Mission Velocipede

Staff Biographies: "Heart of Appalachia Project"

Biography of Mission Leader Thomas Horsch:

Thomas Horsch is the current president of the Virginia Creeper Trail Club and on the board of directors of the Iron Mountain Trail Club. He has been actively involved in biking for eight years and has completed bicycle tours of Costa Rica, Portugal, France and Spain as well as to several destinations in the United States. He is the co-author of Mountain Biking the Appalachians, NW North Carolina and SW Virginia, Second Edition. He maintains an Internet Website about mountain biking in the Damascus / Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area, is a Webmaster for the Access Damascus Electronic Village and is co-owner of Trail Town Maps. Thomas is an active volunteer trail maintainer for the US Forest Service and is a member of the Damascus Planning Commission. He graduated from James Madison University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in geography and is currently employed by Highlands Community Services supervising a mental health program in Bristol, VA. Thomas was recently named to the Tri Cities Business Journal "40 Under Forty" class of 1998. Visit Tom's Web Site to learn more about biking opportunities in the region.

Biography of Mission Specialist Walt Scarbrough: Update: Walt works for a major insurance company and has been called to do damage assessment from Hurricane Gorges, so he will not be riding with me. Maybe next time Walt! Tom

Walt Scarbrough is the current Tennessee Representative of the International Mountain Bicycling Association and is on it’s National Park Service Initiative team. He is past president of the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club out of Knoxville, TN, past Trail Committee Chairperson for the Friends of Panther Creek State Park, and the past Government Relations Chairperson for the Smoky Mountain Wheelmen. He has been active in working with the National Park Service, National Forest Service, Tennessee Department of the Environment and Conservation, and other local city/county governments on developing General Management Plans, multi-use trail systems, fundraising, volunteer coordination, trail building, development and maintenance. He is currently working on a book titled Mountain Biking Tennessee to be published by Falcon Press. He was a contributing editor for the World Bicycling Association’s Ultimate Cycling Resource. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1986 with a B.B.A. in Finance. He is currently employed by State Farm Insurance Company. He is married with one child.