CMBA AGM 2023 Presentation
In case you missed the 2023 AGM, here’s the presentation slide deck!
In case you missed the 2023 AGM, here’s the presentation slide deck!
Hello!
This year’s CMBA Annual General Meeting takes place on Wednesday, April 19 from 6pm to 8pm at the Silver Springs Community Association facility (5720 Silver Ridge Drive NW).
As always (due to rules around liquor licenses), this is a members-only event, so come prepared to pay at the door, or get a membership online at https://cmba.tidyhq.com/public/membership_levels.
During this year’s AGM, we’ll review our finances, recap 2022, share some of our future plans and vote for our board positions. But we promise to keep that part of the evening short.
We look forward to seeing all of you and getting fired up about this season’s riding!
Thank you again for your ongoing support. We’ll see you April 19th!
Looking back at our 2020 year-in-review, we remarked how COVID-19 had made for a very strange year. Turns out, 2021 was little different, though CMBA did succeed at getting a few new initiatives off the ground.
Most significant, we began organizing group rides this summer to highlight the trails we help build and maintain in and around Calgary and to encourage our members to meet up and get to know one another. Through August and September, dozens of riders joined us for some friendly rides on trails like Moose Packers, Ridgeback, and in Nose Hill and Fish Creek Park. It was a big success and we’re already thinking about getting things organized for next year.
And, as always, we scheduled some much-needed trail work too. And, as always, our roster of eager volunteers were more than happy to get out there and get the job done! We cleared deadfall from Ridgeback, brushed overgrowth from the trails at Medicine Hill (Paskapoo), built a bomber boardwalk in 12-Mile Coulee and we continued to make improvements at our skills park in Fish Creek Provincial Park. So, a big THANK YOU to our volunteers!
We’d also like to take this opportunity to sing the praises of our corporate members and sponsors. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish what we do. And in 2021, we were fortunate to welcome several new sponsors to the CMBA family. If you can, please support them with your patronage.
OLD BUDS:
NEW BUDS:
Construction & Maintenance
Medicine Hill (Paskapoo):
In cooperation with some staff from the City of Calgary, we had a couple trail nights at Medicine Hill to clear the trails of overgrowth and collect the clippings of some unwanted invasive species. Our first evening in July saw about 6 volunteers attend and get things started. In August a larger crew of about a dozen volunteers broke out the trimmers to clear a couple hundred metres of trail on the slopes and fill 8 or 10 large garbage bags of clippings. We also replaced a little stream crossing that was a bit – as the kids say – janky. Referring to it as a bridge would be generous. Anyway, Don Y and a few others got to the task and built a proper little bridge that will stand the test of time and keep your feet dry.
12 Mile Coulee:
In early October, a group of volunteers got together in 12 Mile Coulee to build a new boardwalk through a low-lying area that’s swampy in the spring and anytime there’s significant rain. A crew of about 10 volunteers carried, dragged and rolled about a tonne of lumber (give or take) down to the site and spent a beautiful fall morning hammering a boardwalk into existence. The afternoon was spent applying Tiger Balm and having a well-deserved nap… or maybe that was just me.
Fish Creek Bike Skills Park:
CMBA continued to make some improvements to the Fish Creek Mountain Bike Skills Park this year, holding
a series of workdays from April through October. We moved a lot of rocks, fixed some drainage issues, smoothed out some grooves and made a few modifications to improve safety. Thanks to the efforts of about 25 volunteers coming out for these events, including a crew from Two Wheel View, a lot was accomplished.
Silver Springs Bike Park:
In early June, CMBA volunteers helped construct a new bike skills park in Silver Springs. This was a community-driven project with local residents raising funds, working through the permit process and ultimately building the features. So kudos to the good peeps up in Silver Springs and glad we could help out!
Fish Creek Park:
CMBA continued its partnership with Alberta Environment and Parks as a key stakeholder on the Fish Creek Trails Master Plan through the summer on the trail strategy. We’ll continue to work with them and help represent the interests of Calgary’s mountain bike community.
Group Rides
Nose Hill:
Our first group ride of the season – actually, in many seasons – was held at Nose Hill Park in mid-August. A couple of our new volunteers, Dave S and Jamie organized the ride since they know the trails like the back of their hands. Riders got to try out some of the lesser-known lines on the hill and everyone got a great workout too. In September we did it all again, but this time had a full complement of 10 riders, so we broke into two groups with Dave navigating the ‘fast’ group and Matt (also a new volunteer with CMBA) pointing the way for the ‘A-team’. We had a great evening making some new friends and ripping the trails. We even caught a beautiful sunset to end the ride. I love it when a plan comes together.
Fish Creek:
In late August, about 8 riders joined our fearless ride organizer Matt for a fun ride featuring all the twists and turns, climbs and descents Fish Creek Park has to offer. Everyone agreed it was a perfect night to spin the wheels. Blair C entertained the group with an epic crash – at least it sounded great, he was toward the back of the pack so sadly, almost no one saw it. And like a pro, Matt got us back to the parking lot just as the evening light faded away.
Pine Top:
We held a couple of early autumn rides starting from the Pine Top Recreation Area in Kananaskis this summer. The Jumpingpound Loop is a bit of a step up from the City-trails we generally ride, but not as technical and without the punchy climbs you tend to find elsewhere in K-Country. Dave C organized these rides, and though the groups were a bit smaller than our rides in the city, we had a great time getting to know one another while we caught our breath and soaked in the beautiful scenery.
Moose Packers and Ridgeback:
At the end of September, CMBA organized a ride in Kananaskis on a couple of our old favorites – Moose Packers and Ridgeback. In all, Don and Blair led 13 riders out on a beautiful day in the mountains, despite a bit of car trouble and a temporarily AWOL dog. No worries though, Fido found his way back to the group and the group found its way back to Station Flats.
Credit Where It’s Due…
Each year there’s a group of individuals that come together to make CMBA what it is. These are the people who meet up every month, liaise with The City and Province, maintain our tools, fill out paperwork, keep the books, update the website and social media, organize our trail days and rides and do so much more. So a big THANKS to Gary, David S, Jamie, Matt, Jackie, Scott, Keegan, Andrew, Blair C, and Blair B, Don Y, and Don H, Paul and Kate. Enjoy the holidays everyone! And keep your fingers crossed that we can all get together for our AGM in the spring.
David Couroux,
President, CMBA
2021 by the numbers
220+ person hours volunteered (thanks!)
200 metres of trail brushed
25 metres of boardwalk built
8 maintenance/trail building events organized
6 excellent group rides organized
1 sturdily-built boardwalk
1 more janky “bridge” replaced
Wednesday night is Trail Night!
We’ll be spending Wednesday, August 18 (7-9pm) clearing some overgrown trails on Paskapoo Slopes (Medicine Hill).
We will be working in a number of areas – you can walk or bring your bike. We have some pruners/loppers – if you have a favourite pair of pruners or loppers, you are welcome to bring your own.
Please bring gloves, eye protection (riding or sun glasses are fine), water and insect repellant. If you are planning to ride, please bring a backpack or a safe way to carry a pruner or lopper.
We will meet at the parking lot on Piita Rise SW.
Get all the details here:
http://thq.fyi/se/Llm4d7o
Come and help us with improvements and repairs to the skills park. Our focus will be the singletrack skills loops, where we will work on better flow and features. Tasks will include digging dirt, building berms and bumps, and shifting rocks. For safety reasons, the skills park will be closed to the public during the work.
Event overview
We’ll start with a short safety talk at 10am and then split into small groups so that everyone has space to work and a small project to work on. We’ll provide tools and each group will be briefed and supervised by CMBA crew leads. We’ll break for lunch and take regular rest breaks, especially if it’s hot. We’ll aim to finish around 3pm, depending on weather conditions, energy levels and work progress.
What to bring
Check the weather forecast and come prepared with appropriate clothing. Don’t forget a hat & sun protection. You must wear closed-toe shoes or boots, even if it is hot – tools and rocks can be sharp and heavy! We can provide new work gloves, or you can bring your own. Please bring your own water/drink bottle to keep with you. We’ll provide some refills and snacks. We’ll also have sandwiches donated by Tim Horton’s available for lunch, or you can bring your own snacks/lunch if you prefer.
Need to know
Volunteers must be at least 16 years old and under-18s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. The safety briefing is mandatory, so don’t be late! The work will be postponed or ended early in the event of adverse or threatening weather conditions (e.g. heavy rain, lightning, heatwave, tornado).
Interested in volunteering? Sign up here.
Greetings fellow mountain bikers. We need your help! Alberta Parks is developing a Master Trail Plan for Fish Creek Provincial Park, and they are looking for input from park users. We love riding in Fish Creek, and we want to make sure the mountain bike community is heard.
Here is a bit of history. Alberta Parks began the process of developing the Fish creek Provincial Park Trails Master Plan last year. The CMBA was engaged to participate in the process of developing the plan last fall, so we took to the trails and submitted our comments before winter set in.
Last week, the draft plan was released for public input. We have taken our time to scour the document, and are happy to report that our comments have clearly been taken into account. It is our belief that the plan strikes a good, and necessary, balance between conservation and recreation. Yes, it does identify some redundant and or unsustainable trails for closure, but also opens the door to new trails and a natural surface trail network that caters to different abilities, is easier to navigate, minimizes the need to connect via paved and gravel pathways, and will one day incorporate flow, technical trail features, and better signage.
Both the CMBA and Alberta Parks have expressed an interest to develop a cooperating agreement that will allow us to build and maintain the Fish Creek single-track network based on the finalized Trail Master Plan. From this we hope to create a network that is greater than just a collection of random trails, and is sustainable for future generations of mountain bikers to enjoy.
Hopefully, you will consider our comments about the plan and go over it yourself. We know there may be a trail or two that you are not happy to see marked for closure. We feel that way too, but no one will know what you think if you don’t say anything. Please take some time to send Alberta Parks your comments, and also send them to us at info@cmbalink.com so we can bring them to the Province too.
Here are the links that you need to get started:
The draft plan itself:
The “Fish Creek Provincial Park trails engagement” site:
https://www.alberta.ca/fish-creek-provincial-park-trails-engagement.aspx
A really helpful map of closures and proposed new trails:
https://your.alberta.ca/fish-creek-trails/maps/fish-creek-places-map
The deadline to submit your input online is June 14, so don’t waste too much time.
Happy Trails!
The CMBA Team
Hello CMBA-ers!
A quick note to let you know that the CMBA Annual General Meeting is scheduled for Friday March 12 from 7 to 8pm. You can register (it’s free of course) via eventbrite at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.
This year we’ll just be covering the basics – a review of our activities in 2020, state of our finances and what we’re planning for 2021. And of course, we’ll vote to elect our President, VP, Treasurer and Secretary. If you are interested in putting your name forward for any of these positions, please let us know. Or, if you’d like to be a bit more involved, but not in an executive role, we’re looking for some volunteers to help us apply for grants, organize some rides and social events and plan our trail building days.
This is also a good time to get your 2021 CMBA membership if you haven’t done so already: https://cmba.tidyhq.com/