Early Saturday morning, volunteers and racers made their way up Fromme for the Toonie Race. At 10:00am sharp, racers were on the course with times ranging between 18 and 44 minutes. Thanks to Steed Cycles for keeping us company at registration, and Waves Coffee – Lynn Valley for getting the caffeine going early!

Mark Saturday, September 1st on your calanders for the next Toonie Race. We'll start again at 7th Secret, but stay on for the whole ride down Leppard, Krinkum Krankum, Upper Griffen and up KOTS to the water towers.

Ilana and Andrew, who have led the Toonies for the past two years, have just opened a coffee shop on Commerical Drive. We're looking for some extra help with the Toonies while they're away working to get their new business up on its feet. Please contact us if you are interested in continuing this awesome event!

Bottletop is just about perfect this time of year thanks to the work that Different Bikes and NS Ride did last year for TAP 2011, led by Daniel Lui and Darryl Marlatt TAP build leaders.

The final traverse on Bottletop is littered with pebbles and baby heads, with a thin track winding through it.

We'll need a couple hours with a small crew to rake out the last steep section.  Anybody is welcome to come lend a hand.

Meeting time is 6pm on the trail, Wednesday August 8th. Meet at the bottom of the trail on Fisherman's at Twin Bridges and we will walk up from there. 

North Vancouver residents rate outdoor trails as their highest recreational priority, even above ice rinks, soccer fields and swimming pools. Why then is funding for the maintenance and construction of trails so hard to come by?

The NSMBA is preparing a business case for the annual funding of a trail crew for the North Shore, and we need your help!

Your role could be:

• collecting and analyzing user data (trail counts, user surveys, literature review)
• researching best practices (what models for funded trail maintenance already exist)
• evaluating different options for the program (cost/benefit, risk identification/mitigation, stakeholder sensativity analysis)
• technical writing

Anyone is welcome to assist. Volunteers with experience developing business cases, or a background in planning, finance or management would be an asset.

We will be reviewing the business case with municipal staff mid-August, and presenting to Council mid-September.

Annual funding for trails is a critical step in ensuring everyone will continue to have access to the trail network we all love. Please help spread the word to help us move together in the right direction.  Please respond to mathew@nsmba.ca