I knew we were a force.  I moved to the North Shore because of the riding and the same can be said of many of my friends.  In fact only one of my riding buddies was born on the North Shore.  North Vancouver District Council got a taste of our numbers when Ernie Crist brought forth a motion that suggested mountain biking should be banned here.  At the next council meeting there were in excess of 200 riders present - all ready to stand up for the trails we love so much.

The recent by-election became necessary when Don Bell resigned as mayor after being elected to the Federal House of Parliament in Ottawa.  Councillor Janice Harris resigned her seat to run for Mayor leaving a vacancy there as well.  Many of the candidates for each post came to speak to mountain bikers at the nsmbA's AGM on October 28th. 

From that dialogue and others, individuals in the mountain bike community put together their choices for both mayor and council deciding on Janice Harris as the new mayor and Jim Cuthbert to sit on council.  Our community sent mass emails, called other riders and used this Web site and others to make our choices known. 

In the end Janice Harris won by a very slim margin of 86 votes over Doug Mackay-Dunn.  Without the support of riders it is very unlikely she would have been elected.  Jim Cuthbert won by a landslide capturing over 52% of the vote.  His nearest competitor captured only 11%.

The Vancouver Sun Newspaper, referring to  Mayor elect Harris stated "mountain bike trails in the district is a big issue and one that helped her campaign."  Harris herself went on to say that the North Shore Mountains have become "a haven" for riders and that she will urge council to boost tourism to exploit the draw of the trail network.

The Sun, and Harris herself, mistakenly stated that "she received support from the local mountain bike association."  The nsmbA - a non-profit organization - does not support individual candidates - while we here at nsmb.com did take a stand to support both Mayor-Elect Harris and Councillor-Elect Jim Cuthbert. 

note:  There is often confusion between the nsmbA and nsmb.com.  While we here at nsmb.com are members of the nsmbA and we support their initiatives whenever possible, we are entirely  separate organizations.  nsmb.com (North Shore Mountain Biking e.magazine) is an online magazine aimed at entertaining and informing riders all over the world, while the nsmbA (The North Shore Mountain Bike Association) is a not-for-profit advocacy organization.  The mission statement of the nsmbA states: "The North Shore Mountain Bike Association is an organization dedicated to the accessibility of trails and support of mountain biking on the North Shore." 

The North Shore Outlook, a small community paper, ran a front page item featuring District resident Monica Craver, the so-called 'Frog Lady' shortly before the election.  Despite actions taken by the District to mitigate damage to Mountain View Park, Craver's main area of concern, she continues to feel that mountain bikers should be barred from the area.  There is now a boardwalk as well as railings to keep all users of  the park on designated trails - actions that were suggested to the District by the nsmbA months before. The nsmbA even volunteered to provide labour for the project as well as many of the tools and materials needed to complete the task.  Instead the District went through a lengthy process and ended up paying for the actions suggested earlier by the Association. To read the Outlook story click here.

While this is indeed a step in the right direction the process is by no means finished.  The Alpine Recreational Strategic Study, aimed at evaluating trail use and then proposing a plan for "effective recreational and environmental management," is well under way and more input from riders is needed.  There will be an Open House on November 18th as well as a Public Display on November 20th. Please do whatever you can to attend these events and make your feelings about the North Shore trails known to the District Council and staff.

For more information on the Alpine Recreational Strategic Study click here.

Please get involved. If you aren't part of the solution you are part of the problem.

Cam McRae