if you ride the shore, read!!!

[Sideshow]

so we headed over to the NSMBA AGM lat night, and apparently the 50 folks that managed to show is the best ever turnout.

pretty friggin sad.

there are thousands of riders that poach these trails every weekend, but no one cares that other more dedicated riders are fighting to keep them.

Yes I'm on a soapbox here, but I will be getting more involved, so lay off me. The first people I would like to attack are the shops, then the folks that support them, People it's not like snowboarding where there are mountains that run profitable business and don't have to worry about closures. We ride an public land and its much more complicated.

How can you run a business that depends on the mountains and trails and not be involved in protecting your own future livelihood? I'm sure DH rig sales would drop if they closed the Dustbin. there are a lot of positive things going on politcally right now, every shop owner from here to hope should be involved. Typical MTB shit though, sit on your ass and wonder why things remain the same. then bitch when its too late. Props to all that showed up it was a very interesting meeting fo sho.

this won't be the last you here of this from me, but this is my bottom line.

At least if you can't join the fight, become an NSMBA member. This is one of the few ways they can produce $$$, and considering its a volunteer organization the money all goes to shovels and trail days etc.

Short of standing out on the trails hassling people( which I may do), there isn't much we can do but appeal to your common sense, without the NSMBA we will have no trails.

If you ride the shore and aren't an active member you should be beat with a wet rug. this is the year the riders get involved, and to you lazy asses that have never been to a trail day.........how long is it going to take to get you to realize your enjoying someone elses sweat, and wearing it down????

sticky please-- lets talk about this, and use the board to generate some ways to increase membership.

-cory leclerc

[ito]

Well first off I could think of some punishments that would fit the situation much better and be more painful than a wet rug.

Second, you definitely have a right to be pissed off, but everyone has this issue with volunteering. It goes alot farther than the bike industry too. I know I've shown up to more than a few meetings were it is me and maybe another biker explaining the situation to a crowd of angry neighbors or hikers.

Third, some ideas for increasing membership and awareness.

In Santa Barbara we have been selling things we call "bear bells". It's a small cowbell that you hang on the front end of your bike or back of the camelback. They are very popular and thanks to help from Kona we have gotten most riders in SB to wear one. Get NSMBA to sell them as a fundraiser, distribute them through shops or have them as part of a membership package. Throw an NSMBA logo on it and you have advertising, trail etiquette, and money raising all rolled into one.

Getting sponsors for Trail Days is also a great way of increasing participation. While I hate the fact that it takes bribery to get some people out having a big name behind an event gets more people out. Locally we have Chris King, Firestone Beer, and Kona sponsoring trail days several times a year. There is trail building, raffle tickets sold(helps raise money for tools!), some food, a bit of beer, and a good time. We also tend to interact with the hikers who are on the trail and they never cease to be impressed by the number of bikers working on the trails.

Hopefully that helps and good luck increasing awareness.

The Ito

[sanrensho]

Originally posted by SIDESHOW
so we headed over to the NSMBA AGM lat night, and apparently the 50 folks that managed to show is the best ever turnout.

pretty friggin sad.

It was great to see you and Wade there (I was sitting next to you, Corey). Yesterday was my first NSMBA AGM, and I was also surprised by the *ahem* modest turnout. I figured there would be twice that many people. You'd think that more people could invest 1-1/2 hours to find out where we stand with issues like Fromme parking/trail maintenance, Mountainview park, permission to work on Cypress, etc.

This summer, we had two days where NSMBA volunteers stood at Seymour and Fromme and took down names for several hundred non-paying members. A few riders even pulled out their wallets and became paying members on the spot. Next year, we need to do the same type of thing and encourage more people to sign up as paying members.

Also, it would be nice get some volunteers to do signups at next year's JH Days and Cove Midnight Madness sale. Perhaps we could get JH and Cove to kick in $5 from the sale of every bike during each sale event. In other words, if you purchase a bike at either sales event, you only pay $15 (instead of $15) for a membership, and JH/Cove kicks in the remaining five bucks.

[carter]

Let me know where to sign I will do ASAP.

[sanrensho]

Originally posted by ito
In Santa Barbara we have been selling things we call "bear bells". It's a small cowbell that you hang on the front end of your bike or back of the camelback. They are very popular and thanks to help from Kona we have gotten most riders in SB to wear one. Get NSMBA to sell them as a fundraiser, distribute them through shops or have them as part of a membership package. Throw an NSMBA logo on it and you have advertising, trail etiquette, and money raising all rolled into one.

That's a very good suggestion.

Also, I think the NSMBA would love to have someone with industry connections (Sideshow? ) who could work the corporate sponsorship aspect.

[Dude]

I was looking around this morning to try and find a "premium" members area, or something. Yes, the least we can do is buck-up a yearly donation. Post a link, and I'll send the cheque.

[sanrensho]

Originally posted by carter
Let me know where to sign I will do ASAP.

SeanD will be working on an online signup form, but it isn't ready yet. Are you heading up to North Van this weekend or sometime soon? You could pick up a membership form at JH, and I'll also ask someone to drop off some forms at the new Cove location.

BTW, are there any bike shops in the Langley area that would be willing to display some membership forms? If so, you could help us out by dropping off some forms?

[EDIT] The form is also available online here:

Membership form

Also, kudos to Carter and Dude for showing interest in becoming members!

[white ri0t]

Originally posted by sanrensho
It was great to see you and Wade there (I was sitting next to you, Corey)

I was wearing a toque.

[Dude]

I'm sending a cheque today. It won't break either of our banks, but it's something.

Cheers.

[sanrensho]

Originally posted by diggs
I was wearing a toque.

Kona toque and glasses? I was the "other" guy with the broken femur.

[white ri0t]

No, that's Nigel, or Niggz. I was wearing the grey one.

[brock]

Wasn't there some discussion a while back about a way to pay/renew memberships online? I have not written a check in so long I don't even know where the stupid book is.

I think there should be "shore tax" assessed on all bike companies that use "the shore" to sell their products.

Norco - how about 5 bucks for every "Shore" model sold?

Blackspire - NS series chainguies?

Anyone else care to add to the list? How about sending every comany that uses a nsmba managed north shore trail in their ad a bill for $20 or even more.

When is the Rocky Mountain Comapany trail day? You know the one where all the employees get the option of going to work on a trail (on the clock) instaed of going to the office that day.

OK I'll shut up. I've said all of this before........

[sanrensho]

Originally posted by Dude
I'm sending a cheque today. It won't break either of our banks, but it's something.

Cheers.

That's fantastic. Every donation helps. Good karma to you, and I hope to see you on the trails soon.

[sanrensho]

Originally posted by brock
Wasn't there some discussion a while back about a way to pay/renew memberships online? I have not written a check in so long I don't even know where the stupid book is.

If you can't find your cheque book, you could always swing by the bank and get your bank to print out a few free cheques.

Seriously though, don't expect the online membership system to appear overnight. Just like everything else with the NSMBA, it's all done by volunteers s sometimes things don't happen overnight.

All your other ideas are good, we just need someone to step up and commit to chasing some of the big companies for donations.

[Smoke]

I had a cold. You know I'd be there otherwise.