New Trail at McLean

[Rider Eh!]

Has anyone contaced the dirtybikes club out in Torontario on how they attract members too trail days? They may have some helpfull info, it's not like this hasn't been done before. I'd do it, but I know a few others on here have a more personal relationship with them.

[justinKX]

good topic!

im home now and not on my blackberry, so here it is. some i may have said but i want to sum everything up. sort of briefly!

im new to alberta, im new to singletrack. in NS there are no FLUZ's, there is no organized groups or clubs other than just for pleasure ones. this club actually has a purpose other than pleasure. thats why i joined. i quickly saw that without people fighting back, there probably wouldnt be any good places to go. until last summer whn mountain biking with friends, we saw people cutting and clearing the trail. i asked where their bikes were they said at home. THAT was when i realized, yeah you know people have to volunteer to keep these tracks and trails in good shape. back home we just took stuff for granted. miles and miles to ride off road right from my doorstep. i havnt volunteered for much in the past, and jumped to help out here. i didnt even know what single track meant until i went out for my third time. and now im beginning to really appreciate the work that this club has put in, to mark, and map, and keep up these trails.
i still dont know alot, like i thought within the maclean creek FLUZ i coudl just go ride wherever i wanted. i thought it was all in bounds until the border of the FLUZ. then i began thinking about that and figured i was probably wrong. so i wasnt sure.

im willing to bet that the majority of the dirt bikers around here have no idea this club even exists. and just go out and ride the tracks the club helped put in place.. keep in mind when the club does this, its on PUBLIC land. so of course people who dont help, and dont want to help, are going to ride em. and as people said, everyone has responsibilities. spinalguy yours is working on saturday. what if i worked every sat and sun. would that be a good excuse for me not to ever help out? the point is. there will ALWAYS be people who mean well, but never go the extra yard. but you cant judge me after only a month with the club, only been out a few times, know nothing about anywhere yet, just learning maclean now... give me a freakin chance!

compare it to driving if you want, there will ALWAYS be stupid and bad drivers on the road, theres no getting rid of them, you just have to deal with them and not get angry everytime you get behind the wheel. there will probably always be 70% of the members here who just read and dont reply or go out on volunteer days.

trailguy, we pulled out 3 staples holding the top string of barbed wire, both lifted bikes over and pounded the staples back in with my saw! no damage to the fence, i can probably show anyone who wants to see the route we took, i should be able to remember it. took about an hour, would have been quicker to ride the trail back, but then i got on thinking people would love this trail so i took the time to note my way. i was going to swing it up and connect the single track again but its a clearcut area and taking bikes up there would have taken forever. so we connected it to the quad trail or 4x4 instead. i promise we didnt damage the fence at all, the wires arent even stretched or sagging, and you probablt wouldnt even see any evidence at all of bikes going through there, we went around fallen trees and lifted over ones we didnt go around, the woods down in that area are wide open, can see for a good distance.

i just didnt know how much went into opening new trails, i still dont know alot. like how there are trails in place that we are banned from using, like why? they are already there. and why cant we!?! and how is one to know whats legal or not when riding out there? other than the map. im trying to follow the rules, but i need to know them to do so. and instead of PMing people i thought a ncie discussion would be the best way to get the answers.

and finally spinalguy (Tom is it?!) no harm done what so ever with your responses. i can completely see your side of the story, i bet me and you are actually alot alike. and i was never mad or took offense to anything, it sparked a great topic for the forum if you ask me. its good that your out as often as you can be. its great everyone who helps, does help. it sucks that people dont help. but dont bother using your emotions and time being mad at those people who dont help, cause you would be in a better mood more often if you were able to just let it go. like i had to do with my road rage! i rarely get fristrated driving anymroe and you wont believe the wonders it did for me! but keep posting about volunteer days, you probably just didnt expect to run into someone as hard headed and i gave a good fight back! ill be out tho, pomise! keep in mind, fallen timber is 1.5 hours away, on a horrible road for half that. ive only ever been to maclean and wiap once. and wiap was all quad trails, which i realized after hittin some single track, and maclean is all rocks and roots. i dont know a thing about anywhere else. are there maclean clearing days? do people go to indian graves from here? thats another place i heard about... lots of questions, limited answers. thats where im at.

i know it was long, was it a good read?!

[MtnBlue]

Justin, I think you have joined a great club that will be able to provide answers to all your questions above. Any and all help is appreciated to keep this sport, that we so dearly love, in a positive light. Be it, trail maintenance, voluteering at a race, club agendas,meetings,even stopping and educating a fellow rider while on the trail(that's how I met Rogue and look at him go!!!), there are numerous ways to contribute. You strike me as a young fella that wants to get involved,and it's guys/gals like you that we need. The RMDRA is not the only organizaton that is involved with these tasks. Many Second Gear club members were also out helping with the ongoing trail clearing and maintenance.It needs to be that way. The main thing is, GET INVOLVED. I know you will. Thanks in advance!!

Chuck

[justinKX]

thx

spent the morning on my blackberry! was so interested in replies and pms lol.
will be good to meet more of you. i met dude last guided ride, that was enough meets for one month! this wednesday is looking good!

some ideas and ways of getting people out.... hmm

raffle or draw for a gift certificate to a sponsored bike shop... or some sort of cool prize. not just a tims card.

edit : buy a chainsaw and use it for the weekend, and raffle it off to those who helped on sunday. dunno, just an idea.

[markvfr]

was so interested in replies and pms

Really? I never thought that subject was too interesting especially since it usually results in a fight in my household. Hmmm, maybe thats whats going on today on this thread?

[justinKX]

i am not without my own problems, and a few years ago i would have probably relied super defensive and cursing Tom out, but i took the time and kept it clean and tried to not be rude, and so did everyone else. for me its a huge step in discussion forum arguments! and there were a few replies and pms answering some of my questions within 15 minutes so i was hooked! i made my co-worker drive to the jobs so i could type away on my crackberry!

[thirtyseven]

was so interested in replies and pms

Really? I never thought that subject was too interesting especially since it usually results in a fight in my household. Hmmm, maybe thats whats going on today on this thread?

Mark I know atleast one guy that is conveniently on the road...

[Dude]

[crazy2wheeler]

This is the exact type of bullshit of why I don't go to the monthly meetings anymore. I have a bike to have fun and enjoy the sport with like minded people.

Hey, terrific - you must own or have access to a LOT of PRIVATE land to ride on!! Can I ride on your property too?? (Cuz with an attitide like that, it WILL become the only place you - or me - will be able to ride).

I hope you reflect on your comments.

D.

[justinKX]

Justin, you are so full of yourself.

i began my next reply with "im not without my problems" how can you say that!! haha

[trailguy]

Justin,you mentioned the only way to find your way around McLean is the map,except I have that whole NE section completed with the orange SRD motorcycle signs that you were riding.I'm concerned the signage has been taken down.Did you see the signs? The trail you left to make a new route was the "Lone Ranger" It should have had signs at both ends.

[Rider Eh!]

Justin has been asking questions and offering advice since he's joined. He's also got 171 posts since joining in April. I'd say he cares.

Tom I know cares. He's one of the more passionate guys I know and has more posters in his office than I had in my bedroom when I was a little kid (yes I know, I'm probably still a young fella to many of you).

As some of you have probably seen, I went from casual rider guy to racing maniac to burnt out to now just having fun and getting more involved with the club. I'd like to thank all of you guys for the good times and getting me excited about riding again this season, as this clubs got spirit!

I'm proud to be in a club with members like both of these guys!

[justinKX]

Justin,you mentioned the only way to find your way around McLean is the map,except I have that whole NE section completed with the orange SRD motorcycle signs that you were riding.I'm concerned the signage has been taken down.Did you see the signs? The trail you left to make a new route was the "Lone Ranger" It should have had signs at both ends.

the signs are still there. i did see alot more of them out since the last time i was there, i also saw pink tape marking some of the trail.
when im driving around its awesome to see those signs, but i still use the map to get myself to those trails. as of right now i can only remember how to get to a few of them. i went off the road on the way to elbow falls there and found a nice loop up and around the ridge looing down on the falls. it was also marked with signs. there was a crossroads in the woods that wasnt worn in very much and took some looking to find the actual trails out of there.
i plan on getting some pink tape and marking that area a bit better. its ok that i do that right?!

[Dobi]

This is the exact type of bullshit of why I don't go to the monthly meetings anymore. I have a bike to have fun and enjoy the sport with like minded people. Just because some people don't volunteer for a weekend doesn't give anyone in the club the right to be critical. This also the same reasons why I hear people leave the club. This is suppose to be a dirt biking club, with some responsibilites, not a political activists group - or am I missing something?

If I want to hear this sort of darn I can just stay at work!

Dave,
I assure you that we have taken great strides lately at the Executive level to make sure that our club meetings are fun, friendly and informative. I agree whole heartedly that the political garbage wears on the rest of the club and takes away from some of the enjoyment that being a part of this great club offers.

The club has never been in a greater position with our relationships with the local and Provincial Governments and organizations and it shows with continued support from our local ASRD unit. This does unfortunately come with some “politicking” that is unavoidable. We at the executive level are doing what we can to ensure that this does not get dragged down to the membership level but instead you guys/gals get a clear and unbiased update on where we are at with certain initiatives at appropriate times.

We are all just people here, each with our own personalities, opinions and ride preference. It is often hard to write a strong worded statement without offending some of the readers. We do have some flaming rules on the forum and I am pretty certain someone clicked on the report the post button the first time they read Spinalguy’s post.

Spinalguy is Spinalguy, and we love him for his passion, and accept him for who he is, much the same as we accept Thirtyseven for whatever he is…….

With regards to volunteers…….
We struggle with it just the same as every other club. The DirtyBike guys are in the same boat as us, 20% of the group doing 80% of the work. What has helped us to date is that we have grown the number of us that make up the 20% significantly. That “rule of thumb” is never going to change so all we can do is continue to grow the club by reaching out to the newcomers that want to learn what singletrack in our area is all about. 20% of those new members are going to show up at the majority of the volunteer events and work like rented mules.

We have tried the bribery (prize) thing before and the best lure to date has been the satisfaction that you are a part of something so great (and Jamie’s Smokies and Burgers) You can’t put a price on that.

We offer prizes at the monthly club meetings (thanks again to our supporters!!) in hopes of drawing in the new blood and to reward those long time members that still make it out to the club meetings after all these years.

And for JustinKX, do yourself a favour and never go out alone in the woods with Dude…..

[dwagner]

Hey crazy2wheeler, when you quote me include the whole statement...

"This is suppose to be a dirt biking club, with some responsibilites, not a political activists group - or am I missing something?"

I did say "with some responsibilities", not everyone has the time or passion (like spinalguy) to be out there on weekends to help with trail maintenance. However, just being a "responsible" member of the club is a great contribution... riding responsibly, advocating publicly for trail use, etc, etc. As being concerned for mother earth... if we were all that concerned we wouldn't be driving gas powered motorcycles, or pulling up in our monster trucks that we use for no more than hauling a bike around or commuting to work, or working for an oil and gas company that punching holes in the earth or dredging the lands leaving tailing ponds the size of a lakes. Playing the eco-card is not going to work for this club!

As for my weekends and evenings: I volunteer my time with a non-profit for people with developmental disabilities; I also run a weekly meeting for people with addiction problems and participate at the district level. Oh by the way I self employed which takes 50-60 hours of week at my time, I am married, I have three kids which I am a present and active parent. At best I may get out every other Wednesday for a club ride - I never have time to ride on the weekend - and when I club ride I usually sweep or help lead.

So does this mean if I don't get out to help build trails then I am not a valued member of the club? Maybe I should find a new club?