map download link

That’s a pretty nice selection for this time of year, don’t you think?    Since the warm weather also brings out lots of other users, try to remember that there’s going to be other folks out there using the trails.  Take ‘er easy, especially on weekends.  It’s a long bike season ahead, and it never hurts to remind everyone of the old “Rules of the Trail”.  Besides, all your favourite trails in Gillard, Powers, Postill, and Crawford are going to be open in no time so there’s no reason to over do it this early.

1. Ride On Open Trails Only

Respect trail and road closures — ask a land manager for clarification if you are uncertain about the status of a trail. Do not trespass on private land. Obtain permits or other authorization as may be required. Be aware that bicycles may not permitted in certain protected areas.

2. Leave No Trace

Be sensitive to the dirt beneath you. Wet and muddy trails are more vulnerable to damage than dry ones. When the trail is soft, consider other riding options. This also means staying on existing trails and not creating new ones. Don’t cut switchbacks. Be sure to pack out at least as much as you pack in.

3. Control Your Bicycle

Inattention for even a moment could put yourself and others at risk. Obey all bicycle speed regulations and recommendations, and ride within your limits.

4. Yield to Others

Do your utmost to let your fellow trail users know you’re coming — a friendly greeting or bell ring are good methods. Try to anticipate other trail users as you ride around corners. Bicyclists should yield to all other trail users, unless the trail is clearly signed for bike-only travel. Bicyclists traveling downhill should yield to ones headed uphill, unless the trail is clearly signed for one-way or downhill-only traffic. Strive to make each pass a safe and courteous one.

5. Never Scare Animals

Animals are easily startled by an unannounced approach, a sudden movement or a loud noise. Give animals enough room and time to adjust to you. When passing horses, use special care and follow directions from the horseback riders (ask if uncertain). Running cattle and disturbing wildlife are serious offenses.

6. Plan Ahead

Know your equipment, your ability and the area in which you are riding — and prepare accordingly. Strive to be self-sufficient: keep your equipment in good repair and carry necessary supplies for changes in weather or other conditions. Always wear a helmet and appropriate safety gear.

The A.G.M. is set for:

Tuesday, February 23rd
7:30PM to 9:30PM
Kinsmen Field House

That’s the usual place we have the annual meeting, and if you don’t know where it is, here’s a handy map for you.

We’re looking for some new blood to fill the ranks of the club executive this year.  Please consider joining us this year.  We are looking for people with accounting skills, grant writing experience, corporate fund raising, maybe an event co-ordinator, and some generally well organized and motivated people to help spread the load.

According to the City of Kelowna’s website, the second phase of the Powerline Linear Park may include such porposed amenities as:

“…Mountain Bike Skills Area for beginners”

Open House

An open house is scheduled for Thursday, February 25 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the gymnasium at Chute Lake Elementary School, 5240 Lark Street, to view the plans for the construction of the park. Residents are invited to drop by the open house and provide their comments and ask questions.

Read more about it over at the City of Kelowna site.

No HST on cycling in BC!

If you disagree with paying 7% more for bikes and bike parts this year, maybe head on over to the Squeaky Wheels site and sign the petition there.  While there are some good things about going to one sales tax, it’s abit underhanded that they are taking this opportunity to assess the tax against sectors of our economy that have been exempt for a long time.  The hypocrisy is compounded by the fact that while you can get some of your gas HST free, bikes will see an increase in tax.   It’s pretty tough to call yourself “Green” in those circumstances.

Even if you don’t sign the petition, have a look through some of the comments and check out their Facebook Group.  There’s some very interesting reading over there.

After an incredibly busy and successful 2009, it’s now time to turn our attention towards 2010.  Without further ado, here’s what’s coming down the pipe with the MTBco.

Annual General Meeting

The A.G.M. is set for:

Tuesday, February 23rd
7:30PM to 9:30PM
Kinsmen Field House

That’s the usual place we have the annual meeting, and if you don’t know where it is, here’s a handy map for you.

We’re looking for some new blood to fill the ranks of the club executive this year.  Please consider joining us this year.  We are looking for people with accounting skills, grant writing experience, corporate fund raising, maybe an event co-ordinator, and some generally well organized and motivated people to help spread the load.

Membership

Just so you don’t forget, your annual membership expires on March 1st.  Luckily, we have an easy way for you to renew on our website.

Join Us

Of course, we’ll also be accepting membership dues at the AGM, so feel free to bring your chequebook along.

Mapping

One of our goals this year is to produce an updated and more accurate map of the trails. Taking inventory of the massive amount of trails in the area is a huge undertaking.  With the advent of inexpensive GPS technology, many more of you likely have data on the trails.  If you feel like sharing, feel free to email your tracks to:  jsmoke@mtbco.ca.

Thanks

Section 57 Application

What is a Section 57?  Well, it’s the part of the BC legal code that gives us rights to ride and maintain trails, and Justin has put a ton of work into getting our first application in to secure access to the Gillard area.  Not much to report, but we though this was a good time to let you all know that process has begun.  As soon as we know more about the status of the application, we’ll let you all know.

Bike Park

Not a lot to report here.  The park is still technically under construction.  Rob would like to remind you all that it’s currently a construction zone and that it’s off limits.  Besides, if you ride it when it’s wet it will just increase the work load in the spring.  As soon as we get word from the contractor about when work is resuming, we’ll forward the info to all of you so that we can finish the park off.

Ryan Ingham of ARC Forestry checked out the project and he notified FOSS that he will “fall, clear trail, and cut back the edges to parks standard. Unfortunately, you should expect to lose a large portion (>50%) of the larger fir stems that could target the trail. Its simply past their safe lifespan, stem-rot has reached to point where even the soundest of them will be failing in the next few years. Adjacent to the area are good amounts of suitable habitat trees, so the only issue is the visual impacts”.FOSS reps have noticed a lot of living fir trees uprooted in the park, so Ryan’s assessment isn’t a surprise. Ryan expects to be finished in a couple of days.

When complete, FOSS’ Lost Lake and Pink Hwy projects should make these double tracks less prone to blowdowns, providing a better option for park users during wind events, and also making it easier for FOSS, MTBco, BC Parks to access other trails in the park for projects and events.

With these ’safe zones’ and the continued hard work of local trail clearing/maintenance crews and individuals the park continues to be improved for all user groups. Your club membership and/or financial support goes directly to these types of efforts….

Mike Kittmer

MTBco Director

Thursday, December 17th starting at 7:00pm (finishing around 8:30pm)

Curtis Stone will be presenting his trip from here to the Mexican border along the coast. Pictures, trials, tribulations and celebration documenting his ride along some of the most notable coastline on this continent.

Kelowna Cycles will be presenting tips and tricks to riding in the winter of Kelowna.

We’ll also be showing some short videos from around the country about what people from Edmonton, Toronto and other cities do to keep riding year-round.

We’ll have a drawing for some door prizes.

Anyone who has ever climbed to the KVR via Captain Nemo can attest to the fact that this last section is brutal. It’s a hike a bike pretty much. Seems the horse riders and hikers of FOSS don’t like it either. The email went out to a group of MTBco members who had helped out to do some re route work on Vapour last year and everyone was on board to go get some work done on Sunday, November 8th. Everyone met up top at 10am (except Scott who climbed up to come do some work!). Brad Wright of FOSS brought Mccleod tools and Pulaskis and within a few minutes of arriving work was started. Teams worked away at various sections of bench cut, most of which required a lot of engineering work with rocks and logs to support the trails as it cut off camber along the steep KVR slope. Massive rocks were moved and placed to help reduce the grade of the only major swithback within the new section.

After a few hours of hard work the crew managed to get the section of trail to about half done with the bulk of the more difficult areas complete. Althought its not yet ridable, one more day of work should seal the deal. Weather dependant the work may get done this fall but most likely it will be a spring job. Look forward to a much easier climb for this last section of Captain Nemo and a longer, more flowing decent along the new section of trail.

Big thanks to all who helped out!

(Dave Petrik, Kinga Gortel, Scott Lahrs, Lee MacKay, Jon Matlock (and friend, can’t recall his name?), Joe, Roy, Brad Wright)

Mike Kittmer

Director, MTBco

Dear West Kelowna Parks & Recreation Stakeholders:

We are excited to let you know that the Parks & Recreation Master Plan 2010 Public Survey is now available online at: www.explorewk.ca

As key stakeholders in the West Kelowna community, we are asking your assistance in spreading the word about this survey. We need as many responses as possible to ensure the plan is an accurate reflection of your community.

The survey takes about 15 minutes and asks in-depth questions about the use of parks & recreation in West Kelowna, and your hopes and ideas for the future.

Please share this notice with your membership, your friends, your family and anyone you think would like to have a say in the future of parks & recreation in West Kelowna!

Do you know someone who would prefer to fill out a hardcopy? We have attached a PDF version that can be printed, or you can pick up a copy at the District Offices Parks, Recreation & Culture Department.

West Kelowna parks and Recreation Master Plan Survey (537 KB .pdf)

We would also like to let you know about our upcoming Public Open House!

Date: Tuesday, November 3^rd, 2009
Time: Drop in from 3:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Lion’s Hall, 2466 Main Street

This will be your opportunity to meet with staff, consultants and other community members to discuss your vision, ideas and concerns and learn more about the Parks & Recreation Master Plan. Also presenting at this event will be the Transportation Master Plan 2010, the Master Stormwater Management Plan and the Affordable Housing Strategy. Please see the attached poster for additional information.

This is your opportunity to help plan the future of your community. We hope to see you there!

Next time you run into a builder improving or clearing our local trails be sure to thank them. Without their dedication we would not have the great world class trails that we do here in the Central Okanagan. You can also help us to continue to support these builders and continue to work on protecting and enhancing local trail networks by signing up each year as a paid MTBco member or club sponsor. You can also help us by spreading the work to other non members  or potential new sponsors that they should become paid members/sponsors.

MTBco relies on financial support from the local riding community and our sponsors to put on great events and work on our many ongoing projects such as the creation of the region’s first mountain bike skills park, partnerships to enhance and protect trail networks with land managers/government and trail enhancement.

Spread the word…membership and support does have its priviledges…great trails!

MTBco