North Shore Mountain Bike Association

Trails for all, trails for ever

Message from the Board of Directors

Posted Tue, 03/23/2010 - 23:00 by Mark

Welcome to another great season of riding! We trust that everyone has taken advantage of the early season weather to enjoy the trails.

Your Board has been making steady progress in the three months since our appointment and we want you to know - we heard you. The 2009 Ridership Survey and the discussion at last year's annual general meeting were informative and we are working to make 2010 a great year. We wanted to take a moment to share what we've been working on.

Organizational Plumbing

Floppy Bunny Update and Tree Removal on Fromme

Posted Mon, 03/22/2010 - 17:52 by Tim

Please be careful when riding on Fromme. As we noted a few days ago, the DNV is currently doing hazard tree removal along with general silvicultural work on Fromme. There are signs at the top of Floppy Bunny and the DNV has reported that the "work they will be doing relates to removal of hazard trees that include the dog hair hemlock and root rot pockets.  They plan to start working in areas furthest away from the trail, and then as the week moves ahead, move closer to the vicinity of  trail. There should be no closure requirements of the trail, other than the odd 15 minutes, if there are safety issues relating to trail users."

Above Floppy Bunny on Mountain Highway, the DNV has posted some general signage of the type of work that they're doing. A picture of the sign is included here (click for a larger version).

Join us March 26 for the Season Opener Party!

Posted Sun, 03/14/2010 - 18:09 by Tim

We are having a PARTY! Come one, come all, and bring friends and the friends of your friends for awesome time. You will also have the opportunity to win great prizes from our sponsors and meet the Bryson Racing Clan crew.

Come down to the Bridge Between Pub (1970 Spicer Rd, North Vancouver) on the evening of Friday, March 26th for merriment, cheer and well priced refreshments.

Cover is free if you're an Active Member (either join online before or at the door for $50 and get all the benefits of being an NSMBA member) or $10 for non-members.

 

Hazard Tree Removal on Floppy Bunny

Posted Thu, 03/11/2010 - 12:35 by Mark

The DNV has begun hazard tree removal and silvaculture work as part of the Fromme Trail Classification Plan. During the temporary closure last week, tree crews hired by the DNV arbourist were working in the area clearing hazard trees. Work has now been completed on the lower part of Floppy Bunny and the trail has been reopened. New work at the beginning of Floppy Bunny will commence shortly. The trail will be closed and signed while crews complete the work. During the temporary closure, the NSMBA encourages people to ride Bobsled, Natural High or King of the Shore. The NSMBA will update once the work is completed and the trail reopened.

Women of Dirt Movie Premiere - Hosted by the Muddbunnies

Posted Tue, 03/02/2010 - 15:09 by Mathew

Muddbunnies working on SlashOn Thursday, March 11th our friends the Muddbunnies are hosting the movie premiere of "Women of Dirt" and have invited all NSMBA members and supporters to join in the fun! This is a great opportunity to support the ladies that love to get their hands dirty on the trails. Check out the work we did together on Slash last year!

WHEN:  Thursday, March 11th, 2010. Doors at 7:00 pm or come earlier for dinner.
Movie premier at 7:30 pm.
Drink and Food Specials will be available!
 
WHERE:  Bridge Between Pub (Upstairs from the Maplewood)

COST:  $8 online, $10 at door
 

Wade's Excellent Adventure

Wade’s Excellent Adventure June 12th-REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

REGISTRATION CLOSES MIDNIGHT WED JUNE 9

 

On Saturday June 12th you are invited for an All Mountain event on Fromme Mountain at Wade's Excellent Adventure!  Form your own team of riders and be the first team to find the Secret Trail of the Shore which will lead the winners to the ultimate ride!  Sponsored by Rocky Mountain Bikes, there will be some incredible prizes for the winners, plus a wicked day of riding with some icons of the bike world, including Wade himself!  All proceeds from the event go to maintaining the trails on Fromme Mountain.

Teams will ride 3-4 different trails on Fromme and collect clues that will lead them to the final trail and the ultimate ride.  The first team to unscramble the message, ride the ‘secret trail’, and make it back to the staging area are the winners.

This year, there will be two categories, including citizen teams of 2 - 10 riders, and corporate teams from 4-8 riders.  There will also be a special category for 2 member teams. Expect 4-5 laps per team, with 1500 meters or more, of up-down, all around Fromme fun!! 60% of your team must be riding at one time...yes, that means you can take a rest for a lap!  Registration is capped at 150 riders.

Rocky Mountain Bicycles will have a fleet of bikes at the ready giving you an opportunity to demo one of their bikes during the event. Planet Foods will be on site fueling the riders with their Ultima Sport Drink and Honey Stingers. 

This event is brought to you by the support of:

Oakley - Bell - Marzocchi - RaceFace - Dakine - Shimano - NSMB - Planet Foods - Honey Stinger - Ultima - Kicking Horse Coffee

Hit the Read More link for registration details

Fromme Update

Posted Tue, 02/23/2010 - 22:39 by Tim

We know that many of you have heard the rumours that the DNV is implementing the Fromme Trail Classification Plan this year. Indeed, we can confirm that the district has has approximately $500K to spend on Fromme. But despite what you may have heard, this is not necessarily the death bell of trails on Fromme. The DNV is planning to complete a broad range of projects that will affect all trail users and they may include: signage, forest management, planting of restorative vegetation, and yes, trail changes.

There is an enormous opportunity for the NSMBA to help determine where, how, and what will be done on Fromme and the association remains dedicated to working with land owners to find solutions that work. Over the past two weeks, members of the Trails and Advocacy teams completed walkthroughs of Jerry Rig, Air Supply, Lower Oilcan, Grannies and Upper Crippler with the DNV and permitted maintainers. The discussion was very positive, and the NSMBA is determined to turn these positive discussions into positive actions. We are working with the maintainers and community leaders to:

  • Formalize a vision for the Fromme trail network and each individual trail
  • Assess each trail and identify areas of concern and areas of improvement
  • Create a work plan that addresses the concerns and delivers improvement
  • Partner with the DNV to implement the work plan and realize our vision of a secure trail network on Fromme

The NSMBA continues to work with DNV, but our voice is only as strong as the community that supports us. To be a part of the future of Fromme trails, we encourage you to join the NSMBA. As always, our door is open so please contact us with your questions or concerns. 

Downed Tree Removed from Lower Oilcan

Posted Mon, 02/22/2010 - 13:52 by Mathew

On Saturday, February 20th, DNV staff and volunteers from the NSMBA removed a downed tree on Lower Oilcan.

 Downed Tree Before

Removing the tree was complicated, as it had pushed over another standing dead tree and was resting on top of a skinny. We cut off the majority of the downed tree, and then used rigging, a pulley system and some elbow grease to stand the tree back up. This shifted the root ball back into it's orginal position, allowing us to safely remove the standing dead tree without damaging the skinny.

Events

The NSMBA Events team met this week to make preparations for the coming 2010 season.  And what a season it’s shaping up to be!

Events Team 2010

Some crowd pleasers will be back on the plate this year, as well as some long yearned for debuts.  Including a North Shore Race series, Weekly Group Rides and Wade’s Excellent Adventure is back!

 

Season Opener Party March 26th

Tires will be spinning out of the gate with a season opener party on March 26th at The Bridge Between Pub & Club at 1970 Spicer Rd in North Vancouver.   Tickets will be available at the door for $10 per person or free admission with a 2010 membership.  Drink specials, tons of giveaways and a premiere bike video showing to be announced. 

Plenty more on tap for the coming season…

New Web Site

Posted Wed, 01/27/2010 - 13:19 by John

Welcome to the new NSMBA web site! As you might have noticed, a few things have changed. To get started with 2010 we've made a few modifications to the web site. We'd like to invite you to sit back, grab a beverage of your choice, and take it for a spin.

There are a few big changes for us, so if you notice any issues, or have any ideas, comments, suggestions, or concerns, please feel free to e-mail them to webmaster@nsmba.ca. Hit the read more link for details about the changes.

  • Domain Change: We have changed from using nsmba.bc.ca, to using nsmba.ca. This should simplify things a bit, making it easier to remember and find the web site. The nsmba.bc.ca address will still work (it'll forward you here), and any e-mails addressed to addresses@nsmba.bc.ca will automatically get forwarded to the proper address@nsmba.ca (though if you want to be totally proper, you can update your address book as well).
  • New Web Site Platform: The new site is based on Drupal, a widely used open-source content management system. The real strength in Drupal over other platforms lies in its ability to be extended. Within a very short timeframe we have already managed to integrate many custom functions into the site.
  • New Membership Signup & Management Platform: CiviCRM is a constituent relationship management platform, which will allow us to streamline our membership signup and administration. It also provides a much easier solution for us to send out e-mail updates, and also the potential to manage event signup online.