Calgary Mountain Bike Alliance

Newsletters

CMBA Newsletter #1 - March 1996

Finally...Some Information

Some of you were probably beginning to wonder if the CMBA really existed. Others were probably beginning to think that it was a fly-by-night operation that took you money and went on a holiday somewhere warm (where we could actually ride our bikes in comfort during January. Well, we've been busy setting up the structure of the organization as well as setting our priorities in terms of what areas we should focus our energies on to most effectively combat trail closures. All this is covered in detail later in this newsletter -- so read on!

President's Message

It's just been over a year since I've been actively involved with the Calgary Mountain Bike Alliance. Ironically, fighting for the right to engage in what I truly consider one of the finest forms of recreation has cut my riding time in half! In fact, my mileage tally for the year is the lowest it's been in over 10 years (including the year I broke my hip in a little mishap!).

Some of you might remember me saying that "... the political process is a painfully slow one" during our first organizational meeting in the fall of '95. If I only knew how slow it really was! To say that it's a frustrating process is an understatement of enormous proportions. But. we've made some progress in our fight to protect the right to ride in off-pavement areas in Calgary. Some of these advancements are outlined in this newsletter.

Interestingly, its beginning to seem that the biggest problem we have to overcome in becoming an effective lobby group is our own image! Apparently we lack respect and are thought of rather negatively in some "political" circles. Hopefully, our approach of Education, Advocacy and Stewardship will help clean up our image!

CMBA has some very motivated and dedicated people giving their time to fight for our right to ride. But..we need more help! For those of you who checked the "will volunteer" box at our first meeting -- don't be surprised if we call you! There are several positions on our board that still need filling. Remember, if everybody does a little nobody has to do a lot!

I look forward to seeing you and many new faces in the 1996 season. I'm confident that CMBA is moving in the right direction and that with your help we'll always have places to ride off-road within Calgary.

Ride Safely! - Grant Hill

Structure of CMBA

The Board of Directors of CMBA was appointed during its first annual meeting. It was decided that in addition to the normal positions found in any organization (President, Vice President, Treasurer, etc) we need geographic Zone Representatives whose role was to monitor the status of off-pavement trails within their specified region. The Zone Reps report to the main board of directors and are directly involved with any political action taken within their zone. They also act as the liaison between CMBA and any other organized groups (such as community associations) or private individuals with any interest or concerns regarding trail status within their zone. Without further ado, here's a complete listing of the Board of Directors:

President: Grant Hill
Vice President: Laura-Lee Dyck
Treasurer: Mark McCullough
Membership: Mike Kitts
Public Relations: Brad Hill
Media Liaison: Kevin Dalton
Secretary: VACANT

Zone Representatives
Nose Hill: Peter Griba
Weaslehead Park: Kevin Dalton
Edworthy Park: Paul Armer
Fish Creek Park: Murray Knight
Bowmont Park: VACANT
Bow Valley North: VACANT
Bow Valley South: VACANT

It would be hard not to notice that we have several positions on the board that are VACANT --we'd love to have them filled! If you're concerned about having any places left within Calgary where you can still ride off-pavement, then volunteering a little of your spare time is a great way to do something positive about it! (No matter how hard I tried I couldn't make myself use the buzzword-of-the-month: pro-active). Please note that the time commitment to each position is not in any way overwhelming -- board meetings normally occur only once per month! Here's a quick breakdown of the positions we need filled (and please note that you do NOT have to live within a specific zone to be its Zone Rep):

Secretary:

The Secretary's role includes taking the minutes of the monthly meetings as well as contributing to any discussion on strategies to help fight trail closures. The Secretary will work closely with the President and Vice President to coordinate communication between CMBA and various community and political groups. Please note the the Secretary is NOT responsible for typing submissions to the Newsletter. Access to a typewriter/word-processor and a Fax machine would definitely be helpful but are not required.

Zone Rep - Bow Valley South:

Responsible for monitoring trail condition and status in the region along the Bow River from (but not including ) Fish Creek to the weir just east of Calgary Zoo. This means you'll have to ride these trails on a regular basis (hey.. an excuse to ride your bike!) and be willing to attend regular board meetings.

Zone Rep - Bow Valley North:

Same responsibilities as for the Bow Valley South, but for the region stretching along the Bow River from the weir (including the Nose Creek area) to Edworthy Park (not including Edworthy). Yes, there ARE some off-pavement trails in this zone!

Zone Rep - Bowmont:

This zone includes all trails along the Bow River between Home Road (think steep hill between 16th Ave north in Montgomery and Market Mall) and Nose Hill Drive. This is the region along the Bow that is directly south of Silver Springs. There's some excellent trails in this vicinity, especially for those who like climbing hills (or descending them!).

What We've Done

So... now the tough question -- what has CMBA actually accomplished to date? What actually occurred at and between the monthly meetings? Well, a fair amount including:

Registration under the Societies Act

After much to do, the filling out of countless forms (and the re-filling out after we discovered that we forgot to dot a few "i,s" and the development of a constitution with bylaws, CMBA is now officially a registered non-profit society (most businesses in Alberta would probably qualify under at least the non-profit category!). So what's the big deal? Well, now that we're a registered society we can apply for various government grants and participate in fund-raising activities, such as holding casino's, etc. This may seem like an administrative details but it was a necessary step in securing some financial security for the CMBA. It also gives the organization more credibility when dealing with civic politicians and bureaucrats.

Approval for Trail Maintenance Projects

CMBA has received approval from the City of Calgary to engage in trail maintenance projects within approved areas of Calgary. In addition, we have received access to the City-owned tools and supplies necessary for trail maintenance and repair. A cynic might conclude that the City has just saved a few taxpayers dollars by downloading a maintenance project to a volunteer group ( the old exploitation argument). CMBA's more optimistic view is that we've been put into a position to: 1) take a positive step in providing timely repair to off-pavement trails; 2) show goodwill to the City of Calgary and at the same time help improve the image of the off-pavement riding community and 3) demonstrate our willingness to cooperate with various other groups, including community associations and other special interest organizations. This project was spearheaded by our eager vice-president, Laura-Lee Dyck. By the way, don't be surprised if YOU'RE called to help with the odd maintenance project this spring or summer!

Formation of a Nose Hill Park Subcommittee

There is a movement afoot to severely restrict the use of bicycles in Nose Hill Park. More specifically, a plan drafted by City Council in the spring of '95 restricted cyclists to "... non-dirt formalized trails on all sloped areas of the park..." and further designated only the gravel pit and previously cultivated flat areas as no-restriction bicycle areas. By June amendments to the plan dropped any mention of the "no-restriction zones" and included the following under formalized trails" :a planned perimeter pathway; existing gravel emergency access roads and mobility-impaired pathways. In response to this CMBA has formed a subcommittee to closely monitor the situation and to make sure that the concerns and rights of cyclists are represented at every phase of the political process. In addition, the subcommittee has undertaken the task of developing a resource management plan ( in cooperation with Parks & Recreation) for Nose Hill Park which will attempt to determine, from an ecological point of view, what areas of Nose Hill can sustain bike use. If the report does show that the significant terrain can support mountain biking, CMBA still faces the task of convincing council that mountain bikers are appropriate users of the park. Currently only Peter Griba and Ken Chow are on the Nose Hill Park Subcommittee -- if ay individuals are interested in assisting in this project, please give Peter a call.

Participation in Fish Creek Management Plan

Fish Creek Provincial Park is currently constructing a management plan which is to provide the overall direction on how park lands will be protected and maintained, including determining what recreational activities will be allowed within the park and what facilities will be provided. CMBA has been actively involved in nearly all phases of the development of the plan to date, including sending representatives to public "input" meetings and directly discussing cyclist's needs with Park representatives. Murray Knight has been particularly active in making sure cyclists have been represented. He has also been monitoring trail conditions in Fish Creek Park on a nearly daily basis. Early indications are that cycling facilities (including off-pavement trails) will be included in the final Fish Creek Management Plan.

Media Coverage of Weaslehead Trail Closures

As probably everyone knows by now, off-pavement trails in Weaslehead have been closed to cyclists. This includes all of Weaslehead AND the Jack Rabbit Trail (known to many as the "Sail Trail"). In fact, closure of Weaslehead was the catalyst in the formation of CMBA (the lack of a single organized voice representing cyclists seems to have been the main reason mountain bikes lost out relative to the equestrian lobby in maintaining access to the park). CMBA has not written Weaslehead off and we've accomplished the following:

Media Coverage (CFCN television and CBC radio) of the issues surrounding the trail closures was achieved through CMBA's action of actively alerting the news stations of the controversial decision to close the area to cyclists. The airing of the stories on both stations has raised public awareness regarding this particular issue and to the existence of CMBA.

Grant Hill and Laura-Lee Dyck (our President and Vice-President, respectively were instrumental in getting council to pass a motion to re-open the planning process in the Weaslehead. Currently, we are setting up a series of meetings with City officials to discuss the planning of mountain bike access in several city areas, including the Weaslehead.

A final note on the Weaslehead issue. Many of the signs posting the area as "Closed" to cyclists have been vandalized. It is important for our image and future access to this area that we distance ourselves from these actions. It is also extremely important that we respect the ban as a way of showing City Council that we can be responsible. PLEASE don't ride off-pavement in Weaslehead and PLEASE discourage others from doing so!

So as you can see from these highlights, we've been busy! But...the past is history - you may be wondering what we're currently up to and what the future holds. If so...read on!

Current Projects

Besides fighting for your right to ride off-pavement in Fish Creek, Nose Hill Park and Weaslehead, and monitoring other potential "hot-zones" within Calgary, CMBA is currently engaged in more than a few other projects. Here's a few highlights:

Application for Funding/Grant Proposals

Because CMBA is a registered non-profit society, we're able to apply for financial aid from various groups (both governmental and private). We're currently preparing grant proposals to the municipal and provincial governments to help us better organize and communicate our efforts to fight trail closures.

Liaison with BTAC

We're currently engaged in dialogue with the Bicycle Trade Association of Canada (BTAC), which represents all major bicycle manufacturers and distributors within Canada. BTAC has a subcommittee dedicated to issues of trail access (bicycle manufacturers have an obvious vested interest in keeping trails open!). Association with BTAC is valuable for several reasons, including 1) potential financial support; 2) free flow of information between CMBA and trail access groups working in other cities (sharing ideas about what works and what doesn't!); 3) credibility and 4) unifying our efforts to fight trail closures rather than working at cross purposes or in conflict with other (but related) special interest groups.

Contact/Affiliation with IMBA

We're presently in the process of becoming affiliated with the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA). IMBA is an American-based international organization devoted to protecting and promoting off-pavement cycling. IMBA has a tremendous amount of resource material and experience for us to draw upon and affiliation with them will further enhance our effectiveness and our credibility.

Future Projects

What does the future hold for CMBA? Our crystal ball isn't completely clear , but our future includes at least the following projects:

Increased Activity on Fish Creek Management Plan

We anticipate having to allocate more time and energy to influencing the Fish Creek Management Plan as it nears completion. Although we've already been heard by the planners, we have to remain committed to protecting the interests of off-pavement cyclists in Fish Creek.

Formation of Education Subcommittee

One component of the role of CMBA is education (as per our mission statement). There are at least two components to this function -- education of the non-cycling public in terms of seeing the off-pavement community as a legitimate user group and education of cyclists in techniques to minimize both their environmental impact and negative social impact (to ensure that we are a legitimate user group!). We hope to speak to various groups in this educational capacity, including schools, community associations and youth groups such as boy/girl scouts (how 'bout we rename the scouting movement the "non-gender specific multicultural and chronologically repressed explorers"?). In the near future we hope to form a sub-committee to directly address our educational responsibility. Any interested parties? Contact anyone on our Board of Directors if you're interested in helping in this area.

Educational Video

One project that we hope our Education Subcommittee will tackle almost immediately is the production of a video on environmentally and socially friendly off-pavement cycling techniques. Any CMBA members who are handy with or enjoy using a video camera might have some fun producing this video!

Presence on the World Wide Web

We'll soon have a page on the World Wide Web so we can get information to (and from) almost anyone in a timely manner.

Rules of the Trail

One of the major obstacles the off-road riding community must overcome is its negative image. Like with any group, the off-road riding community has a few bad apples which, unfortunately, give us all a bad reputation. We've all seen them -- they're the ones covered in mud, even in the middle of a drought. You'll also see them skidding down hills completely out of control (most of them seem to lack the intelligence to understand what a switchback is and/or the physical skills necessary to steer a bike through a corner without locking up the rear wheel).

So how can we fight this image? To begin with, ride responsibly! Most of the time it's simply common sense. For those of you unfamiliar with trail etiquette we've included a list of rules of the trail.

But what about others? Maybe, just maybe, when you see someone riding in a way that is harmful to our image you should say something to them. Maybe they just don't know any better...