IMBA Canada BC Rep Blog

IMBA Partners with MEC to boost regional office program in 2010

Here’s a short clip from our press release that can be read in full here.

IMBA Canada is excited to announce a national partnership agreement with Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) for 2010. The Vancouver-based outdoor gear and clothing retailer has made a generous contribution towards IMBA’s regional office program. Funding will enhance existing offices in British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario, as well as expand the program to other provinces.

The goals of the regional office program are to build club capacity, create critical mass, and expand mountain bikers’ influence on public policy at the provincial/regional level. Each office is staffed by a part-time regional coordinator, whose mandate is to achieve the following goals for mountain biking in their region: convenient access to appealing trails, trailbuilding expertise, a positive image, and political influence.

Since the program’s establishment in 2008, IMBA Canada’s regional coordinators have assisted numerous local clubs to create and protect sustainable trails. IMBA staff have worked alongside groups like the BC Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts to develop provincial trails strategies and represent mountain bikers to government organizations.Exciting news for our regional rep program, thanks MEC for supporting advocacy in Canada.

Canada – January 12, 2010 – Cineplex Entertainment and Citizen Pictures take movie audiences on a ride only the most intense cyclists have experienced – including seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong – as they compete in one of the world’s most grueling mountain bike races in Race Across the Sky – Leadville Trail 100. Shown exclusively in select Cineplex Entertainment theatres on Wednesday, January 27^th and Sunday, February 7^th, 2010, these special events will feature the debut of the documentary, “Race Across the Sky.”

“The Leadville Trail 100 is one of those events…Like the New York City Marathon or the Ironman, where people say, one day I want to do that,” said Armstrong. “It’s the purest level of passion that you can get.”

“Cineplex Entertainment is pleased to partner with Citizen Pictures to invite cyclists and mountain bike racing fans to the Canadian premiere of Race Across the Sky – Leadville Trail 100,” said Pat Marshall, Vice President, Communications and Investor Relations, Cineplex Entertainment. “Watching the competitors race on difficult terrain with picturesque Colorado as the back drop on our big screens is sure to impress.”

Citizen Pictures filmed against the misty backdrop of a former mining town in Colorado that sits at 10,200 feet to capture the drama of the 2009 LT100 mountain bike race. The LT100 began as a running race 27 years ago to draw tourism to Leadville, Colo. The mountain bike race was added in 1994 and has become a competition with more than 1,000 entries and a lottery determining who will compete. The course includes 14,000 vertical feet of climbing and often severe weather changes. Competitors race on dirt trails, mining roads and Forest Service roads, hoping to cross the finish line in 12 hours or less.

Cameras followed the cyclists from the start through to the finish line and all 100 miles in between as they competed in the August 2009 competition – one of the most intense endurance races of all time. Witness breathtaking aerial views as the camera crew follows the competitors as they cycle over 100 miles of dangerous mountain terrain through extreme climate changes ranging from heat to hail and from rain to snow.

“If you’re lucky enough to get into this race, it will be the hardest day on the bike you’ll ever experience. 100 miles, off-road, all above 10,000 ft,” said Frank Matson, CEO of Citizen Pictures. “The summit is a relentless climb to the top of Columbine Mine at 12,570 ft. The only thing you can count on is that anything can happen.  And if at the end of the day you’ve crossed the finish line, you’ve won.”

Advance tickets are now available online at www.cineplex.com/events as well as at participating theatre box offices. Admission for children ages 3 – 13 is $8.00, seniors is $10.50 and general admission is $12.50. A special group rate is also available for groups of 20 or more. For more information on group rates, call 1-800-313-4461 or email corporatesales@cineplex.com.

Cineplex Entertainment will present Race Across the Sky – Leadville Trail 100 at the following select theatres across the country on Wednesday, January 27^th at 7 pm and Sunday, February 7^th at 1 pm (local time):

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Coquitlam: SilverCity Coquitlam Cinemas, 170 Schoolhouse Street

Kamloops: Cineplex Odeon Aberdeen Mall Cinemas, 700-1320 Trans Canada Highway

Kelowna: Famous Players Orchard Plaza 5 Cinemas, 160-1876 Cooper Road

Langley: Colossus Langley Cinemas, 20090 91A Avenue

Mission: SilverCity Mission Cinemas, 32555 London Avenue

Nanaimo: Galaxy Cinemas Nanaimo, 213-4750 Rutherford Road

Pitt Meadows: Cineplex Odeon Meadowtown Cinemas, 19800 Lougheed Highway

Prince George: Famous Players 6 Cinemas, 172-1600 Fifth Avenue

Richmond: SilverCity Riverport Cinemas, 14211 Entertainment Way

Surrey: Cineplex Odeon Strawberry Hill Cinemas, 12161 72^nd Avenue

Vancouver: Cineplex Odeon Park & Tilford Cinemas, 200-333 Brooksbank Avenue and Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver, 900 Burrard Street

Vernon: Galaxy Cinemas Vernon, 2306 Highway 6

Victoria: SilverCity Victoria Cinemas, 3130 Tillicum Road

Effective January 2010 Mark Schmidt, Executive Director of IMBA Canada will be passing the torch to Lora Woolner, currently Director of Membership and Operations for IMBA Canada. After 5 years heading up the Canadian arm of IMBA, Schmidt is moving on to a position with Parks Canada. Although it may seem like a huge loss for mountain biking, in fact Schmidt will be assisting in the implementation of multi-use trails throughout our Federally managed national parks.

On a personal note, I am sad to see Mark depart as he and I have built a great friendship over the past 5 years. The numerous discussions, Expos, Summits and rides we have shared have really been enjoyable and left me with some great memories. I have tremendous respect for what Mark achieved and it is pretty clear that Parks Canada thinks so too. You’ll always have a place to stay and don’t get too busy to ride your bike, cheers Mark.

Check this page for the full news release.

Well it’s that time of year again when we reflect on our successes in 2009 and boy did we have a great year. Thanks to all of our Canadian IMBA members who support our work across this vast nation of ours and helped make possible our accomplishments.

Here’s just 10 things IMBA did for riders this year.
1.    Taught 20 IMBA trailbuilding workshops in 9 provinces, educating more than 500 people on sustainable trailbuilding practices nationwide.

2.    Expanded IMBA Canada’s Regional Office Program. We currently have part-time regional staff in BC, Ontario and Quebec, with plans to add more in 2010.

3.    Secured new benefits for IMBA Canada members – Such as the Canadian Subaru VIP Program, and the addition of individual insurance benefits to the existing IMBA Canada insurance program.

4.    Hired a full-time Trails Specialist – allowing significant growth in our on-the-ground efforts.

5.    Hosted the first-ever IMBA Canada Provincial Mountain Bike Summit in Kitchener, Ontario.

6.    Secured Federal Infrastructure Funding for trail expansion at the Canmore Nordic Centre in Canmore, Alberta. IMBA Canada clubs in BC, Ontario and Quebec also received federal money to expand their trails locally.

7.    Signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Capital Commission in Ottawa, enabling further collaboration with regards to trails planning, rehabilitation, management and use in Gatineau Park.

8.    Created new Canadian resources - Such as the Take a Kid Mountain Biking Guide and the ADSVMQ’sGuide d’aménagement de sentier de vélo de montagne.

9.    Launched the Ontario Tool Trailer program with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion. The end result: more trails on the ground, and free tools for use by IMBA clubs.

10.    Provided assistance that has carved the way for new bike parks in urban areas.

Despite economic downturn, mountain bikers have helped IMBA Canada notch great successes all over the country, but threats fueled by anti-bike philosophies still loom over 2010.

And since this is the season of giving, we will send you our fantastic 2010 calendar for a contribution of $40 or more to help us expand mountain biking access next year. Please click here to help build and protect mountain biking in your area.

I ventured close to the big smoke for a few days to attend the Ontario Mountain Bike Summit in Kitchener, Sept. 25 - 27. This was the first ever IMBA summit for Ontario mountain bikers and by the turn out and response, there will be more to come. It was also a great opportunity for me to see what their challenges are and how, on many levels, are the same as what we have to deal with in BC. More details on the IMBA web site once they are up.

Here’s the group photo courtesy of Mark Schmidt at the base of the Chicopee Ski and Summer Resort.

Help IMBA bring world-class mountain biking to your backyard. This year alone, IMBA Canada will be involved in more than 25 projects in 9 provinces. The work is being done thanks to riders like you who support the IMBA Canada Trailbuilding Fund.

Your donation will be matched by IMBA’s generous corporate partners – such as Trek, through its 1 World, 2 Wheels program. With these matching funds, and by leveraging IMBA Canada’s partnerships with federal land managers, your gift will be stretched into more trails than ever before. These are positioned to inspire new trails in every community — including yours.

Check out our interactive map to find how IMBA is shaping trails where you are. But we could be doing so much more! More Canadian projects were considered for 2009, but not enough funds were available to build them all.

Your donation will immediately double in value. Please give what you can, and do it right now. Remember, the bike industry is committed to investing a dollar-for-dollar match for your donations.

For more info and to donate check out the IMBA Canada website.

The National Trails Coalition has approved $3,045,000 towards trail projects in BC. Originally only $3 million were allocated and recommended by the BC Regional Advisory Committee for the three sectors, Winter Motorized, Summer Motorized and Non-Motorized. However, the NTC saw fit to award an additional $45,000 to BC to “spread the love”.

There were 53 proposals for the three sectors totally over $8.8 million for funding, 35 proposals were accepted, 10 Winter Motorized, 4 Summer Motorized and 21 Non-Motorized. Of all the projects 66% or 23 are friendly to mountain bike access and of the 21 Non-Motorized, 71% or 15 are MTB friendly. All three MTB clubs who submitted proposals were approved for their requested funding. Congratulations to WORCA, SORCA and Rip’n The North Bike Club, all IMBA Affiliate Clubs.

The NTC forms have been sent out to the awarded projects to be filled out and returned. Once the NTC has the paper work the money will flow, 50% up front and the rest upon project completion(see the NTC website for details).

The over subscription in BC and the rest of the provinces clearly shows there is a need for consistent federal funding, let’s hope this program is available next year. If I hear any news about a repeat performance, I’ll get the word out.

Four members of the BC Regional Advisory Committee, me included, and the BC Regional Trails Co-ordinator, sat down with the honourable Minister of Culture, Sport and the Arts, Kevin Krueger. We had the opportunity to present why the BC government should pursue a long term relationship with the federal governments recently announced funding for trails through the National Trails Coalition. And just in case the feds don’t continue their economic stimulus incentives next year, we suggested the BC Trails Strategy in final draft form, be adopted to continue the expansion of recreation trail opportunities. Minister Kreuger was very receptive to our pitch and agreed there is plenty of room for improvement to promote BC’s extensive trail system to the world and provide support for the people building the trails.

The next step in the NTC’s program should be signing funding agreements with the lucky recipients of federal funds. This should be happening in the next two weeks with cheques to follow. Unfortunately, there will be a lot of disappointed people in Canada as the mere $25 million on the table was quickly diced up, BC got $3 million, one million each for winter motorized, summer motorized and non-motorized trails. As soon as it is official I’ll post the non-motorized recipients on my blog, stay tuned.

It’s time to start planning the next IMBA Canada Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day in your area. Mark Saturday, October 03 on your calendar. Feel free to use this PDF cover-only and this PDF takmb-booklet to promote your local event. Let’s see if we can make this the biggest TKMTB Day the biggest yet.

Inga Beck and Jason Van Horn have wrapped up their successful TCC visit to Kelowna working with Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanogan (MTBCo). They had a great turn out, check out the story and photos on their blog.

Our own Trail specialist Daniel Scott joined Inga and Jason in Kelowna and his story can be found here.