restaurants, possibly shopping, definitely fuel, maybe overnight in hotels or camping,” Schulz said.

The answer, Schulz said, is peppering the area with small parks and providing trails that appeal to a wider group of people.

Another important piece, Schulz said, is keeping towns small. “We always look for small-town-type atmospheres,” Schulz said, “because that’s what these tourists want.”

Do you feel like going mountain biking this afternoon? Check out these 4 mind-blowing benefits you can get when you go for a mountain bike ride.

Biking Is Easy on Your Joints

Engaging in strenuous physical activity like running, jumping, or bodybuilding can have a serious impact on your joints and ligaments. Because mountain biking is a non-load-bearing way to get physically fit, your joints, especially your knees and hips, don’t take such a beating.

Biking Improves Your Reaction Times

When you’re sailing downhill at top speed, you need to have quick reactions to make decisions such as body posture, braking force, and which direction to turn the front wheel as things come at you in rapid succession. The more time you spend on your mountain bike, the quicker your reaction time becomes. Building your reaction time involves improving the connection of your central nervous system to the peripheral nervous system. The stronger the connection, the quicker you can control your movements so you don’t end up flying over the handlebars of your bike.

Biking Is a Great Stress Reliever

When you’re feeling frustrated, have anxiety, or just need to blow off steam, getting on your mountain bike and hitting the trail can help you decrease stress levels. If you have a million different thoughts running through your brain, riding your bike can help you clear your head. Instead of listening to the chatter in your head, you have to focus on tire placement, picking your line, and not running into a tree or riding off a cliff. In some ways, mountain biking is like meditation. You let all of that noise in your head evaporate, focus on the here and now, and after a strenuous, sweaty ride, you’ll feel much calmer inside.

When You Bike, You’re Part of an Awesome Community

One of the best parts of mountain biking is the amazing people you’ll meet. People from around the world come together in one place to cheer each other on during downhill competitions or to enjoy riding as a group on a mountain biking adventure. After your ride, you can share stories of your travels around the world, make suggestions for the latest-and-greatest MTB gear, and make fast friends with like-minded folks who enjoy the wild world of MTB.

Once you’ve experienced how great you feel after an epic ride and how you end up smiling at the end of the day, you’ll want to ride as often as you can.

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